LA's Villa’s Tacos after the Super Bowl spotlight

When Victor Villa first started selling tacos out of his grandmother’s house in 2018, a Villa's Tacos empire wasn’t the plan. After opening his first brick-and-mortar location in LA's Highland Park neighborhood in 2023, Villa's popularity began to build as it gained media accolades, expanding to a second location in DTLA in 2024.

Then, in the last few weeks, a breakout feature in Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show changed the game overnight. Lines wrapped around the block, media trucks arrived before sunrise and demand hasn’t slowed since. In this interview, Villa talks about managing viral success, scaling his team without sacrificing quality and why the next chapter of his LA taco story is just beginning.

—Interview by Kelly Dobkin, edited by Bianca Prieto

After the Super Bowl feature, what was the immediate operational impact on Villa’s Tacos?

It was crazy and so surreal. That Monday, I pulled up to Highland Park and there were news trucks everywhere. Cameras, reporters, cars double-parked. The line had already started before the sun came up and it wrapped down the block. And the wild part? It hasn’t really stopped. Even a month later, we’re still seeing those Super Bowl lines at all of our locations. 

I just feel grateful. That’s the word. Grateful. We’ve worked so hard for years, and to see that kind of love—from LA and from people driving hours just to support—it’s something I don’t take lightly.

How did you scale staffing and prep in real time to handle the surge without compromising quality or consistency?

We’ve handled big crowds before, but this was different because it didn’t slow down after the weekend. We had our regulars coming in for their usual fix (our Michelin Bib Gourmand tacos on the handmade blue corn tortillas) and then we had people driving in from Palm Springs, Fresno, all over. Some of them trying us for the first time.

The only way we were able to handle it was because of our team. We have about 70 employees across the company and I really mean it when I say it’s family. Everyone stepped up. We tightened our prep, extended hours and jumped in wherever we were needed. 

But the one thing that never changes is the quality. We’re still making tortillas by hand. We’re still cooking the same way. I’d rather close early than put out something that’s not right. That’s non-negotiable for me. 

This moment isn’t just mine—it belongs to my team and to the community that built us.

Are you considering further expansion after this?

Yes! We just announced Atwater Village, which is huge for me because that’s home. To bring Villa’s back to my hometown…that’s emotional.

People see the Super Bowl and think it happened overnight, but this started in my grandma’s house in 2018. From there, it was pop-ups, then a brick-and-mortar, then more locations. Eight years later, after a documentary, being on Netflix’s "Taco Chronicles" and now the Super Bowl—it’s wild.

We’ve got South Pasadena, Hollywood and Atwater Village coming—that’ll make six locations total. We’re growing, but we’re doing it our way. Same standards, same heart.

 Did the national spotlight change your vendor relationships, pricing power or lease negotiations?

Honestly, it just made our relationships stronger. The people we work with have been supporting us before any cameras showed up. We’ve built real partnerships over time, and this moment just shines a bigger light on all of us. We’re grateful. We’re proud. But we’re still hungry. And I’ll say this—we’ve got a lot more coming. Not just in LA. We’re just getting started! 

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The Prep is written by Kelly Dobkin and edited by Bianca Prieto.