Monica’s Taco Shop restaurants are a family affair, and the family is growing again.

The nearly quarter-century old, Colorado Springs-based Mexican chain opened its fourth location last week at 331 S. Nevada Ave. on the south edge of downtown, taking over a building vacated by the closure of an Arby’s restaurant. Traditional mariachi musicians played and sang outside the restaurant to mark its grand opening.

The downtown Monica’s joins locations at 30 E. Fillmore St., 5829 Palmer Park Blvd. and 1485 Jamboree Drive.

Monica’s was founded 24 years ago by husband and wife Raul Rodriguez and Guillermina Lopez, who’ve wanted to expand the brand over the years and open restaurants that their kids and family members could operate, said Adriana Rodriguez, one of their daughters. She now runs the downtown Monica’s along with her husband, Raul Ortiz.

“They just want to open restaurants for their kids, because they just want to have like a generation going on,” Adriana said. “My parents are offering us an opportunity to open our own business so when they retire, that’s the only thing they can give out. This is family. So it’s like they always wanted to help the kids out. They’re doing that.”

Her parents still work at the original Monica’s on Fillmore, Adriana said. Her aunt, Janet Rodriguez, runs the Palmer Park Boulevard location; her brother, Raul Rodriguez Jr. and his wife, Vanessa Ramirez, operate the Monica’s on Jamboree Drive, Adriana said.

But what about the Monica of Monica’s Taco Shop? That’s Adriana’s older sister, whom the original restaurant was named for by their parents, Adriana said.

After years of being part of the original location, Monica and her husband moved a few years ago to Las Vegas and aren’t part of the family’s current restaurant group, Adriana said. Monica does, however, operate a franchised location of Roberto’s Taco Shop, a longtime Las Vegas-based chain, Adriana said.

Monica’s expanded to South Nevada after owners of the former Arby’s building, who have been customers of the restaurant’s Fillmore Street location, approached family members about the availability of the downtown property, Adriana said.

“They asked us if we were interested,” she said.

The building’s interior and exterior have been remodeled, and the downtown Monica’s is available for takeout, dine-in and drive-thru orders.

Among other menu items, Monica’s Taco Shop offers all-day breakfast burritos, tostadas, nachos, chimichangas, taco salads and, of course, tacos.

Food is prepared fresh daily, unlike some chains that prepare dishes ahead of time, and that creates a difference in the quality of food, Adriana said.

Monica’s also relies on customer service to keep people coming in the door, she said.

“The way that you treat people, the customer,” she said, “You have to treat your customers like family because they’re family to us. If it wasn’t for you guys, we wouldn’t be here. It’s not just like, oh, take orders and all that. You have to be family. You have to get to know them … You see them often. You know they’re special to us.”