COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE TACO CURE “they need to talk to torchy’s to find out how they broke the curse of that shepherd location.” [spiteful, commenting on Another Turnover in the House of La Strada]
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COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE TACO CURE “they need to talk to torchy’s to find out how they broke the curse of that shepherd location.” [spiteful, commenting on Another Turnover in the House of La Strada]
Unbelievable! How can one taco spot fail so quickly and the next one flourish incredibly well is amazing. I drive by daily and many times the line is out the door. Don’t park at KFC, they will tow your car. Another fun thing to do is guess the average age of the patrons – it’s well below 30.
I would say the secret is really good food at reasonable prices. The Inner Loop is basically overrun by expensive restaurants — not everyone in the Inner Loop is rich, you know. :-)
I don’t think the secret for their success is reasonable prices…it’s the fact that they have some really solid food. I Really don’t think people would drive to an inconvenient location where they are wasting stressful time and $ (gas and on shepherd…you know how that is) to get affordable grub…its quality quality quality and consistent creativity. Sick of these people who comment on yalls boards that have never ran a business acting like they know the secret to a restaurants success…STAY AT YOUR 9-5 and let us creative people make the comments/ideas, etc.
I mean seriously just because you read swamplot or culturemap or some other foodie/local blog doesn’t mean you know s**t about how THE REAL WORLD WORKS….you stay in cubicle and do our pencil pushing work please
@ Ben: Yeah, many real estate journalists and most commentators don’t understand the big picture within the real estate sector either. It can be frustrating at times.
But one thing’s for sure is that the four P’s of marketing hold true in either industry. The food can be great, but not $30 per person great as far as 98% of your target market is concerned. Price is an important consideration, even if other factors are also important.
Ummm, I am no real estate expert and not as big a foodie as others. But if you do not know the secret to Torchys, you have been living under a rock. Torchys is huge in Austin, especially around UT. So when they opened here, they had piles of UT grads waiting for the doors to open. Food is really good, but not the best tacos in town by any stretch. but having already been known to UT/Austin folks was the key.
@ Old School: You’re absolutely right about that. Built-in hipster street cred seems to go a long way in Houston.
I know I am not the only one, but I actually liked Greatfull Taco more than Torchy’s. I thought everything tasted a bit fresher and I am too old to dig on the hipster vibe in the new place. In fact, I’ve gotten so old that I find the multiple piercings, nose rings, and tattooed body parts rather unappetizing.
Greatfull Taco didnt market…I hadnt heard of the place until Torchy’s OPENED. Thats pretty bad…and I read the culturemap,eating our words, type sites…
I gotta agree with Old School and TheNiche. My guess is that it’ll be closed in a few years, once the hipness wears off. There’s plenty of places to get really great tacos at really good prices in Houston, but they’re all in non-trendy areas.