Restaurant return
Northeast San Antonio Chacho's reopens with nachos all night
Chacho's nachos aren't pretty, but still bring the crowds.
Forget Ross and Rachel. No other San Antonio restaurant has as much will-they-or-won't-they energy as the long-shuttered 24-hour Chacho's drive-thru at 8629 Perrin Beitel. Dark since the pandemic, the quick-service Tex-Mex joint is now open again, serving breakfast tacos, quesadillas, and crowd-pleasing pile-high nachos.
The location debuted in 2019 as Goodfire BBQ, a fast-food barbecue joint from the same ownership group. By 2020, the pit black color scheme was painted over in bright turquoise, and a new Chacho's popped up in its place. The restaurant barely had enough time to start melting queso before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Since then, the restaurant's fate has been the subject of much speculation. In February, local members of the San Antonio Restaurants Facebook group began reporting signs of life in the dormant building.
"Dude, what is with the Chacho's building on Perrin Beitel?" wrote one befuddled member. "The place is completely lit up tonight, but obviously, it's not open. Why is that building always seemingly in some state of odd dysfunction? Is it ever going to open up as Chacho's again?"
The guesswork reached a fever pitch in June when patrons started posting first-hand accounts of not only seeing activity but actually ordering nachos in the drive-thru — even as some of the restaurant's windows remained boarded up.
A Chacho's employee confirmed that the 24/7 drive-thru was indeed serving customers but said they don't have a timeline for the opening of the dining room. The outpost is still listed as "coming soon" on the company's website.
The enigmatic Chacho's restaurant group has kept San Antonio on the edge of its seat through a series of mercurial business moves. In addition to briefly flirting with barbecue, the owners once operated Chacho's & Chalucci's, a massive 28,000 square foot food emporium that featured Italian food, Tex-Mex, a full-service bar, and an indoor playscape for kids.
The group also gave fried chicken a go at the 7101 US Hwy 90 W location. Like Goodfire BBQ, it was also rebranded back to a Chacho's. The chain now runs four San Antonio locations and an additional three outposts in Houston.
