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36 Seat ‘Lucky Taco’ Opens Softly In Kitsilano, Replacing ‘Supermarine’ On Yew St.

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Lucky Taco held it’s first friends and family service on Tuesday night. The new 36 seat restaurant from James Iranzad and Josh Pape of Gooseneck Hospitality (see also Bufala, Wildebeest) replaces Supermarine almost exactly one year after its launch at 1685 Yew Street in Kitsilano.

“It’s a simple cantina,” Iranzad explains, adding: “As much as Supermarine had a lot to offer it lacked the vibrancy that Lucky Taco brings.” And vibrant it is. I snuck in for a peek as they were setting up for their trial run and it looked like it would make for a fun, jovial environment, especially late at night (open until 2am) or for brunch on the 12 seat patio. It’s less slick than Supermarine was, more of a hang-out than an aspiration. They had old school sign painters in to do the signage and interior script details; Pape’s sister Jada was enlisted to do the mural work; and Gooseneck’s own polymath operations manager Nick Miller was tasked with the tight branding.

Apparently, Gooseneck had been working on a Mexican concept for a year and a half, even coming close to pulling the trigger on a space a little deeper into the West Side. When that deal fell through a month and a half ago they found themselves so in love with the prospect of owning a taqueria that they decided to just go ahead and supplant Supermarine with it. “Supermarine didn’t go badly,” Iranzad asserts. “It just didn’t connect as well as we wanted it to, and we’re in the hospitality business. We want to do things that really make sense to people.” I’m a little biased toward risk and differentiation, but I’ll wager tacos will make better sense on Yew Street than octopus chips.

Long-time Supermarine fixture Neil Morrison is on the line doing the cooking with sous chef Sam Welland, but the menu was designed by chef Bryan Satterford, co-owner of the imminent, highly anticipated Juke restaurant in Chinatown. It reads like a charm, as does the cocktail list by bar manager Adam Domet (also a Supermarine vet).

The 36 seater is in ‘soft open’ mode through the weekend with a carefully managed door so they can find their rhythm with volumes. That goes for weekend brunch service, too. I’ll be giving them a proper try when they launch for real next week.

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There are 9 comments

  1. That’s a great price for tequila’s! Excited to come over guys. Good luck eith the opening.

  2. This place was everything tacos shouldn’t be: expensive, small portions, – I was left hungry after ordering three and spending $17 – and slow. Was really excited about tacos in Kits, but won’t be going back.

  3. Was so very disappointed. They greeted us very rudely. They brought the wrong tacos to all 3 tables on the patio over 5 times. Once I finally received my food. It took my partner 25 minutes for his to arrive and we ended up eating separately. Took them over 20 min to bring our drinks. They were extremely disorganized and everyone on the patio was so angry they either left or put up a fight with the staff and management. Waste of time and so so so incredibly disappointing.

  4. Hilarious. The place is in soft opening mode and geniuses shit on it for being in disorganized. Give it time, people.

  5. Just had the pleasure of eating in this establishment tonight. Wow what a big disappointment. 4 oz margarita that was served warm 9$. Nachos served on a said plate with some cheap cheese sauce $11.
    I was actually shocked at the blatant lack of understanding of food. 3/4 of the menu is over priced drinks with a very limited food selection. We actually left after paying $45 for 3 tiny drinks a a small plate of nachos.
    Wake up people.

  6. Really disappointed, I live in the area so was really excited for a new potential hangout spot. Drinks took forever and are overpriced for the size/quality. Our tacos came out 5 minutes apart so half the table was eating while the other half was waiting. $9 for a TINY bowl of guac with chips, barely enough for 2 people. Service was super slow, despite the restaurant being very small with a high server to table ratio. Hope they get their act together!

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