Pranav Patel still remembers his first taco.
“It was my friend Christian’s fifth birthday party,” he says with a wistful smile. “It was just lettuce and ground beef, and I thought it was the most amazing thing I’d ever had in my entire life.”
The menu at The Taco Stache, Patel’s restaurant in his hometown of Pooler, Georgia, is rooted in that childhood memory — but there’s more going on than crunchy shells and shredded cheese.
“You think tacos, you think easy,” says Patel (BBA ’08). “It’s actually (not). We are a sports bar, so we’ve got wings and nachos. We’ve got fries and tots, but we also have really complex flavor profiles for our tacos. We make all the sauces, seasonings, rubs — everything’s made in-house from scratch.”
With The Taco Stache and its adjacent sister restaurant, the full-service Italian joint The Sauce, Patel draws on a love of hospitality inspired by his parents.
“They hosted parties, and they always made sure to cook a lot of food. … I grew up with that kind of notion — to always be a great host. That’s what really drew me to the restaurant industry.”
His start in the business came during high school, when he worked his way up at a local restaurant from the dish pit to become a line cook. Then came college at UGA, where he graduated with a degree in risk management and insurance and took a corporate job before his true passion came calling once again.
“I started looking at franchises,” he says. “But once I went down that route, I realized (the companies) have a lot of control. I decided I didn’t want to do business like that. And I thought, ‘You know what, I’m going to open up my own concept.’”
The Taco Stache came first, followed by The Sauce, both of which proved wildly popular. Now, Patel and his partners with 2Vibes Concepts Group are underway on several more projects, including a rooftop bar and restaurant and a “high-end cocktail speakeasy lounge” in nearby Savannah. And Taco Stache expansion is top of mind.
As his business grows, Patel continues the community involvement he learned in small-town Pooler by donating a percentage of profits to local charities, serving on multiple boards and sponsoring youth sports.
“I played rec sports, and I always had a business’s name on the back of my shirt,” he says. “I didn’t know that what that meant was they’re (helping us) afford equipment and uniforms. They’re helping us do what we love.
“My goal is to help the youth, the future of our country. I think it’s important to remember that small businesses are the ones who are giving back to the communities that they’re a part of.”
Favorite taste
“When Taco Bell decided to slash its Mexican Pizza, there were a lot of angry people in the Indian community, because it’s a huge vegetarian dish. So we decided to introduce our version. I’ve had people from all over the country ask me to freeze it and ship it to them, because it’s so good.”