Tortilla Coast was a Tex-Mex restaurant located in

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Their Capitol Hill location was recognized as a popular watering hole for politicians and political staffers. Tortilla Coast was known for their frozen margarita pitchers and bottomless chips and salsa.

History

Tortilla Coast was founded by

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

graduates and Texas natives Bo Marcus and John Breen. The restaurant opened at D Street and Massachusetts NE during the summer of 1988. They later moved to 1st and D Streets SE, next to the Capitol South Metro station. The restaurant's murals were painted by one of James Baker's daughters-in-law. The restaurant was purchased in 2011 by the Clover Restaurant Group, a venture founded by hotelier James Sullivan Sr. and sons. They purchased the restaurant along with three locations of Cafe Deluxe. In 2018, Clover Restaurant Group merged with three Washington area restaurants owned by Geoff Tracy. The combined venture, called Chef Geoff's Deluxe Hospitality, owned Tortilla Coast along with four Cafe Deluxe locations, two locations of Chef Geoff's, and Lia's. In December 2011 they opened a second restaurant at 1460 P Street NW in Logan Circle. Its menu was geared more towards authentic

Mexican cuisine Mexican cuisine consists of the cooking cuisines and traditions of the modern country of Mexico. Its earliest roots lie in Mesoamerican cuisine. Its ingredients and methods begin with the first agricultural communities such as the Olmec and M ...

and served 99 varieties of tequila. The Logan Circle location closed in June 2017. On July 17, 2020, Geoff Tracy announced that Tortilla Coast would close at the end of August 2020 due to limited patronage during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Despite the news of closure prompting a brief wave of patronage in 2020 and 2021, high rent and lack of business led to Tortilla Coast permanently closing on December 18, 2021.

Rio Room

Tortilla Coast's Capitol Hill location was known as a frequent meeting place for members of the United States Congress. Many meetings took place in a private, windowless basement room called the "Rio Room". Texas Senator

Ted Cruz Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...

hosted

Tea Party A tea party is a social gathering event held in the afternoon. For centuries, many societies have cherished drinking tea with a company at noon. Tea parties are considered for formal business meetings, social celebrations or just as an afternoon ...

meetings there in the lead up to the

2013 government shutdown From October 1 to October 17, 2013, the United States federal government entered a shutdown and curtailed most routine operations because neither legislation appropriating funds for fiscal year 2014 nor a continuing resolution for the interim ...

. Media subsequently referred to Republicans meeting there as the "Tortilla Coast Caucus". Members of the

Freedom Caucus The Freedom Caucus, also known as the House Freedom Caucus, is a congressional caucus consisting of conservative Republican members of the United States House of Representatives. It is generally considered to be the most conservative and farth ...

have had meetings in Tortilla Coast's basement. The irony of anti-immigration lawmakers meeting at a Tex-Mex restaurant was not lost on journalists, with ''The Washington Post'' also noting "the hilarity of high-level talks going down in a place with a name just stinking of suburban strip-mall kitsch." Wisconsin Representative

Paul Ryan Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American former politician who served as the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. A member o ...

was a server at the Capitol Hill location in the early 1990s. The

Sunlight Foundation The Sunlight Foundation was an American 501(c)(3) nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocated for open government. The organization was founded in April 2006 with the goal of increasing transparency and accountability in the United States ...

found that Tortilla Coast was among the seven most used venues for political fundraisers.

References

External links

Official website
{{Restaurants in Washington, D.C. 1988 establishments in Washington, D.C. 2021 disestablishments in Washington, D.C. Capitol Hill Hispanic and Latino American culture in Washington, D.C. Restaurants established in 1988 Restaurants disestablished in 2021 Defunct restaurants in Washington, D.C. Defunct Tex-Mex restaurants in the United States

History

Rio Room

See also

References

External links