A former Chipotle supervisor who once trained new crews across the Twin Cities is opening his fifth Que Taco restaurant in St. Paul on November 14, filling a former Starbucks at 300 Snelling Avenue with trompo-roasted meats, handmade corn tortillas and a goal of reaching ten locations in the coming years. Margarito Martinez Torres built the business from a single Savage storefront in 2018 without outside investment, and he says he’s now halfway to that ten-location target.
Martinez Torres came to the United States in 1993 and moved to Minneapolis in 1997, according to the Star Tribune. He went on to work a decade for Chipotle in Minneapolis, including as a supervisor at the chain’s Stadium Village location — the same store that became Chipotle’s first Minnesota restaurant when it opened near the University of Minnesota campus in mid-March 1999, according to Axios Twin Cities. During his time there, Martinez Torres also led kitchen trainings at new Chipotle locations as the chain expanded, per the same Star Tribune account.
Before Chipotle, he worked for Don Pablo’s and Cantina #1 at Mall of America, the latter of which closed in 2018 — the same year he opened his first Que Taco in Savage. He learned the menu’s salsas and marinades from his mother, and the Star Tribune reports he wanted to showcase his food, recipes and culture through the business.
A Family Business Built Suburb By Suburb
Que Taco has expanded mainly in the suburbs, with locations in Savage, Fridley, New Hope and Burnsville, the Star Tribune’s reporting notes. The company’s own website describes itself as a family-owned business with locations in Eagan, Savage and New Hope, Minnesota, and it invites franchise inquiries by email at [email protected]…