This Mexican food truck is looking to bring tacos out of their shells.
With spring well under way – and Cinco de Mayo on the immediate horizon – Westerville-based Mojo TaGo is making its rounds through stops in urban and suburban central Ohio, serving up a fresh Mexican menu with a few surprises in store.
Owner Brian Reed is always looking to create new varieties of fusion tacos with Italian, Greek and Asian flavors. A new addition this season: the Korean BBQ taco, offering marinated short rib topped with a cabbage slaw mix, pickled red onion and Korean barbecue sauce on a corn tortilla.
“I love the foundation of tacos because it allows for variety and creativity,” Reed says. “Anything can be a taco.”
Among the other taco options on the menu are carne asada, carnitas, chicken, vegetarian, fish and The Traditional (ground beef). The truck also served up quesadillas – stylized as Mojodillas – as well as chips and salsa.
Reed has lived in Westerville for 10 years with his wife, Kristin, and their three children.
Mojo TaGo has been driving around central Ohio since 2010, which – given the rapid expansion of mobile dining options over the last few years – makes it one of the earlier arrivals on the food truck scene.
From the beginning, Reed was committed to doing it right. His desire to learn more about the food truck industry prompted him to visit Los Angeles, where the trend began. After learning about the concept and thinking over his options locally, he asked himself, “Why not in Columbus?”
Three years later, Mojo TaGo is going strong.
“The view outside of my office changes every day,” Reed says. “I get up and do what I love – I get to be around food and people.”
Reed was a short order cook in high school, but his background in cooking began far before then and has a much more meaningful origin. His mother is Italian, and she and his grandmother began teaching him their culinary tricks a young age.
“Cooking has always been a part of who I am,” says Reed. “I’ve got a passion for it.”
Reed credits a lot of his success to Tom Anthony, owner of Chile Verde Café, a New Mexican restaurant based in northwest Columbus that just recently opened a second location at Polaris. Anthony allowed Reed to use his kitchen space for preparation, and Reed learned a great deal about the food service industry from Anthony. He has also been greatly encouraged by the restaurant’s success over its 22-year existence.
“They know who they are and they know their customer,” Reed says.
Mojo TaGo may be on the move, but finding it isn’t too taxing. Reed takes the truck to such locations as Mettler Toledo and The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, usually around lunchtime. Its schedule is posted on its website, www.mojotago.com, and updates are frequently posted on its Facebook page and Twitter feed. The truck spends most of its time in and around Columbus, but occasionally ventures as far out as Cincinnati.
Mojo TaGo also caters, and will even bring the truck to catering gigs.
Morgan Montgomery is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
Recipe
Pico de Gallo TaGo
Ingredients:
2 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
½ cup white onion, finely chopped
2 tsp. cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped
3 Tbsp. lime juice, freshly squeezed
½-1 cup Serrano or jalapeno pepper
Coarse kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Directions
Combine all ingredients and season to taste. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight before serving.
Yields 2 cups pico de gallo.
