(Katie Sokoler/Gothamist)
Here's some melancholy news to start your morning: Rockaway Taco will not be returning to Beach 96th Street to serve tacos and other Mexican goodies to surfers and sun seekers this summer. It seems the perennially popular seasonal shack shuttered its tiny counter and kitchen for good when it closed for the season in October, reports Rockaway Times.
But before you despair too much, there's also a bright spot amidst the closure. Rockaway local Andrew Field, who's run the joint since 2008, will be opening another taco enterprise not too far away at Beach 87th Street. He'll be operating a new venture called Tacoway Beach inside the Rockaway Beach Surf Club situated in the shadow of the freeway. The more centrally located spot—for the hordes who descend on the area in the summer—boasts way more seating than the few coveted benches in Rockaway Taco's side yard, plus the freedom to drink booze along with your tilapia tacos.
So what's to become of the OG hipster spot in the Rockaways? Co-owner David Selig plans to take his show on the road with a "mobile shack" that'll motor around the country dishing out tacos. Though it'll stay closed for the 2015 season, the 96th Street business will reopen in some form in 2016.
