Walking through the heart of Benson's entertainment district you may have walked right by the white facade of the Bank of Benson without knowing what lied behind the recessed entryway. For years the bank was a dank, dark laboratory that made false teeth.
When the lab moved out, a new owner put the space on the market for a new business to revitalize the old bank. At the same time, it just so happened that Michael Sanchez was looking for a location for his new taco joint. Sanchez tells NewsRadio 1110 KFAB that he knew he wanted his new restaurant to be in Benson because of the history that lies withing its streets and the people who call the North Omaha neighborhood home. The restaurateur wanted to make sure that his vision would mesh well with the neighborhood it would move in to. "It's hard to deny the connectivity and the amount of neighborhood pride Benson has. The amount of pride that Benson has rivals any other neighborhood probably in the state."
Sanchez's restaurant concept is simple...good tacos, cold margaritas and an atmosphere you can't find anywhere else. Sanchez's family started the popular Mexican restaurant Maria's in Ralston decades ago and he wanted to share his family's history with other communities. The hallmark item at Maria's are the family's fried tacos, an undoubtedly popular and tasty morsel. In making the new restaurant, Sanchez knew he wanted to highlight those tacos, but didn't want to take away from Maria's and their loyal fan base. So out of that plan Taco Co. was born. "It's hand made. It's a recipe that we've had for years and years. So the challenge for me was that we have this really amazing product, that has so much potential to go outside of this restaurant, but I don't want to do anything to jeopardize the connection it has with the community there (Ralston)."
Sanchez says getting to opportunity to showcase a piece of his family's history, byway of Taco Co. in the old Bank of Benson, was serendipitous. Heart and soul are what Sanchez's family put into their food, which translated to his restaurant and he needed a place that would embrace that feeling. "You try to find a building that makes the most sense, that has the soul to it, and this building clearly has that. Even from the facade outside of it, and then you get into it and you realize how much history there is to it. I mean, those vaults tell a story, the facade tells a story. This building has a story to tell and we have a story to tell."
Sanchez says they originally planned on opening in a different Benson building, but when they heard the bank could be an option, they had to make it happen. The building's owner was told that any remains of the bank were long gone. There were no more vaults, nothing left of the building's originality except what you saw on the outside. They were wrong. When demo started, they discovered that there were still parts of the building's history intact. "We were told that the doors were gone. When we first started demolition on this space we were told that the doors had been taken out. So we were super shocked to see that when we started taking down the walls, the vault doors had just been propped open and dry-walled and framed over." Those old vault doors were restored and now serve as a link between the Benson residents of old and those who will come through the doors over a half a century later.
From the moment you walk in the door, The Taco Co. Margarita Garden has a feel unlike anything else. Swings that serve as seats. A boisterous patio on the back. Intimate spaces for friends to gather over a piece of Sanchez's family history and Benson history.
Taco Co. opens to the public on Tuesday and you can find more details here.