Tortilla Coast was founded by Georgetown University graduates and Texas natives Bo Marcus and John Breen.

[6] On July 17, 2020, Geoff Tracy announced that Tortilla Coast would close at the end of August 2020 due to limited patronage during the COVID-19 pandemic.

[7] Despite the news of closure prompting a brief wave of patronage in 2020 and 2021, high rent and lack of business led to Tortilla Coast permanently closing on December 18, 2021.

[8] Tortilla Coast's Capitol Hill location was known as a frequent meeting place for members of the United States Congress.

[10] The irony of anti-immigration lawmakers meeting at a Tex-Mex restaurant was not lost on journalists, with The Washington Post also noting "the hilarity of high-level talks going down in a place with a name just stinking of suburban strip-mall kitsch.