Taco Zocalo opens at Barcroft Plaza

Taco Zocalo, a small casual restaurant in Barcroft Plaza, officially opens today, although they had a “practice day” yesterday.

Chef Basir, the owner and chef, had planned to open in February. He blames Fairfax County’s backlog in inspections and permitting for the delay.

The menu features chimichangas, tacos, burritos, burrito bowls, and salads. Diners select among several types of meat, shrimp, or grilled veggies.

Basir recommends the birria – only available on Tuesdays and Sundays – consisting of marinated, shredded beef on a grilled corn tortilla with melted cheese, onions, cilantro, and consommé for dipping.

Taco Zocalo’s tagline is “honest food,” because “we really care about what we feed people,” he says. “We pay more for organic ingredients because we want to serve food that we would serve to our own families.”

The restaurant produces its own corn tortillas. They also make their own sauces – habanero, roasted jalapeno, and pineapple habanero – which they sell in bottles.

Chef Basir is in the process of purchasing a 10-acre farm in Lovettsville, where he will grow tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, radishes, and zucchinis for his restaurants.

Basir immigrated to the U.S. from Afghanistan in 1991. He opened the Chef on Wheels food truck in 2012 and opened his first restaurant, in Reston, in 2012.

Since then, he opened Taco Zocalo restaurants in Ashburn, Chantilly, and Bonn, Germany. Another one is in the works for Sterling.  

So how does an Afghan refugee become an expert in Mexican cooking? “I get asked that all the time,” he says. Bashir went to culinary school in Washington, D.C., studied cooking in Italy, then worked at an upscale hotel. “In culinary school, I focused on Latin American food. Everyone liked my tacos.”

The restaurant is named for the zocalo, or central plaza, “where everything happens” in Mexico City and Oaxaca.

Taco Zocalo, at 6343-D Columbia Pike, is open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily and 12-8 p.m. on Sundays.

A coffee and sandwich shop called Maquar Café is under construction next door.