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Monday, July 13, 2009
Taco Bus owner Rene Valenzuela to open new restaurant in Tampa - Taqueria Monterrey
Posted by Brian Ries on Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 1:18 PM
Taco Bus owner Rene Valenzuela has bought the former Malena's space on 2320 Fletcher Ave. and plans to open an outpost of his Taqueria Monterrey, which has another location in Plant City. According to Valenzuela, "we'll have a lady in front making tortillas fresh, and all the items that are difficult to do in the Taco Bus." There will be a larger menu of vegetarian and vegan items, a salsa bar, and more complex food at the new spot, and the prices will be slightly higher than the Taco Bus' incredibly inexpensive fare.
Sounds like good news, but
I'd hoped those fresh tortillas would make their way to Taconazo, as well. Not going to happen, though, as Valenzuela explained the economics of the Bus and how the low prices preclude extra labor and an more variety of dishes. "We have expanded the menu at the Taco Bus," he said, "but the bus is still the same size."
Valenzuela took possesion of the Malena's space last Wednesday, and already has plans to open for business as of next week, which is astounding. Perhaps the most interesting news is that he also has plans to open another Taco Bus, somewhere in the Bay area.
Comments (3)
Showing 1-3 of 3
I'm torn about this. I really liked Malena's. I suspect the problem with Malena's was not the food, prices, or service, but the difficult-to-access location. There's not much parking, and the entrance is kind of awkward. I wish Rene all the luck in the world. He's been a boon to the Taco Bus, and I'm looking forward to eating at Taqueria Monterrey.
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on my single visit to Malena's, I thought it was awful. This new place is great news, as I've always thought that Taconazo's biggest problem was the bus itself. If they cooked on a griddle to order instead of serving out of a steam table, the food would be so much better. I also think that bay area foodies have help Taconazo in too high regard. I like the food, too, and Renee has improved it, but as long as they cook in that bus, they will never really excel at Mexican food. Places in California manage to make better food in the same price range. Why not here? The USF area is crying out for better Mexican!
I am going to miss Malena's as well. I was a frequent customer there, the staff was always respectful and made sure everything was perfect when I was there. I visited the new location yesterday and I was dissapointed. I was hoping the staff would really go the extra mile to impress people on their first day of business, but they didn't. The roast pork was dry and everything was much more expensive than Malena's, which will be a problem since Fletcher is more of an urban (poor) area compared to Hillsborough and Plant City, and since it is so close to USF. Also, no more complementary chips and pico de gallo, which makes me sad inside.
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