Downtown Bellingham will have one more taco bar to add to its list of eateries soon.
Red Star Taco Bar’s new space will be located at 1327 N. State St., according to a business permit issued on March 6. Additional permits for catering, direct shipment and a liquor license were also filed.
But the space won’t just sell creative tacos and additive-free tequila, Padraic Markle, co-owner and operator of Seattle-based Red Star, told Cascadia Daily News on Saturday, March 30.
Because of the size of the space, there will be two separate restaurant areas divided by a wall: one will focus on Red Star’s taco and tequila offerings, and the other on breakfast items such as biscuits and gravy and a selection of eggs Benedict.
“It won’t have any of the same decor. It won’t have any of the same concepts,” Markle said of the new breakfast space.
The restaurant is expected to open in mid-June depending on the construction schedule, Markle said. The breakfast side of the restaurant, which will be located in the former Jack’s gaming room, is expected to operate from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., while the taco bar will open from 4 p.m. to midnight on weekdays, and will be open later on weekends.
The menu for the breakfast restaurant side has not been finalized, but there will be an espresso bar serving Seattle-based Lighthouse Coffee with to-go coffee options, he said. Weekends will feature brunch specials.
The Bellingham location is the third for the taco and tequila bar that started in Seattle in 2014 and expanded to Tacoma in 2018. The new space also offered Markle, a 2003 graduate of Western Washington University, and his business partner an opportunity to move back to an area they loved.
“Bellingham is going to be the best of the three locations and we were really putting a lot of love into designing it,” Markle said. “But it’s not going to be frou-frou or bougie … We want it to be a fun place for people to hang out.”
Annie Todd is CDN’s criminal justice/enterprise reporter; reach her at annietodd@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 130.
