Chefs behind Vagabond Brewing and Victory Club menus to open West Salem brick and mortar

Statesman Journal

Quesadilla, Victory Fries and J's Egg Rolls all arrive at Victory Club, Vagabond's downtown beer bar.

West Salem is getting a new taco spot. Azuls Taco House is set to open on April 5, 2019.

It will be located on Edgewater Street NW in the space that was most recently gluten-free pasta restaurant, Chickpea, and, before that, Crooked House Bistro. Owner Bernard Malherbe announced last summer that he would put a West Salem location of The Kitchen XPress in the building, instead he has leased it to Tino Land and Augustine "J" Razo, Jr.

Razo and Land are the duo behind JT's Food Trucks, proprietors of "Big Blue" their original truck, which provides daily food service at Vagabond Brewing. The pair also operate two additional food trucks, JT's Taqueria and Black Rock Barbacoa, and they're the cooks behind Victory Club's legendary taco tuesday and loaded "Victory" fries.

Azuls will be their first brick and mortar business, named in homage to Big Blue, the first truck they first opened four years ago.

They stress that their goal is not to compete with the modern Mexican dishes on offer at Xicha Brewing, but to put their unique fusion spin on the taco genre. Land calls it "heritage with a twist," a menu that includes their recipe for al pastor as well as the Thai-style tacos from Vagabond and the Korean-inspired ones from Victory. There will be vegetarian and pescatarian options as well.

In addition to tacos they plan to offer burritos, bowls, salads and loaded fries to be a solid to-go option for West Salem residents.

Victory Fries arrive with sriracha, ranch, carnitas, pico de gallo and cheese.

Land stresses that though Azuls is opening soon, "nothing is changing" at Victory or Vagabond, "we're just growing our business."

They invite fans and West Salem residents to celebrate with them on their opening day, Friday, April 5, 2019, from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. They will be offering taco specials and $1 aguas frescas all day long. Thereafter, they plan to be open from 11 a.m. until 10 p.m, six to seven days weekly.

If you go

Azuls Taco House Grand Opening

Where: 1142 Edgewater St. NW Salem

When: Friday, April 5, 2019 at 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Information:Azuls Taco House (Facebook)