Authentic Mexican Taqueria Taking the Best of the Taco Truck to the Restaurant Setting

Jose Garcia, 32, of Iowa City said business has been pretty good so far the first six weeks at his new location.

But he said he thinks it will be even better this summer, when people come looking for his taco truck and find out he's got a new place.

Garcia's tacos, you see, have a loyal following.

"I thank God that everyone followed me," Garcia said. "That's why I'm here now."

Here is , a new sit down and carry out restaurant at 436 Highway 1 W right next to Paul's Discount. The restaurant shares the name of Garcia's taco truck, where he sold authentic style Mexican tacos with meat, onions and cilantro for two years at his regular location at the corner of Gilbert Street and Stevens Drive.

Garcia said he made the decision to move to a sitdown restaurant after having a conversation with his wife, Monica, one day at the taco truck. He said that while some people didn't mind buying food from a truck, for families he thought it would be much better to have an indoors location.

"We both love Iowa City, and we would like our kids to go to school here," he said. "So I said, let's build something together, right here."

According to Garcia, the inspiration for his restaurant came from his mother, Guadalupe Garcia. Guadalupe, who originally hails from the Mexican state of Michoacan, has a Mexican restaurant in Waterloo called La Michoacana, and it was there where Jose learned the trade.

He said it was because of this inspiration that he wanted his restaurant to have the same name as his mother's place.

"All of the recipes came from her," Garcia said. "She's always cooked really good meals."

Garcia serves a full variety of Mexican favorites, including quesadillas, fajitas, sope, and burritoes. His main draw, though, are his tacos. The tacos are available with variety of meats, including chorizo, steak, fish, and fried or marinated pork. Customers have the option of eating the tacos with different topping options such as sour cream, cheese, tomatoes and lettuce or the more traditional cilantro and onions and pepper sauces.

The meat is placed on corn tortilla shells that are freshly baked and trucked to the area from Chicago. Garcia said the shells are still warm from the oven when they arrive. The salsa and guacamole are also freshly made on site.

The goal, according to Garcia, is to offer the same food someone might find at a taco stand in Mexico, while offering customers the flexibility to customize to their tastes.

"I try to offer what my customers want," Garcia said.

What his customers want also sometimes includes more traditional taco fillings such as tripe, cow cheek, and beef tongue.

You might not expect it, but these, too, have a following.

"People get angry at me when I run out of beef tongue. I'm serious," Garcia said, laughing.

Although his full group of followers hasn't found his new location, yet, the restaurant has been busy so far, busy enough that Garcia will need to hire staff on to help. He also wants to add catering later, and in his long reaching dreams, perhaps another location.

For now, though Garcia is focused on building up the following at his new location, primarily through word of mouth.

"The thing I like about cooking is when people tell me how good the food is," Garcia said. "I take pride in that."