El Pelon Taqueria

What El Pelon Taqueria does

El Pelon Taqueria is a privately held independent Mexican restaurant operator founded in 1998 by Jim Hoben in Boston's Fenway neighborhood. The company runs two physical restaurant locations — the original ~10-seat, primarily takeout storefront at 92 Peterborough Street near Fenway Park, and a second location at 2197 Commonwealth Avenue in Brighton across from Boston College, which added delivery. The menu centers on a focused set of authentic Mexican items, anchored by signature dishes such as the El Guapo burrito (grilled steak with fried plantains, jack cheese, and fire-roasted salsa), cornmeal-battered Atlantic cod fish tacos, Rajas con Queso tacos, tortas, and side offerings, with Beyond Meat available as a protein substitute across the menu.

The business generates revenue through four channels: dine-in and takeout restaurant sales at the two Boston locations, third-party delivery commissions through GrubHub, DoorDash, and UberEats (Brighton offers direct delivery), corporate and group catering with dietary-inclusive options, and branded t-shirt/merchandise sales. Per-ticket pricing on main dishes is in the $4-10 range. Operational technology consists of a Squarespace website with Chownow online-ordering integration, a native mobile ordering app on iOS and Android, third-party delivery platform integrations, and Typeform for contact and job-application forms. There is no proprietary technology platform, no AI/ML systems, and no patents or trademarks on file.

Customer mix is horizontal: Boston-area residents for everyday dining, Boston College and other university students for high-frequency value-driven traffic, Red Sox and event attendees for game-day surges, and Boston-area businesses for catering orders. The company is owned outright by founder Jim Hoben, who actively manages both locations, shares staff between them for quality control, and has explicitly chosen a two-store footprint over franchise or multi-city expansion. There are no funding rounds, no institutional investors, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no disclosed revenue figures.

Name

El Pelon Taqueria

Legal name

El Pelon Taqueria

Website

https://elpelon.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

El Pelon Taqueria is a privately held, founder-owned Mexican restaurant operating two Boston locations (Fenway and Brighton), serving affordable burritos, tacos, tortas, and catering to neighborhood residents, Boston College students, and sports-event attendees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Mexican Casual Dining Restaurant

NAICS

Limited-Service Restaurants (722513)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Mexican & Tex-Mex Fast Casual (THAFABAC)

Keywords

• Authentic Mexican restaurant
• Mexican food catering
• Burrito and taco menu
• Online food ordering
• Restaurant takeout delivery

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Dine-in and takeout restaurant sales: Traditional restaurant revenue from customers dining in or taking food to go at two Boston-area locations. Food made to order with fresh ingredients.
2. Third-party delivery: Revenue through delivery platforms including GrubHub, DoorDash, and UberEats. Brighton location offers delivery service.
3. Catering services: Corporate events, parties, and group catering menus. Mexican menu includes gluten-free and dairy-free options for diverse group needs.
4. T-shirt and merchandise sales: Sale of branded t-shirts and merchandise featuring El Pelon logo. Customers encouraged to buy shirts for travel photos.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

El Pelon Taqueria operates two physical fast-casual Mexican restaurants in the Boston area (Fenway and Brighton) serving made-to-order authentic Mexican cuisine including signature burritos, tacos, tortas, and sides. Offerings are supplemented by a group catering service for corporate events and parties, online ordering via Chownow and third-party delivery apps (GrubHub, DoorDash, UberEats), a mobile app, and branded merchandise including t-shirts tied to a global customer travel-photo program.

