The Whalebone Hot Sauce Co. Taco Stand powered by Square might just answer this question
It was inevitable if you think about it.
First, someone said, “Hey, let’s do an entire issue of Whalebone Magazine dedicated to hot sauce.” Then someone on the team said, “Wouldn’t it be fun if we created our own hot sauce to go with it?” And then someone (who does not work in accounting) said, “Wouldn’t it be wild if we opened up our own badass taco stand to promote the hot sauce and the Hot Sauce Issue of the magazine?” And since we can’t really argue with good logic, we nodded and said we’d put together a recap of everything when the time was right. And it seems the time is right since all the tacos are gone.
The Whalebone Hot Sauce Co. Taco Stand powered by Square was opened for four summer hot sauce filled days in Montauk, NY during the month of August. A simple menu of 3 items (fish, shrimp, and veggie taco), a beachside community, and a limited-edition pop-up providing an in-person experience that hasn’t been available to the world since earlier in the year, all set the table for a fun-filled safe weekend. The taco stand was never intended to be a forever thing but now that we’ve learned how good the team at El Taco Olé (the original owners of the space) are at creating menus, maybe a taco stand cookbook could be an idea if this whole magazine thing doesn’t end up working out. For now, El Taco Olé is back to its regularly scheduled program in Montauk, open 7 days a week with its own exceptional menu. In the end, the Whalebone crew safely served thousands of tacos paired with limited-edition bottles of Whalebone hot sauce and the latest issue seamlessly to a great crowd each night. Not a horrible way to end the summer.
Hot Sauce Co. Tacos By the Numbers
- Bottles of hot sauce used: 239
- Tacos served: 1,278
- Guests served: 732
- Days open: 4
- Thunderstorms: 2
- Social media posts about taco stand: 211
- Social media total impressions: 540K+
- eBlast + newsletter inclusions: 8
- Farthest traveled to eat a taco: 5 hours (Thanks, Brian and Sarah!)
Big thank you to Square for supporting a young, scrappy hot sauce loving team get this one off the ground and provide an enjoyable guest experience and the El Taco Olé for providing the space and great partnership…and those awesome chocolate drinks.
Hot sauce, Hot Sauce magazines, tacos, friends, and Zaida.
