Friends for more than 20 years growing up in Yonkers, Sebastian Aliberti, Nick Mesce and Carmelo Milio are the co-owners of The Taco Project, a casual Mexican restaurant mini-chain which is fast becoming something of a maxi-chain. The trio have just finished celebrating 10 years in business.
“I had a barbershop in Tarrytown,” the originator, Aliberti, told the Westfair Business Journal, “and with a pulse on the community, I sensed there was an overwhelming demand for some Mexican street food at that time.”
With Mesce already in the industry in New York City and looking to continue, the two friends “pitched a couple of ideas back-and-forth” and came up with the idea of The Taco Project. A few years after they had opened their first restaurant, Milio, who had a background in real estate, “jumped on board.”
From that first location in Tarrytown, the trio then opened a second site in Yonkers. “That kind of felt really nice and had a very sentimental meaning for us, to be able to bring business back to where we all grew up,” said Aliberti.
Outlets in Bronxville, Pleasantville and Stamford followed and The Taco Project now boasts six locations, the latest being in New Rochelle, slated to open this month.
Asked about the significance of the word “project” in the name, Aliberti said it was Mesce who had come up with ‘Taco Project,’ because the pair didn’t necessarily want the restaurants to be labeled “strictly authentic.”
“By using the word ‘project,’” he said, “we were open to having different styles of tacos from all different regions.”
As to how the project evolved, Aliberti explained how he had traveled to California and found “instant love” with his first West Coast street taco. “At that time, tacos were really beginning to trend, especially on the East Coast, so it just made all the sense in the world. We sat with a consultant and created a boutique, quick service taqueria concept.”
Some of the earliest challenges, Aliberti continued, were simply having faith in that concept and the product itself. It was his first foray into the restaurant business and although Mesce had come up from the city “with a ton of full-service experience and culture,” it was to be his first venture into QSRs (quick-service restaurants.)
After 10 years, Aliberti said the business has been through a couple of different economic situations, singling out the pandemic, which he said was the most challenging. But he added, “We always sort of challenged each other to stay in front of some of the latest technology and trends, and I feel like we were set up in a good place to navigate the pandemic because of that.”
As for the structure of the company, Aliberti said the three friends and business partners each brought something different to the table, from financial overseeing, to operations, to the overall design aspect of every restaurant and the company branding. “I think what makes it special is that we all come from different career backgrounds, but all came back together for The Taco Project and brought all our experiences and everything that we learned over the years to the company. He said that as far as specific roles go, most of it “just comes organically and we all sort of know our roles and what’s expected of each other to keep the ball moving in a positive direction.”
In the fall of 2024, the company put a food truck on the road for the first time, something Aliberti admitted was “completely new to us” but felt had endless possibilities. (The truck will have an official “grand opening” this spring.)
He also spoke about Taco Project’s “amazing employees” but went on to say that, like in any other company, “everyone can be stretched thin.”
“We don’t feel like we’re there yet because of the structure we’ve implemented, but we feel really comfortable with store number six and a food truck.” He added that the three partners were “completely open to more expansion in the right place at the right time, in a strategic manner.”
And while the quality of the tacos speaks for itself – 16,000 social media followers and counting are testament to that – Aliberti had one more thing to tell the Journal, with evident pride:
“We (also) feel really good about our churros. Everything is made from scratch in-house, including the chocolate and caramel dippings.”
The Taco Project to support Pace University’s Justice Center on International Women’s Day
On International Women’s Day (Saturday, March 8), you can pick up some tacos to help The Taco Project raise funds to support the Pace Women’s Justice Center.
On that day, The Taco Project will donate $1 from every taco purchased (including dine-in and takeout orders) at any of its five present locations to the Pace Women’s Justice Center, a White Plains-based nonprofit that provides free legal services, education and advocacy to help victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and elder abuse build safer futures.
“At the Taco Project, we believe in giving back to the community,” said Taco Project co-owner Nick Mesce. “We’re proud to take this opportunity to celebrate International Women’s Day and to contribute to the Pace Women’s Justice Center.”
“We strongly support the mission of the Pace Women’s Justice Center,” said co-owner Sebastian Aliberti. “They provide essential legal services to those in crisis, and we are honored to support their work.”
“If we can help make our community a stronger, better place, we’re happy to do it,” said co-owner Carmelo Milio. “We are glad to have the opportunity to partner with the Pace Women’s Justice Center to help provide much-needed services to women.”
“We are grateful for the support of our generous community partners like The Taco Project,” said Cindy Kanusher, the Pace center’s executive director. “It’s important that the community shows up for victims and survivors in this way, and we deeply appreciate The Taco Project’s dedication to helping us provide essential legal services to women and all those affected by abuse.” — Georgette Gouveia
