116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Birria King brings crispy tacos to NewBo City Market
Early player in local birria offerings opens in new domain
Jan. 11, 2024 6:15 am, Updated: Jan. 11, 2024 11:09 am
CEDAR RAPIDS — An early player in the birria competition who helped refine the increasingly popular birria taco has opened a new space in Cedar Rapids.
Lord Stephen Range, former owner of Birria Tacos in the now-closed cloud kitchen at Rapid Foods on First Avenue NE, opened Birria King at NewBo City Market on Dec. 1.
With a few tweaks and new offerings, the self-proclaimed king of birria didn’t invent birria tacos, but certainly helped popularize them with a few soulful, proprietary tweaks.
“We took a Mexican dish and we just added a couple more different spices that really appeal to the American taste buds,” said Range, who runs the business with partner Ariel Gage. “It’s more of a soul food flavor.”
If you go
What: Birria King
Address: NewBo City Market, 1100 Third St. SE, Cedar Rapids
Hours: Open 1 to 10 p.m. Monday through Wednesday; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. For orders after NewBo City Market hours, order online for delivery or pickup.
Website: birriaking.online
Phone: (319) 743-8381
Details: Tacos start at $4, combos start at $12. In addition to tacos, other birria creations like ramen, fries, gyros and pizza occasionally rotate on the menu.
The recipe
After trying birria tacos in 2019, Range set out to sell on his own with a perfected recipe in 2021. His former brand found quick success against then-competitor Ali Mason, known as the “Taco God” in Cedar Rapids.
Range previously worked with Mason in the commercial kitchen at Southside Steakhouse before parting ways in 2020.
With red onion, cilantro and mozzarella cheese, tacos take on a new dimension with his consomme dipping broth.
‘What makes my style of food taste so good is we don’t take any shortcuts when we make our food,’ range said.
The menu
Range has kept his specialization honed with a simple menu and only a few deviations from the traditional crispy taco. Although he’s served in a few different locations since starting, today’s menu only looks slightly different from his menu a few years ago.
With beef, chicken, and pork, Birria King’s opening has also added lamb to the menu. Any meat cooked with jerk seasoning for an added kick.
The traditional birria goat — popular in the dish’s home state of Jalisco, Mexico — is difficult and pricey to source here, Range said.
Today’s menu offers a number of incarnations for birria: as elote Mexican street corn, egg rolls, fries, quesadillas topped with a signature creamy jalapeno sauce, nachos and ramen.
Other birria inventions, like gyros and pizza, make an appearance on the menu as specials from time to time, as well. The pizza, for example, is “like a glorified quesadilla” made from scratch with fresh pizza dough.
“We’ve been experimenting to find things we really like,” Range said.
New to his latest location, those with a taste for tacos are no longer restricted to NewBo City Market’s limited hours — unlike other vendors at the market. Birria King is open daily through delivery or pickup service available at NewBo City Market’s back doors.
Third-party delivery is available through DoorDash, Grubhub and ChowNow.
Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.
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