Good Neighbor Podcast: Fort Collins
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of Fort Collins. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Nick George helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around Fort Collins, Colorado.
Is your business serving the residents of Fort Collins? Then, we need to talk! Visit gnpFortCollins.com to schedule your free interview.
Good Neighbor Podcast: Fort Collins
How A Young Couple Built A Beloved Taco Spot Through Consistency, Creativity, And Community Support
Craving a story as satisfying as a great taco? We sit down with Berenice Longoria of The Taco Stop to trace a 13-year journey from a street cart on College and Oak to a full restaurant that opened in the middle of COVID—powered by grit, community, and standout flavors that honor heritage and spark curiosity.
We talk candidly about what the restaurant grind really looks like: thin margins, long hours, and the unglamorous work of staying consistent when competitors line the block. Berenice shares why the mobile years offered flexibility, how a brick-and-mortar raised the stakes, and how their loyal neighbors showed up when shutdowns hit. She also opens up about building a business with her spouse, balancing different work styles, and protecting the relationship that fuels everything. The conversation moves from resilience to creativity as we dig into the menu: signature specialties like pastor gringas and the Azteca tacos with grilled nopal, chorizo, and asadero, plus a rotating Taco of the Month that recently featured shrimp and sausage with an apple chimichurri twist.
We also cover practical visibility—anchoring the new location at 2601 South Le May Avenue in the Scotch Pines plaza, next to Starbucks—and the channels that keep them connected, especially Instagram and Facebook. Throughout, the theme stays clear: The Taco Stop isn’t a franchise; it’s a family-run team with a sharp logo, a clear why, and a mission to serve great food and the community that believed in them from day one. If you’re in Fort Collins, come hungry and start with the Azteca. If you’re listening from afar, you’ll find a playbook for consistency, creativity, and staying human in a tough industry.
Enjoy the story, share it with a friend who loves local food, and if it resonated, subscribe, leave a review, and tell us your go-to taco order.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Nick George.
SPEAKER_02:Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of some very tasty tacos? Well, some might be closer than you think. Today I have the great pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Bernice Longoria. Berenice. I tried it.
SPEAKER_00:You did.
SPEAKER_02:I took two years of Spanish and still messed it up. How are you doing?
SPEAKER_00:Good, thank you. It's okay. Bernice is fine.
SPEAKER_02:Tell us all about the taco stop, Bernice.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so hi. My name is Berenice Longoria. Um, I'm originally from Texas. My husband's from Mexico City. We started the taco stop in 2012. I was 19 years old. He was 22 when we started. It was just a taco cart downtown Fort Collins on the corner of College and Oak. Um in 2015, we ended up getting a trailer. In 2018, we got a food truck, and in 2020, we opened our first restaurant during COVID.
SPEAKER_02:Wow.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:What got you into food? What got you into the business of making good food for people?
SPEAKER_00:That's my husband. I can't take credit for that, unfortunately. Um, but when we got married, we both knew we wanted to have our own business. And with his culinary experience and me, I mean, I didn't have a lot of business experience, but when you're motivated, you want to learn, you make it happen. So that's what we did together. We learned and we keep going.
SPEAKER_02:Awesome.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:What are some myths or misconceptions in the food, in the in the food business, or even in the taco uh business?
SPEAKER_00:I think just in the food business, people think you're making bank. In reality, you're just busting your butt, you know, you're literally just working all the time. And I'm pretty sure it might be like that in any business, but especially in the restaurant business, it's it's a really hard business to be in. Um, I feel when we had the truck, the cart, and the trailer, it was a little bit easier, right? If it was bad out the weather, we had the ability to take some time off, and we didn't have to be there now. It's just consistency. You have to be consistent with your product, with your service, with everything. And there's just so many restaurants around, and you want to, you know, keep something that people want to come eat and and people want to come in and hang out. So maintaining that is hard, but I think it all goes back to me and Cesad and and why we started, why we did this, and why we continue to do it.
SPEAKER_02:What um where where exactly are you guys in town?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so we are we just moved to a new location last year. We are at 2601 South Le May Avenue by the Sprouts off Drake and LeMay. I don't know if you're familiar with the area. Okay, yes. Yeah, we're right next to the Starbucks. The moment I say that, everybody knows where we're at. So we're in that shopping plaza, the the Scotch Pines.
SPEAKER_02:Nice.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um, and so what are some uh what are some uh ways that you guys reach out to people digitally to connect? Um, or do you market yourself digitally? And and and I guess um how far out is your reach?
SPEAKER_00:So good question. I have a question for you. By digital, you mean like social media? Sorry, I know it might be a silly question.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I mean like in the old days it was word of mouth and flyers, and uh, but anything involving a computer and getting in front of people with screen time, uh, what are you guys doing?
SPEAKER_00:I think mostly it is social media. Um, I would say Facebook and Instagram. Um, I focus more on Instagram for some reason. I like it more than Facebook. I don't even have a Facebook, um, but we do a lot more of Instagram. I try TikTok, making videos is hard, takes a lot of time. I'm a mom now, so I don't really have that time or patience anymore like I used to. You know, I have to be like 100% when I'm with my baby, so I I don't do TikTok as much, but I would say we do a lot of Instagram mostly and Facebook.
