TAMPA, Fla. — Chef Rene Valenzuela’s Mexican cuisine is so popular that his food truck has been permanently parked in Seminole Heights and has recently expanded to his first brick-and-mortar location in Ybor City.

What You Need To Know

  • The new Ybor City location opened in August

  • Rene's Mexican Kitchen located at 2802 N. 16th St. in Tampa

  • The new kitchen has allowed Chef Rene Valenzuela to expand his menu

  • Valenzuela is the founder of Taco Bus and drew national acclaim before selling his stake in the brand in 2015

“It’s just moving forward one step at a time,” Valenzuela said. “We’re growing certain items on the menu and just excited to be able to be open.”

Rene's Mexican Kitchen opened its new location at 2802 N. 16th St. last month. The restaurant doesn’t have any indoor or outdoor seating but does have a pick-up window for takeout.

“I was very lucky to get this location and then we painted it these different colors that are very bright,” said Valenzuela. “It’s really a reflection of the philosophy of the whole culture.”

A culture he celebrates. Valenzuela pulls from different influences inspired by colonial-era dishes, indigenous recipes and Mexican street cuisine. The chef still has three dishes on his menu which he first served at his restaurant in Monterrey, Mexico.

“The Pirata, Gringa, Campechana,” he said. “These items are very iconic from the restaurant that I had before I came to the United States in 1995.”

Valenzuela is proud of his Mexican heritage, In September, he celebrates both Hispanic Heritage Month and Mexico’s independence.

“I’m very glad that we can bring something to contribute to the whole society with our special flavor of Mexican food which has been very popular,” he said. “We love to celebrate our uniqueness and our special contribution.”

Valenzuela is the founder of Taco Bus and drew national acclaim before selling his stake in the brand in 2015. The chef was going to open a fine-dining Mexican steakhouse before getting severely burned in a gas explosion. After a lengthy recuperation and paying hefty medical bills, Valenzuela found himself starting all over with his Rene’s Mexican Kitchen food truck in 2019.

“I decided that I was going to go for it even if I had to start from scratch and bring out what I’m meant to do,” he said. “My craft and the thing that I love, that I’ve been studying, that I’ve been practicing, that I want to bring out.”

Valenzuela said the new kitchen offers more space and appliances than he has in the truck, which has allowed him to expand his menu.

“We have this brick-and-mortar to give us the opportunity to do certain things like this fried taquitos. Where we don’t have fryer in the food truck. So, now we can pull it off,” he said. “Now we have room for our mixers. So, that we can do our chile rellenos that has a golden egg batter on it.”

Valenzuela said after his near-fatal accident he’s grateful for the second chance to serve the food of his family and his ancestors in a new way. 

Rene’s Mexican Kitchen is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesdays through Sundays.