Taco porn: En Su Boca
A nearly 40-year-old adult bookstore was recently taken over by a duo that’s not afraid to get dirty.
- Who: Patrick Stamper and Randy O’Dell
- What: Mexican food at the site of a longstanding porn shop
- When: Opened July 22nd
- Where: 1001 W. Boulevard
- Why: To bring the food of San Francisco’s Mission District taquerias to Richmond.
- Dishes: Quesadilla conchinita pibil — banana leaf slow roasted pork, cheese, sour cream, and two salsas ($10); lamb and chorizo chili with six chilies and lime crema ($10); slow roasted carnitas taco — citrus pork shoulder, toasted arbor salsa, taqueria onions, and cilantro (1 for $3, 4 for $11, 10 for $25).
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Behind the bar where Pacifico drafts are now poured and carne asada tacos are folded used to be a row of small booths wherein men would pay a few bucks for a couple minutes of “alone time.” For nearly 40 years, 1001 N. Boulevard was home to Triangle Adult Book Store, which, in addition to its pornographic inventory, populated its store with 15 door-less, curtain-less booths with video screens.
“It was fucking gross,” said Patrick Stamper, co-owner of En Su Boca,1 about the Triangle’s condition when he took over the property in late 2011. “You’d walk in and there was this weird little area when you walked through the front door with a desk and on the walls they’d have porno mags, movies you could buy, and dildos or whatever,” he said.
Stamper and his business partner, Randy O’Dell, have traded Triangle’s porn and toys for tacos, burritos, and other Mexican cuisine.
While most residents and business owners in Scott’s Addition applauded the location’s about-face, not everyone was pleased. Stamper recalled meeting a man during En Su Boca’s lengthy cleaning and remodeling who boasted that every time he got out of prison, Triangle was the first place he’d visit. Or the old man that pulled up in a brand new SUV, disappointment in his eyes upon realizing that Triangle was gone.
Even those who wanted Triangle gone may have had a hard time processing that it really was gone. For 38 years, it welcomed visitors getting off and on I-95 at Boulevard. “Almost everyone will say that this was one of the first things they saw the first time they came to Richmond,” Stamper said. “It was kind of the armpit of the city.”
But in recent years, as Scott’s Addition saw the arrival of Bow Tie Cinemas, Fat Dragon, Light Tape, and others,2 the Triangle was one of the last blights of the neighborhood. “I think by getting rid of [the Triangle], we were kinda moving the neighborhood in the right direction,” Stamper said.
En Su Boca wasn’t the first time Stamper and O’Dell had taken a shabby property and revamped it. Stamper moved to Richmond in 1995 and began working in several restaurants before helping to open Banditos in 1997.3 A decade later, Stamper helped remodel a property 3433 W. Cary Street–which had previously housed a run of failed coffee shops–into Mezzanine.4
Stamper and O’Dell then turned their attention to The Border, a bar located at 1501 W. Main Street. “The building was dilapidated,” he said. “It needed a lot of work.” Most obvious was the floor behind the bar, which Stamper described as “squishy.” In 2010, the dilapidated Border became the popular (and structurally sound) Bellytimber.
“The potential is there, you just have to be able to see past the shit,” Stamper said about the properties he’s revamped. But not only do he and his partner see past the shit, they clean it away. Perhaps none more so than when they took over the Triangle in 2011. “We’ve been kinda training for this our whole lives.”
Bodily fluid stains aside, the building was far from primetime. “There was no gas running into the building, there wasn’t a proper bathroom. It wasn’t even close to being a proper restaurant,” Stamper said.
Anyone who’s remodeled or refurbished a home or building will tell you to expect the unexpected, which usually leads to added expenses and delayed timelines. That certainly happened with En Su Boca, but there was also an unexpected gift: two garage doors.
