Tacos Los Primos on 23rd Street changes ownership after 24 years
on October 25, 2026
After 24 years serving Mexican fare on 23rd Street, Juan Carrillo and his family have sold the Tacos Los Primos food truck to new owners.
Carrillo, his wife Maria Carrillo, daughter Dulce Carrillo and son-in-law Raul Chavez are moving to Visalia in the San Joaquin Valley, with plans to open a new food truck by the end of the year. They are moving, Carrillo said, primarily because Visalia is a more affordable place to live.
For Juan Carrillo, the move is bittersweet.
“When you work in a place for a long time, the people you see every day become part of your life, part of your family,” he said. “I know people who came to this truck as pregnant ladies, and now their kids are already 18 and 20 years old.
“It would be hard to leave without feeling something.”
A lot has changed since Tacos Los Primos opened in 2002.
Juan Carrillo’s cousin and former co-owner, Saul Cortez, left the business in 2013 to start restaurants and food trucks of his own. The weather-worn green tarps that used to cover the seating area were replaced with a sturdier, metal canopy in 2015. And the truck’s exterior changed from white to green in 2022.
Maria Carrillo developed Tacos Los Primos’ core menu, which includes tacos, tortas, burritos and quesadillas with a choice of 10 meats. Juan said one of their most popular orders is a taco that blends carnitas (fried pork) and cueritos (pork skin). The food has its roots in Rincón del Mezquite, the rural community in Mexico where Maria and Juan Carrillo were born.
“The recipes I make I learned from my grandmother in Mexico,” Maria Carrillo said. “She inspired my love for cooking and to come up with my own recipes.”
In addition to tried and true staples, there were a few short-lived additions including wet burritos and quesabirria tacos. Both eventually were scrapped because the labor involved would cause long wait times.
“Back in the day we used to make al pastor on the rotisserie and it was the best,” said Chavez, who has worked on the truck since 2016. “ The first time I tried them here I couldn’t stop eating. I was skinny.”
“Look at me now, I’m overweight,” he laughed. “That’s the problem when you work at a truck and the food is good, you just eat a lot.”
Most important thing — salsa
When Juan Carrillo first opened his food truck, he was told by a customer that if he earned $200 on opening day, he’d make it. He sold $460 in food that day, he said.
“I still remember, we started getting so many people so fast,” he said. “We used to see people line up in front of the truck to wait for us before we opened.”
In the early days, when they were one of only two tenants on the 23rd Street lot, every space would be filled with cars, as patrons prepared to queue up. One thing that kept those patrons coming back, Juan Carrillo said, is the salsas, which some customers buy by the cup.
“I think the most important thing, no matter what you do with the meat, is the salsa,” he said.
Moises Valdivia, a regular customer, said he has been coming to Tacos Los Primos twice a month since the food truck opened.
“They feel like the tacos from my hometown,” said Valdivia, who grew up in Tepatitlán de Morelos, Mexico. “If they change the way they cook, I’m pretty sure I’m not going to come back.”
The new owners — Jasmine and Griselda Ledesma — intend to keep the existing menu, the original recipes and most of the four current employees, who include two of Maria Carrillo’s sisters. But there will be some changes, said Filomeno Ledesma, who will help manage the truck for his sister, Griselda Ledesma, and his daughter, Jasmine Ledesma.
“In the future, we plan on doing improvements to the lighting and seating, as well as expanding the menu,” Ledesma said.
The food truck has seen seasons of varying success due to tough competition in Richmond’s Mexican food scene, Juan Carrillo said. A 15-minute walk from Tacos Los Primos is Tacos El Chino; 10 minutes will get you to El Tapatio; and just five minutes away is Taqueria La Estrella.
“I think it’s a little sad that they’re moving because I feel like a lot of people come for them,” said Jesus Leyva, who works at Los Leyva Western Wear, a family-owned store across the parking lot from Tacos Los Primos.
At the end of October, Juan Carrillo and Chavez will finish training the Ledesmas on truck operations, finalize their move and say goodbye to Richmond.
“We hope people keep supporting Tacos Los Primos,” Chavez said. “ There’s going to be new management, but it’s going to be the same food, and some of my aunts will still work here.”
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