Tortilla Coast is a Tex-Mex restaurant chain with two locations in Washington, DC. Their Capitol Hill facility is recognized as a watering hole for politicians and political staffers. Tortilla Coast is known for their frozen margarita pitchers.
Maps Tortilla Coast
History
Tortilla Coast was founded by Georgetown University graduates and Texas natives Bo Marcus and John Breen. The restaurant opened at Second and Massachusetts NE during the summer of 1988. They later moved to 1st and D streets SE, next to Metro's Capitol South 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 December 2011 they opened a second restaurant at 1460 P Street NW in Logan Circle. It gears its menu more towards authentic Mexican cuisine and has 99 varieties of tequila.
Rio Room
Tortilla Coast's Capitol Hill location is known as a frequent meeting place for members of the United States Congress. Many meetings take place in a private, windowless basement room called the "Rio Room". Texas Senator Ted Cruz hosted Tea Party meetings there in the lead up to the 2013 government shutdown. Media subsequently referred to Republicans meeting there as the "Tortilla Coast Caucus".
Members of the Freedom Caucus have had meetings in Tortilla Coast's basement. The irony of anti-immigration lawmakers meeting at a Tex-Mex restaurant has not been 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 was a server at the Capitol Hill location in the early 1990s.
The Sunlight Foundation found that Tortilla Coast was among the seven most used venues for political fundraisers.
References
External links
- Official website
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