Comida Cantina will open in Longmont on February 17

Kate Lacroix

We've seen a number of the area's most successful food trucks cement permanent locations over the last year or so, inking deals on restaurant spaces that allow them to expand their mobile brands into fuller service (and often alcohol-supplemented) ventures. The latest to do so is Comida, a big, pink Boulder-based Mack owned by restaurant veteran Rayme Rossello.

That truck has been cruising the streets for almost two years, serving up Rossello's brand of street tacos; late last fall, she landed a space in Longmont's Prospect neighborhood, a progressive area where she'd lived for years, that came with a liquor license and limited work. In fact, when Rossello announced her plans, she noted that it was "freakishly incredible how great the space was for the concept, down to the color scheme."

Rossello confirms that she made just "slight cosmetic changes" to the space, which housed a sushi restaurant until late last year. The resulting spot, Comida Cantina, is "true to a cantina in that it is a place to drink, gather, socialize," she says. "Expect lively music."

Like the truck's menu, Comida Cantina's will "offer Mexican and street food as its base," Rossello notes, with many of the same items available. "But it's an expanded version that plays on favorite flavors." The listed items include such antojitos as salty roasted jalapeños and queso fundido, tacos with fillings like Negra Modelo-cooked sirloin and carnitas over gouda-sweet potato mash, tortas stuffed with skirt steak, tostadas topped with mushrooms simmered in Sombra mezcal, and quesadillas filled with chorizo, fish or poblanos.

That menu pairs to a beverage program that, according to Rossello, focuses on "fresh juices, tequilas and whiskeys, infusions and simple and fresh drinks. Drinks are made quickly," she promises. "No fuss...no frill."

Rossello has hopes that this Comida Cantina will be the first of several along the Front Range, restaurants she plans to grow even as her food truck, which she christened Tina, continues to roll out to different events. She and her team are now putting the finishing touches on the new restaurant. Comida Cantina is slated to open its doors to the public on February 17.