Gaithersburg
Published November 7, 2025 at 2:34PM
Coming soon signage is now up for Guapo’s Taqueria and Charcoal Chicken at the former California Tortilla location at 12211 Darnestown Road in Gaithersburg. The new restaurant will replace the long-running fast-casual Mexican spot, which closed permanently last week.
The closure marked the second California Tortilla location to shut down in Gaithersburg within the past year. The company’s restaurant at 255 Spectrum Avenue in the Spectrum Town Center closed in November 2024, leaving the city without any remaining California Tortilla locations.
Guapo’s Taqueria and Charcoal Chicken will bring the local restaurant group’s popular fast-casual concept back to Gaithersburg. The brand, operated by the same family behind the long-running Guapo’s Restaurant chain, currently has three similar locations in Northern Virginia. Each offers a streamlined version of the full-service Guapo’s menu, focusing on rotisserie chicken, tacos, burritos, and Latin American sides made fresh daily.
As longtime locals may remember, Guapo’s previously operated a fast-casual restaurant at 411 N Frederick Road (Route 355) in Gaithersburg. That location opened in December 2010 before closing in 2017, when Ixtapalapa Taqueria took over the space. An opening date has not been announced yet.
Dining and Cooking