From about 1950 – 1973, the property was a Texaco station with bay doors. Triangle ownership later covered those doors with a drab paneled exterior. “Nobody even knew there were garage doors,” Stamper said. “Nobody knew it was a gas station because Triangle Book Store had been here for so long.”
Discovering the doors was a happy turn of events. “The garage doors were a big thing for us” because it allowed En Su Boca extra light and patio space, Stamper said. On July 22nd, the restaurant opened.
Stamper says the menu harkens to the taquerias of San Francisco’s Mission District, which he’d make a point to visit whenever in the Bay Area. “I’d find my way to the Mission every day to eat tacos,” he said. “Good food that came out fast and was cheap.” He felt it was a type of Mexican food Richmond was missing, and who better than he and O’Dell to bring it to town. “We felt pretty confident that we would have a niche.”
As a result, some of the items are a tad different. For instance, cheese isn’t a standard ingredient for the tacos (although it can be added). “It’s more about the tortilla and the protein,” Stamper said. As for the tortilla chips, they’re thicker, authentic tortillas made by a Mexican family living in the West End. There are also dishes some may not be accustomed to like the grilled street corn ($6): two corn cobs topped with lime mayonnaise, cojita cheese, and piquing chili; and the slow braised goat leg ($20) served with guacamole, rice, drunken beans, and warm tortillas.
“There’s something fundamentally festive about Mexican food,” Stamper said. En Su Boca’s bright interior and colorful murals only boost the festiveness.
Stamper isn’t surprised that business has been good, but he is amazed by the number of families that regularly come in. So much so, he’ll soon have to order additional high chairs and booster seats to accommodate them.
“The last thing you’d think is the old porno shop…would be a place to bring the kids,” Stamper said, laughing.
En Su Boca is located at 1001 N. Boulevard.
Related
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Footnotes
- Spanish for in your mouth. ↩
- And most recently the Washington Redskins training camp ↩
- At its original Cary Street location. ↩
- Stamper and O’Dell later left the business. ↩
photo by Anne Aurelia Lewis
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Nathan Cushing
Nathan Cushing is a writer, journalist, and RVANews Editor.
Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
One reason not to go: a guy builds a brand for years, develops a reputation for innovative taco cuisine, and these guys
1) choose to do the same kind of food
2) name their place a very close approximation of his name (Boka).
The Boka truck has been here for years – the En Su Boca guys get the benefits from brand infringement that other knockoffs get. People can’t tell the difference at a glance – they just assume it’s the same organization.
Recently the Water Grill was caught ripping their name off a restaurant in California, and were forced to change their name. There’s no excuse for this – do a web search and it’s done. These Boca guys need to change their name also.
Agreed. Also the food, not very good.
i’ll check it out, but having lived in the San Francisco Mission for 10 years in the 90s, I’m always excited to see a restaurant somewhere else say they’re going to do SF Mission-style and always disappointed… honestly the only place that comes somewhat close is Chipotle, though it would be nice for someplace that isn’t a chain to pull it off
Went in, waited about 20 minutes at a bar stool. Left.
I don’t think they noticed. It was busy, but I was hungry.
Not sure i’m buying the name stealing thing…They don’t spell Boca the same way. If anything, Boka with a K reminds me of the veggie burgers you buy at the grocery store, so i assumed they were some sort of veggie based cuisine.
Woops..got my “Boka’s” mixed up. The burger is actually Boca with a C. Fuck it, they all need to change their names.
Reliving the porn shop days may not be the best marketing strategy.
I mean they boca truck has the slogan, for your mouth, which is pretty close to in your mouth.
