Condado Tacos Brings Popular Build-Your-Own Concept & Creative Atmosphere to Broad Ripple

Writer / Christy Heitger-Ewing
Photographer / Michael Durr

At Condado Tacos, there’s a taco for every taste. First launched in Columbus in 2014, Condado’s just opened a Broad Ripple location in July. According to Julia Jones, Marketing Director for Condado Tacos, Joe Kahn, the CEO and Founder, has a lifetime of restaurant experience.

“Joe wanted to build a place he’d like to hang out at several times a week, with fresh food, unique ingredients and high-quality drinks that would be friendly to your wallet,” Jones says. “The vibe of the Broad Ripple community was a perfect fit for Condado’s laid-back concept.”

The restaurant specializes in creating tacos, guacamole, tequila and margaritas at affordable prices. Guests like the build-your-own model so they can choose the toppings to the protein (or lack thereof) all the way down to the creatively-stuffed taco shell.

Integral to Condado’s menu are its signature double-decker taco shells —crunchy and soft layered together with options like queso, refried beans, guacamole and even sausage gravy.

“It was Joe’s father who inspired this creation,” Jones says. “A lover of both hard and soft flour shells, his dad imagined a taco that included both.”

After sharing this unique request with the kitchen team, they conceived of the Ju-Ju, which is a delectable double decker with a crunchy shell inside of a soft flour shell held together by queso and chorizo.

Condado Tacos uses only fresh ingredients for its salsas, toppings, proteins and tortilla chips. They specialize in tacos, queso, guacamole, salsa and tequila, which they use to build creatively flavored margaritas. In addition, they rotate specials monthly, offering a new specialty taco, queso, guacamole and drink — all made with seasonal favorites or aligned with special events in the community. For example, in September they featured buffalo chicken queso to commemorate the kick-off to football season. In October, Condado’s drink of the month was a Sparkling Guava Marg-CURE-ita to support Breast Cancer Awareness month as each margarita sold sent a donation to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

“We get to be very creative with these monthly specials,” Jones says.

They get to be silly, too. For example, they say, “Si tu tacos chupan es tu culpa,” which means, “If your taco sucks, it’s your fault.”

“Part of the fun is coming back time and time again to create your perfect taco,” Jones adds.

That’s why they have a customer loyalty program that offers Condado fans $5 for every $50 they spend at the restaurant.

Another part of the fun is creating special menu items exclusive to the Broad Ripple location. For instance, since David Letterman was born in Indianapolis, they made “The Late’chos, with David Pepperman” nachos, which include chips, roasted pollo, rice, beans, queso, lettuce, onion, corn salsa, salsa roja and jalapenos. They offer the “Broad Reefer”— two tacos, both with firecracker shells, roasted pollo, lettuce, tomato, onion, cheddar, dirty sauce and sour cream.

“We like to be creative and sneak in some unique references every once in a while,” Jones says.

Condado offers unique protein options to suit meat lovers, vegetarians and vegans alike. The BBQ Jackfruit is delicious and vegan. Their margaritas are only made from quality tequilas.

“We suggest trying our house margarita with a flavor option, such as muddled jalapeno, mango or blood orange,” Jones says. “At each store location, we have a minimum of 50 tequila options to choose from, ranging from standard options to specialty, super premium options.”

On top of it all, the atmosphere is cool as all of their locations feature street-art inspired murals. In Broad Ripple, the theme revolves around The Vogue Theater, a staple in the community that has transformed from a movie theatre in the 1930s to a nightclub today.

“We celebrate its popularity by focusing on movie history in Condado’s interior art theme,” says Jones, noting that whenever possible they employ local assistants to support their artist team. “Part of the fun of moving into a new community is getting to know local artists.”

So far, the response from the Broad Ripple community to Condado’s has been overwhelmingly positive.

“We’ve been welcomed with open arms and have loved meeting the people who live in the area,” Jones says. “We’re definitely building our crowd of regulars. We love how active the community is, and the proximity to Butler also brings in a fun crowd.”

Condado Tacos is located at 834 Broad Ripple Avenue. For more information, call 463-206-2768 or visit them online at CondadoTacos.com.

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