Not on his list — which included Don Chilito's and In-a-Tub — was Taco Via, the childhood staple of seemingly everyone I've met from south Johnson County since moving to Kansas City. Happy in Bag recently visited the new-ish location at 95th Street and Antioch (it opened in November) and was mystified by the lunch line. Can anyone put their love of Taco Via into words, or is it simply beyond description?
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I love the nachos, the sauce and the ice but what I like most is the freshness of the food and the employees. Bobby has to be one of my faves. I live in south KC on the Missouri side and drive to OP at least once or twice a week. The Lee's Summit and Olathe locations are owned by the same family and once I went in to the Lees Summit location and was so disappointed to see their peppers (whole) on the nachos. I could hardly wait for them to reopen and have visited the new location at least 20 times and was there for opening day. It was well worth the wait in line.
The sancho and nachos are unique. You can't get anything like them at Taco Bell. Great new location, same old fork dispenser. Good service, good food, what else do you need?
In a homogenized world it still stands out. You will see three glaring points made over and over when speaking to any taco via advocate.
1. I ate there forever growing up. (This quickly puts Taco Via into the catagory of remebered or desired good times of youth)
2. They have unique presentations of standard American Mexican food. (These small unqiue diffrence shores up the first point by proving there is something diffrent maybe better by there fare)
3. I feal so comfortable and at home while i eat there. (This comes from point one and two, but it also comes from the small touches presented in each taco via).
You put these three points together with good food and decent service that tries to make every customer happy and you get Taco Via.
I took dance lessons at Valley View Dance school - it was in the basement of the old Taco Via location. What was cool is that between dance classes - we could go there and get a soda, chips and sauce and maybe a nacho for less that $0.75 cents! What a deal. Who can beat the awesome sauce they have? No one - not even close. To this day - (since the early 70's) we have a weekly visit to "The Via" - now I have turned my kids and granddaughter into Via lovers! Worked at the Oak Park location and I STILL LOVE THE VIA!!! NOTHING COMPARES!!!!
I grew up in Topeka, and attended Topeka West. There was a Taco Villa (spelled differently - identical menu) within walking distance of the high school. Literally ate there hundreds of times over 20+ years of childhood, HS, and returning to Topeka. Was and continue to be elated that Taco Via @ 95th exists. Driving distance from work, and we frequent it often. The sauce, the burrito onion sauce, and the nacho cheese make it forever fabulous!
As you can see people love the sauce. I had a friend UPS it to me when I lived in Vail, had Taco Via cater my rehearsal dinner and I spend every fathers day with my kids there. But its much more than the food, it's a way of life. I am 42 and went to Shawnee Mission South HS. My friends and I have been meeting at "Via" for 32 years. It's one of those things that connects you back to your youth. There are only a few things around that can "bring you back"!
You know when you walk into "Via" you will definately run into someone from your past...The food, staff and memories are undeniable! JT Collor
we love the food
crunchy nachos good sauce
it is all wonderful
we live in lees summit but taco via at 95th and antioch is only REAL taco via
atmosphere quality too
very tasty for the price
love the new store
we wish them LOTS of success
at christmas dinner we discussed them being open and laughed about the email
we love em
Working at Taco Via was my first job after graduating from high school...that's when I fell in love with the nachos. I used to try to "mess" them up when I had to make them so that they couldn't be given to the customers so I could eat them. I worked at the one on 75th and Metcalf.
But, I also go there for the "special"...you can't beat it! YUMMY!!!!!
I grew up with Taco Via! I took dance class at Miller Marley across from Taco Via at Ranchmart Shopping Center. We would always go in-between classes.
We had a 30 minute lunch at SMSHS. We would run to our cars so we could get to Metcalfe South's Taco Via and back to school in time.
I went to Taco Via usually once a week until it closed on 95th and Antioch. I now go to the new location on 95th and Antioch 1-2 times a week.
My family (anywhere from 4-10 people) meet at the Olathe location ever Saturday for lunch. We have done this for years.
Can you tell that I love Taco Via?!
Taco Via is what nachos have always been to me. I was quite confused when nachos appeared in other places and they were chips and a can of cheese. Taco Via sauce was the other thing I missed most in the relocation. I happily endured the wait in line to get my Via fix.
