COMPLIMENTS OF MISSION TACO JOINT
Off the Wall, from the Mission Taco Joint team, features burgers, hot dogs and other "boardwalk eats."
For seven years, Adam and Jason Tilford have been blessing the St. Louis community with their excellent take on west coast-style Mexican food. Now, they're giving the same Mission Taco Joint (multiple locations including 105 East Jefferson Avenue, Kirkwood; 314-666-5757) treatment to burgers, corn dogs and more with their new burger pop-up, Off the Wall Burgers, which launched at their Kirkwood location this week.
Described as "classic boardwalk eats," the menu at Off the Wall consists of smash burgers, Philly cheesesteaks, corn dogs, Coney Island dogs and other eats to evoke the sort of whimsical, carnival fare that remind the Tilfords of growing up on the west coast. The Off the Wall offerings are available for takeout only, and will be available at the Kirkwood location only until current dining restrictions, prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, are lifted.
"We have to think of creative ways to support our staff at this time," says co-owner Adam Tilford. "We will continue to hustle, and Off the Wall Burgers builds some excitement around the Kirkwood location, which needs some love while closed for indoor dining. Plus the menu is killer, and something that Jason has been working on for a long time."
The Kirkwood location of Mission Taco Joint opened in June of this year and is the restaurant group's flagship and home to its tortilla-making operation. Though takeout, outdoor and limited indoor dining have been able to sustain operations thus far, Off the Wall will give the group an additional lifeline to get it through the upcoming winter months — a struggle in the midst of already crippling struggles that is weighing heavily on the minds of hospitality industry professionals throughout the area.
With its whimsical, nostalgic offerings, Off the Wall hopes to be more than an additional revenue stream, though; the idea is to bring some levity to such fraught times. For co-owner Jason Tilford, the menu represents a longtime dream of a burger concept that allows him to be creative as he thinks back on fond memories from his youth.
"We have a test kitchen inside of our Kirkwood location for fun pop-up menus like this, but we haven't had the chance to utilize the space yet due to the pandemic," Jason explains. "I was a skater kid growing up, so the name is a reference to Vans shoes' slogan back in the day."
Off the Wall Burgers will be offered alongside the regular Mission Taco Joint menu and can be ordered through the restaurant's website or by calling the Kirkwood restaurant.
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