Biz Buzz: New taco truck serving specialty ‘red tacos’ in eastern Idaho

Do you want to know what’s happening in the eastern Idaho business scene? We’ve got you covered. Here is a rundown of this week’s business news across the valley.

BIZ BUZZ

REXBURG

Mexican taco joint in Rexburg serves up fresh food daily

REXBURG – If you have a hankering for fresh, Mexican tacos, Tacobox may be a place you want to try.

The mobile restaurant began operating out of a bus on Feb. 26 and is currently sitting behind Ray’s Chevron at 279 North 2nd East in Rexburg.

“We’re doing really good. This has exceeded my expectations,” Owner Gamaliel Loera says of the response from the community. “Within two weeks of opening, we got booked to cater for an event. We’ve already been booked to cater for another event next month.”

The main item on the menu is the red Birria Quesa Taco, a dish Loera says is rare because it is so time-consuming to make. Birria is a crunchy taco made with tender, shredded beef that is cooked for six hours every day.

“The tortilla is dunked in broth, (which) paints it red,” Loera says. “Before we fry it, we dunk it in broth and that’s how it gains the tint on it. People call them red tacos because it’s easier to say than birria.”

Tacobox also serves chimichangas and quesadillas.

Loera may be a name you’ve come across before. His parents own Casa De Ochoa, another Mexican restaurant in Rexburg. He prepares all the food at his family’s restaurant every day and sells it at Tacobox.

The inspiration for Loera’s restaurant stemmed from his desire to provide something new and different for members of the community.

“I just wanted people to have more variety of food. I thought (birria) was a great idea and it’s not available here. I thought it would brighten up the day a little bit but it ended up brightening the day a lot. People love it and it feels good.”

Watching customers try his food who then go out of their way to write a positive review is something Loera describes as “touching” and “the best feeling.” It’s his favorite part of running the business.

Loera says he’d eventually like to open a Mexican supermarket with a Tacobox stand available inside. He’s looking forward to meeting new customers and invites you to give his food a try.

Tacobox Rexburg is open 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Visit the Facebook page for more information.

BIZ BITS

Organization launches community garden for local elementary kids

MCCAMMON – The McCammon Action Council is launching a community garden to provide a unique educational opportunity for kids. Construction on the half-acre garden will get underway later this summer on land adjacent to Mountain View Elementary and will include raised bed planters, a composting system and a greenhouse. Those behind the project say the purpose of it is to teach kids about sustainable food systems, pollinators, and even economics by selling flowers and seed starts. The MAC has received funding from every grant they’ve applied for and the city has already built water infrastructure for the land. Visit the McCammon Action Council’s website for more information.

Winners of wellness challenge honored during award ceremony

BLACKFOOT – Dozens of community members were honored during an awards ceremony at Bingham Healthcare last week for their participation in the annual 4-week “Live-to-Move” Wellness Challenge throughout March and April. More than 600 people in eastern Idaho collectively traveled more than 90,000 miles. To start, people signed up for the FREE Wellable app, which was customized for Bingham Healthcare. Once they downloaded the app, they were able to sync it with their phones or other devices to track how much they walked or exercised throughout the day. Depending on the activity, their steps were converted to Wellable points. Through the app, participants could see how much others were engaged and how many Wellable points they had compared to everyone else.

There were over 50 winners who received Visa gift cards, wearable devices, like FitBit, beef jerky from Caribe, energy bars, and water bottles. Three people from the community and three people who work at Bingham Healthcare won Visa gift cards, Garmin Fitness Wearable Devices, a free walk or run analysis and a pair of shoes from Bill’s Bike & Run, a Prepp’d Meal Card, and beef jerky from Caribe.

The winners from the community were:

First Place: Justin Jackson and James Frasure tied with 168,000 Wellable points each
Second Place: Mckenzie Goss with 137,300 Wellable points
Third Place: Amy Baker with 133,432 Wellable Points

The winners from Bingham Healthcare were:

First Place: Julie Miles with 123,728 Wellable points
Second Place: Darschelle Chandler with 54,393 Wellable points
Third Place: Charlene Guthrie with 48,263 Wellable points

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