Pocatello’s home of quesabirria, Angel’s Tacos, to open downtown restaurant

CHUBBUCK — Since launching in 2021, Angel’s Tacos has become one of the Pocatello area’s most popular food trucks. So popular, in fact, owner Angel Fonseca put things in motion to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant last spring.

Some unforeseen issues, though, have forced Fonseca to put off the opening of his restaurant and keep his truck operating through the winter.

As Fonseca explained, his mother Maria has long been interested in opening a restaurant — where, her son added, she can show off her incredible talents in the kitchen. And after being told they could no longer sell food out of their home, the Fonseca family launched the Angel’s Tacos food truck, specializing in quesabirria tacos. The tacos that have become so popular, Fonseca said, the truck goes through the sauce — or consomé — that accompany them by the gallon.

EastIdahoNews.com paid Fonseca and his family’s food truck a visit and were treated to a bounteous selection of food.

The visit started, perhaps obviously, with the quesabirria tacos — which, as always, were perfectly flavorful with a crunchy exterior and an ooey-gooey, cheesy-meaty center.

Fonseca also had us try the flautas — a fried corn tortilla roll filled with chicken. Once again, the textures were excellent, combining the crunchy shell around meat that almost melts in your mouth.

And these flautas are served in a scrumptious tomatillo salsa — not spicy but full of flavor.

Next was one of the newest additions to Angel’s menu, the birria waffle fries, which are similar to carne asada fries. These waffles are topped with melted cheese, then a heaping helping of Angel’s famous birria beef and served with the same consomé.

The star of the show, though, may have been the birria ramen.

Having grown up in Hawaii, I have eaten more than my share of ramen — or as we call it, saimin — and this may have been the best I’ve ever had.

Rather than cooking the noodles in seasoned water, Angel’s boils its noodles in the consomé. Once cooked, the ramen gets a scoop of birria beef, onions, cilantros and a lime.

A perfect winter meal, the ramen meets at the intersection of delicious and simple.

All these popular food truck menu items and so much more will be available at the restaurant when it opens — which Fonseca hopes will be at the end of March.

Due to some non-disclosed issues with the property when Fonseca purchased it, Angel’s has been forced to almost completely tear down the building and rebuild. The mounting cost of the rebuild and inability to open the restaurant without completing it has forced the Angel’s truck to remain open through the winter — when it would normally hibernate with most other food trucks.

Along with the undisclosed building issues, Fonseca said, the previous owners of the building did not inform their staff that the business was being sold, leaving the entire crew without jobs.

“I, kind of just, felt bad for them being in that situation,” Fonseca said. “We ended up just taking on the team — we had them working all summer last year with us and they are ready for the restaurant to open. We’re all excited.”

When the restaurant does open, Fonseca’s vision is for it to serve as a sports bar — offering special hours for major sporting events, like boxing matches and MMA events. It will offer food “you can’t get anywhere else in southeastern Idaho,” he said, including, possibly, a massive burrito challenge. It will be located at 314 North Main Street in Pocatello and be open Tuesday through Sunday.

For now, though, the food will continue to be available from the truck. The truck’s schedule is posted weekly on the Angel’s Tacos Facebook page — here.

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