When Taco Love Grill first opened in White Marsh in 2011, the staff had their work cut out for them.
Owners Jimena and Gelmin Portillo recall that when they first entered the restaurant business, Mexican restaurants were not especially common in the White Marsh area.
“We had this lady come in when we first opened, and she asked what we had here,” Jimena Portillo says. “I said, ‘We have tacos,’ and she asked, ‘What’s a taco?’ I told her that it was made with a tortilla, and she asked, ‘What’s a tortilla?’”
But despite humble beginnings as a four-table restaurant that mostly served takeout, Taco Love Grill has grown significantly over the past 12 years. The owners have since also opened a second location at Cross Street Market in Baltimore, and most recently, they created Birria Love, a Parkville concept restaurant that specializes in dishes focused on the marinated meat stew.
The original White Marsh location has seen a lot of success, winning the Best Restaurant award from Restaurant Guru in 2020 and the Best Taco Tuesday in Baltimore Style’s readers’ choice competition.
The opening of Taco Love Grill was the fulfillment of a long-held dream—but it was not originally Jimena or Gelmin Portillo’s. Rather, it was something Jimena Portillo’s father had been wanting to do for a long time.
“He always wanted to own a restaurant, even though he was a lawyer in Mexico City,” says Gelmin Portillo. “That was one of his bucket list items, if you will, that he wanted to do but never did. But Jimena said she was going to do it.”
Both the Portillos were accountants before opening Taco Love Grill, with little personal experience in the restaurant industry aside from brief stints as waitstaff at other restaurants.
Gelmin Portillo notes that his side of the family has been involved in the restaurant business for a long time, with both his sister and brother owning restaurants, but it was a while before he joined them. The couple even first met because Jimena Portillo was working as a waitress at his brother’s restaurant.
The owners’ respective families influenced many aspects of the restaurant, from its conception to its menu and even its interior. One wall features a statement mural designed by Jimena Portillo’s cousin, featuring iconic Mexican imagery like agave plants and Frida Kahlo.
Taco Love Grill’s concept was inspired by the couple’s travels in Mexico City, Jimena Portillo’s hometown. She notes that as Mexico’s capital, Mexico City’s restaurant scene is bustling with regional cuisine from all over the country, making it a microcosm of all different kinds of Mexican food. This was something that Gelmin Portillo was unfamiliar with at first, he says.
“We tried to label all kinds of Mexican food as just ‘Mexican food,’ under one label. But Mexico is so big that different parts of the country have completely different styles and specialties,” he says.
As a result, Taco Love Grill’s menu samples regional dishes from all over the country, including some near and dear to Jimena Portillo’s heart.
“The most important dish for me is the alambres,” she says. With roots in Mexico City and Oaxaca, alambres typically combine meat, usually beef or chicken, with bacon, cheese and peppers, and are often served with fresh tortillas. “My dad used to cook it at home for his friends and family, so that’s the dish I value most.”
In addition to traditional Mexican dishes, Taco Love Grill also serves Maryland-influenced twists on popular items like burritos and quesadillas. The Chesapeake Burrito and Crabbydilla both incorporate jumbo lump crab. Another well-liked seafood dish is the shrimp-stuffed avocado, one of the most popular appetizers. And some dishes venture outside of Mexican food entirely, such as the Birria Ramen, which combines birria with Japanese noodles.
Alcohol doesn’t take a back seat to the restaurant’s main menu, either. With a collection of over 100 different tequilas and over 80 different mezcals, Taco Love Grill offers drinks both imported from Mexico and sourced from local breweries.
This was a necessity for a Mexican restaurant, says Gelmin Portillo, whose son was baptized in Tequila, Mexico.
“Mezcal is getting really big lately, and tequila is already huge. It feels like all celebrities have their own brand of tequila these days,” he adds. “It’s hard to pick and choose which are best, so it’s important that there’s something for everyone.”
The Portillos both agree that the most important thing they have learned in their years running Taco Love Grill is the value of consistency. They have been able to keep a consistent staff base over their 12 years of operation, and while their menu rarely changes, that gives them the opportunity to keep trying to perfect the dishes they’re best known for.
“There’s a ton of turnover in the restaurant industry, especially recently during the [COVID-19] pandemic,” Gelmin Portillo notes. “We have the same staff we’ve had for years, so we’ve been very lucky in that area. Our employees are very dedicated—they love being here, and we love them as well.”
The employees themselves echo this sentiment.
“Jimena and Gelmin don’t treat you like they’re your bosses, they treat you like family. They make you feel like you’re a part of the business,” says Javier Arriaga, a waiter who has worked at Taco Love Grill for the past seven years.
