The Taco Project Opens First CT Location In Stamford

STAMFORD, CT — Taco lovers, rejoice. There's a new addition to the Stamford food scene.

The Taco Project, which has four locations in Westchester County, N.Y. in Yonkers, Tarrytown, Bronxville and Pleasantville, has opened its first Connecticut location at 1111 High Ridge Road in Stamford.

Dinner service will be available in Stamford beginning Thursday, April 14.

"There's always a great food scene there, great restaurants, great places to hang out. We really wanted to get involved and be a part of that great food scene," said The Taco Project co-owner Nick Mesce on the decision to open in Stamford.

Mesce owns the business along with Sebastian Aliberti and Carmelo Milio.

"We saw North Stamford as more of a suburb and it was a good fit for us to get involved with the community. We like to get involved with the community and really give back to local charities, sports teams. We had a real good feeling in North Stamford," Mesce added.

Described as a "Mexican-inspired, really fun, bright, colorful and happy place" by Mesce, The Taco Project features a great mix of starter dishes, tacos, burrito bowls, quesadillas and salads, to go along with sangria and a selection of beer and wine. There are also several dessert options.

There are 36 seats available for indoor dining, and 14 seats approved for outdoors. The space was previously occupied by Wagner's Luggage, which closed last year after over a century in business.

Customers can also choose takeout or delivery.

"It could be a quick takeout option for you if you're on the road working and need to grab a quick burrito or tacos, or if you want to come for date night or with the family, we have candlelight in the nighttime. You can grab a bottle of wine, some sangria or a margarita," Mesce said. "It just has great energy when you come in. It's a fun place to hang. We take pride in the way it looks and the way it feels, and obviously the way the food tastes."

Tacos come two to an order and are served on yellow corn tortillas, or hard shells.

The fish tacos feature Atlantic cod, sauteed or battered, topped with red cabbage slaw, guaca salsa, cilantro and radish.

The pork belly tacos come with braised pork belly topped with pineapple glaze, pineapple salsa, cilantro and Radish.

There are also more traditional steak, chicken and ground beef tacos, as well as cajun salmon, BBQ pulled pork, shrimp, chorizo and veggie options.

Starter dishes include "sidewinder fries", sidewinder cut potatoes created with craft beer batter and served with chipotle aioli, jalapeño ketchup and Mexican blue cheese. The Mexican Corn is served on the cob with cotija cheese, mayo and Lemon chili pepper.

Chips with salsa or guacamole, and rice and beans are also available.

Steak, chicken, shrimp or veggie burritos and burrito bowls are filled to order, and come with rice and beans, queso fresco or cotija cheese, and sour cream.

There is a smoked corn and field green salad, and a honey habanero chicken salad. Each comes with a choice of protein.

For dessert, there are churros with dipping sauces; coconut tres leches cake; or flan.

Mesce, who has prior experience in the restaurant industry in New York City and Little Italy, opened the first Taco Project location in Tarrytown in 2014 with Aliberti, coincidentally on National Taco Day. Milio came on as the third co-owner later on.

"We just saw a real need in Tarrytown for a Mexican-inspired Taqueria," Mesce said. "We never imagined we would expand all the way to five locations."

A sixth location is scheduled to open up in June in Coral Springs, Fla., Mesce said.

For more information on The Taco Project or to view the full menu, go to their website, or follow them on Instagram.

The Stamford location will be open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday through Thursday (closed for Easter) and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.