Taco Mama coming to Waites

A new option for margaritas and tacos is coming to Southside.

Taco Mama, a fast-casual Mexican restaurant, is opening its sixth location at the Waites development under construction. Founder and owner Will Haver said they have looked at moving downtown for a while, but wanted to wait for the best opportunity to open up.

“Our main drive was to be part of downtown, but really be close to UAB because we felt like that could support us as downtown developed,” Haver said.

The Waites development was fitting, he said, because it has its own parking and is close to the business and medical communities in downtown. They expect to start the build-out on Taco Mama in June 2017, when construction is set to be complete.

“It gives it another year for it to develop even more, and a lot can happen in a year, especially in downtown Birmingham,” he said.

After the space is turned over to Taco Mama, Haver said it should only be about 90 days before they open.

“Being that it’s a new development really gives us the leg up,” he said. “A lot of locations we go into we retrofit, and you’re dealing with a building that may be from the 1920s and has a lot of character … but when you go into a new development like this, it cuts some of that work out. It cuts some of the unknown out.”

The space will be about 2,300 to 2,400 square feet and will have the same look as Taco Mama’s other locations. The feel of a Taco Mama is just as important as the food, Haver said.

“We’re pretty set in our ways,” Haver said. “We always want those garage doors, and we will have them there. It will look and feel like most of the Taco Mamas.”

The original Taco Mama location in Crestline opened in 2011, and the restaurant’s fourth and fifth locations in Edgewood and at The Summit opened in 2016. Haver said he credits Taco Mama employees, director of operations Robert Rodriguez and director of corporate development Dayton Miller with the restaurant’s success and growth.