The last two years have been a whirlwind for La Chica Loca - literally. But the business is kicking off 2020 with a new adventure - a physical location in downtown Jefferson City.
La Chica Loca is set to open Jan. 17 at 306 E. High St., which previously housed Root Cellar.
La Chica Loca opened inside 202 E. High St. in 2018, shortly before the building was evacuated because of a damaged common wall it shares with 200 E. High St. The west wall at 200 E. High St. partially collapsed in June 2018.
La Chica Loca then moved to a food truck on East Capitol Avenue, where the May 2019 tornado slammed it against the back wall of Avenue HQ and destroyed the truck.
"We're hoping this building doesn't just fall into shatters around us," co-owner Amanda Jensen said jokingly.
Jensen and her husband and chef, Greg Atkinson, couldn't have rented the East High Street building if it hadn't been for the generous community, they said. After the tornado, the duo started a Kickstarter campaign and raised $16,000.
"When the tornado hit, we weren't fully insured like we should have been, and we lost a lot of our equipment and our food truck and didn't really have a way out," Jensen said. "We had so many customers come to us and ask, 'What can we do? How can we help? We need your burritos back.'"
The couple used the money to buy a food truck, but they realized soon after the truck required more work than anticipated.
At that moment, the East High Street location popped open, which was "a dream come true," Atkinson said.
Jensen said she's had her eye on this location since they started La Chica Loca because of the building's hood vent, large space and prime downtown location. It also has a large prep kitchen and storage downstairs so they can pull the food truck around the back of the building and easily load and unload items.
"The location is perfect for us," she said. "It's almost like it was built for us."
The large space can seat 45-50 people and comes with more opportunities, like expanding the menu. This includes adding the most-popular "burritos of the week" to the permanent menu, offering the sought-after chicken and waffles on the weekends, and preparing weekly specials like Tamale Tuesday and Taco Thursday.
The business plans to expand its hours, opening from 6 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 8 a.m.- 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Jensen and Atkinson also offer their space for special events for a rental fee.
The couple plans to operate the food truck for special events and caterings, adding they hope to repair the food truck in time for PorchFest in May.
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