Gourmet Tacos in Midvale: How Jesus Galvez and Oscar Perez Are Redefining Fast-Casual Mexican at Sal Y Limon

There's a moment in The Shops at Fort Union when you turn south off Fort Union Boulevard and catch sight of green and orange chairs through wide windows—hanging lanterns swaying overhead, the scent of mesquite smoke drifting through the air. That's Sal Y Limon Modern Taqueria, and it's where Jesus Galvez and Chef Oscar Perez are doing something Utah's taco scene desperately needed: proving that gourmet tacos in Midvale don't require white tablecloths or a sommelier.

"Coming from California, it has been so hard to find a good Mexican joint," one customer posted in May 2025. "This place is soooooo good!" Another described the experience simply: "The food is UNREAL so dang good!"

This is the restaurant that happened when two California restaurateurs took a pandemic road trip to Utah and never looked back—bringing with them the culinary pedigree of Sol Agave, the playful innovation of Blind Rabbit Kitchen, and a vision for what modern Mexican food could be.

From Food Truck Dreams to Utah's Newest Modern Taqueria

Jesus Galvez and Oscar Perez didn't stumble into this. Their origin story starts in 2015 with a taco truck in San Juan Capistrano, California—just three friends (including partner Edgar Estrada) who'd spent years honing their skills at places like the Cheesecake Factory and Nick's Hospitality. They'd write their vision on napkins over Pepsi and fries after their shifts, dreaming about restaurants that would honor Mexican traditions while embracing California's ingredient-driven innovation.

That food truck became Sol Agave—eventually growing to seven locations across California and Utah. Then came Blind Rabbit Kitchen in Sugar House, described by Galvez as their "fun, casual, new American steakhouse." But something was missing in Utah's dining landscape. "We saw a big, big, big need for it," Galvez told the Salt Lake Tribune in May 2025, referring to the gap between expensive sit-down Mexican restaurants and drive-through taco chains.

Sal Y Limon Modern Taqueria opened in Midvale in May 2025 to fill that void—fast-casual gourmet tacos that don't compromise on quality or technique. The restaurant occupies a bright, airy space at 1076 E Fort Union Boulevard, where counter service meets careful craft and where Instagram-worthy plates come out within minutes of ordering.

The Gourmet Tacos Experience: Handmade Tortillas and Wood-Smoked Perfection

Walk into Sal Y Limon and you're immediately confronted with choices that most fast-casual joints don't offer. The menu divides into gourmet tacos (think grilled octopus, pork belly, New York steak), street tacos, vegetarian options, and their famous birria preparations. But what sets this modern taqueria apart isn't just what's in the tacos—it's how they're made.

Galvez and Perez make two types of corn tortillas by hand daily: one infused with guajillo chilis (more flavorful than spicy, Galvez insists) and another with jamaica—that's hibiscus flower, lending a subtle floral earthiness. The meats? They're cooked beneath compressed mesquite wood pellets "to get that extra flavor," a technique you'd expect from a barbecue joint, not a taqueria.

The Baja fish taco has become legendary in its first months. Beer-battered Alaskan pollock arrives "nicely crispy around the edges," one reviewer noted in May, creating texture contrast with creamy morita aioli and avocado. Fresh pico de gallo and shredded cabbage complete what the Salt Lake Tribune called a "satisfyingly tasty taco" where "different flavors and textures came together well."

But here's where Sal Y Limon gets interesting—the birria. "The birria plate was fantastic & a BOMB of flavor," Utah food influencer UtahChefsKiss reported. The slow-cooked beef comes with the requisite consommé for dipping, but the birria quesa takes it further: crispy cheese fused to tortilla, morita aioli, mixed cabbage, pico, and avocado creating layers of richness and acid and crunch.

The gourmet octopus taco shouldn't work in landlocked Utah, but it does—grilled octopus with morita aioli, tomato mint salsa, and avocado. One customer simply described it: "Friendly associate, clean restaurant, yummy tacos. I had the birria taco, an octopus taco, and..." The sentence trails off mid-thought, as if words failed when flavor took over.

