At Tuxpan Taqueria, a New but Beloved Family Restaurant Looks to Give Back to Local Youth
The morning Tuxpan Taqueria was announced as a James Beard New Restaurant award semifinalist, Eddi Alcantar was helping prepare their family owned restaurant for opening alongside his brother, Diego Alcantar. Diego stepped out to answer a call and burst back into the restaurant exclaiming the news.
Tuxpan Taqueria, a cozy 12-seat family-owned restaurant in Central Falls, has been gaining recognition and footing since opening in 2023. During lunch rushes, lines often extend outside the door of the 500 square foot restaurant. “People were happy to see that such a small, tiny spot [got recognized]. And with family working six days a week, we’re doing this,” Eddi Alcantar said.
That family includes Eddie’s siblings, Diego, Michelle, and Cynthia, joined by their parents Maria and Isidro.
What started as Diego Alcantar’s lifelong passion for the culinary world has transformed into an already beloved family taqueria. Named after the Alcantar’s hometown, Tuxpan Taqueria serves the full range of classic tacos, burritos, and gorditas on in-house tortillas.
As a new restaurant, Tuxpan Taqueria is already looking for ways to give back by partnering with The Empowerment Factory, a local non-profit providing social-emotional learning programs for children.
Tuxpan Taqueria will be helping promote The Healthy Living Community Event, hosted by The Empowerment Factory and set to take place September 6-7 at Slater Memorial Park in Pawtucket.
The community event will feature two days of free family fun in the park celebrating Rhode Island's rich cultural diversity through outdoor games, community art projects, and raffles. The raffle prizes will be proudly sponsored by a selection of restaurants from the Blackstone Valley International Food Trail, including Tuxpan Taqueria.
The Empowerment Factory’s mission speaks directly to the Alcantar's, as the siblings Eddi, Diego, Michelle and Cynthia Alcantar grew up in the Pawtucket and Central Falls area.
Maria Alcantar preparing fresh tortillas
Eddi Alcantar noted how his upbringing in the area informs his desire to aid local youth: “growing up and not having the resources - when you're in school, you need a notebook, you need this, you need that, and it's tough.”
Many of the children The Empowerment factory serves through art-based emotional learning programs come from low-income backgrounds in the Pawtucket, Central Falls, and Providence area. All of the schools The Empowerment Factory works with are designated Title I.
Eddi added that Tuxpan Taqueria’s mission is to “make everybody welcome and be respected and be part of the community.”
Nourishing and giving back to the diverse Central Falls and Pawtucket area has become a key value for the family owned restaurant.
Tuxpan Taqueria looks forward to partnering with The Empowerment Factory to promote The Healthy Living Community event. In addition to the chance to win gift cards from their favorite restaurants, attendees will be treated to a full array of free family activities including artmaking, a bouncy house, and petting zoo. Register for the event at EmpowermentFactory.org/9th-HLCE for a chance to win one of the many exciting prizes including gift cards from local eateries like Tuxpan Taqueria.