Taco Local finds a home on Williamson Street
Simple tacos are the key at this food truck concept turned restaurant.
April 26, 2021 7:00 AM Maija Inveiss
Updated:
Photo by Maija Inveiss
Six years after David Rodriguez first catered tacos for his sister’s wedding, he is expanding the concept by opening a Taco Local brick-and-mortar restaurant.
Rodriguez, who also owns International Catering Co. and Melted Craft Grilled Cheese, made tacos for friends and family when they would come for dinner, but it wasn’t until the wedding and an appearance at Eaux Claires Music Festival that Taco Local came to be.
Melted was going to Eaux Claires and the organizers were looking for a taco vendor, and Rodriguez determined that he could do it. The name Taco Local was born, and he continued to build the brand through events and his food truck.
Favorites from a vintage bus
David Rodriguez creates a drive-up restaurant in the parking lot of his catering company
David Rodriguez
As we head into the tenth month of COVID-19 restrictions in the restaurant world, invention and re-invention remain key. So I guessed something was up when, driving down Stoughton Road at dusk, I glimpsed strings of bulb lights illuminating the parking lot in front of a vintage school bus near the Cottage Grove Road exit.
I knew thatâs where David Rodriguez runs his International Catering Co. out of the former Gaylord Catering building, 709 Atlas Ave. Rodriguez bought the long-running catering company at the beginning of this year; he also owns the Melted food cart and has been serving his Taco Local and Melted menus out of the restored 1981 International Harvester bus on Atlas Avenue at lunchtime over the summer.Â