The Taco Loco reopens after 3½ months of misery

ASHEBORO – The Taco Loco is back serving customers after the popular Mexican restaurant in downtown Asheboro was closed in various fashions for more than three months following a busted pipe.

The Taco Logo should be operating with a complete menu Monday.

“We’re excited to be opened back up,” restaurant manager Jackie Munoz said Saturday.

The re-opening began late-afternoon Friday with the sale of tacos only.

“We were slammed,” Munoz said.

For the weekend, a limited menu is in place.

The restaurant at 138 Sunset Ave. announced April 4 that the dining area would be closed until further notice. The adjacent bar, Cantina, that is part of the business remained open for a time for drinks only beginning at 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.

But Munoz said with work in the restaurant taking place, the bar area was needed for storage and temporary placement of equipment.

“There was a pipe that busted under the building and the water was coming up damaging the floor,” Munoz said. “We thought it would be 10 weeks (of inconvenience).”

Instead, it turned into about 3½ months. The restaurant and bar lease the space.

“People working on the building are working on a million other things,” Munoz said. “Ours was super unexpected.”

The soft re-opening came in part because only two cooks are on duty for the weekend. By Monday, Munoz said the restaurant will be back with its usual staffing of four cooks. There’s also outdoor seating.