Mamacita’s, located on Main Street, introduced its new taco trailer on campus, and owner Monica Hally said she has potential plans to greater expand her Mexican restaurant.

Opened in fall of 2022, Hally has worked closely with her daughters to create authentic Mexican food for the Kent area.

The restaurant is located on 911 E. Main St. and is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday  from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

“[The trailer] was another opportunity to get exposure for our business,” she said. “Everything is prepared here, and everything that is in the restaurant is in the trailer. We make everything daily, [so] it’s fresh every day. I tell people what we cook here is what I cook at home for my daughter. It has authentic flavors because it is made from scratch.”

The trailer’s first event on campus came during the university’s “Food Truck Series” on Oct. 11, which drew in large crowds and offered people the chance to get the word out about Mamacita’s.

“The opportunity was good because people got to actually taste [the food] we offer,” Hally said. “Our whole ticket holder was filled with tickets, and once those came down, another went up.”

Casey Durkin, Hally’s daughter, said she was enthusiastic about the successful turnout following the trailer’s inaugural visit to campus.

“It’s crazy to see how many students didn’t know we were here,” Durkin said. “It’s really cool they all came out and supported us, tried our food and gave us great feedback.”

Though the business stayed busy, the day served as a helpful trial run for its future visits on campus.

“We learned that you really have to minimize your menu because we have big items,” Hally said. “If you have three quesadillas you’re making, it takes a lot of space on the grill.”

Hally and Durkin said they were pleased with their trailer’s turnout, and they spoke on further plans for the future.

“The growth that we’ve had being here in the year is amazing in itself,” Durkin said. “Kent State has been an awesome supporter of us – just the students alone coming in. It’s amazing to see what we’ve done in a year. I would love to see us grow even more and be more involved [with] students.”

Depending on the weather, Mamacita’s new trailer may come back to campus.

Hally said plans for the future focus on future restaurant endeavors, including a potential second trailer.

“We’ve had a couple people ask, ‘Hey, we’d like to do a second trailer,’” she said. “Another person asked about going into a bigger restaurant, and it’s just really hard to do that because right now it’s family.”

At the end of the day, Hally said family comes first.

“I have three daughters, they’re all adults, they’re all mothers now– that’s where the name ‘Mamacita’s’ came from,” she said.

Durkin also spoke on the importance of family.

“Working with family, we are very, very close, and it’s all women so you should already know how that goes,” she said. “We have our fights, but being Hispanic, family is very important. It always comes first, and no matter what, we will always be here, and I always do whatever I can for my mom to help her as much as I can.”

Patrick Creedon is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].