It’s recently been a bit “overwhelming” in a good way for La Tingeria chef/owner David Andres Peña — kind of like staring down a heaping plate of his famed halal queso birria tacos.

Why? Well, he’s been finalizing a contract to open the first D.C. location of his small, take-out-focused Falls Church restaurant, as well as planning for two additional Northern Virginia locations. Add to that, La Tingeria was named the region’s fourth-best casual restaurant by the Washington Post earlier this month. Then, last week, it landed in the Washingtonian’s prestigious top 100 restaurant list alongside mainstays like Le Diplomate and Maydan.

All of this is to say that it’s been a lot lately for him and his staff at La Tingeria.

“Honestly, it’s overwhelming. It’s crazy. It’s unbelievable. I’m happy my staff… and my family has been helping me out. I can’t take credit for everything,” Peña told DCist/WAMU in between stints cooking on the grill. “Having people supporting me… [helps] me focus on the food. Everything we’ve worked hard for is finally paying off.”

That payoff includes a deal to bring La Tingeria’s tacos to a new concession stand at Audi Field. It will debut Feb. 19 at the first game of D.C.’s new XFL franchise. The deal also has La Tingeria cooking at all DC United and Washington Spirit games in 2023.

La Tingeria’s original brick-and-mortar is located on the ground floor of a three-story building at 626 S. Washington Street, about half a mile from Falls Church city. Its bright interior was designed and painted by Arlington artist Mas Paz.

Peña and his team moved in about a year ago, after spending the better part of a decade serving tacos out of a truck in Arlington. La Tingeria’s menu is small and focused, allowing the queso birria tacos — braised meat tacos with cheese melted on the inside of the tortilla — savory chicken tinga, and tortas — overstuffed sandwiches — to shine.

What also makes the restaurant unique is that it’s halal, meaning it does not serve pork, and the meat it does serve is “permissible” in Islamic law and can be eaten by practicing Muslims.

Peña himself is not Muslim. He comes from a Mexican family and a lot of his recipes were handed down to him by his mother and grandmother. He grew up in Woodbridge, though, which has a large Muslim population. One of Peña’s best friends practices Islam and would often say how much he wished he could enjoy Mexican food.

“He would tell me there’s a lot of people out there who can’t eat this type of food because of religious restrictions,” Peña said.

So in 2020, he committed to going halal in his Arlington food truck, serving up beef, chicken, and goat. Sales boomed.

“After going to halal, I really did see the trend and need for it,” he said. “There’s a big Muslim population [here] and they really can’t enjoy food anywhere. Going halal, we are not restricting anybody. We are including more people.”

In late 2021, Peña made the move from truck to the Falls Church brick-and-mortar and kept it halal. To do otherwise, he said, would have been a “slap in the face” to a customer base that he credits for his recent success. (He kept the truck, though, and still uses it for catering and special events.)

The concession stand at Audi Field will also be halal, serving up tacos as well as beef and chicken sausage on bread from banh mi spot Lee’s Sandwiches in Falls Church. Peña calls the bread there “amazing” and the perfect complement to his special brand of sausage.

Peña said his pitch to Audi Field was that he would provide something missing from its game-day experience.

“There are millions of American Muslims that enjoy going to ball games. And it sucks to be religious and go to a big stadium and not be able to eat,” he said. “It will really be satisfying to be able to bring joy.”

The deal for a concession stand inside Audi won’t preclude him from continuing to park the truck at the stadium on game days, as he did last year. It will be there again this year, providing fans with two locations to grab a halal taco or two.

After next month, Peña will be able to shift more focus to the next phase of La Tingeria. That includes, he hopes, opening new locations in Woodbridge and Fairfax City while renewing his lease in Falls Church (despite some initial hiccups with parking).

While he’s still working out the details, he would like the potential Woodbridge location to be much larger, including a full-service restaurant. That one might not be halal, since he wants to make it more of a sit-down spot with alcohol and possibly live music.

“There are a lot of Mexican cultures that want the carnitas, they want the alcohol. These are recipes that I do have. I do want to cater to them as well,” he said.

His goal is to get Woodbridge open in the fall, with the Fairfax location to follow in early 2024, though he’s still early in the process. But Peña’s ambitions are much larger than running a small regional restaurant chain.

“My goal… is to be the next Chipotle and Taco Bell,” he said. “How could the two biggest companies that serve Mexican food and tacos… not be owned by [someone] with a Latino background?”

While it remains to be seen how big La Tingeria will get, all the recent accolades and the related boost in business bodes well — and have made Peña nostalgic for where it all began.

“From that little ass grill that I had in my truck to now… I ask myself ‘how the hell did we do it?,” Peña said in a moment of self-reflection. “I don’t know, but we fucking made it through. We did it.”