How Border Town Pop-Up Found a Place of Its Own

In the backyard of a Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, cafe last May, Jorge Aguilar flipped fluffy flour tortillas on a hot griddle for his breakfast offerings. Behind him, his life and business partner Amanda Rosa called out to a long line of customers, assembling taco orders and catching up with regulars. Together, they are Border Town, a beloved Sonoran flour tortilla pop-up that has found a cult following.

Mr. Aguilar, who grew up near the Mexican border in Calexico, Calif., met Ms. Rosa when they both worked at a restaurant in Los Angeles. In 2019, they moved to New York from Las Vegas to help open a new restaurant, but that plan fell through when the pandemic hit. Border Town, an idea Mr. Aguilar dreamed up out of lockdown boredom, now has a shot at something the couple has long dreamed of: a permanent location.

Mr. Aguilar and Ms. Rosa teamed up with Benjamin Turley, a longtime customer of the pop-up and a founder of the Meat Hook, to make their brick-and-mortar dreams a reality. The three spent nearly a year locked into the marathon that is starting a New York City restaurant.

As spring pushed into summer and fall made way for winter, the Border Town team hit major setbacks. Construction was delayed for four weeks because of a pre-existing building violation related to an apartment upstairs. And they had to scramble for more money after a clash between two city agencies forced them to build a new hood venting system, which led to another three-month delay.

Even if Border Town survived myriad bureaucratic obstacles, they still faced the major task of hiring and training staff, developing and refining their menu and finding a way to break even.

Would the storefront be imbued with the magic of what made their pop-up special? We followed them for nearly a year as they brought Border Town to its new location. Watch the video to see what it took.

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