A new Washington state liquor license application has revealed that Taco Street, the Chihuahua-style Mexican street food chain, is expanding into Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood, setting up shop at 5602 1st Ave S in a building with a long and smoky local history. The application covers restaurant lounge, service bar, and catering licenses, though the company has not yet announced an opening date.
The site was most recently home to Blind Raven BBQ & Catering, which closed permanently, according to WhatNow Seattle. Business registry records reviewed by The Closure Record place Blind Raven’s estimated closure in spring 2025, leaving the standalone commercial space vacant before Taco Street filed its liquor paperwork. Long before Blind Raven, the address was occupied for years by Pig Iron Bar-B-Q, an established smokehouse that operated along the 1st Avenue South industrial corridor near Slim’s Last Chance Chili Shack, according to Seattle Magazine.
Taco Street founder, owner, and executive chef Elonka Perez confirmed the move in a July social media post, praising the building’s barbecue-hall lineage and saying she intends to preserve its rustic dive-bar charm while introducing Mexican street food. Perez noted the space had retained an earthy, smoky ambiance left behind by both Pig Iron and Blind Raven, per the same post.
A Growing Footprint Across the Region
The Georgetown address will become Taco Street’s fourth current location, joining a rapidly growing regional lineup. The company already operates at the Waterfront Market at Ruston (5101 Yacht Club Rd. in Ruston), inside the food court at Tacoma Mall (4502 S. Steele St.), and at a quick-service kitchen inside Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s Central Terminal. That airport spot came after Taco Street was selected in August for the Port of Seattle’s SEA Sparks Small Business Economic Development Program, part of what the Port of Seattle describes as North America’s first airport quick-service restaurant incubator kitchens…