The Taco Truck Preps for Mid-August Opening

Partners Jason Scott and Chris Viola are opening the flagship restaurant of The Taco Truck around mid-August in Morristown at 50 Morris St., next to 7-Eleven.

They want to keep the feel of walking up to a food truck and provide an “environmentally conscious quick-service restaurant with truly delicious food.” They also offer vegan options.

They launched The Taco Truck in 2009 and opened up its first brick and mortar in Hoboken in 2010.

“We took over this (Morristown) location at the beginning of this year,” said Viola. “We’re going to open this as our flagship. Our location in Hoboken is quite small.”

“We’re going to start franchising,” said Scott. “We would be bringing all of our potential franchisees to Morristown, so we’re very proud of what we’re doing in Morristown.”

After acquiring the space earlier this year, “we spent about eight months in design and construction and are excited to get it open and ready to go,” said Viola.

Scott grew up in Chatham and “we knew this was always a market we wanted to get into,” said Viola, adding that they picked Morristown because “we really like the demographics of the town and it draws from a lot of the surrounding areas. We were looking for a year and a half. The landlord has been very accommodating.” Ample parking was also another reason why they picked Morristown.

“We operate on four core principals,” said Scott:

• Authenticity
• Sustainability
• Community
• Hospitality

“In Morristown, we are incorporating a lot of green initiatives, including water and energy conservation, LEED lighting and we have energy star rated equipment,” said Scott. “We selected all sustainable and recycled material for our building finishes. We also source local and all natural produce.”

The Taco Truck is already aligning itself with other like-minded groups.

“We look to partner with organizations that share our vision and principals,” said Scott. “In Morristown we already started partnering with Sustainable Morristown and continue to build out that partnership.”

In Hoboken, for the month of April, The Taco Truck donated 10 percent of its sales to a local organization with the town matching the amount.

“One thing I’m most proud of is our composting program. Our to-go packaging is all biodegradable,” said Scott at the Morristown Planning Board meeting last week. Board members asked him about how they would handle trash for their restaurant.

Scott said that there would be no exterior garbage and all trash would be brought behind Burger King and Panera, like the other tenants of that retail plaza.

There would be two trash sorting stations inside and a third for the patio. They don’t compost on site. The compost is brought to the back with the other trash as well.

“In Hoboken, … we contract with a local hauler. waste management comes in and hauls away the compost,” said Scott.

“I think it’s great that you’re doing the composting and community involvement,” said William Mikesell, Board Planner. 

Inside, there are 62 seats and a small multi-purpose room that can be closed off from the rest of the restaurant with a garage door.

“We kept the garage doors, but put in new ones with glass to let a lot of natural light in,” said Viola. “Design-wise, we want to make it feel like you’re still outside.” He added that they’re putting string lights inside “like you’re in your backyard.”

Some walls inside will be wrapped in aluminum to “make it feel like one of those RV airstreams. The counters (where you order) is higher so that it’s like a taco truck.”

He added that for those who have visited the Hoboken location, the design elements are similar, but at the Morristown location, “with a larger space, we’re able to open up and get a little more creative.” The Morristown location is 2,900 sq. ft and the Hoboken one is 900 sq. ft. and mostly focuses on delivery and takeout.

Patio

The previous business was a Verizon store with two large garage doors in the back opening up to a loading dock, which The Taco Truck plans to turn into a 32-seat patio.

“We do have two big garage doors that open up onto the pre-existing patio from the previous tenant. That’s one of the reasons why we liked this location,” said Scott. “The patio itself, this would be seasonal for us. Ideally we’d be open spring to fall. Those (garage doors) would be closed during the summer (to avoid) keeping the AC at full blast.”

Scott added that they will bring in all outdoor furniture at the close of business and post patio hours on the patio door.

As for the patio, Scott said that he hopes to improve the tone of that area of Morristown.

“We’re really excited about what we’re going to be doing to this area and the shopping center. Right now, Spring Street really has an commercial, industrial feel.

To address board members’ concerns about music, Scott said, “music is there to enhance the customer’s experience, not to dominate the customer’s experience. We’re not a club. It’ll be there for ambiance as they dine with us. We’d turn it up to a level that our guests can hear but off the property, I don’t anticipate it being a problem at all. We would be receptive and responsive (to) feedback any from our neighbors.”

Customers could only get to the patio through the restaurant. There is a gate on the patio, but it’s a push gate for emergency exits.

The patio will be closed off from the outside by a masonry wall, which “has a natural stone look to it,” said D’angelo.

Above the 3-foot high masonry wall will be a wall of black milk crates for added privacy.

“It’s a living wall with crate planters … it’s a visual screen that lets light and air through. We can put plants inside there to soften up the wall and bring in some vegetation,” said D’angelo. Also going in the milk crates are ‘solar jars,’ or mason jars with “LED yellow bulbs to give it a soft ambiance out there.”

The stackable milk crates will be alternating in the direction they face so some vegetation will grow toward the restaurant and some outside the patio.

An awning above the garage doors will extend over the patio about 12 feet. Banquette seating will go up against that wall. Seating and tables outside will be aluminum frames with inlay of teak wood

“At the furthest point here, the awning will cover most of (the patio), the banquette will be somewhat exposed,” said D’angelo.

The board approved the outdoor dining with the condition that although security would not be required for the first three months after opening, the board consultants will review those months and if there is a security issue, the applicant will provide security. But if there is an immediate serious issue, security will be required before the three months are up.

Read more about the board’s concerns with security, safety and traffic flow in this Patch article