Tacombi offers ‘greatest hits’ taco varieties

Tacombi is a 20-unit chain headquartered in New York City, but in many ways it got its start far away, in the resort town of Playa del Carmen on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula.

In 2006, David Wolos started selling tacos there from an old Volkswagen minivan — combi is a slang term for bus or minivan — and had no real knowledge of how to do it. He had never run a restaurant or cooked for anyone other than friends and family. But he had a dream.

“I had the intention of creating a Mexican brand,” he said. “I’ve always loved Mexican food and tacos. Since I grew up in Monterey, Mexico, where my mother is from, I wanted to share something I thought was special.

It started with two taco recipes, one for barbacoa and the other for crispy fish tacos, and it grew from there.

In 2010, he drove the van to Puerto Morelos, about 30 minutes from the coast, and shipped it to Miami. From there he took it in an RV to New York City and opened the first Tacombi location in America in Manhattan’s Nolita neighborhood; the van served as a design feature and part of the venue’s small kitchen.

Wolos chose New York for several reasons; partly because he wanted to live there, but also because it was a great place to bring an idea to the world.

“People from all over the United States and all over the world visit this city,” he said. “So I thought, there’s something cool about this. “Over the years, we have served people from literally every state in the country and every corner of the world.”

Tacombi currently operates in six states, including Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland and Virginia, but 13 of its restaurants are in New York.

However, the original Nolita location is the only one with a minivan.

“The original van had a purpose,” he said. “Even when we opened our first store in New York, we were still making food in the van.”

But now restaurants have open kitchens that are part of the experience.

“You’ll be very close to where the food is made, like at a good taqueria in Mexico,” he said. “The bus didn’t make sense at all restaurants. “It would become a cliché.”

Tacombi is more than just a taqueria, Wolos said. Full table service is available for 70% of diners, as well as a full bar and fresh juices. Premium ingredients are at the heart of the menu, including homemade tortillas with simple yet premium ingredients.

Average checks are around $30 per person.

Additionally, Tacombi’s menu aims to offer “greatest hits” tacos from across Mexico. The most popular have traditionally been fried fish tacos, one of Wolos’ originals, but tacos al pastor from central Mexico and birria tacos (the beef version is from Tijuana, but the goat version comes from Jalísco) are now the same. These types of tacos are popular as they become more trendy across the country.

There are still only eight tacos on the core menu. Along with the three most popular, Sinaloa shrimp, carne asada, Pollo Yucateco, dried fish, and black beans and sweet potatoes.

Wolos occasionally offers more unorthodox varieties, including those made with goat or veal tongue. “They have a cult following,” he said. “So we don’t mind doing it once in a while, but it’s not for everyone.”

Many of the core tacos can also be made into quesadillas or burritos or burritas as mentioned on the menu. Wolos explains that that’s the term for them in Jalísco, that it’s the style he follows, using less rice than the San Francisco-based Mission style popular in most U.S. chains.

The restaurants are all company-owned, and Wolos plans to keep it that way except for expansions abroad or locations in stadiums or airports where the brand will license to operators there.

But as the company opens new locations, it is trying to develop an operating partner model, like Chick-fil-A and Texas Roadhouse, in which executives maintain a certain level of investment and ownership.

“When we talked to people at Texas Roadhouse and Chick-fil-A, they talked about how this has evolved over the years,” Wolos said. “We are starting to understand how the model works, what is fair and what is the best way to do it. We change as we grow. “This is a work in progress.”

As for expansion, Wolos plans to fill existing markets and then move into states like Texas, Colorado, Arizona and California, where “people know good Mexican food and we think there’s a place for us there.”

Tacombi was awarded the 2024 Hot Concept Award Winner by Nation’s Restaurant News. The awards will be presented at the CREATE: Emerging Restaurateurs Event on October 10 in Nashville. Executives from each Hot Concept, including Angry Chickz, Puttshack, Mecha Noodle Bar, Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ, and Toastique, will be on hand for a panel discussion with editor-in-chief Sam Oches that explores each brand’s unique story and how they dealt with challenges along the way. that they were dating.