I read this article today and decided to take a couple of friends for fish tacos. It was 10 pm and hardly anyone was in the place. They gave us our beer and then proceeded to ignore us. I asked if we could order. I got an uninspired….sure. I should have known what would happen next. About 30 minutes later I saw the kitchen staff cleaning containers and our waiter sitting at the bar staring at his smartphone. I asked about our order and the bartender said…I thought you were just drinking beer. It will be ready in 10 minutes. Then when the order did come about 40 minutes after the order it was wrong. This place is absolutely horrible filled with idiotic hipsters that are too cool to act like your order is important. This review is coming from a VCU grad that is a pretty patient guy by the way…..If you like greasy haired imbeciles with tattoos that do not have many brain cells in there skull then by all means go there. En Su Boca must stand for I Don’t Care. If you want a real taco or burrito go to Hellbenders in Davis, West Va that is owned by hippies and they give you the best service available. I am sure the food at En Su Boca is acceptable but there service is horrendous. I am astounded that servers do not care enough to at least pay attention to customers. All I have to say is that I am disappointed because I wanted to like it after reading your article and passing it on many occasions. They really blew it and For (from) My Mouth I say stay away.
EDIT: They do not have a brain cell in THEIR head.
Sorry I am a bit peeved.
Steve: “This place is absolutely horrible filled with idiotic hipsters that are too cool to act like your order is important.”
They must have recruited from Carytown Burgers and Fries.
I’ve been twice and have had good service and the fish tacos are amazing. It’s also reasonably priced, and have great, fresh salsas. I’m glad I haven’t had the experiences of the other posters…I’m going tomorrow in fact!
I think the fact that they named it Boca when they had literally billions of other words and word combinations from two languages to choose from makes it brand squatting. They could have called it literally anything. Something relating to a proper noun, like Stamper’s, Randy’s, or Fappy’s. A play on their other place, like Timberbelly’s. Something geographical with a twist like Scott’s Edition, or something more Spanishy, like Macho Tacos, Estrangulando el pollo, or even Dos Huevos.
The food is what it is. It’s a bar more than anything else. A laid back place where you can watch the Yankees, or thumb wrestle with your buddy.
First off, any moron that uses the word hipster when referring to anything other than their misguided interpretation of something they either don’t understand, don’t like or are intimidated by, is a complete and utter idiot. Did these people have tattoos? Oh my! Were they young? WOW! Did you just not like them because you don’t like anything else that strays from your incredibly moronic and small minded world view? God forbid a place has people with tattoos and perhaps even wearing black working there! Just do the world a favor next time you have the urge to utter the word and hold your breath until you pass out. Believe me, the world will be a better place.
Furthermore, if you can’t find any proper adjectives to use in your descriptive and highly informative review then don’t. VCU grad or not. I also graduated from VCU. It wasn’t a very hard thing to do and I certainly don’t use it as an introduction when writing a restaurant review.
Ok, so a taco truck and and restaurant have varying forms of Boka/Boca. I’m sure neither place gives a shit so why does anyone else. Move on already or take it to Reddit.
Lastly, I’ve had mediocre food from both places. Guess what? I’ve also had great food from both places. Surprised? I’m not – it’s a restaurant and one is very new. Both places cook fresh food. They don’t order it from Cisco and then deep fry it. I get it if you had a bad experience but why not be constructive or give a place a second chance. As an owner of a business (not food related) these places are obviously trying to bring something to positive to RVA. It’s not easy to do. If your that upset after reading this, open your own taco stand. Seriously. Try it. And best of luck to you.
You mean “you’re”, not “your”. If you’re going to be condescending, correct grammar is absolutely imperative. Your buddies, the guys doing the brand appropriation don’t care, but the guy who had his brand damaged by food that apparently sucks might think differently.
Cisco is a telecommunications company, so they probably didn’t order it from there. Unless you’re using throwback hipsterspeak from 1985, but that would more correctly be “Frisco” to refer to San Francisco.
Anyway, the article clearly states: “Stamper and his business partner, Randy O’Dell, have traded Triangle’s porn and toys for tacos, burritos, and other Mexican cuisine.” They may not have ordered their food from Cisco, but they did appear to have traded smut straight up for it, and may not have maximized value out of that trade if their food isn’t any good.
