Also offered are breakfast tacos with various egg, meat and cheese options.ДЇlatin said plans were in the works with the city to enlarge the outdoor seating area of the restaurant by creating an area on the 10th Street sidewalk. The menu also includes smoked brisket, fried chicken, steak and fajita chicken, and several vegetarian filling options for the tacos. The pineapple salsa is a big part of the signature Rusty Taco, which includes achiote pork, which also has a kick to it, Flatin said.

He said the restaurant grills fresh pineapple and combines it with grilled jalapeГ±os, onions, cilantro and other spices. There are also a couple of versions of fish tacos that feature grilled or tempura battered cod slathered in an avocado creme sauce and fixings like a cabbage slaw or pickled red onions.Д«ut one of the real standout relishes that the restaurant makes each day is its pineapple salsa, Flatin said. Those include a Baja shrimp version that features grilled shrimp with a Baja sauce. Flatin said the four seafood variety tacos have been some of the more popular offerings at Rusty locations. That has resulted in a menu of about 20 kinds of tacos, all of them served on either corn or flour tortillas. When he and a business partner opened the first Rusty Taco in Dallas in 2010, he created the menu simply by making the favorite tacos he had eaten over the years, Flatin said. He particularly ate a lot in and around Acapulco, Mexico, where he often fished. (What can I say? Fish bowls, for some reason, flaw my thinking.)ДЇounder Rusty Fenton, it seemed, had a fun hobby: eating tacos. The вЂRustyвЂ™ in the name has nothing to do with rust, but rather with the first name of the companyвЂ™s founder. In learning a little more about the Rusty Taco franchise, I do have to tell you that my thinking was a bit flawed. He became one of the first franchise owners of Rusty Taco, opening a location in Dubuque, Iowa, where he also operates Sonic Drive-Ins. вЂњIt always has been kind of a dream of mine to have a restaurant here.вЂќДЇlatin said he started working at Sonic at 19 years old, and he was with the restaurant chain when the parent company bought the Rusty Taco franchise. (Hey, so did I.) He said trips to Lawrence were a regular part of his routine growing up there.

Flatin said the atmosphere of Massachusetts Street was a big reason he made Lawrence one of his first places to open a Rusty Taco.ДЇlatin grew up about an hour away from Lawrence in the small Osage County town of Melvern. or later on many nights of the week to serve the late-night crowd on Massachusetts Street. The drink menu includes a variety of frozen or on-the-rocks options of margaritas, daiquiris, piГ±a coladas, Bahama mamas or other concoctions you might find with sand and sun.ДЇlatin said the restaurant hoped to stay open to 2 a.m. That includes a steady stream of fun, carefree music and a 30-seat, U-shaped island bar in the middle of the space that used to house the JimmyвЂ™s Egg breakfast restaurant and, before that, Ingredient restaurant. вЂњWe are trying to create a real island feel here,вЂќ Luke Flatin, who leads the local franchise group, said. They also are largely tropical, and that isnвЂ™t by accident, the local franchise owner told me. Or just plain big, if you choose the 60-ounce fish-bowl option. Street-style tacos, of course, are the main menu item, but the drinks are a big deal there too. The first Rusty Taco restaurant in Kansas opened earlier this week at 10th and Massachusetts streets. At least, thatвЂ™s a thought that crossed my mind after checking out Rusty Taco, the new Mexican restaurant that has opened in downtown Lawrence. Instead, a margarita - or maybe a fish bowl of them - is the better strategy. in downtown Lawrence.ДЄll these years IвЂ™ve been dealing with rusty items the wrong way - either a few squirts of WD-40 or a can of spray paint. 18, 2022, has opened at 945 Massachusetts St. Photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World photo

Rusty taco