SPEAKER_02:Nice. Um have you ever thought about podcasting?
SPEAKER_00:I have not, no. One time we did do one a long time ago. I don't think it's available anymore. It was off, it was with our friend, um, I don't know if you know them, Tiffany from Stuffed and Lauren from Snack Attack. More bacon, please. I think that's what it was called. It was the first time we ever did a podcast, but my husband did it with me, and that was pretty fun.
SPEAKER_02:What do you think is the most unique dish that um that people should come try at your at your uh restaurant?
SPEAKER_00:So I would say preferably try everything, right? But and we are taco stop. My and I think you can find really good street tacos anywhere, but what really sets us apart is our specialty tacos, the ones that Cesar really focuses on. That that would be like the pastor gringas, the azteca tacos, those are one of my favorites. Those have grilled cactus. Have you ever tried cactus before?
SPEAKER_02:No, I think I've drank a little, but no.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, okay, yeah. So it's grilled nopal, which is cactus, and then it's got some chorizo, asadero, cheese, and and those are one of my favorites. Um, we actually released those as a taco of the month. Every month we have a new taco, and we released it, and it was really special to him because he brought it out during during Hispanic Heritage Month. Those are um flavors that he grew up with, and he decided I'm gonna keep this one on the menu. So it's been a hit since we released it. I think it was 2022 or 21 when we brought that one. Another one that I really like, and it won't be here for long. It's uh taco of the month that we have right now. It's a sausage, um, shrimp and sausage with apple chimichuri. It sounds weird because it's an apple chimichuri, but it is so good. I don't know how he gets his ideas. Um, I'm sad that this taco is leaving. We'll have it for about a week and then it'll be gone. But hopefully he'll bring it back maybe in the summer.
SPEAKER_02:You're making me hungry.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, please, you should come try that one.
SPEAKER_02:Bernice, um, not everybody has had a perfect life as a business owner. Is there something that, um, and maybe you've already answered this question a little bit, but you can go deeper here if you like. Um, is there something that that was a challenge that you had to overcome in your life that made you stronger, that made you the person, the resilient business owner that you are today?
SPEAKER_00:I think in life in general, we all go through something. I think one of the biggest, besides COVID, one of the other challenges that we had is, you know, I am married to my business partner, right? You know, we we were young, we're we grew up together, we're still growing up together, and just knowing how to keep work at work and focus on our relationship because at the end of the day, we're still married, you know. Um, I think accepting the fact that we we're just so different, we work so different, and and learning how to work together has been a challenge. And and I admire people that have business partners, but working with your spouse, it's a lot. Um, that would be a challenge. And then of course, you know, we're Latino a lot of the times, you know, it's it's like it's scary. You don't know with everything going on. It's like you don't know if people are gonna want to come and support your business. Um, and and we work really hard to to be open, to open our doors, to give jobs, and to be here for the community, and and we just wanna do what we love. And serving food, serving our customers, serving the community is something that we really focus on. COVID was another one that really got us bad. Um, you know, we went through two, three shutdowns, we were freshly new, and I feel if people wouldn't have known us from previous years, I don't think we would have made it. Um, we're very grateful that we started slow and we built that community. And the moment we opened our doors during COVID, people were showing up. People showed their support and they still do. Um, but I I think being young and going through COVID, and you know, I'm a dropout, you know, I I didn't finish school and and I had to learn everything on my own. I it's it's a challenge, but you don't give up. You you keep your why, why you're doing this, and and you just keep going.
SPEAKER_02:That's right. That's awesome. So um, what would you what do you want? And you may have just answered this question. What what do you want people to really take away from from this interview, this this podcast? Um, what do you want people to remember most about the taco stop?
SPEAKER_00:Um humble beginnings, you know, we we didn't have it easy. We there's a lot of good resources now. When we first started, there wasn't a lot of resources, especially for food trucks or food carts like there is now, or restaurants in general. Um, you know, we we we've worked hard for the past 13 years now. We again we love what we do. We love serving great food and and serving our community. So I really want people to know that that's who we are. We're not a bit company. People think that it's a franchise, or because of our logo, somebody made a comment. Look at their logo, they're a franchise. We're not. Um, it's just me, my husband, and and the amazing team that we have that work hard every day to keep going.
SPEAKER_02:It's got a name that could go big fast. It's simple and it pops, right?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. I love the logo. That was my husband, 100%.
SPEAKER_02:What are all the ways that people can find you online uh and with a phone number?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so you can find us. We have our website, the tacostopfoko.com. Um, we're located at 2601 South La May Avenue, suite number 30. Our phone number is 970-281-2313. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram. We do have a TikTok. We don't really post a lot there, but yeah, that's where you can find us.
SPEAKER_02:Well, Bernice, we really appreciate you being on the show, and we wish you and the taco stop the very, very best moving forward.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you, Nick. I really appreciate your time and thank you for having us.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gmpfortcollins.com. That's gmpfortcollins.com or call nine seven zero four three eight zero eight two five.