Product overview

El Pelon Taqueria is a Mexican restaurant offering a focused menu of authentic Mexican fare including signature burritos, tacos, tortas, and sides. The core product portfolio centers on the El Guapo Burrito (their signature grilled steak burrito with plantains), various taco varieties (fish, Rajas con Queso, Caramelos, chicken), and Mexican sandwiches (tortas). The restaurant operates as a single unified concept with two physical locations in Boston (Fenway and Brighton), supplemented by a catering service for events and a mobile app for online ordering. T-shirt merchandise with a global travel photo gallery program serves as a community-building marketing initiative.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• El Guapo Burrito The signature burrito featuring grilled steak, Mexican rice, black beans, fried plantains, jack cheese, fire-roasted salsa, romaine lettuce, and sour cream. Named 'El Guapo' meaning 'handsome man' in Spanish; priced at $7.95.
• Pescado (Fish) Tacos Cornmeal-battered Atlantic cod fish tacos topped with chile mayo, limed onions, pickled cabbage, and cucumbers; featured on the regular menu at $7.95.
• Caramelos Tacos Grilled steak tacos served with guacamole, hot sauce, salsa fresca, and cheese.
• Rajas con Queso Tacos Vegetarian tacos with roasted poblano chiles, jack cheese, and black beans in soft tortillas; priced at $6.25.
• Tortas Mexican sandwiches served on toasted rolls with various proteins including chicken, steak, and braised pork, topped with refried beans, limed onions, guacamole, and spicy mayo.
• Catering Services Full-service group catering for events of any size offering Mexican menu items including gluten-free and dairy-free options, available for corporate events, parties, and special occasions across the greater Boston area.
• Branded T-Shirt Merchandise El Pelon branded t-shirts (including limited edition styles) available for purchase in store or via email order; integral to the global customer travel-photo program.
• El Pelon Mobile Application Native mobile app for iOS and Android enabling customers to place online orders, access menu and restaurant information, and engage with El Pelon outside of web ordering.

Quantifiable outcome

• Ranked #4 best burrito in the US by FiveThirtyEight out of 67,391 restaurants
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Boston Road RunnerscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 June 2019Co-organized El Pelon 5K Fun Run events around Chestnut Hill Reservoir. Partnership for annual running events promoting community health.
• Boston Calling Music FestivalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 May 2019Food vendor partnership for Boston Calling music festival. Participated as food vendor for 2018 and 2019 events at Harvard Athletic Complex.
• GrubHubminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party food delivery partnership allowing customers to order El Pelon for delivery through GrubHub platform at Brighton location.
• DoorDashminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party food delivery partnership enabling delivery orders through DoorDash platform.
• UberEatsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party food delivery partnership for UberEats food delivery service.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Sweetgreen: Not a direct cuisine competitor, but a category-defining fast-casual operator whose digital ordering, catering, and unit economics set the operational benchmark El Pelon's model is benchmarked against.

Direct peers

• Boloco: Boston-born burrito-focused fast-casual chain with a directly overlapping product (burritos, bowls, tacos) and similar New England college-town customer base.
• bartaco: Coastal-inspired fast-casual Mexican concept with a similar fresh-ingredient, made-to-order menu and bar/catering adjacencies to El Pelon's format.
• Anna's Taqueria: Boston-based fast-casual Mexican chain with a comparable menu of burritos, tacos, and tortas serving a similar student and urban professional customer base in the Boston metro.
• Taqueria del Sol: Regional fast-casual Mexican restaurant with comparable menu, scale, and catering-led operating model; useful comparable for a 2-5 unit independent operator.
• Illegal Pete's: Regional fast-casual Mexican concept with a comparable burrito/taco menu and college-town footprint, useful as a regional expansion comparable.

Broad incumbents

• Taco Bell: Largest QSR Mexican operator in the US; competes for value-oriented, late-night, and delivery occasions with a lower price point but much greater marketing scale.
• Qdoba Mexican Eats: National fast-casual Mexican chain with menu and ordering model that closely mirrors El Pelon's dine-in/takeout/delivery experience.
• Moe's Southwest Grill: National fast-casual chain offering burritos, tacos, and bowls with similar value positioning and dine-in/takeout/delivery model.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill: Largest national fast-casual Mexican chain; competes on the same burrito/bowl/taco menu across the same customer occasion but at a vastly greater scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ElPelonTaqueria
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCyfR0pVCkrRoQar1serpaEA
• Facebookfacebook.com/elpelontaq
• Instagraminstagram.com/elpelontaq
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/el-pelon-taqueria

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about El Pelon Taqueria