Vitamin T, a Mexican eatery and tequila bar on the east side of CityScape, will soon be expanding its menu and its space.
Nine months after opening downtown, the taco shop, co-owned by Arizona chef Aaron May, will knock down its southernmost wall and expand into the adjacent, 300-square-foot retail space, whose original renters, La Grande Orange Public House, backed out. The restaurant will also serve breakfast dishes starting Sunday.
“We only seat 10 people inside as of right now, so that’s a big hindrance in our business throughout the summer,” said Peder Bondhus, co-owner of Vitamin T. “A lot of people are worried about walking from their office in the Wells Fargo building and the Chase building, getting to Vitamin T and not having a place to sit.”
To execute the expansion, construction will first start in the empty retail space next door, which will take two to three weeks to complete. Some time in early October, Vitamin T will close for one week to knock down the wall and complete the expansion.
“I’m not nervous about being closed for a week,” Azlin said. “It really needs it. We’ll get a lot more people down here.”
Vitamin T will add about 30 seats inside while capacity on the outdoor patio will increase from 16 to 40.
With the new breakfast menu, Vitamin T will also be changing its hours. Currently, the restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Once the breakfast menu is available, the restaurant will open at 7 a.m. and close an hour earlier at 7 p.m.
The addition of a breakfast menu was not something everyone expected, said David Bickford, who writes the PHX Rail Food blog.
“When Vitamin T opened, a lot of people were cheering for it to be a late-night place,” Bickford said. “They’re at a concert or doing something downtown, or a Suns game, and they wanted something quick to eat after, getting three tacos sounds great.”
Nikki Buchanan, Vitamin T spokeswoman and former food critic for the Arizona Republic, said the restaurant was originally intended to appeal to a later crowd, but opportunities for sales have changed.
“Now it looks like they’re going to make more money in the morning than they are at night,” she said.
Pierce Azlin, manager of Vitamin T, said the eatery was considering moving to a new location before LGOPH backed out of renting the adjacent space, as its current spot did not provide adequate space.
After only nine months of operation, however, Azlin said the taco shop is already making a profit, a feat that generally takes restaurants a year or more to accomplish.
The restaurant is also looking to open a location in Tempe and is putting in bids for a spot in Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
The expansion of Vitamin T will happen at almost the exact time a new Chipotle Mexican Grill is slated to open across the street on the other block of CityScape.
David Roderique, president of the Downtown Phoenix Partnership, said he does not feel the opening of Chipotle will pose a threat to Vitamin T.
“I think they’re two very different kinds of things,” Roderique said.
Bondhus added that he wasn’t concerned with the upcoming opening of Chipotle.
“We do things a little bit differently. Another reason for doing breakfast is they don’t offer breakfast,” Bondhus said. “It’s just another opportunity for us to get ahead.
“Competition brings out the best in everybody. We have to fight to stay relevant.”
Contact the reporter at pmelbour@asu.edu
