A Tijuana-style quesabirria operator plans its fourth location at 1325 Fillmore St., a corner dark since Scott's Chowder House closed in 2023. It's announced, not yet permitted.

Tacos El Patrón is taking the long-empty corner of 1325 Fillmore Street at Eddy for its fourth location — and, per the operators, its largest yet. The move was first reported this month by Marcia Gagliardi in her tablehopper newsletter; for now the room is billed as opening in "coming weeks," with no firm date set.

The space has a history worth naming. It was home to Scott's Chowder House, the Fillmore seafood counter that closed in September 2023 after its management announced the shutter "with a heavy heart." The storefront has sat dark for nearly two years since — a stretch of vacancy on a corridor the City has been anxious to see filled.

Tacos El Patrón built its name on quesabirria: tacos grilled with crisp, cheese-latticed edges, stuffed with slow-braised shredded beef and served with a cup of consomé for dipping. The Fillmore location adds something the brand had shelved — tacos de guisado, the homestyle stews (chile verde, tinga de pollo) that tablehopper reports were once the whole concept of the operators' earlier brick-and-mortar, Los Guisados Del Patrón on South Van Ness.

The business runs under Tacos El Patrón LLC. City business-registration records list the 1325 Fillmore address under that entity; the registry names the operator only as the LLC, not any individual. The existing rooms anchor the expansion: the original in Pleasant Hill, a Mission taqueria at 1500 South Van Ness, and a downtown counter at 1200 Market Street, registered with the City on January 15 of this year.

A caveat for anyone lining up: the opening isn't confirmed beyond the announcement. No building, planning, or health permits for the address turn up in public records yet, and the chain's own Instagram still lists only its three current rooms. A dark Fillmore corner and a Tijuana-style operator betting it can fill it — the rest is a matter of the buildout.