Definitely the sauce *AND* the crushed ice!!!!!! Eating there takes me back to my high school days at SM West. The cleanliness of the new location is an added bonus! Although the service isn't always friendly, they're fast and get my order correct each time... that's all I care about since I'm just there for the food... and ice :).
I can't explain it. The food isn't all that great. The atmosphere isn't particularly endearing. The service is average. By all rights Taco Via should have shuttered decades ago...but there is something about the place. Where else can you get a hot dog slathered in taco meat topped with cheese? Where else would you even want to get one? That's disgusting. But oh, it is divine. And whenever I'm home from Baltimore it's one of my must stops. Some things defy logic and simply are without question. It's what makes it magic, right?
Ever since they moved the 95th St Taco Via---its been real busy at night!! Much better street visibility. But I miss the ambience of the old location. Part of its charm is that in its later years it was located in a deserted strip mall (Valley View Shopping Center). The Japanese steak house that bordered it on the south had been closed and vacated since the early 80s and the beauty shop to its north had been closed since the mid 1990s. But happily , the food quality at T. V. is still the same !!
"It is also Americanized "mexican" served up by God-fearing white people, so I'm sure that makes the JoCo and Lee's crowd feel safer going in rather than a Taco Bell with actual Mexicans working."
Seriously, Abe? Couple of minor details - (a) speaking Spanish as a first language doesn't mean that you're Mexican, and (b) Taco Bell isn't exactly authentic Mexican.
I noticed this phenomenon a couple years ago--particularly in people who grew up in KC and now live out of town. I decided to write a song about it. Even though the new location is physically nice, the place I describe in the song is the Taco Via from my childhood. http://www.daveclaflin.com/who-ordered-pan…
Have you seen that scene in the Toxic Avenger where he wastes a group of thugs trying to rob the local taco restaurant? Going to the old Taco Via location at 95th and Antioch was like being an extra in that scene. The food is gloopy, but the ambience is second to none.
I grew up with Taco Via. The 95th and Antioch location was always the best one in my opinion. There used to be one at 75th and Metcalf where KFC now stands and it was my first job when I was a kid. I used to frequent the one in Metcalf South Mall as well as the one in Ranch Mart, but they were never up to the quality of the other two.
In the 90's, my family operated the Taco Via on 123rd and State Line. I opened and closed the restaurant daily in the summer when I wasn't in school. I still have the spice mix, as well as a steamer that is used on nearly every dish there that has melted cheese.
The secret is the sauce of course. Plus, the nachos are the bomb.
No where else can you order a nacho and be handed a single, oversized round chip topped with melted cheese and peppers, which, I think we can all agree, is just a vehicle for that magnificent sauce.
Taco Via played a significant role in my youth. I'd say I ate at the Ridgeview location in Olathe at least once a week growing up. The cashier could write down my order before I even said it. Sancho, no tomatoes, and two nachos, no peppers. (I was a picky child.)
RIP, Ridgeview Taco Via (the one by Olathe South). You were the best of the Taco Vias. You are missed.
Taco Via IS pure magic. Glad you recognize it. I have been eating there ever since I can remember, so about 33 years. And yes, the same woman who served us then still serves us today. I moved to Texas in 1995 and every trip home requires a stop at Taco Via. And I make sure my sisters (also out of state) are jealous of the fact that I have a nacho covered in sauce sitting in front of me. It's nostalgic, for sure. But it's that dang sauce that we love. I could drink it and often do have an obscene amount of sauce vs. food ratio. My sister's Christmas present was a liter of sauce I brought home to her after a pre-Christmas visit. Yes, they will sell it if you bring in your own container. Can you believe it??? God bless Taco Via!
There was also a location in Indian Springs Mall in KCK.
I grew up going to "Taco Kid" on about 34th and State Ave, I believe the gringo-ness is somehwhat similar to Taco Via. Most everything in Indian Springs is long defunct, but at some point Taco Kid became Los Amigos and is still in operation. Sanchos, taco burgers and Fanta Strawberry....all the classics.
its actually northern joco. and you might have had to grow up on it. ive been eating it since it was upstairs in metcalf south shopping center and LOVE it! there's a lot about it to love but i love the onion sauce in the burritos. delicious~ th
e 95 and antioch location is the only REAL taco via left.
