Sarah Castillo is the founder and managing partner of Taco Heads, Sidesaddle Saloon, and Tinies, a Fort Worth native, and a pillar within the local community.

Sarah Castillo’s path to becoming one of the most influential tastemakers in Fort Worth’s hospitality space can be traced back to the moment she left her hometown as an 18-year-old and headed south, to the Lower Rio Grande Valley, where she would attend UTRGV on a golf scholarship for one year.

Spoiler alert: Sarah did not go on to compete on the LPGA Tour, but the 10 months she spent within arm’s reach of the border would prove to offer valuable inspiration — and her golfing acumen would come in handy down the road.

Sarah left UTRGV for the University of Texas, where she’d eventually earn a degree in American Studies. From there, she made stops in Aspen, New York and Spain, before the gravitational pull of the Lone Star State inevitably brought her back home.

Upon her return to Fort Worth, Sarah worked as an event coordinator with the Texas Rangers by day, waited tables at Eddie V’s by night, and drove a borrowed minivan with a busted driver’s side door from one to the other. During this time, Sarah had a dream about breakfast tacos — haven’t we all? — and an idea that would ultimately lead to a culinary empire was born.

The idea was Taco Heads, a late night go-to for area bar patrons craving a taco or three. For six years, Taco Heads was run out of a food truck before Sarah made the move into a brick & mortar on Montgomery St. — and, by then, she was on fire.

Sarah followed Taco Heads with two altogether different concepts. First, with Sidesaddle Saloon, a cocktail bar aptly named for the manner in which women once rode horses — which Sarah explains. Next, Fort Worth’s favorite vibe-setter opened Tinies, an elevated Mexican dining experience that is both delicious and eye-opening for Texans who confuse Tex-Mex for Mexican food. Eventually, she’d open a second Taco Heads location on N. Main St., as well.

Sarah shares a behind-the-scenes perspective on her meteoric rise from fun food truck to culinary gamechanger, discusses her challenges and triumphs during the pandemic, and spills the beans on her next big idea.

In this episode, we learn how a Saturday morning tee time and some breakfast tacos led to an idea that would ultimately launch a culinary empire, as Sarah Castillo reflects on her truly unique path to becoming the fun, adventurous face of the Fort Worth hospitality industry.

Find the episode on Spotify & Apple Podcasts