As the saying goes, when one door closes, another opens. That is the case for Italian eatery Frankie + Ava’s and Tacoria. Frankie + Ava’s, located at 208 Washington Street, closed its Washington Street doors in its current location in June of 2021, and the well-known regional Mexican restaurant, Tacoria, opened in its place as of December 30, 2021. Hoboken Girl spoke to one of the co-founders of Tacoria, Chuck, about the new taco spot expanding to the Mile Square.
About Tacoria
Tacoria Mexican Street Kitchen became incredibly popular for its authentic Mexican eats and Instagrammable-esthetic. The eatery has locations in Jersey City, Paramus, New Brunswick, Morristown, Montclair, Princeton, and now, Hoboken (all owned by the same group of friends).
As far as how Tacoria came to be, the website states, “We’re just a couple of friends from Rutgers who really love Mexican food, and wanted to share our love with others back home. So, we went to Mexico to soak up the culture and learn as many culinary secrets as we could, and then spent months in our own kitchen blending, mixing, experimenting, and tasting until we created our own unique flavor. Y listo, Tacoria was born!”
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“As cheesy as it sounds – we really do love tacos and Mexican food in general. We are a group of childhood friends who wanted to open a cool spot in our college town. I’ve actually known my partners since the 7th and 9th grades, so working together every day is pretty awesome – my wife rolls her eyes sometimes when I tell her I have a business meeting with my colleagues,” Chuck, the co-owner of Tacoria shared with Hoboken Girl.
{Photo credit: @eattacoria}
Known for its handcrafted tacos, some of the popular dishes include the carne asada, pollo tinga, and most recently the Brussel sprouts taco. Many of the tacos are gluten-free and the menu features a selection of vegan eats including taco options, nachos, burritos, and salads.
{Photo credit: @eattacoria}
Other Tacoria favorites are the chorizo burrito, the poll tinga quesadilla, the nachos topped with cheese and salsa, and the seasoned elote {corn-on-the-cob}.
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Expanding To Hoboken
We had an opportunity to chat with the co-owner of Tacoria, Chuck, about what residents can expect from the Hoboken outpost that coming this summer — but finally opened in December.
The Mile Square is no stranger to amazing Mexican restaurants (hello Charrito’s, Baja Mexican Cuisine, Oralé, and Tastebuds Taco Truck), so if you were wondering what prompted the idea to expand into town, Chuch explained, “We have been asked by a lot of our customers to open in Hoboken. It seems like it has a lot of Rutgers alumni here, so it’s a natural fit for us! We hope to be received as well as we have been in all the communities we have joined.”
Tacoria is known for its cutting-edge design that includes murals, eclectic seating, and all-around great vibes. That will be true for the Hoboken location as well. “Yes, the design and vibe will be what you expect when you walk into one of our shops. We design all the shops ourselves and spend a lot of time sourcing the finishes and planning out what art and fixtures to install in the space. There will be lots of repurposed material as well as graffiti in the space,” says Chuck.
Most importantly, we asked about the food and what locals can expect to see on the menu. “The menu will be consistent with all of our other locations, however, we are working on a few secret menu items,” Chuck shared.
The Closing of Frankie + Ava’s Washington Street Location
Frankie + Ava’s was a family-owned Italian eatery located at 208 Washington Street. The owner, Frank, owned Frank Anthony’s Gourmet Italian in Verona for 15 years before launching his next venture in Hoboken in 2015 where he and his family have lived since 1996. The eatery was named after his two children.
The eatery is a go-to for locals who were looking for grab-n-go Italian fare. The menu at Frankie + Ava’s is packed with a variety of options, including sandwiches, salads, pasta, pizza, and more.
Popular dishes included “The Frankie D” {a wrap with chicken cutlet, eggplant, roasted sweet peppers, hot soppressata, and fresh mozzarella}, the Zecki, the Maximus, the buffalo chicken balls, chicken parm, and the broccoli rabe pie.
We reached out to Frankie regarding the details of the closing but have not heard back. According to sources, it may move to another location, but has yet to come to fruition. We’ll keep you posted as more details come to light.
