Taco Guy Food Truck Opens Restaurant in Norwalk

Pork belly taco - guacamole, salsa macha, onions, cilantro

Soul.

That’s the word Adrian Hurtado uses when he describes the food he serves at his newly opened restaurant in Norwalk that’s an extension of his food truck, Taco Guy.

“I have chicken tinga on the menu because it runs in my family, going back to my great-great grandparents,” he says. “When you’re eating here, you’re getting my culture, my family tradition, and a piece of what’s in my soul.”

But for Hurtado, who grew up in the hospitality industry learning the ropes at the popular Super Taqueria Las Salsas in Bridgeport that’s owned by his father, he chose to not be a taquero as an adult.

Instead, he started making pizzas at Bar Sugo in Norwalk before hopping behind the bar as a bar back.

“Growing up, working with your dad, it’s a lot of pressure and responsibility,” Hurtado says. “He wants things done his way because he’s the boss. I didn’t want to work in the kitchen. It can suck. It’s really hot, a lot of hours, and low pay. When I worked at Bar Sugo and Darien Social years ago, I think the cooks were making like $9/hour. I was like, I don’t wanna do this.”

Pear Cobbler - Absolut Citron, Barbadillo Manzanilla Sherry, pear brandy, jicama honey, lemon

He’d continue bar backing and ended up working for Tony Pham at Mecha Noodle Bar, who Hurtado cites as one of his mentors since the first day they met.

Through his connections at Mecha, Hurtado ended up bar backing, then eventually bartending at the acclaimed Please Don’t Tell in Manhattan’s East Village. Now with a big chance at a well-known bar, Hurtado wasn’t going to mess it up. In seven years at PDT, he said he never once called out of a shift, no matter the weather or if he had car trouble. Because of his work ethic, he got a chance to hone his mixology skills and he was able to get behind the bar full time.

Classic michelada. And there are two more available in mango or chelada (lime juice, salt).

Flautas de papa con queso - lettuce, ricotta, spicy salsa macha oil

“When someone puts their time and money into you, that means they see something in you,” Hurtado says. “A lot of good people put faith in me. From bar backing they let me go behind the bar. It’s all work ethic. It comes from my dad, who is a strong role model and taught me to show up on time, do my best, wanting to work hard, and always wanting to learn. If you have a goal, you have to be responsible. That’s why they let me get a turn on the bar. Working with Tony and Juan (at Mecha) and Jeff at PDT, they have goals, and you want to be around people like that. Ambition is contagious. You don’t want to let those people down who believe in you, so I don’t want to make a drink or make anything that isn’t good. I don’t want my mentors or my mom, dad, family, and friends to say, ‘I didn’t teach him that.’ I try to do everything high quality.”

Tacos, though, would come back to Hurtado later in life, specifically in 2020 when pandemic shutdowns impacted restaurants and bars everywhere. When he was unemployed, his father offered him a food truck, and when restrictions eased, Hurtado worked at a few higher end Mexican restaurants in the city in ATLA and Cosme, then staged at Damian in Los Angeles to learn “how corn works” and the masa process.

Hurtado is showing off his bartending skills here, too. Early on, this clarified punch (Barsol Pisco, velvet falernum, ginger, honeydew, cucumber, lime) is a popular drink order.

Other tacos besides pork belly? Carnitas (a Hurtado Family tradition), chicken tinga, short rib, tripe, fried fish, pozole (lettuce, cheese, sour cream). Since opening, birria has since made an appearance.

“My friends told me if I didn’t do the taco truck, that I was stupid, and that this was my time” he recalls. “I was living in Brooklyn, and I made ceviche and tacos a lot for my friends on the rooftop. I told my dad I was going to take the truck.”

And so, Taco Guy, the food truck, was born.

You’d frequently find the truck in Pound Ridge, occasionally in Stamford, or at a festival serving a menu of mostly all tacos, though, these tacos were a marriage of homemade (usually purple corn) tortillas and authentic Mexican meets refined Mexican given Hurtado’s past stints and R&D. But what he liked about being on the truck that he likens to bartending was that he still had that one-on-one interaction and was able to put hospitality and service at the forefront.

After roughly three years as a successful food truck, Taco Guy and Hurtado came full circle when a restaurant space that housed the Wall Street Tavern in Norwalk became available on Facebook Marketplace. But before it was the Wall Street Tavern, that location was home to Bar Sugo.

Chips + guac + a classic margarita (Illegal Mezcal, Giffard Orange, lime, agave)

Hurtado snatched up that vacancy and renovations began.

Taco Guy wasn’t only set to bring tacos to a sit down, casual spot, it was about to grow past tacos and even include Hurtado getting back behind the bar to roll out a menu of refreshing, carefully curated cocktails to pair alongside his vibrant Mexican food.

But the tacos. This is TACO GUY, so we have to begin there.

Family style DIY tacos are a thing

The masa is made in-house from 100% Mexican heirloom corn that’s free of additives. Sometimes they’re purple, other times they’re yellow, and there’s a little red and white corn involved, too. Each tortilla is made fresh daily, and, like the chips, they aren’t fried in any way so as to let the corn shine.

Tacos are also served in a do it yourself, family style fashion. Fish a la talla is a half red snapper, roasted in the oven and served with herbs, pickled onions, and tortillas. Its meat counterpart is a full pound of carnitas—his father’s specialty at Super Taqueria Las Salsas and now one of the signatures at Taco Guy—is served with similar accompaniments.

“Tortillas are the number ingredient of a taco,” Hurtado says. “And family style meals are popular in Mexico. We go to the beach, roast a whole fish, bring tortillas, and you make it yourself. Everything is a taco at the end of the day, and sharing is the most intimate way to eat. It’s a way of getting close. I love sharing with my friends and my family, and we all get to try a lot of things. It’s better when you have a table full of food and everyone digs in.”

Another dish making waves early on is the papas al pastor, basically fried potatoes with pineapple butter and salsa totemada that Hurtado mentioned is pretty simple even if it doesn’t sound like it.

“It’s morita chilis, chili negro (pasilla), guajillo, tomato, onions, garlic, and water that I boil for a while, then fried potatoes, and fresh pineapple with butter,” he shares. “Some of the tastiest dishes are the simplest. Dishes like this come from eating out at different places, good restaurants, traveling, and I put it all together.”

Al pastor, but do it with potatoes and pineapple butter!

Soon, even though the fresh juice, clear ice, and meticulously crafted cocktails are going strong already, Hurtado wants Taco Guy’s bar to be a known mezcal destination in Connecticut, as well as a place that features Mexican spirits including whiskey and gin, and eventually Mexican wines.

And you’ll notice the wood burning oven that’s behind the bar left behind by the previous tenant. They’re planning to use it for some type of “Mexican pizza,” plus the queso fundido, and a wood fired plantain cooked with the skin on to serve as a dessert with queso fresco, cateja mousse (similar to dulce de leche, only using goat milk), and whipped cream. A pineapple dessert tamale promises to make its debut soon as well.

“I’m not adding any sugar into any of the main parts of the desserts,” Hurtado says. “I want the natural sugars from the fruits to be it. I want the ingredients to shine, that’s why I’m not frying my chips. They’re baked to not have them be oily. I’m not recreating anything. It’s Mexican street food.”

102 Wall Street; Norwalk
203.286.7061; tacoguyct.com