Eat up
Both Taconooga locations are open Monday-Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., until 10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday and until 9 p.m. on Sunday. The address for the new location is 8174 East Brainerd Road, Suite 100. For more information, call the new location at 475-6192 or visit taconooga.com.
Three days after Taconooga's East Brainerd location opened, the new restaurant closed early.
"We ran out of food," owner Armando Castro said with a laugh. "It was really crazy. There were people waiting an hour or more outside. I just want to thank all of my customers."
Castro, who also owns the original location on the North Shore, said customers need not worry that will happen again. But the wait is a testament to the draw of the restaurant, which opened its first location just two years ago on Frazier Avenue.
At the time, Castro and his wife, Jennifer, had just found out they were expecting their first child. They took a leap by signing a three-year lease on the North Shore space, but the couple has always believed they could bring an authentic Mexican flavor with their own twist and passion to the area, he said.
According to the customer response, they've succeeded.
In addition to the classic tacos present at both locations - all served on house-made, fresh tortillas, as they would be in Mexico - new dishes such as the huitlacoche (Mexican truffle) quesadilla and more add to the restaurant's mission to provide both customer favorites as well as more traditional Mexican cuisine.
"We just wanted to bring something different," said Castro. "We wanted to be authentic. There's a Mexican restaurant on every corner, but we want to be the flavor you haven't had before."
Whether to try the grilled cactus or classics like fresh guacamole and chorizo queso, Castro invites everyone in. Just don't ask for a hard-shelled taco.