Taco Loco restaurant opens at Fountain

Hannah Gross
NLJ Correspondent 
 
Ozzy Garza Sr. is bringing his 20 years of cooking experience to Newcastle through his new family-operated restaurant Taco Loco Taqueria, located in the dining hall above the Fountain Inn. The taqueria offers fresh, authentic Mexican food. 
Taco Loco is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and a full meal costs about $9.99. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the establishment offers an enchilada plate special for $6. Gladys, Ozzy Garza’s wife, explained that the business is considered a “taqueria” rather than a restaurant because everything it offers has something to do with tortillas. Street tacos are Garza’s specialty, and he has started every one of his business ventures by making street tacos.
“That’s why we named it Taco Loco, because we have a variety of tacos,” Gladys said. 
But that’s not the only reason for the name. The Garzas’ grandson loved the recent Disney movie “Coco,” so because Taco Loco rhymes and is easily remembered, they decided to put that on the front of their taqueria.
Garza and Gladys formerly lived in Rio Grande Valley, Texas, where he cooked for and ran eight restaurants over a near-20-year span. The family moved to Gillette, where they then lived for 18 years, but made frequent visits to Newcastle to visit friends. They grew to like the town and the people, so the Garzas decided to make it their home in 2017. 
Newcastle needed something “different” when it came to food choices, according to Gladys, and authentic Mexican food was just the thing to add some variety to the town’s palate. Because the Garzas already operated several businesses in Texas, it was a no-brainer to start up Taco Loco Taqueria. It officially opened on July 28, and Gladys told the News Letter Journal that they’ve had a good response from the locals.
“It’s doing okay — better than we expected,” Garza said. 
Everything is made fresh every day, Gladys said, and Ozzy begins preparing the food as early as 4:30 a.m. Whatever is left over in the evening is thrown out, so Garza always makes sure to calculate the approximate food needed for the day so as not to waste it. Although the kitchen is too small for making his own tortillas, Ozzy said, he gets them delivered every Monday from the same company he purchased from in Texas. Gladys said they are fresh and never frozen. 
For drinks, they serve Coke products and a selection of alcoholic beverages, including margaritas, which has proven to be very popular in town. They also offer Mexican desserts such as tres leches and flan. The couple is creating a new menu—one that’s less confusing, Gladys said. 
Instead of serving the usual chips and salsa as an appetizer before the meal, customers are served Ozzy’s charro beans, which is a homemade dish containing bacon, cilantro, onions and tomatoes. But chips and salsa are available to those who prefer them. 
As a thank you to those who have served in the U.S. military, veterans eat for free every Wednesday because the Garzas said their service gave them the freedom and opportunity to run this family business doing what he loves. 
“We have great respect for veterans,” Gladys said. 
“We’re here because of them,” Garza said. 
Ozzy does the cooking for Taco Loco, and his oldest son, Ozzy Jr., aids him in the kitchen. His other sons, Christian and Jovany, help out where they can, taking orders up front or working in the back, and their daughter, Gladis, who is a nurse at the Weston County Memorial Hospital, works at the taqueria on her days off. Gladys takes care of the paperwork and bookkeeping but said that Ozzy is the force behind the business. 
“He does everything here. Without his supervision, nothing would get done,” she said. 
According to Gladys, the first few weeks after opening were a success. Although things have settled down a bit since then, she said, they’ve established their regular customers and hope to expand in the future. 
“We want to grow — hopefully, this is not our first and last,” Gladys said. 
The Garzas are considering opening another location in Rapid City in the former Wendy’s building near the hospital. However, they want to lease the building rather than purchase it, so that might be a determining factor. 
So, head on over to Taco Loco if you want some fresh, local, authentic Mexican food. Call 746-2921 for more information. 
“We want to thank the community for accepting our business,” Gladys said.