Editor’s note: This article, published at 11:06 a.m. on Sept. 19, 2024, was updated at 9:53 a.m. on Sept. 20, 2024, to add more details about the eatery and grand opening day from a Torchy’s Tacos press release.
Torchy’s Tacos, Austin, a Texas-based taco and Tex-Mex restaurant, will officially open Oct. 2 in Rockville with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, according to the Greater Rockville Chamber of Commerce’s website.
Doors will open at the chain’s first Maryland location at 12266A Rockville Pike at 10 a.m., a grand opening flyer states. The restaurant is in the Federal Plaza shopping center.
The first 100 customers in line to visit the eatery on opening day will receive a limited-edition key chain that will grant them a year of free queso at the location, according to a Torchy’s Tacos press release.
Mike Rypka, CEO and founder of the eatery, grew up in the Washington, D.C., area, according to the release.
“To open a restaurant and share my food with the D.C. area is like a dream come true,” Rypka said in the release. “There’s a little something about coming home again and showing what you have done and what you can do.”
Torchy’s Rockville location will be the first in the D.C. region and one of the chain’s 129 locations across 16 states, according to the release.
The Tex-Mex eatery will take over half of the former location of Chuy’s, a Tex-Mex restaurant chain. In the other half of the restaurant will be Kura Revolving Sushi Bar, a Japanese dining concept in which food is served using a conveyor belt system, also set to open this fall.
Inside the 3,900-square-foot restaurant are 168 dining seats, a full bar that offers full-service ordering and multiple televisions, according to the release.
The taco chain features breakfast tacos, bowls, burritos, queso, churros and margaritas. In addition, Torchy’s has a rotating Taco of the Month promotion in which a portion of proceeds are donated to local charities, the release said.
Some of Torchy’s more unusual tacos are “Brushfire,” a flour tortilla topped with Jamaican jerk chicken, grilled jalapeños, mango, sour cream and cilantro, and tacos named after political parties, such as the “Democrat,” a classic barbacoa taco, and the “Republican,” a smoked beef brisket taco. The menu also includes vegetarian and vegan taco options.
Federal Plaza, Torchy’s Tacos’ new home in Rockville, is owned by Federal Realty, a North Bethesda-based real estate development company that also owns Pike & Rose, Congressional Plaza, Montrose Crossing, The Shops at Wildwood, Bethesda Row and others.