Even the suadero—slow-cooked brisket with just onion and cilantro—demonstrates restraint. Sometimes the best gourmet tacos are the ones that don't try too hard, letting wood smoke and time do the talking.

Midvale's Fort Union Mexican Food Revolution

Location matters. The Shops at Fort Union isn't exactly a culinary destination—it's where you go for Target runs and haircuts. But Galvez and Perez saw opportunity where others saw strip mall mediocrity. By bringing Sol Agave-caliber food to a fast-casual format, they've created a Fort Union restaurant that draws lunch crowds from nearby offices and dinner traffic from families who want quality without the wait.

"The service was great. The food was well prepared, and lots of options," one May review noted. "Parking is great and this place is so clean. The ambience and music was great."

The salsa bar deserves its own paragraph. Multiple fresh salsas, from mild to genuinely spicy, let you customize your heat level. "The salsa bar was clean, well stocked, fresh!" one enthusiastic customer reported. "The horchata is real, not the powdered crap."

That attention to detail extends to the aguas frescas—made in-house daily. The pineapple version comes with "bits of pineapple pulp in it," confirmation it's the real deal. And somehow, in a fast-casual format, servers still bring your food to your table after you order at the counter, maintaining a touch of hospitality in an increasingly impersonal dining world.

Planning Your Visit to Sal Y Limon Modern Taqueria

Find Sal Y Limon at 1076 E Fort Union Boulevard in Midvale (The Shops at Fort Union). Turn south off Fort Union at the 995 East light and drive straight until you see those green and orange chairs. Parking is plentiful—a luxury in Utah's crowded dining scene.

Hours run Sunday-Thursday 11am-9pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-10pm. Early reviews suggest lunchtime fills up fast with the office crowd, while evenings bring families. If you're planning a weekend visit, early afternoon seems to be the sweet spot.

What to order: Start with at least three tacos so you can sample different styles. The Baja fish taco is non-negotiable. Add the birria quesa for richness and the carne asada street taco for California-style simplicity. If you're adventurous, the octopus taco offers something rarely found at Utah taquerias.

Don't skip dessert. The churro bites come "filled with a Mexican caramel called cajeta, coated in cinnamon and sugar, and served with chocolate sauce"—so rich that even the Salt Lake Tribune reviewer had to bring them home. But the sleeper hit? The rice pudding. "Both were absolutely DELISH," UtahChefsKiss reported, "but the rice pudding was an especially tasty way to end the meal."

And yes, you can add rice and beans to your burrito at no upcharge. In an era of nickel-and-dime restaurant pricing, that generosity matters.

Why Sal Y Limon Matters to Utah's Food Scene

Here's the thing about Sal Y Limon: it represents a maturation of Utah's Mexican food culture. For years, the options felt binary—authentic hole-in-the-wall taquerias or expensive "modern Mexican" where you paid $18 for three tacos. Galvez and Perez found the middle path: chef-driven technique at approachable prices, gourmet ingredients without the pretension.

"We saw a big need for it," Galvez said about the fast-casual concept. What he didn't say—but what's obvious in every handmade tortilla and wood-smoked brisket—is that "fast-casual" doesn't have to mean mediocre. When you've built restaurants like Sol Agave and Blind Rabbit Kitchen, you bring that same obsessive attention to detail to tacos you can grab on your lunch break.

The early response suggests Utah was hungry for exactly this. "My new favorite Mexican spot in Utah," one reviewer declared in May 2025. Another called it simply: "Oh my!"

Follow @salylimontaqueria on Instagram for daily specials and to see what those jamaica-infused tortillas look like before you commit. And when you go—because you should go—remember that the best gourmet tacos in Midvale come from a place that honors tradition while cooking with compressed mesquite wood and infusing tortillas with hibiscus flowers.

Sometimes the food revolution happens not with white tablecloths and wine pairings, but with orange chairs and a killer salsa bar.