Downtown gets spicy with Taco Shop

By Kaitlyn Teabo | gargoyle@flagler.edu
Photo by Maggie Strassel

A new Baja Mexican style taco shop opened on Saint George Street early September.

The Taco Shop’s owner, Nicolas Kimball, said he learned most of the recipes featured on the menu in fourth grade on “bring your mom to work day.” He grew up with food and wanted to have a place where others could share his love for tacos.

The Taco Shop is a fun and energetic place to enjoy freshly made tacos and burritos and is across Saint George Street from Pizzalleys. The shop receives fresh produce daily and makes home-inspired recipes, Kimball said.

The shop plays reggae music and streams lights across the ceiling that add a welcoming vibe.

“The Taco Shop is a great place to eat,” Flagler student Amanda Twitty said. “The food is phenomenal, the staff is entertaining and the atmosphere is fun and relaxed.”

With a unique spicy scale from an old man Speedo sighting to a supermodel pillow fight, there is something to fit everyone’s sizzling cravings. The Taco Shop is open late for those long nights that need a pit stop.

Customers are welcome to write just about anything on the walls of The Taco Shop with permanent markers that are placed on the counter, Kimball said. A cartoon saying “Eat Some Fish Taco’s” and many couples’ initials inside a heart are sketched on the walls. Express your creative side. This is a place to loosen up and enjoy some tasty food.

“It is fun and I enjoy making food for others,” said Kimball, or Ninja Nic as his employees like to call him.

Kimball said Flagler students get a discount at The Taco Shop if they mention it at the counter before finishing a purchase.

Burritos stuffed with rice and beans range from $5.85 to $7.35. Tacos with beef, pork or beans are $2.25 and Quesadillas range from $6.25 to $8.50. The most popular items on the menu are the Mex UFO, which is a burrito shaped like a flying saucer with a crunchy middle, and the Ninja Nic’s Mexicake, a triple quesadilla.

Everything about The Taco Shop is fresh and exhilarating. The Taco Shop is open seven days a week, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday and from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The hours are flexible depending on business.

“I want this place to feel like other people’s place, not just my place,” Kimball said. “So eat and enjoy.”