Sue Drolema says she didn't intend to be part of the family restaurant business. Now, she's the owner of the largest leg of the family-owned
Taco Boy enterprise, with plans to fulfill downtown Grand Rapids customers' yen for traditional Mexican food, fast.
For Drolema, 27, the new 1,100-square-foot downtown eatery at 180 Monroe NW between
Mojo's Piano Bar and
Bull's Head Tavern will be her fourth Taco Boy location; the other three, 6539 28th St. SE, 2529 Alpine Ave. NW, and 509 44th St. SE, Drolema opened over the past six years, starting when she was just 21.
Drolema's mom, Anita, owns the original Taco Boy at 3475 Plainfield, founded by Drolema's grandfather Robert Baltierrez in 1967. Uncle Bob Baltierrez, Jr. owns the Mount Pleasant store. All of them use traditional family recipes from Mexico and prepare everything fresh onsite.
"There's so much excitement with
ArtPrize and downtown Grand Rapids seems like the exciting place to be in the heart of the city," Drolema says about her reason for looking outside the suburbs for a new location. "We wanted to get into new areas as we expand and grow, and hit places where our customers are. A customer survey says many of our customers live or work downtown and they want Mexican food that's affordable and fast. We listened to them on that and thought, yes, we need to be downtown."
The restaurant will stay open until 2:30 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays to catch the crowds after the bars let out. Sunday through Thursday hours are 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony, Drolema's first, will take place on opening day, Dec. 13, at noon, with Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell.
Source: Sue Drolema, Taco Boy; Anne Marie Bessette,
Grand Rapids Downtown Development AuthorityWriter: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor
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