On Oct. 25, Tacorita returned to downtown Auburn, a little over two years after their closing in July 2022.
Tacorita, now on 155 N College Street, opened its doors for a soft opening a few days before the grand opening on Oct 25. At noon, the restaurant was almost at full capacity, just an hour after opening its doors.
Even before the grand opening, their soft opening was a hit. Phillip Overton, a manager at Tacorita, commented that they had almost run out of some menu items every day since the soft launch. When asked what his favorite menu item was, he said the Firecracker Chicken Taco, which has been extremely popular among customers, along with their fish tacos, which they received great feedback on.
In December 2012, Greg Bradshaw, also the previous owner of Mellow Mushroom, opened Tacorita on 138 N College Street. After Bradshaw’s passing in October 2021, the 10-year lease to the space was coming to a close and unable to be re-signed. Therefore, Tacorita was forced to close its doors on July 19, 2022.
However, Tacorita’s story did not end there. On April 3, Tacorita’s Instagram page announced they would return to Auburn this fall, excited to “bring back this beloved Auburn establishment and continue the legacy that Greg Bradshaw started.”
Overton stated, “We’re very excited that we’re able to bring a beloved business to the Auburn community and grateful that everyone has given us the opportunity to do this the right way.”
Tacorita is now under new ownership. A partnership between co-owners Jon Hyink, Chris Godbold, Dade Nunnally and Billy Watt made Tacorita’s reopening possible. “We had an opportunity with this building, as it was being renovated, to come in here and take up some space and it’s just been a perfect fit. We’re just extremely excited to bring Tacorita back to Downtown Auburn,” said Godbold.
Godbold, when asked how he felt about Tacorita opening that day, said that he was honored to have the opportunity to carry the torch and reopen Tacorita. He felt like it was something loved by a lot of students and the rest of the community. He expressed that it's been a lot of fun and he’s very excited to be welcoming guests into the restaurant.
“We want everybody to know that we are open, we are excited, and we look forward to hosting everyone in the restaurant and letting them come in and try our food out and hopefully pick out a new favorite taco,” said Godbold, and there’s more to come. He and the other owners plan on introducing seasonal tacos and margaritas, especially because that’s where most of them got their start, in the bar business. Alongside Tacorita, Hyink and Godbold also own Southeastern 17-16 Bar.
With floor-to-ceiling windows and open rafters, the new location is bright and open. The color scheme is orange, navy blue and white, matching the university’s and previous Tacorita’s colors. Their logo has also not changed, the iconic sign painted on white bricks above the entrance. The left wall is painted to say “Tacorita” in bold lettering and live sports games play on the flat-screen TVs. There is also some outdoor seating available for those who would prefer it.
“Our capacity, currently, is 99 people. We have seats on the floor for about 70, and then we have about 20 seats at the bar and at bar overflow tables,” says Overton.
Their menu offers a variety of foods, such as chips and dip appetizers, tacos, seafood, soups and their signature margaritas. At the top of the menu, there is a note to previous Tacorita customers looking for previous popular menu items to stay up-to-date on their social media @tacorita_auburn, because more items are coming soon.
“We don’t have any new menu items right now,” says Overton, “but we are planning to have seasonal tacos in the future. So for anyone who is reading this, just know if you don’t see your favorite taco on there, we will be bringing it back seasonally or once we expand the menu to our full, open menu.”
Godbold further elaborates on this. “I think we’ve got about 15 tacos right now on the menu and we’re gonna continue to expand that by doing some specialty and promotional events with some of our tacos, and so if we don’t have one of your favorites on [the menu] right now, let us know so that we can work to get it back on there.”
Tacorita opens at 11 a.m. and technically closes at 10 p.m., but closing times are not finalized. “With the margaritas and the bar, we don’t really have a closing time, because we just want to stay open as long as the people in here are having a good time,” Godbold explained. Overton added that “the closing time’s kind of open, it’s just based on how busy we are.”
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