Hatch Burritos will open a brick-and-mortar at 721 North Mangum Street in Durham after seven years of pop-ups that saw customers hopping between local spots for warm, foil-wrapped breakfast burritos stuffed with Hatch green chiles.
The new space will allow customers to sit down for a smothered burrito plate or grab one to go via curbside pickup. Owner Talitha Benjamin designed the curbside set-up with early-morning workers in mind.
“We really want to get nurses, doctors, parents, new parents, all the tradespeople,” Benjamin says. The restaurant will open at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday through Friday and at 9 a.m. on weekends.
Beyond breakfast burritos, menu items will include blue corn pancakes, golden milk french toast, and eggs with potatoes, as well as enchiladas, green chili stew with pork shoulder and hominy, and lunch burrito varieties like chile relleno, chicken tinga, and steak.
Nearly every menu item will incorporate Hatch chiles. Similar to geographically branded products like Champagne or Parmigiano-Reggiano, Hatch chiles only come from Hatch Valley in New Mexico. Benjamin has them shipped from the source.
“Everything has green chile,” Benjamin, who spent part of her childhood in Santa Fe, says of New Mexican food. “It gets out of hand. You can find green chile white wine in New Mexico.”
Benjamin started Hatch in 2017 as a way to recreate the food she missed from her early years. She first sold burritos on weekend mornings at Accordion Club—the Geer Street bar she co-founded with Scott Richie, which closed earlier this year, two years after Benjamin sold her stake—then expanded through pop-ups at venues like Queeny’s, Locopops, and Parker and Otis.
The restaurant business runs in Benjamin’s family. Her aunt and uncle owned the Washington, D.C. restaurants CF Folks and The Well Dressed Burrito for decades. Benjamin’s brother, Aaron, owns the Durham restaurant Gocciolina and has allowed Benjamin to use his kitchen as a commissary space throughout Hatch’s pop-up era.
Benjamin’s journey mirrors a familiar Durham success story that has played out at businesses like Isaac’s Bagels and Lutra: years of pop-ups cultivating a loyal base, support from established local businesses, and a crowdfunding push to get across the finish line. Hatch’s Kickstarter campaign, which ends on Halloween, has reached 85 percent of its goal.
“There is an excitement that comes with crowdsourcing that fills the gap as much as the financial contributions,” Benjamin says.
The Hatch storefront, located on the same strip as Night School Bar and Zeitgeist, formerly housed a fire extinguisher service. Benjamin was drawn to the building’s tall ceilings, old plaster walls, morning light, and ample parking.
Benjamin is aiming for an November 8 opening date.
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