The brothers behind the popular UKRAFT Brunch Café are expanding their reach across the metro area, but this time, it’s with more than an additional location—it’s with a brand-new concept.
The new restaurant, GuacoTaco (14560 Manchester), will be a hybrid fast-casual, sit-down Tex-Mex concept located in the small municipality of Winchester along Manchester Road in West County. The restaurant will occupy the space that previously housed Tacos 4 Life, which closed earlier this year.
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Co-owner Matt Ratz tells SLM that GuacoTaco will feature fresh ingredients, daily-prepared scratch-made recipes and a hybrid model that blends the speed of fast-casual with the hospitality of full service. The restaurant is tentatively slated to open during the third or fourth week of April, providing just enough time for the team to prepare before grand opening festivities during Cinco de Mayo.
“Mexican [cuisine] is a growing space, and you can do Mexican food healthily,” Ratz says. “Our idea is to be like the bigger fast-casual Mexican brands but localized with better ingredients. This food has a lot of space for our chefs to show their creativity. And who doesn’t love a great margarita?”
The Concept
The idea for GuacoTaco originated by recognizing the team’s talent, Ratz says. A large portion of the kitchen staff is Hispanic, Ratz explains, and would cook dishes representing their culinary heritage during the restaurant’s downtime. Ratz enjoyed the dishes and even took some of the guacamole and salsa to a Super Bowl party one year; it was such a hit that people were asking where they could buy it.
The Hispanic cuisine became popular with UKRAFT’s customers as well after chef Ricardo “Ricky” Granados created a “South of the Border” section for the menu. It did well, which led him to experiment with tacos, salsa, and other dishes for the staff. Eventually, Ratz and his brother, Mike, asked Granados if he would consider doing a full-blown Mexican concept.
“This has been pen-to-paper for us for about a year now, but we’ve been looking for the right spot,” Ratz says. “That could have been three months or three years, but we came upon an opportunity this past November.”
That opportunity came from the landlord of the UKRAFT location at Baxter and Clayton, who connected them with the Tacos 4 Life franchisees at his other strip mall in Ballwin. Initially, the Ratz brothers were in talks to take over that franchise and run it as franchisees. After some initial discussion, however, it became clear that the Ratzes and Granados would be better doing their own concept their own way.
That concept, GuacoTaco, will be a hybrid of a fast-casual and full-service model. As Ratz explains, guests inform the host upon arrival if they want to order from the table via QR code or server. If they choose a code, they simply order from their phones; if they choose a server, they will put up a table flag that alerts the staff they are looking for someone to take their order. Either way, food will be delivered to them. Those doing carryout can either order from a person at a register or from a kiosk. As for size, the interior is 4,500 square feet and holds 120 guests. A six-table patio and four-table sidewalk area add additional outdoor seating.
“We still want to stay in the fast-casual space, but there are some things we’ve experienced at UKRAFT that are just difficult to manage,” Ratz says. “Fast-casuals aren’t meant to be as busy as we sometimes are. What do you do when there is no place for people to sit after they order at the line because the tables are all full? With full-service, the hostess can control the tempo.”
The Menu
Granados and Mike Ratz are currently developing a menu that will include a range of traditional Tex-Mex fare: tacos, burritos, quesadillas, bowls salads, and a line of seven to eight types of salsa, which they hope to one day make available for retail. GuacoTaco will also offer weekend brunch with items such as chilaquiles and huevos rancheros. The restaurant will also stock a full bar, serving a variety of cocktails, including margaritas, Ratz says. “The tagline is “Elevated Fresh Mex,” Ratz says.
The Backstory
The Ratz brothers opened UKRAFT as a food truck and kiosk in a Clayton office building in 2019. They then parlayed that success into their first brick-and-mortar restaurant in a downtown space in 2020.
Despite the pandemic, business thrived, allowing the brothers to open a second location at Clayton and Baxter in West County two years later. They also moved their downtown location to a larger, more prominent spot at the corner of 7th and Chestnut.
Now, they are excited to build on their success with a new concept while staying true to their values of local, freshly made dishes that taste good but are good for you.
“We’re delivering elevated Fresh-Mex in a setting designed for both convenience and connection,” Ratz says. “Every plate reflects our commitment to quality without compromise.”
