Tacos at El Garage in Richmond, Calif.

An East Bay Mexican restaurant that started in a residential driveway and helped ignite the local birria movement has closed suddenly.

Owned and operated by the Montano family, El Garage first started slinging rich, now-famous, quesabirria tacos out of the family’s Richmond garage in 2019. A strong social media presence — including photos of those deliciously ruddy, braised beef-stuffed tortillas — helped catapult the business to cult-worthy status. Soon after, it was heralded as one of the best pop-ups in the Bay Area. In 2020, the Montanos opened a cavernous brick-and-mortar at 1428 Macdonald Ave. in Richmond, serving not only their famous tacos and consomme but also flautas, tostadas, “birria grilled........

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