Jason Tilford can't help but chuckle at the request he and his brother Adam would often get when they opened their first Mission Taco Joint (Multiple locations, including 6235 Delmar Boulevard, 314-932-5430) on Delmar Boulevard in 2013.
"We'd get asked all the time if we had a regular taco," Jason recalls, referring to the Old El Paso-style ground beef and iceberg lettuce concoction of so many St. Louisans' youth. "Sometimes, we'd run them as a tongue-in-cheek special and even put them on the menu as a 'regular taco' at Busch Stadium. When we offer them, people come in and crush them."
Judging by that question, there is no doubt that the Tilford brothers played a significant role in transforming the St. Louis food scene through their wildly successful brand Mission Taco Joint. The restaurant, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, was a vital player in introducing the area to the many different ways to enjoy Mexican-inflected cuisine, in particular West Coast-style fare they refer to as Mexi-Cali food.
The milestone year has made the Tilford brothers reflective on how they've gotten to where they are. After all, they are two kids who grew up mostly in oceanside cities all around the country, thanks to their father's Coast Guard career, and somehow launched a West-Coast-inflected taco empire in the landlocked middle of the country. However, if you ask them, the journey makes sense. Whether on the Atlantic or the Pacific, the brothers grew up as self-described skateboarding, surfing beach bums whose seminal food memories revolve around feel-good boardwalk fare. A significant part of their childhood was spent in San Diego, California, and that region's style of lighter, low-key Mexican-inspired cuisine made an impression.
Their parents opted to settle down in St. Louis (after a tour here) just after Jason had graduated from high school and Adam was entering it. Both planted roots in town and pursued careers in the hospitality industry, both working for Levy Restaurants before going out on their own with their first restaurant, Tortilleria, which opened in 2004 in the Central West End. Centered around the food they fell in love with in California, Tortilleria featured braised meats, fresh tortillas, fish tacos and a casual, West Coast vibe that quickly resonated with area diners.
Bolstered by Tortilleria's success, the Tilfords opened the Barrister's pub in Clayton, then launched the upscale Milagro Modern Mexican in Webster Groves in 2010. With the latter, the brothers made a name for themselves in the area restaurant community and garnered critical acclaim for their innovative, high-end offerings.
Still, they had a feeling there was something more they wanted to do.
"All of those restaurants hit different points," Adam says. "Tortilleria was a great casual lunch and dinner spot; Barrister's had a great bar program and happy hour; Milagro had that creative, higher-end feel but was busy only on Friday and Saturday nights. We took all that knowledge and a little bit of all those places and created Mission Taco. It had the cool bar program of Barrister's, the casual feel of Tortilleria and the creativity of Milagro — and it just took off."
The Tilfords were blown away by the reception out of the gate. While originally conceived of as a dinner and late-night spot equally focused on bar and food, it became clear right away that they would have to increase their hours to give more people access to the Mission Taco experience. If the lines wrapped around the building and lengthy wait times for tables clued them that there was demand for an expansion, the messages they'd get from hungry diners sealed the deal.
"I don't want to call them hate emails, but that's pretty much what they were," Adam says with a laugh. "People would tell us, 'We've been waiting so long for you to open, and now we find out you're not open for lunch?' People were getting really upset, so we realized the demand was there and decided to jump on it quickly. Within a month, we hired additional staff and were open for lunch."
The original Mission Taco Joint opened in March 2013 at the corner of Delmar Boulevard and Eastgate Avenue in the University City Loop. By September of the following year, the brothers opened a separate commissary kitchen and, with the help of an investment group, launched a second location in Soulard. The Central West End storefront came next, followed by a location in the Streets of St. Charles and another in Kansas City. They were just getting ready to launch their Kirkwood store when the pandemic ground their momentum to a halt. It was an awful period for the group that was characterized by layoffs and real questions as to whether or not the restaurants would survive. However, even in the midst of such turmoil, the Tilfords still managed to do a bit of public service.
"We had all this alcohol, limes and lime juice, so we figured we'd sell margaritas to go," Adam says. "That lasted two days, and I got a call from someone with the City of St. Charles who said, 'Hey, I heard you are selling margaritas to go.' I told them that yes, we were, and they told me I was not allowed to do that. I asked if it was a St. Charles rule, and they said no, that it was a state rule. I told them, 'OK, we will wait to hear from the state.' Two minutes later, I got a call from the state. Honestly, they were nice and understanding, but we were technically breaking liquor license laws."
The Tilfords were told that they would have to cease selling to-go booze or risk losing their liquor license. They responded by sending out a tweet from the Mission Taco Twitter account telling their followers that they could no longer sell margaritas and suggesting they contact the state of Missouri if they felt this wasn't right.
"The next day I got a call from the state asking if we could take down the tweet — that their phones hadn't stopped ringing, and they had to turn their phones off," Adam says. "I had people saying that they tried calling but hadn't gotten through because the lines were so busy. I think they got a lot of phone calls that day."
Tilford was not trying to cause trouble but was instead trying to shine a light on what he saw as a double standard — gas stations and grocery stores could sell packaged booze easily consumable in cars, whereas restaurants struggling to survive were unable to provide more cumbersome to-go cocktails in large jugs. His advocacy paid off; in no time, he had the support of local officials and state lawmakers who got the governor to sign an executive order allowing restaurants to serve to-go drinks — a sea change in the way restaurants are allowed to serve their customers.
Aided by a robust to-go business and the support of their loyal customers, Mission Taco Joint was able to weather the pandemic and is proud to be transitioning from a survival to a growth mindset in its 10th year. The Tilfords tease that they have one more location coming in the Kansas City area and one in a yet-to-be-disclosed St. Louis area spot, and they are excited to continue their relationship with the Enterprise Center while entering into a new one with Busch Stadium for the coming Cardinals baseball season. They credit this staying power — even in the midst of such upheaval in the hospitality industry — to a company culture that values and empowers their employees. They believe that if they take care of their people, their people will take care of their guests. For Adam and Jason, this is the foundation of all they do, which results in an all-around feel-good brand that will keep growing for years to come.
"When people go to Mission, it's not just to get a quick bite or to have this amazing five-star culinary dinner; it's for the experience," Adam says. "There's a bit of everything; it's a combination of food, cocktails, the environment and the feeling you get. Dining now is so much more experiential than it used to be. People really have a lot of choices for where they are going to spend their money, so they are going to think back to how they feel when they are there. Sometimes they might not even know why. If we are doing our job correctly and providing a good experience, people won't know why they feel the way they do. They just will. And that's a good time."
This story has been updated.
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