Dickson Street in Fayetteville has it all. From bars to used book stores to coffee shops to restaurants, the street has got your entertainment needs covered. In May, a new addition joined the eclectic list of offerings on the beloved street: Taqueria Lucha. The restaurant, owned and operated by Juan and Susana Bahena, provides Fayetteville with tacos, quesadilla, burritos and more. Although the restaurant rooted itself in Fayetteville this year, Taqueria Lucha has been serving Mexican cuisines since 2023 as a food truck in Bentonville, Arkansas. After two years in business, the Bahenas decided to give the restaurant a permanent home and headquartered Taqeria Lucha in Fayetteville.
“We always wanted to do a brick-and-mortar location for Taqueria Lucha and bring it back to Fayetteville, where our family is from,” said Juan Bahena.
Although the food truck is no longer in business, the food truck will continue to operate catering events, according to Juan.
The restaurant’s name holds a special meaning for the Bahena family, as it’s named after their daughter, Lucia, who is often referred to as Lucha by the family. Bahena said that, when naming the restaurant, inspiration struck as they were introducing Lucia to her first solid foods: a bean taco.
Although the Bahenas have only been operating Taqueria Lucha for two years, this is far from their first foray into the restaurant industry; in fact, the Bahenas are also the owners and operators of Tula, a Fayetteville-based restaurant offering authentic Mexican cuisine. Tula has been in operation since 2020. Formerly located on the Fayetteville Square, the restaurant is in the process of moving to a new location which is expected to open this fall.
Rooting Taqueria Lucha on Dickson Street, a popular location for University of Arkansas students, has given the Bahenas inspiration on the next steps to take for growing Taqueria Lucha.
“The Idea is to continue to grow, you know, we feel that Taqueria Lucha is a scalable business. We realized that the restaurant has been a really good hit because we’re in a college town with a good bar scene, so we’ve had discussions of bringing the restaurant to other SEC schools!” said Juan.
Regardless of what’s next for Taqueria Lucha, Juan said that his true goal is to maintain the business as a family-oriented business. Alongside himself and his wife, Susana’s brother and sister-in-law are involved with the business, as well.
“I think the family aspect is a very important factor to a lot of this, you know, having the people that believe in it and care for it. When people go to Tula or Taqueria Lucha, we’re always trying to be very welcoming to everyone because that’s something that’s a part of our culture and what we want to showcase and bring to Northwest Arkansas, and hopefully other states and places,” said Juan.
Taqueria Lucha is located at 412 W. Dickson Street in Fayetteville. The taqueria is open on Monday through Wednesday from 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM. For the night owls, the restaurant is open on Thursday through Saturday from 11:00 AM to 3:00 AM.
You can find the restaurant online at taquerialucha.com or on Instagram at @taquerialucha.