The taco hut got started because of frequent requests from the customers of the grocery store.
“They decided to open up a little taco hut because people who were my dad’s friends kept saying, ‘Hey sell some tacos,’” said Bobby Rizk, their son and owner of the Herbert’s location in New Braunfels. He opened that location about 15 years ago.
The idea took hold, and Herbert began adding on sections around and behind the grocery store in 1976.
“One day [Herbert] decided to buy one of those trailers ... steel buildings, and put it next to the store,” Dora Rizk said. “We got packed the first day we opened,” she said.
They had five tables initially to serve customers, and over the years gradually added outdoor seating and other sections to the “hut.”“We kept adding, and within a year and a half or so it became what it is now,” Dora said.
Dora said the most popular items at Herbert’s Taco Hut are the chicken enchiladas ($8.19 for beef or chicken) and are served with a tomatillo verde or ranchero sauce, rice and beans. Fajita dinners come with a 1/4 pound of beef or chicken ($10.50) and are served with beans, rice, guacamole and pico de gallo. Part of what makes Herbert’s Taco Hut unique is in the way Dora maintains control over the spices, mixing together packets daily for the restaurant to use. She does not have written measurements, but she maintains consistency through her own personal touch.
Dora and Herbert Rizk learned many of the recipes used since opening the restaurant from a friend, Guadalupe Facundo. Facundo did not give them written instructions or measurements, but rather they watched and learned from her cooking style.
“It’s not a recipe; we do handfuls. A handful of this and a handful of that. I told my younger son Anthony how to do it,” she said. Bobby also took those oral instructions to the New Braunfels Herbert’s.
Anthony began producing the restaurant’s gravy, hot sauce and queso for retail, and they can be found at their restaurants, the grocery store and at Granzin’s Meat Market.
Herbert’s Taco Hut
419 Riverside Drive, San Marcos
512-353-7440
www.herbertstacohutsanmarcos.com
Hours: Mon.-Thu. 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Fri. 10 a.m.-10 p.m.,
Sat. 7 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun. 7 a.m.-9 p.m.
