Lou Williams … aka Taco Lou
Michael Jones
If you’ve been around the neighborhood, you gotta know Lou … “Taco Lou.” Along
with Ernie and C.J. he’s one of the fixtures around Powelton and he’s worth getting
to know! Maybe you’ve seen him carrying stuff in and out of the Lambda Chi
fraternity at 34th and Powelton, or working his food truck outside the tennis courts on
34th Street. He’s the guy with the hat on his head and a smile on his face. Did you
know that the guys of Lambda Chi think so much of him that they made him a
brother in the fraternity? Did you know he lives at 40th and Filbert and sends his
kids to University City High School? Did you know he’s President of the University
City High School Home & School Association, despite all the work at the new
restaurant and late nights at the Truck?
Lou Williams started working in Powelton 25 years ago after buying a food truck. He
didn’t have a plan for the truck, until one of the guys from Lambda Chi gave him a
burrito and told him it would sell. From that point on he became “Taco Lou.” The
truck started out at 33rd and Market until Lou discovered that “the money” was
actually to be made late at night, on the weekends and in the neighborhood. That’s
where the truck’s been since. Maryann Brown’s kids worked for Lou through High
School, well Zack and Rachel did anyway, Zeke would come hang out, though he
helped Lou paint the façade of the new Restaurant.
Just as the truck wasn’t planned, Lou’s new restaurant on 33rd Street wasn’t planned
either. The idea had just been “floating in the back of his mind.” He ran into the
owner of the former Express café one day and one thing lead to another. Soon he
and partner Colleen McClenaghan were planning a nice little restaurant for the space,
a place where the community could come together over good food in a comfortable
atmosphere. Lou makes it sound like they opened overnight, but there were
meetings for community approval, electrical work that had to be done and redone
and endless adjustments demanded by our City Bureaucracy.
The result was worth the wait! The sunny décor is one of the hallmarks of the
successful collaboration between Lou and Colleen. She picked out the colorful
dishes, the floor tiles and fixtures. He picked the wall colors and counter tile to
complement them. She had a friend who did the bathroom sink … and Lou says
word of the sink has spread so much that some folks head straight for the bathroom
when they come in.
Lou says the response has been “Great!” The menu was planned to be more
upscale, in keeping with the décor, and Lou is thrilled to see all the community
people coming in. He has adjusted the menu since opening, so students are now
finding more of the food they expected to find at “Taco Lou’s,” at prices they can
afford. Lou’s full of praise for his student servers who do more than their share to
make the restaurant work. You’ll find Lou’s Restaurant on 33rd Street between
Powelton and Pearl. My advice, go check it out … and while you’re there, say hi to
Lou.
Photo caption. What do you mean … does he play the guitar!