Signature Dish: Tacomania’s Pork Carnita Taco

“It’s got all the flavour you can imagine for a pork taco. It’s got our cilantro topping with our onions, three types of cheese, and our delicious salsas that go along with it.”

Jones said slow cooking the pork really enhances the flavour, especially when combined with one of their signature salsas.

“We have our chipotle mayo which has a little bit of a bite to it. We have our salsa verde which is made from our green tomatillos, cilantro, and a whole bunch of other secret ingredients. And finally, for the mild salsa lover, we have our mango salsa.”

All of their tacos, except for their fish taco, are 100 per cent gluten-free.

When it comes to finding the perfect combination of ingredients for his special salsas, he said it’s all about trial and error.

“You can put any protein on a taco but if you don’t have the right mixture of condiments to compliment it, then your flavour is not as enhanced as it should be.”

A self-proclaimed foodie, Jones has been cooking since he was seven and spent most of his career as an operations manager for 7-11 and Tim Horton’s franchises before semi-retiring and starting up Tacomania.

Tacomania is very active on social media, using it to not only promote where they are going to be that day, but also to solicit ideas from customers, leading Jones to make some small tweaks to at least one of their dishes to take it to the next level.

“My good friend pulled me aside one day and said, ‘Have you ever thought about putting a local barbecue sauce with your pork before you mix it with your mac and cheese to give it more of a barbecue flavour?’ From that day on, we’ve done our pulled pork mac and cheese with barbecue sauce.”

Jones has run Tacomania for just over three years now.

They have two trucks, one of which is set up every day outside of the Lowe’s at Nanaimo North Town Centre, while you can find their other truck parked around Maffeo Sutton Park, when it’s not being used for private events.

Operating a food truck also comes with its own unique challenges, such as trying to operate a kitchen and front end of a restaurant in a very small area.

He said it’s all about staying on top of the basic things.

“If you don’t like chopping vegetables, if you don’t like shopping, if you don’t like doing dishes, if you don’t like constantly having something to do, it’s not the right business for you.”

Tacomaina’s theme is obviously heavily influenced by the wrestler Hulk Hogan and the Mexican lucha libre style, however Jones said they migrated toward the wrestling theme from an original sombrero-based look because it seemed like the right fit.

He credits a lot of local businesses for helping him with the designs and construction of their trucks.

“A lot of local talent went into both of our vehicles and I’m proud to say we didn’t have to go anywhere else. Just through word of mouth, through social media we had people stepping up and really helped us build this brand.”

Jones would eventually like to add more vehicles to his fleet, depending on the need. They are also working on dessert items including adding churros to their menu.

Jones is also very proud he’s able to work with his two daughters who help operate both food trucks.

“I feel very blessed at this stage of my life to be running a business and being able to work with my two daughters as well. Not a lot of guys my age have the ability to work with their kids, and there is something a little special about that.”

Tacomania is open Monday-Friday from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. at North Town Centre. During the summer months, they will be open until 4 p.m.

They are currently not partnered with any third-party delivery apps, as Jones wants to make sure their product is always eaten at the perfect temperature and quality, which can be lost during the delivery process.

For more information, including where their second food truck is located that day, you can go to their website or follow them on Facebook or Instagram.

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by NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

Signature Dish: Tacomania’s Pork Carnita Taco

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