Follow that taqueria: Salsa Limon rolls west, but Centro to open
August 7,2016
Reposted from The Star Telegram
By Bud Kennedy
Known for tacos to go, Salsa Limón is about to become an entire taqueria-to-go.
The historic chrome diner that was the taqueria’s Cultural District “Museo” home will be moved intact to White Settlement Road. It’ll reopen there this fall, after yet another new Limón opens downtown.
Not many restaurateurs try to open two locations at once. But Salsa Limón owner Ramiro (Milo) Ramirez is used to moving his trucks and taquerias around town. This time, he’s simply bringing the taqueria with him.
Sometime late this month, the 1947-vintage chrome diner at 929 University Drive will be loaded on a trailer and moved to 5012 White Settlement Road, in the new River District development.
Until the diner is moved, Salsa Limón Museo is still serving there from a truck parked in the driveway.
“What’s important is that we’re saving this building,” Ramirez said.
The diner, a Streamline Moderne architectural classic built as Topsy’s Cafe, is one of the fewclassic roadside-Americana diners in the south and southwestern U.S.
The interior was updated after the Allen family sold Topsy’s in 1972 to become the original J & J Oyster Bar, but the chrome exterior remains.
The entire building and slab foundation will be loaded on a trailer for moving, Ramirez said: “It’s easier than taking out the freezers.”
The new location is a vacant lot after the demolition of an old home that hosted a private school.
Meanwhile, Ramirez plans an October opening for the new Salsa Limón Centro, replacing an ill-conceived burrito shop on Throckmorton Street in the base of the Tower.
“That’s also a very interesting building architecturally,” said Ramirez, an artist.
The concrete supports in the 1974 skyscraper, built as a bank, angle through the dining areas to the sidewalk.
“I couldn’t pass up a chance to get a location like that,” he said.
Salsa Limón Centro will serve until 3 a.m., he said, for downtown patrons. It will include the taquerias’ first bar.
For now, Salsa Limón continues at 3005 S. University Drive and in La Gran Plaza mall, 4200 South Freeway. The company truck is open at 929 University Drive until the diner is moved.