Popular taco truck expanding with sit-down restaurant near Fresno’s Tower District

In the three months since it opened, Tacos El Cabezon has established itself as a happening spot at Shaw and Maroa avenues.

Drivers passing by likely have noticed crowds of people waiting to try the “estilo cachanilla” street food.

That’s Mexicali street food by way of Los Angeles now in Fresno.

“My demand is already so high,” says Aramando Arias, the owner and personality behind the taco trailer’s success and robust social media accounts. “They’re waiting for that line to go down.”

Which means Arias isn’t waiting to expand.

He already announced plans to set up shop in another part of town with a secondary food truck he purchased in September. It’s still waiting on permitting approvals.

And then on Thursday, Arias announced Tacos El Cabezon has secured the lease on a space just outside the Tower District. He hopes to have a full sit-down restaurant opened there by December.

The space, on McKinley and Fruit avenues, has housed several taquerias over the years, including Chelita’s Taqueria and Taqueria Antonio. “It has a very humble feel to it,” Arias says, with room for a dozen or so tables and 40 or 50 people.

“It’s got so much potential.”

The new restaurant won’t be just tacos.

Arias is looking to expand both the menu and his hours of operation. While the original Taco El Cabezon spot still runs Wednesday through Sunday evenings, the new restaurant will be open at 8 a.m. seven days a week and include breakfast, lunch and weekend options.

So, you’ll still be able to get tacos and burritos (just like at the original spot) but also chilaquiles, bistek ranchero, picadillo (minced meat) and carne en su jugo (Mexican beef soup). They’ll add pozole, menudo and barbacoa on weekends. Arias also plans to eventually add ceviche and other seafood dishes.

It’s a menu that reflect Arias’ cooking skills, and those of the chefs that he’s hired. It’s a showcase of “all the really good stuff that we know how to make,” he says.

“Food is everything. It’s a blessing for us to be able to eat.”

Arias says he hopes to have at least five food trucks, trailers or restaurants up and running across all of Fresno, by the end of next year.

This story was originally published November 14, 2025 at 3:19 PM.