@Colby------shit!!! I forgot about their old locations at Ranchmart and Metcalf South!!
@Abe----That last sentence about the "American Mexican" was the most moronic and untrue thing i have ever read in a blog. They(JO CO Suburbanites) go to Taco Via in part because it is NOT Taco Bell. Although racism is prevalent in JOCO (where is it not?) , Its the food that brings people there--not the white high school students, or lack of Mexicans working the counter. Youre getting senile Abe!!
Who knows what it really is, but on rare occasions I'll stop in for a "treat". According to my brother, while in line at the new place Jason Sudekis was there. Why don't you ask him? He's an old JoCo-ite.
I love love love Taco Via...It's the food of the Ranchmart Rats... It's the crushed ice, it's the sauce, it's the Taco's it's the tostada's... I sat next my first girlfriend at Taco Via.. I got into my first fight in front of Taco Via...I could go on and on..There were 3 of them by us. Ranchmart, one on the top floor of Metcalf South and the one by my dad's on 95th and Antioch.
Andrea...the 95th location is owned by different people than Lee's Summit. The food is different as well. Go to 95th and Antioch. It is the true Taco Via!!
It is the sauce. It's a really simple sauce (tomato puree, vinegar, spice mix), but it's like crack. Honestly the cheese sauce isn't bad either, compared to other nacho cheeses, because the red sauce is mixed in it. For fast food it's reasonably tasty, I find it much better than Taco Bell or Johns. They love to use the steamer to melt the cheese, and they don't skimp on the cheese so that's good.
It is also Americanized "mexican" served up by God-fearing white people, so I'm sure that makes the JoCo and Lee's crowd feel safer going in rather than a Taco Bell with actual Mexicans working.
Finally, there is absolutely a nostalgia factor.
I first started patronizing Taco Via (the 95th St location) in 1975 at the age of 14 when my family moved to Overland Park. In my opinion the Sancho is by far their best menu item followed by the Taco Dog. I also remember when they had a juke box at the old 95th location in the late 70s and it seems that someone would be playing that annoying song Sweet Home Alabama . Shame on anyone who mentions Taco Via in the same sentence with Taco Johns or that shitty In A Tub!!
I think that's biggest part of it's charm. For me too I just get a craving for it sometimes. There's definitely a lot of nostalgia attached to Taco Via, as there's many different periods where it became a weekly tradition of what I ate before something fun. Band practice, bowling, etc. Eating reminds me of happy things, therefore it makes me happy to eat at Taco Via. My wife has a similar experience with Taco Pronto in Wichita. She loves Taco Via now because it reminds her of Pronto.
Can I defend the food as being great? No, but it's consisent, the staff is almost always friendly and it tastes good to me.
It's chock full o' Jesus love. That's a bit of a turn-off for this gal. And the workers, boy they love to stare. Especially at the Lees Summit location. I thought they were going to burn fire with their eyes on us when they didn't see us pray before we dug into our nastiness. Not a fan. But I did grow up in the Northland with In-A-Tub. Now that's a place I understand.
I'm relatively new to Taco Via. When I first went there I told the cashier that I hadn't eaten there since I was a kid, but that was because I'd confused Taco Via for Taco John's. I haven't been to Taco John's in forever but I bet I would have liked Taco Via a lot had I gone there as a kid.
There are two factors that, for me, seem to make Taco Via work:
1. It's retro. At least the old one on 95th was before it was torn down and replaced by the newer, larger one. I remember those old candy vending machines, the fading posters on the wall, and the even more outdated pictures on the menu sign. I miss those things when I see the new, slicked-out LCD menus and the walls devoid of wood paneling. However, they kept the video games and the old booths so that's a win for them. Speaking of things they've kept...
2. The people who work there. While I don't know any of their names, I see the same people there I've seen in years past. Some of these people have probably worked at Taco Johns for decades. I don't know how many people stop to chat with the staff but I'm sure there are regulars to that Taco Via and others that think of the crew there as friends. I bet the Taco Via staff thinks the same thing. It also doesn't hurt that the workers there are quite nice.
Notice that I didn't mention the food. It's not bad but it's nothing to write home about. You can get cheap, generic Mexican food anywhere, but Taco Via gives the diner an experience that is very American: the feeling of being at home.
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