Drive-Through Spice

Jerome Maida

When Mike Esposito launched the new Taco Bandido at 211 N. Main Ave. in Scranton last October, the response was both surprising and overwhelming.

"I just opened the door very quietly at about 10 in the morning," Esposito said. "They did not stop coming in, and that lasted for two months. (Business was) solid from morning tonight. ... Taco Bandido has a good name, a good reputation, and it always did."

Esposito is referring to the first Taco Bandido incarnation, which he and partner Jim Beck opened in Northern Boulevard in Clarks Summit in the 1970s. "We didn't have a lot of customers," he recalled. "People didn't even know what a taco was back then. But we did have a lot of repeat customers, and that told me we were on to something."

Taco Bandido soon decided to move to a more favorable location, settling on 901 Mulberry St. "At the University (of Scranton), there were a lot of kids from out of town who were familiar with Mexican food, and I thought that would be a good marriage down there - and it was."

By the early '90s, Esposito wanted to "move on to something bigger" and sold the business to Rich Hughes, who moved it to Keyser Avenue. "I think it lasted only two months on Keyser Avenue and he went out of business," said Esposito. "It just was not the place for it."

Meanwhile, Esposito purchased Stamy's - a veritable Scranton landmark - at 319 Meadow Ave. It was rechristened Avianna's Pizza and Pasta, but customers convinced Esposito to put Mexican food on the menu. Within a short time, the Mexican dishes were outselling the Italian ones, and, Esposito thought, "Well, it's time to bring Taco Bandido back."

The new spot strives for an authentic Mexican atmosphere with it orange-and-brown color scheme, and its Mexican music, but Esposito said his most important marketing tool is that the food is still as good as people remember. "It's actually like a cult," he said. "People who were teenagers at The U are coming here with their families and saying that we never missed a beat, and that the taste is still the same."

And he's more than happy to go head-to-head with mega-chain Taco Bell. "Not to pat myself on the back, but I've heard a thousand times over, 'Well, that's the last Taco Bell will see me. (Taco Bandido) just tastes better.'"

Esposito, who claimed he has never eaten at Taco Bell, stressed that "everything is made fresh; taco shells are made fresh daily. We use the finest ingredients. But mainly it's the taste of the beef that keeps bringing the people back. It's the way we season the beef, which is, by the way, with secret ingredients."

And while the tortillas aren't from scratch, Esposito noted that Taco Bandido will "cut them and we deep-fry them right then and there, when the customer orders it."

This time around, Esposito said he added some items to the menu to provide customers with greater variety, particularly when it comes to health-conscious folks. "We now have a wheat burrito shell because whole wheat bread is the flavor of choice now over white bread. Also, when I was on Mulberry Street, I never had chicken. It was just beef."

Esposito said that one of his favorite dishes is a traditional Mexican dessert, deep-fried ice cream. "We use vanilla ice cream and we coat it, and then we actually put it in a deep fryer for a few seconds and it makes that coating extra crispy. It sounds funny to say we deep-fry ice cream, but that's what we do."

Esposito said that with the rough weather of late, Taco Bandido's drive-through window has been a huge asset, accounting for about 20 percent of its business. "In fact, it's not busy, we have no problem with you pulling up, ordering something, and waiting a few minutes."

The ultimate goal of Taco Bandido, Esposito said, "is to just make a good product, make a living, and that's it. But who knows? Maybe I'll franchise it out someday."