Thieves Stole Tight Tacos’ Equipment. Then This Happened

Photo: Thomas Obungen

Afew posts on social media hinted at what happened in the early morning hours of May 5, the second anniversary of the day Tight Tacos opened in Kaimukī. Thieves stole its catering van, leaving the mom-and-pop business without the grills and everything else it needed for events and off-site catering.

The story might have spiraled from there, another one about hard luck hitting a small business already feeling battered. Tight Tacos closed its Maui shop in December in the ongoing downturn after the Lahaina fires. But a week ago, there was exuberance on its Instagram. “No thanks to the thief who stole our van and all of our catering equipment the night before Cinco de Mayo but thanks to all of you for pulling together and helping us do the damn thing!” co-owner Reggie Ballesteros wrote. “We couldn’t have done it without the help of this community. And our team.”

What happened there? We contacted Ballesteros and asked him to tell us. Here, in his own words, is his story:

Reggie Ballesteros behind the counter of now-shuttered Tight Tacos Maui. Screenshot courtesy of @tighttacosmaui.

“We did the Taste of East Honolulu event at Mary, Star of the Sea School. They know us because my kids go to school there and I used to make tacos at show-and-tell. So I ended the night pretty late. I parked the van at my kids’ mom’s condo area next to Waikīkī Elementary around 11:30. I went back the next morning around 6, and it was gone.

It was our catering van with all Mexican grills. One comal (disk-shaped griddle), I’ve had it for nine years. You can only find that in Mexico. I found it in Portland, Oregon, it was from Mexico and I shipped it to Hawai‘i. And another comal and a heavy-duty plancha as well. They took it all. There was a generator in there, an A-frame board that I shipped from Amazon and it took weeks to get, a tent I just bought from Sam’s Club. They gutted everything and they left me a bunch of cigarette butts.

It was Cinco de Mayo, Sunday, so we were jam-packed at the restaurant, and my van just got stolen. And we had the Zedd and Kygo event, the Palm Tree Music Festival at Turtle Bay Resort, coming up on Friday and Saturday. Projected 5,000 [eventgoers] each day. Four food vendors. So we knew we were gonna get rocked.

Our hands were tied behind our back. We were like, what the hell do we do? It’s a big event for us. It’s just me and Rizza [Cozio, Ballesteros’ partner]. We don’t have investors. This put us way, way back.

We were like, let’s just post it on social media, see what happens. From there, @808viral reposted us. They have a huge following, local, on O‘ahu.

Screenshot courtesy of @tighttacoskaimuki

Then Flash [Hansen] helped us out. He does BAMP Project, and he’s the event organizer for the music festival. He was like dude, what can we do to help you? All the little things that were in my van—the tables, A-frame, electrical cords, I didn’t even have tablecloths or signage—he was like I got you, don’t worry. We were so running on fumes. He could have picked any other Mexican restaurant, but he picked us and supported us.

Keli‘i Heen hooked us up. He offered us what he had in his garage—a bunch of grills, propane tanks. I really got to know him when the Maui fires happened. He has his hand in everything. Anytime there’s a crisis, Keli‘i’s there. He was the first person that called me.

Ballesteros at the Palm Tree Music Festival. Screenshot courtesy of @tighttacoskaimuki

Then Danny [Ka‘aiali‘i] was the big one. He was like hey, I just closed down Encore Saloon, I have that same style plancha just sitting in my backyard if you want.

It’s a grill and al pastor. It’s two in one. I have the grill on Maui, but on O‘ahu, I didn’t have the pastor machine. It’s a heavy-duty trompo that Danny got out of L.A. from a taco cart. He gave it to me for a steal, and he said just pay me later.

Al pastor, they call it the king of all tacos. It’s very technical in terms of how it’s stacked and how it’s cut. It’s amazing. There’s taquerias that do it, but it if you do it on the trompo, the vertical rotisserie, it chars it so you get that char flavor rather than [when it’s cooked] on the plancha. And then you slice it super thin, so when you bite into it, it’s supposed to melt like butter. Adobada marinade, I put a lot of strawberries in there with achiote natural food coloring and a ton of spices. I’m confident in our marinade and the way we slice it. It’s damn good, for me being Filipino. I pride myself on that. It took me years to figure it out. Years.

SEE ALSO: Tight Tacos Brings Luscious Carnitas and Foodie Cred to the Top of Wai‘alae Avenue

Friday-Saturday was the launch of our al pastor on O‘ahu. I want to keep it going. I’m shooting for Taco Tuesday, but I ran out Friday-Saturday, so I gotta get the meat cut.

And then @tommy__eats. Tommy was like hey, they just got their van stolen, go and support them, go eat at their restaurant. His video was amazing.

Photo: Thomas Obungen

All the little things helped. They helped a lot. You just see the sales going up day to day. Customers said hey, I heard about your vehicle, we’re here to support. New customers that we wouldn’t even have reached came out. Just a simple three-taco plate or a burrito. Hopefully, that offsets what we lost.

This shows how the community in Hawai‘i, on O‘ahu especially, just came together. For us. I’m super thankful for that.”

Open Tuesday to Sunday 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., 3617 Wai‘alae Ave., tighttacoskaimuki.com, @tighttacoskaimuki