Taco Naco KC

Mexican-heritage couple Fernanda Reyes + Brian Goldman Ruiz; pop-up 2019 → Overland Park brick-and-mortar 2021; chef-driven regional Mexican; Best Mexican in KC, Spring 2027 — Newcomer Pick honoree.

Description

Taco Naco KC is the Mexican-heritage couple Fernanda Reyes + Brian Goldman Ruiz chef-driven operation. Reyes trained at the Instituto Culinario de Mexico in Monterrey, Mexico and later earned an MBA in food and beverage nutrition; her childhood included her mother’s family restaurant in Mexico.¹ Goldman Ruiz brings his own Mexican-heritage background.

The operation started as pop-ups at festivals + the Overland Park farmer’s market in 2019, then secured a brick-and-mortar in February 2021 in Overland Park, KS — in the former space of one of Goldman Ruiz’s favorite Mexican restaurants from his childhood. The cuisine is deliberately non-Tex-Mex: regional Mexican preparations + birria-forward menu + creative dishes celebrating the couple’s heritage.

The 7-year tenure (2019 pop-up → 5 years brick-and-mortar) places Taco Naco under the 10-year Long-Tenure threshold for Best Mexican Award Top-5 eligibility — but the operation’s identity is exactly the Newcomer Pick designation: chef-credential lineage + Mexican-heritage couple + post-2020 wave of KC Mexican operators committed to building here.

Tier classification

Tier 1 — KC-resident chef-owner operation; Mexican-heritage couple.

Criterion match: chef-owner operation; KC-area resident (Overland Park); independent (not chain); 7-year tenure too short for Top-5 strict reading; Newcomer Pick designation honors the operation appropriately.

Best Mexican Award — Newcomer Pick designation

Per Best-Mexican-In-KC-Spring-2027-Shortlist-Synthesis §Newcomer-Pick: Taco Naco is the inaugural Newcomer Pick honoree. The Newcomer Pick is a sidebar recognition for operators under the 10-year threshold who’ve earned recognition but don’t fit the Long-Tenure Top-5 criterion. One operator per year, named without ranking. Taco Naco anchors the Y1 sidebar.

Menu

Last verified: 2026-06-23 · Source: Taco Naco KC official site (menu/made-with-love) + Uber Eats Westport ordering menu · URL(s): https://taconacokc.com/menu · https://www.ubereats.com/store/taco-naco-kc-westport/2fx9OLlfWeeG9LpOPnmpXg · Price tier: Low–Medium · Confidence: Medium (delivery-platform prices carry a platform markup; in-house prices run somewhat lower)

The kitchen is built on nixtamal corn tortillas — stone-ground from three ingredients (non-GMO corn, lime, water) and pressed in-house — with daily-made salsas, handmade guacamole, Certified Angus Beef, cage-free eggs, and antibiotic-free chicken.² The menu spans birria, street tacos, breakfast, burritos, bowls, and antojitos; vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options run throughout.²

Birria (the signature)

• Quesabirria tacos — the house signature: birria-style brisket on a stone-ground white-corn tortilla with melted cheese, cilantro, and onion, served with a consommé au jus for dipping. Available as a Quesa Birria Taco Plate (3) (~$13.99 Westport delivery).²³

Tacos (by the each)

• Stone-ground-corn street tacos built around Pork Al Pastor ($3.99), Carne Asada Chimichurri ($4.99), barbacoa, Pollo Achiote, deshebrada, and guisados such as pork verde and pork roja; offal options (tripa, buche) appear on the full list, plus vegan fillings.²³

Breakfast

• A dedicated breakfast tacos and breakfast burritos section, alongside chilaquiles and molletes, with cage-free eggs.²³

Burritos, bowls & quesadillas

• Mission-Style Burrito ($13.99) and Santa Fe Rice Bowl ($13.99), plus quesadillas, tostadas, tortas, and loaded nachos.³

Antojitos & sides

• Esquite / elote street corn ($5.99), Guac & Chips ($8.15), Queso & Chips ($7.15), Salsa & Chips ($6.99).³

Desserts & drinks

• Churros and other desserts; agua frescas, Jarritos, Mexican Coca-Cola (~$3.50), and margaritas-to-go / margarita kits.²³

Note: prices above are drawn from the Westport Uber Eats ordering menu (2026-06-23) and include a third-party delivery markup; dine-in pricing runs lower, and items vary by location. Several full-list items (offal tacos, breakfast, churros) are confirmed by category on the official menu but lack a verified per-item dine-in price.

Operating status

• Status verified active 2026-06-23 via Yelp — Taco Naco KC, 4141 Pennsylvania Ave (Updated June 2026) and Taco Naco KC — Locations (accessed 2026-06-23). No closure notice; Westport location operating with current hours.

Sources

Footnotes

1. Taco Naco KC — “Who We Are.” https://taconacokc.com/who-we-are. Source for Fernanda Reyes Instituto Culinario de Mexico Monterrey training + MBA + family-restaurant childhood; Brian Goldman Ruiz partnership; 2019 pop-up → February 2021 brick-and-mortar. ↩

2. Taco Naco KC — official menu + “Made With Love.” https://taconacokc.com/menu · https://taconacokc.com/made-with-love. Source for menu structure (birria, tacos, breakfast tacos/burritos, quesadillas, burritos, bowls, nachos, tostadas, tortas, chilaquiles, molletes, esquite, desserts, agua frescas, margaritas-to-go), quesabirria signature, nixtamal stone-ground corn tortillas, Certified Angus Beef + cage-free eggs + antibiotic-free chicken sourcing, vegan/vegetarian/GF options. Verified 2026-06-23. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

3. Uber Eats — Taco Naco KC (Westport) ordering menu. https://www.ubereats.com/store/taco-naco-kc-westport/2fx9OLlfWeeG9LpOPnmpXg. Source for representative prices: Quesa Birria Taco Plate (3) ~$13.99, Pork Al Pastor ~$3.99, Carne Asada Chimichurri ~$4.99, Mission-Style Burrito ~$13.99, Santa Fe Rice Bowl ~$13.99, Esquite ~$5.99, Guac & Chips ~$8.15, Queso & Chips ~$7.15, Salsa & Chips ~$6.99, Mexican Coca-Cola ~$3.50. Prices include delivery-platform markup; verified 2026-06-23. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