Native Tongues Taqueria

It’s hard to believe that Native Tongues all started with a series of pop-up luchador wrestling events – but it was all thanks to those underground taco-fueled fights that Calgary got its very own taqueria.

At the time, Calgary restauranteur Cody Willis (of Thank You Hospitality) was fresh out of culinary school organizing pop-up taco events at Taste of First Street and wrestling events at the No. 1 Legion and Commonwealth. He had a taste for authentic Mexican food and really wanted to open his own restaurant. Inspired by his travels around Mexico and growing passion for Mexican culture, he decided it was time to bring Calgary its own little cantina. “I just really delved into Mexican food and culture while travelling in Central Mexico and Oaxaca, Mexico City,” he says. “We just wanted a rustic kind of cantina vibe, like something you would walk into in Mexico City.” So in the summer of 2015, Cody finally opened Native Tongues and eventually brought Rodrigo Rodas on board as head chef.

Rodrigo stumbled upon Native Tongues by chance, and as fate would have it, he hasn’t left since. A classically trained chef from Mexico City, Rodrigo relocated to Canada and was on the hunt for the best Mexican food in Calgary. “I tried different places and not for nothing I came to Native Tongues and tried a couple of things and I knew it was the best,” he says. At the time, Scott Beaton (the former head chef) was moving on to other ventures, so Rodrigo took over his position. “I wasn’t looking for this. I just decided to move to this city and then I happened to find the best Mexican restaurant," Rodrigo explains. "I tried it, loved it and then built a relationship with Cody and Scott and the Native Tongues family."