by Jorge Perezchica
“I think the secret to the success of any restaurant is that it’s not just about a meal anymore.”
Liz Ostoich, co-owner of Tac/Quila in Palm Springs, believes dining should be about something much bigger: creating an experience.
“People can go to dinner anywhere, or they can cook dinner at home,” she says. “But I think it’s awakening all of the senses.”
It’s a philosophy that can be felt the moment guests walk through the doors of Tac/Quila. The vibrant colors, Mexican artwork, lively atmosphere, thoughtful presentation, and warm hospitality all work together to create a memory—not just a meal.
“You begin to eat with your eyes,” Ostoich says. “You begin with wanting to see a vibrant atmosphere. You want to see some beauty. Things need to smell good. They need to be beautiful in presentation with a lot of color, and then they need to taste good. You need to have kind of a soothing sound, an atmosphere, and a soothing relationship with the staff as well.”
She pauses before adding:
“It’s more about not just eating, but awakening all of the senses. Experiential dining. I think that’s what I would call it.”
That philosophy has helped make Tac/Quila one of downtown Palm Springs’ most beloved restaurants. But perhaps the most interesting part of Ostoich’s story is that she never came from the restaurant world.
Before opening Farm in 2016 and Tac/Quila in 2019, Liz and her husband, Mark, worked as land-use attorneys. They understood contracts, regulations, and complex projects, but operating a restaurant was an entirely new challenge.
“I had zero background in the restaurant business,” Ostoich says. “I’d never even worked in a restaurant before.”
The uncertainty was real.
“For the first six months, I kept worrying, ‘What have I done? What happens if I don’t know what I’m doing and I go broke?’”
But instead of trying to become something she wasn’t, Ostoich leaned into her strengths. Her legal background gave her a natural ability to think strategically, understand systems, and prepare for challenges. Her curiosity as a traveler gave her inspiration. And her perspective as a guest helped her understand what people truly value when they choose where to dine.
Rather than looking at Tac/Quila only as a restaurant, she approached it as an entire experience.
“I think being a lawyer prepared us for the restaurant business in two ways,” she says. “One was because we’re able to keep a lot of things going at the same time, a lot of balls in the air. And the other was because we understood permitting and laws and why it was important to follow all the rules and restrictions.”
That business mindset also shaped the way she built her team.
Many restaurants are built around a single executive chef, but Ostoich created a different model at Tac/Quila. Instead of relying on one person to carry the entire culinary operation, the restaurant has a team of three chefs who collaborate, share responsibilities, and work together to maintain consistency.
The approach was intentional.
Ostoich understood that a successful restaurant should not depend on one person being present every day. By creating a stronger team structure, the kitchen could operate smoothly while also reducing the pressure placed on any one chef.
“I’ve learned there’s a big difference between a good cook and a chef,” she says. “I could never keep up with these folks. I don’t have the knife skills. I don’t have the ability to move as quickly as they do.”
She adds, “They’re a huge blessing to us.” I really honor and appreciate them because I know how hard it is.”
That belief in collaboration extends throughout the restaurant.
“The way that we have been successful is to not be involved in every aspect of it, but to trust the people that we have hired to manage things,” she says.
Leadership isn’t about controlling every detail for Ostoich. It’s about creating the right structure and empowering talented people.
“There’s only so much we can do as humans,” she says. “When you hand it off to somebody else, you’re going to get more performance and a more well-oiled machine.”
Tac/Quila itself was born from that same spirit of collaboration.
While operating Farm, Ostoich noticed that many members of the kitchen team came from Jalisco and wanted an opportunity to celebrate the food, culture, and traditions they grew up with.
“We realized we had a lot of great kitchen staff that came from Jalisco,” she says. “Part of it was following through on our dream because we love Mexico City, the culture, the heritage, the color, the authenticity. But part of it was to help fulfill their dream because most of the staff actually comes from that area.”
The result was a restaurant focused on honoring Mexican cuisine through authenticity, beauty, and thoughtful presentation.
“I think a lot of people think that sometimes what we’ve done in California and Texas and so forth, what we’ve done to Mexican food, has not been as honoring,” she says. “What we try to present here is really an authentic experience.”
Travel has played an important role in shaping that vision.
Whenever Ostoich visits a new destination, she looks beyond the food itself. She studies how restaurants make people feel—the design, service, presentation, and small details that create a lasting impression.
“Every time I go somewhere, I pick up four or five different things that I want to bring back,” she says.
A visit to a small restaurant in southern France inspired Farm to adopt iPad ordering years ago, allowing servers to spend more time with guests rather than constantly running between tables and terminals.
More recently, trips to places like Peru have continued to inspire new ideas for her chefs, bartenders, and team.
“We tend to think we’ve got it all,” she says. “But when you go out there and find something special, it’s a good thing to bring back.”
That ability to adapt became especially important after Tac/Quila opened in 2019. Less than a year later, the pandemic forced the restaurant to completely rethink how it operated.
The team shifted to takeout, expanded outdoor dining, navigated changing regulations, and repeatedly created new ways to serve guests.
“Our biggest challenge was that every time we had to create a new business model,” Ostoich says. “You had to figure out how much that’s going to cost, how many people you’re going to be able to serve, how much staff you need.”
Her legal background became an unexpected advantage during that period, helping the restaurant move quickly through permits and approvals while adapting to constantly changing requirements.
Since then, the Ostoichs’ hospitality group has continued to grow with the addition of Clandestino and The Front Porch, bringing the same philosophy of thoughtful design, hospitality, and experience to new concepts.
But even as the business expands, Ostoich says the greatest reward remains simple.
“I love delighting people,” she says. “Sometimes here and at Farm, you’ll see people walk in and catch them under their breath saying, ‘Wow, this is really pretty,’ or, ‘Oh my gosh, this is so good.’”
“I like that experience of delighting people and hoping that they return again and again and again.”
That sense of place is also what drew her to Palm Springs.
“There’s something magical about the desert,” she says. “The people, kind of the way the desert sits in this bowl with the mountains around it. It gives me a spiritual feel.”
For Ostoich, restaurants are not simply places to eat. They are places to gather, connect, and create memories.
Good food. Good ambiance. Good people.
Those three ideas have become the foundation of Ostoich’s philosophy—a reminder that the most memorable meals are about more than what is on the plate. They are about how a place makes you feel.
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