Every day is Taco Tuesday
Veteran restaurateurs dream up new taco concept for Greenway Plaza
The owners of a popular mini-chain of Vietnamese restaurants are embarking on a new direction.
Jenni’s Noodle House owners Jenni and Scott Tranweaver closed their Greenway Plaza location on Friday, May 18, but they’re not leaving the neighborhood. Instead, the husband-and-wife duo are preparing to launch a new concept called Dream Tacos TX (named after the couple’s son).
“It is a a big change, but change is good,” Scott Tranweaver tells CultureMap. “Sometimes you’ve got to change and figure out what works best for the location and try new things.”
Jenni Tranweaver is working on the menu with one of the company’s longtime kitchen managers who originally hails from Mexico City. Rather than going in a global direction, Dream Tacos will work within a generally Mexican framework to create a diverse array of tacos for at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Filling will include classics like beef and chicken fajitas as well as shrimp, redfish, and vegetarian options. Dream Taco will make its own tortillas and salsas — everything from a classic salsa roja to a few that will be spicy enough to, as Tranweaver says, “bring the lava.”
The goal is to create a concept that provides its neighborhood with a quick, affordable option at breakfast and lunch that will appeal to Greenway Plaza office workers. At night, Tranweaver hopes to take advantage of the restaurant’s spacious patio to attract young professionals who want to unwind with a beer or two after work. Prices of $2 to $5 for the tacos will keep the concept affordable.
“What you’re going to see in terms of how we stand out from the crowd, we’ll have great food,” Tranweaver says. Later, he adds, “I think the homemade tortillas and the quality salsas, if the price is right, I think [people] are going to come.”
All of these changes will happen pretty quickly. Work has already begun to redecorate the space. If all goes according to plan, Dream Tacos could open as soon as June 1.