PAPILLION, Neb. (KMTV) — What do you get when you combine Taco Tuesday with Takeout Tuesday? Terrific tacos at El Chicano Mexican Bistro in Papillion, which is open, and a great option for Takeout Tuesday.
Juana Magana knows tacos; he's opened several taco places in Omaha.
"I brought the taco flavor that I brought to West Omaha, downtown, Dundee, and now here, and people are enjoying themselves here," Magana said. "I like it. I like the Papillion people."
His latest venture is El Chicano Mexican Bistro in Papillion near 84th St. and Highway 370. They opened a few months before the pandemic.
"It was getting better, and then this thing happened, and it's been pretty bad. I mean, it just killed our sales; everybody was struggling trying to figure out what we're going to do."
Magana temporarily shut down his downtown location at Epoca Cantina, and for those employees who didn't qualify for unemployment or desperately needed hours, he brought them to El Chicano Bistro to focus on this restaurant.
He's making sure they're following CDC guidelines.
"Everybody is wearing gloves; we're trying to keep up to six feet apart from the car once you give them the food," Magana said. "We've talked about holding your breath when you give them the card, and not touching your face, your eyes, your nose, your hair, stuff like that. We do sanitize with bleach, Lysol, whatever products we have, hand sanitizers."
El Chicano already offered curbside before the pandemic, but now they've adjusted to the times by adding delivery via Grubhub, DoorDash.. Postmates, and Uber Eats.
And they're taking that seriously, not allowing anyone inside the building, taking all orders out to vehicles.
"Here we give you a time; we tell you, 'Hey, be here at 12,' your food is out there at 12. As soon as your food is ready, we'll bring it out. 'What kind of car do you drive?' So all those things we adapted to the system - we're doing okay right now."
So if you're looking to support local and get some good tacos and Mexican food, they have daily specials including days dedicated to dishes like enchiladas, flautitas and burritos.
"One special is $6.99, and if you buy 10 or more, you get them for $5.99. So I've had a lot of bigger companies reach out to me, because they still have their employees working, like full-time, so instead of them leaving for lunch, they have people cater to them, which when they heard that we were doing something like that, they're like, 'Okay.' So they reached out to us, and we bring it out to them."
And don't forget about happy hour.
"We have $16 margaritas, which are the gallon sized margaritas. And during happy hour we have $4 margaritas which is 3-6pm every day."
El Chicano Bistro
LOCATION: 120 Olson Dr. Suite 101, Papillion, NE 68046
HOURS: Monday - Saturday: 11AM - 7PM Happy hour - Every day, 3-6PM
CONTACT: 402-505-3681
ADJUSTED SERVICES: Curbside, online ordering, & delivery via DoorDash, Grubhub, Uber Eats, Postmates
