The national (heck maybe even international) news has been filled with stories about the local Taco Bell. In high school, our family would frequent it quite a bit since my brother was a growing boy who needed to eat every three hours... the box of 10 tacos would be gone in a flash (8 of them going to my brother).
The talk of "e coli and Mexican food" evolved into a trip down memory lane for the Mexican restaurant of our youth, Tico Taco. In the 70s, there wasn't much diversity in NJ restaurants (Basically, you had a choice between Chinese and Italian) but on Rt. 22, there was a grungy dark place marked by a life-size concrete man with a sombrero pulling a burro saddled with bags.
Tico Taco had the greatest coconut punch served in a giant glass (we kids would often share one since it was sooo big) and the tacos were soft and had a layer of cheese between the two thin tortillas that wrapped the mystery meat goodness. On weekends, Tico Taco had live music and a wandering gypsy telling fortunes. We loved eating there or just picking stuff up to bring home... even after a friend who worked in the back told us horror stories about the dishwashing and cockroaches! We figured that "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger." Did I mention that the food was yummy?! The restaurant was knocked down in the late 80s and there's now a Pizza Hut in its stead; we now have a wonderful Mexican restaurant in the downtown. But it's not the same. Memories won't let it be.
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