The owners of Dos Santos Tacos, a traditional sit-down restaurant, are bringing a fast-casual, grab-and-go concept to downtown Colorado Springs.
Dos Dos, as the new restaurant will be called, will take over an empty storefront at 131 N. Tejon St. in downtown Colorado Springs.
The space, on the southeast corner of Tejon and Bijou streets and across from Acacia Park, was the longtime home of a Subway sandwich shop that’s been vacant since it closed in 2020.
Dos Dos will be a spinoff of Dos Santos Tacos, said Jason Wallenta, a co-owner of Dos Santos with his wife, Riley O’Brien, and his brother, Kris. Dos Santos opened in 2015 in Denver; it expanded to downtown Colorado Springs in 2018 as one of several restaurants in the remodeled Trolley Building in the 500 block of South Tejon.
Dos Dos will be “burrito driven,” Jason Wallenta said — breakfast burritos in the morning and more traditional burritos during the day.
Another signature item will be tacos al pastor — a taco made with pork that’s cooked on a rotated, vertical spit. The item is popular in Mexico, Wallenta said.
“It’s a soft taco that literally nobody in the Springs is doing,” he said.
Other menu fare will include nachos, bowls and salads. Though Dos Dos will be related to Dos Santos Tacos, it will have all new recipes, Wallenta added.
The Dos Santos owners have looked for a downtown Colorado Springs space to launch a spinoff that would cater more to a casual crowd, with grab-and-go fare, Wallenta said.
The former Subway location was a perfect fit, he said. Not only is it across from Acacia Park, but it’s about a block from Palmer High School. It’s also is the heart of the Tejon Street retail corridor frequented by office workers and tourists.
“There’s tons of college kids and office people and offices where they don’t have time to go down to Dos Santos and get a whole taco meal,” Wallenta said. “But you can run down the block to get a burrito to go or a salad, some nachos or some al pastor tacos.”
Though Dos Dos will have grab-and-go items, it also will have indoor seating for 30 to 40 people; customers can walk in, order food at a counter, pick it up and sit down, Wallenta said.
A full-service, indoor-outdoor cocktail bar and an expanded, updated patio also will be major restaurant amenities, Wallenta said.
“You could just grab burritos to go or you could grab a seat at the bar and have a bartender wait on you and order food and order drinks,” he said.
The former Subway space will get a makeover as part of the new restaurant, according to a proposal submitted to city government planners by YOW Architects of Colorado Springs.
The building’s exterior will be stripped down to its original brick façade, the proposal shows. New windows and doors, metal accents and a west-facing, garage door on the building’s front also are planned.
“This project shall update the existing bland façade that faces Acacia Park (and become) a prominent feature for the downtown area,” YOW Architects’ proposal says.
Wallenta said he expects building construction to begin in mid to late January, and Dos Dos is targeted to open in the summer.
If Dos Dos does well, the owners will look to open additional locations, he said.
Dos Dos would be the latest venture for the Wallentas, who have a long background in the restaurant industry.
Growing up in New Haven, Conn., Jason and Kris talked about opening their own restaurant, according to the Dos Santos Tacos website. They moved to Colorado in the early 1990s, attended college here and decided to stay after falling in love with the state, Jason said.
Kris spent time in Mexico with an aunt and uncle who operated a restaurant, then attended the French Culinary Institute in New York before he opened his first restaurant in 2008 in Mexico. Jason later joined Kris in Mexico, where they opened a second restaurant in 2010.
The brothers returned to Denver and opened Dos Santos Tacos in July 2015.
In 2017, they opened White Pie Pizzeria in Denver; in early 2021, they expanded the White Pie concept to downtown Colorado Springs with a location at 330 S. Nevada Ave.
Their latest Dos Santos Tacos is slated to open in mid-January in Castle Rock.
This content was originally published here.
