Muncie’s been blessed with plenty of Mexican spots over the years, from current favorites like Puerto Vallarta, La Hacienda, and Casa del Sol, to beloved places from the past like Taco Tico and Taco Grande. I remember Taco Grande from my childhood, but I never got to experience Taco Tico.
If it were up to me, I’d eat tacos every day. Give me street tacos with corn tortillas, shredded beef, and fresh pico de Gallo- I’m all in! Still, Muncie isn’t just about taquerias. It’s also home to plenty of liquor stores, some with pretty interesting architecture. Take the Save-On Liquors at 1920 S. Madison Street, for example. Today, it remains the best example of Taco Tico’s striking aesthetic.
Muncie’s Taco Tico franchise was owned by Indiana Restaurants, Incorporated, of nearby Anderson1. Stores at 1400 West McGalliard, 418 South Tillotson, and the one on Madison joined the company’s restaurants in Anderson and Terre Haute2. Here, the first location on McGalliard Road was built on the site of the old H. Salt Fish and Chips restaurant around 1973. The Madison location soon followed, and the restaurant on Tillotson opened in 19783.
The $50,000 Taco Tico on Madison sat seventy-five people amidst Spanish decor and served a variety of Mexican-inspired food via dine-in, carry-out, and drive-through options. “Come into Taco Tico today and play Taco Tico Bingo,” screamed old newspaper ads.
“It’s easy! Just pick up a Taco Tico Bingo card (No purchase necessary). Scratch off all the silver squares on the card. If your card matches three same Taco Tico menu items in a straight row, you win that delicious Taco Tico treat!”
A winning Taco Tico bingo card meant the customer won a small drink, crustos, tortilla chips, a taco, a burrito, a Sancho, refried beans, a tostada, a chili burrito, an empanada, or a dinner plate. Filling out the back of the card meant entering into a sweepstakes for a thousand dollars4! That’s about $4,800 today.
I’ll admit to some jealousy as I read about Taco Taco’s big raffle. I’ll also concede to some ignorance since I don’t know what a Sancho was. As it turns out, the thirty-six Taco Ticos left across the midwest still sell them. The location in Lexington, Kentucky, says a Sancho is a “large soft flour tortilla loaded with out specially seasoned beef, 100% cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and your choice of sauce5.” Sign me up!
Unfortunately, Taco Tico didn’t last long in Muncie. The McGalliard location closed sometime before 1983. That year, the Madison and Tillotson stores changed their names to Taco Casita after Indiana Restaurants decided not to renew its franchise contract. Taco Ticos in Anderson and Terre Haute also made the change, which accompanied several operational improvements. For starters, the restaurants received a larger menu that included potato skins and a larger assortment of freshly made foods6.
Taco Casita was equally short-lived. By 1985, the restaurant on Tillotson was home to Rax Roast Beef. Today, after a long stint as Burger King and shorter one as Dunkin’, the building is unrecognizable7.
The old Taco Tico on Madison still looks much like it did during its heyday, but it, too, has seen changes. The Gold Nugget restaurant opened in the space in 1985, serving items like the Mule Team (a New York Strip), Campfire Toast (a grilled cheese sandwich), and the Grubb Steak Platter, a ribeye. After a brief time as Country Cuzins8, Save-On Liquor opened in the storefront in the late 1980s. It’s still there today, but nods to the building’s past like its stucco walls and arches preserve the building’s provenance as one of Muncie’s long-lost Taco Ticos.
Sources Cited
1 Business Briefs (1978, May 13). The Muncie Star. p. 8.
2 Two Taco Restaurants Of Anderson Serve Genuine Mexican Foods (1978, March 5). The Anderson Herald. p. 29.
3 (See footnote 1).
4 Play!…and Win! (1978, September 7). The Muncie Evening Press. p. 15.
5 It’s All About The Taste (n.d.). Taco Tico. Web. Retrieved August 31, 2014.
6 Taco Tico Changes (1983, November 17). The Muncie Star. p. 35.
7 Slabaugh, S. (1985, August 20). Neighborhood Too Nice for HUD Sidewalks. The Muncie Star. p. 5.
8 Country Cuzins (1986, July 19). The Muncie Evening Press. P. 18.
When I lived in Terre Haute, two Taco Casitas were in operation. Now it’s only one. It says something about Hauteans and their love of fast Mexican food that even the one continues after 40 years.
I didn’t bother researching Terre Haute’s. I’ll be down there for long line towers sometime soon and will definitely stop!
I don’t recall ever stopping into a Taco Tico. But now I want to!
Jim Grey said there’s still a taco casita in Terre haute!