It’s 2 a.m. and you and your squad have just stepped out of the most epic night of your lives: dancing, drinking, getting some hottie’s digits. Where do you go from there? If you know what’s good, you get to Taco Bus.
Taco Bus was voted the best late night restaurant in the Tampa Bay area, and if you have ever bitten into one of those tacos, then you know why.
The story of Taco Bus goes back to the 1980s, a time when a small boy named Ted Cruz was singing “Oh, Canada” with something tangling out of his mouth and before dictator wannabe Donald Drumpf wanted to build a wall. A bright, up-and-coming businessman of 13 by the name of Rene Valenzuela was slinging his first tacos in his hometown of Monterrey, Mexico.
Elliott Ramsdell, president of marketing company Social Faucet, runs Taco Bus’ social media and is friends with Chef Rene.
“Taco Bus is a true rags-to-riches story,” Ramsdell says. “It all started with Chef Rene and a dream.”
Chef Rene brought his knowledge of south of the border cuisine to Tampa after some time in Chicago’s restaurant scene. For 20 years now, he has shared his love of Mexican street fare with the Bay area.
“Taco Bus started with one guy dishing out tacos on Hillsborough Ave. to a business that employs 400 people at eight different locations,” Ramsdell says. “As Chef Rene likes to say ‘[Taco Bus] is an overnight success that was 30 years in the making.’”
The expansion of Taco Bus has allowed Chef Rene to be able to be as mobile as the name and bring tacos (along with his full menu of Mexican dishes) outside of Tampa to St. Petersburg, Lakeland and Sarasota.
Taco Bus’ popularity has even put them in the national spotlight being featured on the Food Network, the Travel Channel and the Cooking Channel.
Chef Rene not only prepares the traditional Mexican foods, but he also recognizes the ever expanding tastes and appetites of the Tampa Bay area.
“Taco Bus not only offers up vegetarian and gluten-free items, but Chef Rene is going to be introducing some new things you may not have thought about putting on your taco,” Ramsdell says. “Have you ever had hummus on a taco?”
Even though Taco Bus has been featured on numerous shows and is known throughout the country, the vision of Chef Rene has never changed.
“We never forget whose passion for flavor made us famous. That would be you, our loyal fans,” Chef Rene says.
