Buford Highway’s El Rey del Taco Plans Johns Creek Sister Restaurant

A longtime Buford Highway restaurateur is bringing a new full-service taqueria to Johns Creek, with handmade tortillas, premium cuts of meat and a focused bar program planned for the former New York Butcher Shoppe space.

Casa El Rey Taqueria is targeting a mid-January 2027 opening at 11305 Bell Road. The restaurant will be a sister concept to El Rey del Taco, the Doraville taqueria that Martin Macias opened on Buford Highway in 2002.

The new restaurant is intended to be more than a second location. Macias is developing a sit-down concept with tacos featuring cuts such as ribeye and sirloin, as well as tortillas made with yellow and blue corn masa.

The drinks program is expected to include a limited selection of mixed drinks, tequila, wine and bottled beer.

The Bell Road space previously housed New York Butcher Shoppe, which combined a meat market with prepared foods and dining. Its existing kitchen should help simplify the conversion, although remodeling is still required.

Macias told Business Debut that the project has health department approval and is awaiting final city approvals. He anticipates about 45 days of remodeling and hopes to open in early or mid-January. The schedule remains tentative.

Macias has worked in metro Atlanta restaurants since the 1970s. He learned the business alongside his older brother and later opened Los Reyes in the Chamblee-Tucker area before establishing El Rey del Taco in Doraville.

The original restaurant built its following on Buford Highway’s diverse dining corridor, where locally owned restaurants have long drawn customers from across metro Atlanta. Casa El Rey brings that background to a different setting: an established Johns Creek commercial district near Medlock Bridge Road.

For local diners, the coming opening offers a new independent Mexican restaurant with a recognizable connection to one of the region’s longtime taquerias. A final opening date, full menu and hours have not yet been announced.