Ruben Aldaco’s family has been serving up tacos to the Greater Lansing area for a long time. His uncle owned
Famous Taco, where Aldaco began his career in the restaurant business at the age of 14. When his father opened Aldaco’s on East Grand River in Lansing, he worked for him as well.
Now Ruben owns Aldaco’s on South Cedar with his father and the business is expanding right into Downtown Lansing. Aldaco’s Taco 911 opened its doors the day before Thanksgiving to find the patrons of its neighboring bars – including Harem and
The Tin Can – hungry for tacos at bar close.
“We did good,” says Aldaco. “Everyone got some thing to eat. Hopefully we get some people sobered up with food before they go home.”
The late-night crowd is the prime customer base for the restaurant, which serves a selection of Mexican beers along with tacos, burritos and popular mush bowl. The 800-square foot restaurant seats about 25 and currently operates from 8pm to 3am Thursday through Saturday.
Those limited hours may not last long, according to Aldaco.
“I’ve already had people who work around here stopping in to ask about lunch hours,” he says. “We’re definitely going to have some new hours as soon as we build it up a little bit.”
Aldaco hopes to expand Taco 911 in other ways as well, including a possible sidewalk café during warm weather months.
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