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JAMESTOWN, NY (WNY News Now) – A long lost Mexican restaurant celebrated Taco Tuesday this week by hitting the street in a new food truck to distribute their beloved food and reminisce with some familiar faces.
Co-Owners of The Taco Hut, Rick Faulkner and Amber Mason both have deep ties to the original restaurant and are seemingly thrilled to bring a Jamestown Staple back to life.
“It’s been a complicated couple of years and getting the food truck was really trying to make good out of a bad situation so we’re just trying to move forward in the best way that we can and make some progress and we’ll see where the future takes us,” explains Mason.
The menu was a hit with patrons, and will make an appearance once more later in the week.
“Today we’re doing the same menu that we’re going to be doing on Friday night at the Whirlybird, so this is just a practice for us. We’re doing the hard-shell tacos, you can get those with just meat, cheese, and lettuce or you can add the works which is tomatoes, onions, black olives, and banana peppers. We also have sour cream and Mexican ranch. We’re doing Mexican fries today as well,” said Mason.
The pair recognize that the original atmosphere is difficult to recreate, however they are doing their best to bring that feeling back.
“That’s a tribute to the Taco Hut, that’s the front door of the Taco Hut and that is the address. We’re actually ‘Back Door Burritos’ LLC, that’s the name of our company,” said Faulkner.
Along with the original owner, Jim Mason, the restaurant’s first male staff member Rick Faulkner, and the first waitress, the establishment’s first customer also made an appearance to relive the moment 50 years later.
“For our first customer we have Pete Volpe, and he was my dad’s very first customer back in 1972 when he first opened the restaurant. He was a fireman and he came over to Taco Hut and he ordered a ‘take-o’ as he said, he would have a take-o and my dad corrected him and said it was a ‘taco’ and he said ‘no, it’s a take-o’,” explained Mason.
“It feels great, I’ve been a Taco Hutter my all my life and I’m still a Taco Hutter,” said Pete Volpe, Taco Hut’s first ever customer.
After a three-year gap, the mobile Taco Hut will make a pit-stop at the Whirlybird Festival this upcoming Friday to serve delicious tacos and bring smiles to many hungry faces.
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