Best of luck, but I’ll go closer to home. Jorge’s Cantina – isn’t that kind of the same thing? They say it’s authentic Mexican food.
Skippy, give it a rest. I’m no ones “buddy” and certainly not yours. I don’t know is appropriating anything at either establishment and nor do I care. Your wit is dull and so is your delivery. Hipsterspeak? I’m sure you were excited to wake up and use that one. (((golf claps))) Don’t stay close to home, PLEASE just stay home.
U mad bro? The Thumb wrestle your buddy is a euphemism, and it was for the hipsters. If you just want to make money, why not do what Timberbelly’s does? Drag all the tables out onto sidewalk and have a DJ and some drink specials. The noise won’t disturb anyone way out there on Boulevard.
No, no one is mad bro. But you might be. Sounds like you’ve got a problem you’d like to air out in your “second life” the internet because you can’t in your “real life”. We all know why. I was simply giving my two cents on the matter since you were losing your marbles over the whole thing. That’s also a euphemism. I’m glad you don’t like my sentiments on this topic as it reaffirms the reason I posted it in the first place. Also, if you live in the Fan and don’t like noise, you probably shouldn’t live in the fan. Yawn.
Yeah, hipsters work there. It’s Richmond. If you don’t like hipsters go live in the county. Also, lulz at people getting butthurt over the term hipster. And if you don’t want bad service at any restaurant don’t go right before closing.
As far as the food, it might not be the best Mexican (or tex-mex, or Frisco-mex) ever, but it’s pretty damn good for the price. Way better than Jorge’s Cantina or Casa Del Barko.
Went last night and had another great experience. Will continue to go and tell others about how awesome this place is! And, I agree with whoever said that if the owners of the other places that have similar names haven’t done anything about it, then they must not care…so why are people complaining about it?
I’ve been once and was not impressed; however, I cut them a wide margin of slack at the time because it is a new restaurant, and I was not not impressed; my food was passable, service was adequate, if slow and overwhelmed at a very busy time when they should be at peak performance (I imagine or hope their servers, cooks, and hosts will get up to speed, etc.).
As for authentic Mexican…RVA has, and has had for years, plenty of venues for good and authentic Mexican. Many people forget, or simply don’t frequent, La Milpa on Southside in the city, Latina Village in the near west end, Bodega Latina near Regency, and half a score others throughout the city and counties. All of which, by my tongue are fair shake better and cheaper than Don’t Look Back, En Su Boka, Boka Truck, et al, though also quite different in experience and environment.
As for the name – you cannot copyright a name, title, or simple phrase without some difficulty and a lot of money. But arguing brand infringement between Boka and En Su Boca is silly, particularly when En Su Boca is a fairly/very common phrase in Spanish, and they serve Mexican-style/influenced food (there are numerous eateries with the very name). And Boka is a village in Serbia.
(fair disclosure: I am NOT a copyright lawyer, but have edited numerous publications where copyright was an issue and have done a fair amount of research. I could be full of it. Call me on it if so.)
Go there or don’t. Or go there or don’t. But we should, as a community, use this energy on more pressing issues.
After reading all these comments I decided to go last night. And much to my surprise it was excellent! Not sure where all the animosity towards this place is coming from. It was super clean inside, we didn’t have a long wait or bad service. I will say the Nachos could be a bit softer, they seem a tad too crisp. But we had the chorizo and carne asada tacos as well as a chicken burrito and they were all outstanding. Definitely will go back to this place. Worth checking out if you’re in the area for sure.
I’ve gone twice and have to admit, I’m not a big fan of Mexican food. I loved it. Especially the grilled corn, Fish Taco and homemade popsicles!! Loved the décor, and the waitress was friendly and prompt with our food. When folks are trying their hardest to start a business why do folks talk so negatively about it? Jeez People!!!
This is controversial enough to shut down the open comments on the article page? “Open comments at your own risk?” Please-