Woody's Tacos owner Scott Holzinger discusses the tabletops that hang on the wall of his second restaurant location. The tabletops, painted by a local artist, are leftover from the original Woody's Tacos downtown location. Holzinger said he plans to open the new location, at 809 Washington St., next week. (Joshua Hart/The Columbian)Photo Gallery
Woody’s Tacos is coming back to downtown Vancouver next week in the spot that formerly held Low Bar.
Owner Scott “Woody” Holzinger said there are a few things left to install before opening.
The new Woody’s, at 809 Washington St., will focus more on food specials and nightlife, which includes a tequila menu.
During the pandemic restrictions, the restaurant will offer takeout and some outdoor seating.
Covered outdoor seating is also on its way, Holzinger said. Without seating restrictions, the restaurant will hold 45 to 50 people inside.
The menu will be almost the same as at Woody’s Mill Plain spot, at 7900 E. Mill Plain Blvd., except for a few more healthy options at the downtown location.
“One thing I noticed moving from downtown to Mill Plain was that people ordered different,” he said. “I would have whole wheat and flour tortillas, and at the downtown location, it was probably almost even: 60/40 flour to wheat. At Mill Plain, it’s 99 percent flour. No one orders wheat.”
The same goes for brown rice and white rice, he said. He took brown rice off the menu at the Mill Plain location because no one ordered it. He said he’ll return the brown rice to the new downtown location.
“It seems like a different clientele,” Holzinger said. “It’s more adventurous downtown.”
The new Woody’s will stay open later in the night to cater to the nightlife, and it will have about 20 tequilas available.
“We’ll focus on the bar scene,” he said.
The decor in the new Woody’s features paintings from Athena Hahn, whose work is also in the Mill Plain Woody’s Tacos.
Holzinger said he’s hoping to get a covered patio in a nearby parking slot, also called a parklet, but at next week’s launch, he’ll at least have two four-person tables.
“I’m excited,” Holzinger said. “If I didn’t have a reputation that everybody didn’t know, I don’t think I’d have done it. It would have been too hard to compete. I think I’ll be busy right out of the gate. I can tell from the response of Facebook.”
Holzinger was able to bring some furloughed Mill Plain staff back to work for the downtown location, and he’ll hire about eight more employees soon, he said.
After posting job openings on Craigslist, he took the post down after two days because he got so many applicants.
“There are so many people looking for work right now,” he said.
Although the Mill Plain location is struggling “like everybody else right now,” Holzinger said he and the staff are still able to make it work.
Holzinger said he’s also considering a third location in Battle Ground, Salmon Creek or east Vancouver in about six months.
“There are a higher amount of properties for lease,” he said, referring to the pandemic’s effect on the economy. “Unfortunately, we’re taking advantage of someone else’s failure. Rents are cheaper. These landlords, they realize they’ll never get the rent they used to have.”
The original Woody’s Tacos at 210 W. Evergreen Blvd. shut down after 10 years because of an issue with the state Liquor and Cannabis Board. The state wouldn’t let Holzinger serve alcohol at the eating area because it was considered a public space.
Low Bar owner Tyler Garza announced in May that Low Bar would be shut down permanently, partly due to the COVID-19 restrictions and the loss of business.
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