Roll Em Up Taquitos
Patel family brings California food concept to West Knox
“For our Community Day, we are giving one free taquito to everyone that comes in” on opening day, said Hardin Valley resident Nirav Patel, restaurant co-owner.
“We are super-excited about (opening),” he added. “We just want everyone to try it out.”
Patel described a taquito as a corn or flour tortilla in which “you put seasoned beef, chicken, potato, cheese as the proteins; roll it up and fry it until it’s golden brown.
“And, we have a bunch of toppings we put on top, such as Roll Em Up sauce, guac sauce, sour cream and cheese, ” he added. “We have different styles of taquitos as well. They include Bombaf-style, queso style and elote style and gassed-up style. “
The franchise originally started about six years ago in Chino Hills, California, and has been growing ever since, according to Patel.
“Basically, the founders, Ryan Usrey, CEO, and his dad, Ron Usrey, fell in love with their mama Karen’s taquitos, and they just knew they had to bring them to the rest of the world,” he said.
So, they opened a Roll Em Up Taquitos in Chino Hills.
Now, Patel and his partners — his sister, Jiya Patel, and brother-in-law, Vimal Patel — are planning one for West Knox County.
“We met with the founders about two years ago in Chino Hills,” Nirav Patel said. “We just really fell in love with the food and the culture.
“We had a bunch of food in California, and (Roll Em Up Taquitos) was the best food that we had,” he added.
“The culture revolves around reggae music, spreading peace and good vibes in our community and just serving fresh, hand-rolled taquitos and awesome sides, such as street corn, beans, chips, guacamole, our proprietary salsa and our mouth-watering churro doughnuts.”
Concerning the family owners and the brand, “we’re all about positive community impact,” Patel said. “So, we wanted to make our grand opening a community day.
“For every taquito we give away, we will be donating $1 to a local non profit,” he added.
Roll Em Up Taquitos’ hours will be from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sundays.
