Westside casual Mexican eatery Plancha Tacos is moving east with a three-store expansion into Pasadena, Van Nuys and eventually Echo Park.

The Pasadena and Van Nuys locations are expected to open this month, but an exact date hasn’t been chosen yet, according to owner Peter White.

“I tried to time them months apart, but we had some delays in Van Nuys,” White said. “Now, they’re just going to open up back to back.”

Plancha Taco is at 102 N. Hill Ave. in Pasadena and at 6201 Van Nuys Blvd. in the San Fernando Valley.

Employees have been training at the Third Street and Venice beach locations in Los Angeles in the interim, White said.

He describes Plancha as a middle ground between health conscious restaurants and greasy holes-in-the-wall. Customers can buy lettuce wraps and vegetarian bowls, as well as classic tacos, quesadillas and taquitos.

“Plancha was designed to be kind of a balance between the fun and the fresh,” he said. “I couldn’t really find a place that offered both under one roof and I couldn’t understand why that was.”

The franchise is also known for staying open late and serving breakfast all day. In Pasadena, Plancha will close at midnight during the week and at 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. It’ll shut down a little earlier in Van Nuys, at 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., respectively.

“I think Pasadena needs a late night spot and we’re excited to give it,” White said.

After two decades working for another franchise, White branched out on his own in 2010 with Plancha’s first location at 8250 W. Third Street in Los Angeles, near Beverly Hills. He expanded to Venice in 2014.

By the end of year, Plancha Taco will have five restaurants in Los Angeles County.

“I didn’t plan it that way, but I got some investors that were really happy to help me grow,” White said. “We found some locations that just happened to fall into place.”

It’ll make for a busy year, he added.

White expects to get the keys for the Echo Park restaurant, 311 Glendale Blvd., within the next two weeks and to have it up and running by December.