Monday, April 12, 2010

Taco Shell

This summer, visitors to Ocean City, New Jersey can get their taco and nacho fix by making a run for the Boardwalk. Pure Tacos (1138 Boardwalk, 609-736-8028) is a new quick-casual Mexican restaurant opening there next month. Best of all for those with celiac disease or a gluten allergy, the entire menu is gluten free.

Owner Ted Schroeder, who has celiac disease, found little he could eat on the popular Boardwalk. "I follow a gluten-free diet, and pizza doesn't work for me," he said in a statement. "Our whole menu is geared to provide Ocean City with flavors and foods that are not currently offered, and as an added bonus, everything on the menu is naturally gluten free."

The menu combines classic Mexican fare with street food flavors. Pure Tacos will offer novel items like bacon & egg tacos at breakfast and fusion-inspired cheeseburger tacos and chicken & bacon ranch nachos later in the day. Prices are reasonable, with two tacos setting you back just $6; for $9, you'll get three. (A sack o' tacos, perhaps?) Taco orders include a side of tortilla chips. A plate of regular-size nachos is $6 and a large order $9.

Pure Tacos has its grand opening on May 15. The restaurant will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, featuring a breakfast menu until 11 a.m. and a lunch/dinner menu until close. After Labor Day through October, Schroeder plans to operate the restaurant on weekends and some weekdays. No delivery at the moment, but orders can be placed online and picked up in a dedicated checkout line. Customers can chase their tacos with some Kohr Brothers vanilla custard available next door.

Ocean City may be the first of several outposts for the company, which is considering opening two other locations by Summer 2011.
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11 comments:

  1. No vegetarian options on the Pure Taco menu! What's up with that?

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  2. I am sooooo excited!!! I am Celiac & go to the OC Boardwalk all the time....with nothing to eat, just about. Until now!!! Thank you Ted!!!

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  3. Fair point on no listed vegetarian options on the menu. However, we can prepare a great vegetarian nachos -- cheese, sour cream, cilantro & onion, salsa and citrus guacamole -- for any vegetarians who are looking for gluten free food on the OC boardwalk. Even though not available for our first summer, we are also investigating preparing black beans specifically for our vegetarian customers in the future. Cheers, Ted S.

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  4. New small place on the Ocean City Boardwalk located near the Surf Mall. So nice to have some Gluten Free options on the boardwalk. We were so excited to find out the entire restaurant is gluten free. No worries of cross contamination. The food was awesome especially the Chicken Bacon Ranch Nachos. Will go back over the summer to try other options!

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  5. If only I had known about this two weeks ago! We spent an entire week in Ocean City, and I was just so used to not having any gluten free options on the Boardwalk that I never gave it a thought. You can bet I'll check it out when we return!

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  6. O.k. the food at Pure Taco was GF and tasty, but it's not a restaurant! We went there expecting tables and chairs so we could sit down and eat our food in comfort. Nope, Pure Taco is just a walk-up counter on the Boardwalk. I confess to being more than bit frustrated with it: all we could get were tacos. I wanted side dishes like rice and beans or salad to really make a meal. Trying to hold the small paper plate while eating 2 drippy tacos left me frustrated and hungry, truth be told.

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  7. I'm so sorry to hear that it was a disappointing experience, Anon. When deciding on opening on the Boardwalk, our goal was to make things quickly for an on the go experience -- all the while not sacrificing taste. We didn't want to have seating for several reasons but mostly because we felt not a lot of people go to the Boardwalk for a sit-down meal. If we are to franchise or open up new spots, our goal is definitely to have seating and more menu options. Right now in the small space that we have, the goal is to make what we have delicious and on the go (in Mexico a taco is street food). We hope you will be back and feel free to email us with any other comments/complaints.

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  8. Side dishes would be great!

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  9. My family and I vacationed in Ocean City, NJ for the past 2 summers and 3 of the 4 of us need gluten free due to Celiac Disease. We are so excited that next year there will be a place such as your for us to eat! And we all love taco's :)

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  10. I was back to Ocean City for the first time in many years with my mom and brother. They happily devoured some pizza at one of the 'old' original pizza joints. I sat there and watched...then we came upon Pure Taco and I spotted the Gluten Free sign! FINALLY! There was something for me to eat without fear on the boardwalk! Thank you for creating this delicious, fresh and gluten free alternative for those of us who need it! And...yes the black bean taco sounds like it should be a big hit for the vegetarian folks! Thanks for making my day!

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  11. Pure Tacos is great! The nachos were so good. I ate there two times in one weekend!!

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