From The Group Behind True Food Kitchen, Blanco Tacos + Tequila & North Italia Are Heading Into San Diego's Fashion Valley Mall

January 15, 2018

The founding team behind True Food Kitchen are bringing two new concepts to San Diego's Fashion Valley Mall. Fox Restaurant Concepts will install outposts of the company's North Italia restaurant and Blanco Tacos + Tequila within the al fresco mall later this year.

The space previously occupied by California Pizza Kitchen within Fashion Valley Mall in San Diego's Mission Valley will soon become the first California location of Blanco Tacos + Tequila, an upscale chain of Mexican eateries from Arizona-based Fox Restaurant Concepts (True Food Kitchen, Flower Child).

California Pizza Kitchen recently relocated to a smaller space within Fashion Valley Mall, leaving the unit at 7007 Friars Road, Suite 901 open for the taking. Moving into the space is the first location outside Arizona for Fox Restaurant Concepts' Blanco Tacos + Tequila, which currently has four outposts around the Phoenix area. Fox Restaurants also operates a True Food Kitchen location in Fashion Valley Mall, as well as another branch that recently opened at Westfield UTC and a Flower Child eatery in Del Mar.

Blanco Tacos + Tequila is the realization of creative visionary and Fox Restaurant Concepts founder, Sam Fox - known for his passion for great food, design, lifestyle and hospitality. An eight-time James Beard Award nominee for Restaurateur of the Year, and New York Times best-selling cookbook author, Sam was recently named one of the 50 most influential people in the restaurant industry by Nation’s Restaurant News for the second consecutive year, is the 2014 recipient of the Richard Melman Innovator of the Year Award by Restaurant Hospitality magazine, and the 2015 recipient University of Arizona Executive of the Year by Eller College of Management. Since launching in 1998, Sam Fox’s Fox Restaurant Concepts has evolved to over a dozen different concepts spanning more than 60 locations, with no plan on slowing down.

A spread at incoming North Italia

Like other Fox Restaurant Concepts that are known for selecting and preparing food using nutrient-rich ingredients, Blanco offers a menu of dishes that appeal to health-conscious diners, with options for nearly all dietary restrictions. Menu offerings include an array of Mexican starters like nachos and guacamole, as well as larger portion items like quesadillas, salads, over 10 taco options, fajitas, burritos, rice bowls, and enchiladas. The restaurant will also offer a full bar, stocked with a rich selection of tequila, wine, cerveza, and craft cocktails.

Fox Restaurants will also install a branch of their North Italia restaurant next to Bloomingdale’s near True Food Kitchen. Since debuting in 2002, North Italia has 16 locations operating and in development across six states and offers a menu of modern Italian cuisine, including house-made pizzas and pastas, and entrees like grilled branzino, chicken parmesan, and rosemary chicken. The eatery will also offer an array of beer and wine. It is expected that North Italia will hire a local chef to lead the project.

Both North Italia & Blanco Tacos + Tequila are hoping to open by Summer 2018. For more information, visit northitaliarestaurant.com, foxrc.com/restaurants/blanco-tacos-tequila and check out the sample menu below.