It's National Taco Day, and Reno's newest taco shop is giving away free tacos to celebrate. Rusty Taco on South Virginia Street - the former location of Nu Yalk Pizza - opened the doors a little more than a month ago. And it's been busy there.
"It's been crazy," said Franchisee Taylor Cain. "We've been very grateful to everyone that's come and tried us out and thankful for everyone's patience as we learn to operate in this new building, new environment, new brand. So we're very grateful for Reno's response. We've had several customers that come in for breakfast, lunch and then we see them at dinner, know them by name."
It's the first Nevada location for the Texas-based franchise, but the owners are local and own all the Sonic Drive-In restaurants in Northern Nevada.
"My brother and I were raised five minutes down the street from here," Cain said. "Our operator has been in Nevada for over 20 years, and so although you see the Rusty brand on the doors, it's our place and we're really proud to bring it to the community."
The street tacos have a loyal following - and there's a special deal for National Taco Day.
"If you are a part of the Friends of Rusty, you can sign up online, you get a free Uptown taco with purchase," Cain said. "So the Uptown taco is one of the first tacos I tried at Rusty. It comes with homemade queso as well as a honey drizzle that has our breaded fried chicken, coleslaw, and it's topped with Sriracha so it's that really good mix of heat and sweet."
The restaurant has already hired dozens of people and they're looking to some new faces to the team. And there's talk about adding additional stores in the future.
"The goal is to grow, to maybe move to Sparks or the Northwest," Cain said. "We really want to be that community location for people to come hang out at. We want to give back to the community as much as they give to us."
