Taco truck Let’s Taco Bout It will join the lineup of food stalls when Chamblee Market & Tap micro food hall opens later this year in Chamblee.
Jace Whitsey, a graduate of Atlanta’s Le Cordon Bleu culinary school, launched Let’s Taco Bout It in 2016. The former semipro football player planned to launch a business pairing personal training and meal prep services, but switched gears after doing an externship on a food truck.
“I loved how it was just like having a restaurant, but more flexible,” he said. At the time, there weren’t many food trucks that focused on tacos, and he liked that tacos “served as a vessel for the fusion food I like to make. I like bringing different cultures together through tacos.”
Let’s Taco Bout It’s menu includes bowls, nachos and tacos with traditional Mexican options like carne asada and pollo asado alongside fusion fare like Korean barbecue with smoked pork belly; lemon pepper wet chicken, a nod to the classic Atlanta dish; and Caribbean-inspired jerk chicken, all topped with housemade sauces. Sides include guacamole, chips and salsa and elotes.
Credit: Courtesy of Let's Taco Bout It
Credit: Courtesy of Let's Taco Bout It
The food hall menu will reflect most of what’s featured on the food truck, along with some additions including birria tacos. Whitsey is also developing a Mediterranean taco made with grilled chicken breast, Greek salad and an avocado tzatziki sauce.
Chamblee Tap & Market, located in a building covering parcels 3509 and 3515 Broad St., will be Whitsey’s second attempt at a brick-and-mortar location with Let’s Taco Bout It. He opened a storefront in the Prep Kitchen facility in Embry Hills in early 2020 that closed three years later.
“I was looking for the next step, and the Chamblee project came along at the right time,” said Whitsey, who will continue to operate the food truck and offer catering after his food hall stall opens. “You don’t get chances like this often.”
Credit: Courtesy of Let's Taco Bout It
Credit: Courtesy of Let's Taco Bout It
Let’s Taco Bout It will join previously announced tenant Southern Grace, a food truck concept specializing in Southern food in the food hall, as well as another stall vendor to be announced in the coming weeks. Chamblee Tap & Market will also be home to Sidecar Coffee coffee shop and an adjoining taproom with 20 taps offering beer and wine.
The food hall comes from Jeff Kimmel and David Heymann, longtime friends who developed the idea for the project during the pandemic. They’d gather on what they called Beer Club Sundays, and talk about going into business together.
“We liked the idea of bringing a nice spin to the food hall market, especially in Chamblee where there isn’t anything like it,” Kimmel said. The pair worked with Terra Alma, a local woman-owned boutique real estate advisory, to attract tenants for the stalls.
Once open, the food hall, which will also have a private event space, will operate daily. It will join more than 10 food halls across metro Atlanta with several more set to open in the coming year, including Switchman Hall in Peoplestown, Politan Row food hall in Peachtree Corners and Halidom Eatery in East Atlanta, which will debut May 10.
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