“I always had this idea of moving into the fast-food space. It was just a matter of finding the right location.”
Billy Lucas doesn’t recall ever having a burrito as a kid. It wasn’t until the Delaware native left to travel the world, ultimately landing in California, that he had his first taste of authentic Mexican food.
“I lived in L.A. and San Francisco,” says the owner and chef of Taco Reho in Rehoboth Beach. “You can’t walk around downtown without finding a food truck with great burritos. …I basically lived on burritos.”
At the time, food trucks weren’t yet a thing in Delaware. So Lucas saw a new opportunity, gathering ideas and rounding out a menu to start the Taco Reho food truck he would open in his home state. Often stationed outside Big Chill Surf Cantina near Rehoboth, the taco truck became hugely popular.
“I always had this idea of moving into the fast-food space,” Lucas says. “It was just a matter of finding the right location.”
In 2021, he turned a former Burger King into a taco wonderland where a wall of speakers welcomes guests at the front counter and cooks prepare fresh Mexican corn tortillas inside a glass “deejay” booth. The rock ’n’ roll vibe continues in high-top seating constructed from old musical equipment cases and a handmade bar shaped like a guitar that stretches beneath a drum kit chandelier.
“We go by the motto, ‘Taco loudly,’ and we like to have a rock feel, but we don’t want to hit you over the head with it,” Lucas says.
Crowd favorites on the menu include the Baja Fish taco with crunchy slaw and pickled onion; the Danger Dog wrapped in bacon with chipotle mayo; and Carne Fries, Reho’s take on nachos that come topped with beef shorty grilled steak, pork carnitas or chicken tinga.
The restaurant has a small bar menu; they serve up Crooked Hammock and Dewey Beer Company brews, plus margaritas and other mixed drinks that can be combined with select Maine Root soda flavors.
“I was really happy to be able to partner with Maine Root for our soda. It’s such an elevated product with a wide variety of flavors that we can use with or without alcohol,” Lucas says. (His faves are Mexican Cola and Blueberry.)
While the restaurant is taking center stage, the Taco Reho truck is still on the road and is also available for events and parties.
And Lucas isn’t done; he hopes to franchise Taco Reho in more locations.
“Tacos bring people together,” he says. “And we want to keep doing that by bringing elevated fast-casual food to the people.”
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