Toby Wilson has a reputation in this industry. He’s somewhat of a vagabond, a man who is difficult to tie down, always striving and moving towards the next thing—a better thing than before.
Indeed, a simple delve into his history will show you a list of established venues across Sydney whose doors are still open and whose genesis can be traced back to his handiwork.
It seems a business started by Toby Wilson is a business destined for success.
So join me, if you will, for the tale of how Rico’s Tacos came to be.
Toby Wilson’s journey started over 10 years ago with a neighbourhood cafe nestled on the doorstep of Broadway shopping centre.
“I’ve had hospitality businesses since I was, like 22 or 23 which is dating back to 2011, I think, I opened a cafe? And I’ve just kind of mostly run my own thing since.”
But cafe work wasn’t the endgame.
After selling his first business, via a stint working with the lovely people over at Sample, he opened up a small taco joint in a food court in Haymarket. Ghostboy Cantina was to be the beginning of something beautiful.
“(I) Used to be more coffee-focused, and then moved more from coffee to staying within cafes, to being in food, and then to ditching coffee and running with food full-time…I’ve done a few pubs and stuff as well, but yeah, mostly been pretty small scale things. And definitely the past, I’d say six years, has been pretty Mexican-focused”
These ventures included the establishment of Bad Hombres in Surry Hills, Taco King at The George Hotel in Waterloo, which led to running the kitchen at The Duke in Enmore, but the call of the taqueria is not easily ignored and it remained strong as ever.
“Rico’s came about in the midst of the first lockdown. We were running the George Hotel, out in Waterloo, which was a Mexican restaurant within a pub, (and) the pub closed in the first lockdown. So I started (Rico’s) as a little nomadic, flexible, lock down COVID-conscious business. I was able to open and shut, and move, and be really malleable for the times, I guess.”
And so, Rico’s Tacos was born.
But the romance of operating out of a truck in the carpark of Messina’s headquarters in Rosebery does wear off after a certain time, although not completely (the truck’s still there). The initial success of Rico’s, plus the demand for tacos born of Toby’s capable hands called for more.
On weekends you can find a Rico’s Taco cart parked inside the tasting bar at Grifter, providing some much-needed (not to mention, delicious) stomach lining for whatever the night has in store.
And whilst most of us would be content with having two popular local businesses offering you a space to operate from, Toby saw a bigger picture—something necessary if Rico’s was to be allowed to truly flourish.
“As it started to become more mature as a business, we kind of thought that finding our own venue gave us a bit more stability in terms of no one else being able to tell us that they wanted us to move on or any that kind of stuff.
“We still do a little taco cart within the Grifter brewery, and then we also have a taco truck within the grounds of Messina’s headquarters, and both of those were handshake agreements—contract free—so it was very much, at any point in time that (they) could be like, ‘go.’ So I didn’t want to get stuck in a situation where I have six staff in a business and we’re effectively homeless. So we found the Chippendale site and that was a year ago now.”
Stepping inside the tiny, one-room venue is like stepping away from its Inner West surroundings, and entering small-town Mexico via a time machine. The walls are roughly-plastered and painted white and bright yellow, feeding off the sunshine pouring in from the lace-curtained windows. And they are adorned with hand-painted logos from Tide laundry powder and Clorox bleach, to a rendering of the pivotal al pastor through to some light copyright infringement courtesy of a Rico’s coke bottle.
Up the steps towards the counter and you’ll find a TV showing ancient footage of Mexican football sourced from God knows where (I will find out, that I promise) and plain white tiles leading through to the kitchen (via a doorway armed with one of those multicoloured, hanging plastic curtains that keep the flies out).
But it all works because this is what Mexico looks like—what it feels like. You will see no calaveras inside these walls.
The menu is simple with only 4 tacos, 3 tortas, 2 quesadillas, and some sides (plus a weekly special), and it’s all you need. Because though the menu is simple, it delivers one of the most authentic Mexican experiences you can hope for.
Such is Toby’s drive for authenticity and constant development, that he takes regular trips to Mexico and Los Angeles where the goal is simple: eat as many tacos as humanly possible in a single day.
And it’s because of these taco pilgrimages that you can trust anything and everything that comes out of the kitchen at Rico’s because behind its creation is the knowledge gained from devouring a thousand tacos on the opposite side of the Pacific Ocean.
And look, we don’t know what’s next for Toby Wilson and Rico’s Tacos, but I’d bet my morning porridge that whatever it is, it’ll be executed with the care and devotion to the roots that all good food deserves.
It’s just the Rico’s Tacos way.
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