LGBTQ-owned Taylor’s Tacos takes Chi Town by storm on Cinco de Mayo
LGBTQ small business owner Taylor Mason has taken a humble but tasty idea and mades it big in Chicago’s restaurant world—with a little help.
Taylor’s Tacos received support from the Grubhub Community Fund through Feed The Soul (FTS), which provides each recipient with a $10,000 grant and six months of business development coaching valued at more than $20,000. Since partnering with FTS in 2020, Grubhub has provided more than $3.8M in grant support to restaurants across the country.
The grand opening of Taylor’s Tacos is now slated for Cinco De Mayo, following the restaurant’s soft three-week opening three weeks, but on May 5 they will open the doors for everyone to enjoy. They will have drink and food specials, on offer plus drink mixers and more on sale. Doors will be open between 11 a.m.-7 p.m CT.
Small businesses are a huge part of the Grubhub community, giving diners the opportunity to try local eats and in 2022, diners placed over 18 million orders from small businesses nationwide, with over 180 thousand restaurants available on the Grubhub app. 2023 saw a 11% increase in average small business order value compared to 2020, signaling that diners continue to enjoy and appreciate this type of dining experience and supporting local businesses.
It comes as applications for the Restaurant Strong Fund made possible by the Grubhub Community Fund are open now through May 10th. The grant will provide $1.25 Million to small business restaurants in Boston, NYC, Chicago and Philly.
The Greg Hill Foundation/Restaurant Strong Fund (RSF) and Feed The Soul (FTS) are two distinct organizations that administer restaurant grant programs with support from the Grubhub Community Fund. Additionally, they partner with the U.S. Black Chambers, National ACE, NGLCC and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on restaurant grant programs.
Grubhub is committed to support small businesses in the communities they serve including their headquarter city of Chicago. In 2022, diners placed 1.04 million orders from local mom and pop shops and there are currently over 8 thousand local Chicago small businesses available on the app, one of which being Taylor’s Tacos.
Taylor’s Tacos, which originated as a pop-up taco catering business run by Taylor and her wife, and based on tasty family recipes, has made the leap to their first brick and mortar location on Chicago’s West Side with an intimate location that seats 10 people, while and a large portion of orders are expected to be placed via the Grubhub app (60% of total biz). Taylor credits the delivery service for keeping the restaurant afloat during the pandemic and even sold Taco Kits through the app when they couldn’t do pop ups in person. If you’re in the neighborhood for Cinco de Mayo, drop in and support this hardworking queer-owned business!
Read more about Taylor Mason here. Visit Taylor’s Tacos here.
