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Pink Taco Signage Is Now up in Boston’s Seaport District

The ever-growing seaside neighborhood is getting yet another taco chain, and this one has a name some consider to be questionable

An order of tacos topped with pickled red onion at Pink Taco’s Chicago location
Pink Taco’s signature dish: pink tacos
Barry Brecheisen/Eater Chicago

A little over a year ago, inelegantly named taco chain Pink Taco let it be known that it would open a location in Boston’s Seaport District, a neighborhood that already has quite a few other Mexican food options, including Bartaco, Temazcal, Rosa Mexicano, and Lolita.

At the time, the company declined to provide an opening timeline, exact address, or additional information, but the Vegas-founded and Los-Angeles-headquartered Pink Taco now has signage posted at the corner of Congress Street and Boston Wharf Road, and its website gives the address 374 Congress St. (across from Row 34).

Pink Taco’s website also indicates that the restaurant is “coming soon” and includes various job listings; a representative for the chain gave Eater an estimate of “late November [2019]” for the opening.

The taco chain — which was founded in 1999 and has locations in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Chicago, and which also plans to open in Miami — was criticized in 2006 by the Scottsdale, Arizona, mayor at the time, Mary Manross, who asked the owners of Pink Taco to change the name of the restaurant when they tried to open a location in Scottsdale.

It was reportedly the result of an informal email-writing campaign launched by concerned (disgusted?) citizens who noticed that the restaurant’s name is a derogatory term for female genitalia. One of those emails read: “The City of Scottsdale has a very fine reputation around the world. Let’s keep the standards high. Let’s let what plays in Vegas stay in Vegas.”

(The name, the restaurant has said, comes from one of its menu items — the eponymous pink taco — which is topped with habanero pickled onions of a pink hue. So not only does the restaurant bear the name of a derogatory term for female genitalia — the signature menu item does too.)

Bad name notwithstanding, the Seaport seems to be one the verge of getting more tacos — and queso dip, and street corn, and tostadas, and burritos. Oh, and $18 margaritas. Which is to say, the Seaport is getting more of the same.

Update, July 29, 2019: This article has been updated to include a potential opening timeline.

Pink Taco Is en Route to Boston, Hideous Name and All [EBOS]
Pink Taco Could Open Soon in Seaport [UH]
Pink Taco Restaurant Name Causes Stir [CBS]