RESTAURANT NEWS | IDAHO
Idaho’s Best Food Truck Finally Parks Itself
Walkin Takos turns a fairground favorite into a Boise restaurant where dinner still comes straight from the bag.
WALKIN TAKOS | MAP | INSTAGRAM
By Mei Chen
5:44 a.m. MT, Sept. 12, 2026
AUTHOR BIO: Mei Chen has worked for nearly a dozen start-ups in as many years, taking her to several West Coast cities. While she’s sure her current day job is permanent, she also has her eye on Carmel.
A taco rarely comes with assembly instructions. At Walkin Takos, the directions are right there in the name.
The popular food truck opens its first permanent restaurant today in Boise, giving one of Idaho’s most popular mobile kitchens an address that stays put. Walkin Takos takes over the longtime home of Tango’s Empanadas on the Boise Bench, a residential and commercial stretch west of downtown.
The name refers to walking tacos, a portable bit of American ingenuity typically found at fairs, football games, and anywhere else that considers a bag of chips adequate tableware. The familiar version begins with a single-serving bag of corn chips, split open and filled with taco meat, cheese, lettuce, and salsa. Walkin Takos treats that formula as a starting point.
Customers build their own combinations by choosing among 11 varieties of chips, six proteins, and nearly two dozen toppings. Doritos and Fritos can serve as the foundation, but so can tater tots or a baked potato. From there, the possibilities move well past the standard ground-beef-and-cheddar model, with enough choices to accommodate an impressive range of appetites and dietary needs.
The flexibility helped Walkin Takos develop a following around the Treasure Valley, where the truck appeared at breweries, festivals, private events, and neighborhood gatherings. It was eventually voted Idaho’s best food truck, an honor that suggests plenty of diners were willing to check social media and follow it to the next parking lot.
The new restaurant occupies a compact building that served Tango’s Argentine empanadas for decades. Walkin Takos purchased the property and began converting it into a fast-casual restaurant while continuing to operate the mobile business.
The truck will keep rolling to events throughout the region. Its permanent home gives customers another option: finding those chips, proteins, and toppings without tracking a trailer across town—or arriving five minutes after the final bag of Doritos disappeared.
At The Pretender in Noblesville, vintage hi-fi sound and chef Ricky Martinez’s menu meet.
By JAMIE DUTTON
Staten Island's new Aqualine serves seafood towers and an eight-course tasting menu.
By MARIA RODRIGUEZ