Haligonians are once again proving that they’re like no other, after hundreds answered a social media call this week to help out a struggling north-end Mexican restaurant.
When Daniel Schloss caught wind of Tako Loko’s recent financial troubles, brought by the pandemic, he knew he wanted to help out.
“(My wife and I) were thinking like what can we do to help?” said Schloss. “I was just like ‘you know what? Why don’t I send out a tweet and then I can tag a few local politicians, and food blogs, and things like that.'”
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Within hours, Schloss’ post took off. Before the restaurant opened on Tuesday, dozens of people could be seen lining up down the street to grab a bite to eat.
“In having social media for 14, 15 years now, this is the craziest, most viral thing I’ve ever seen,” he said.
Vicky Ruiz, the owner of Tako Loko, says the gesture resulted in them completely selling out of inventory.
“I didn’t know what was happening,” said Ruiz. “Everybody saw a message and they want to get tacos, so I said OK.”
Buddy Shields, who runs the barbershop next door, says he’s never seen a lineup that long outside of the restaurant before.
“I couldn’t believe the cars across the street that were lined up,” said Shields. “I didn’t know what was going on. I thought they were coming to line up for the barber shop, I said, ‘Holy god, what’s going on?'”
The showing of support also continued into Wednesday night, with even more showing up to lend a hand.
Schloss says he met Ruiz a few times in passing prior to this week, only when he and his wife would stop in for a meal. On Wednesday, Ruiz had an opportunity to thank him for his selfless gesture.
“It was a special moment for me for sure,” said Schloss. “The Maritimes in general is an amazing place and I’m really glad that people came out to support Vicky and her team.”
Ruiz says the extra attention her business is getting is making it much easier to stay open.
“I am so happy to say thank you guys for all the support,” said Ruiz.