Hola Tacos in Lakewood Finds New Owners

This past February, Juan Vergara announced the sudden closure of the Barroco restaurants in Lakewood and Westlake and the temporary closure of Hola Tacos in Lakewood.

“We, as a family, are beginning to take a step back,” Vergara explained at the time. That, as it turns out, included selling the westside taco shop.

This month, Hola Tacos at 12102 Madison Ave. reopened under new ownership. Margarita Reyes, who has worked with the Vergara family since moving here from Colombia in 2017, is running the restaurant with her brother Luis Felipe. Felipe has more than 15 years of cooking experience and Reyes worked her way up the corporate ladder from the lowest rung to VP of Operations.

“I helped them open Barroco Crocker Park, Pulpo, Amazonia and Hola Tacos Larchmere,” she explains. “I love and admire the family. Everything I know about hospitality is from Juan. I always followed his advice on how to treat people. He’s an amazing leader. I’m just so lucky that I got on my path with them.”

Reyes says that the plan going forward is to maintain the status quo while making minor tweaks, additions and improvements.

“I think Hola Tacos is a brand that has so much potential and we have the energy to focus on it,” says Reyes. “Everybody loves Hola Tacos.”

She says that her brother loves open-fire cooking so diners can expect some additions stemming from that. Hola never had seafood options, so there is another avenue that they can explore.

The Vergaras still operate the Barroco/La Pecora spot on Larchmere.

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