Aurelio Marin Mendez, Jr., was born Dec. 31, 1978, to Aurelio Mendez-Marin, Sr. (1950-2007) and Irma Andrade, who was born in Mexico on Sept. 13, 1948. Grandparents included Amadeo Mendez Tejeda (1914-1997) and Gabina Marin Mendoza (1932-2011), from Mexico, and his great-grandparents were José Clotilde Cleto Mendez, Rita Margarita Tejeda, Maximino Marin Alarcon and Teodula Mendoza Carmona, also from Mexico.
Aurelio, Sr., and Irma were immigrants from opposite ends of Mexico, and as teenagers they came to the United States for work. Federal Naturalization Records show that Aurelio and Irma applied for nationalization on Sept. 20, 1991, in Chicago, were granted citizenship on Nov. 19, 1991, and took an oath of allegiance to the United States.
Aurelio, Sr., and Irma had six children. They worked at a Mexican restaurant in Chicago when a friend from Minnesota tried their food and encouraged them to move to Minnesota, according to an interview in the Shakopee Valley Newson April 29, 2021.
The family scouted out the Twin Cities area, packed their bags in Chicago, and the parents and three of their six children, including Aurelio, Jr., moved to Minnesota. They opened two Mexican restaurants in Glencoe and Hutchinson. The restaurant worked for a while, but as Aurelio, Jr.’s brother, Josue said, it was out in the country and they did not know a lot about authentic food, so the demographics didn’t really fit what the family had to offer.
The Mendez family decided to give their Mexican restaurant one last shot. They found the vacant Dairy Queen off County Road 101, across from Rahr Malting Company in Shakopee. They spent what little money they had to purchase it. Aurelio, Jr., quit his job at Lions Tap and Pauly’s American Grill, and Josue put in his two-week notice at his construction job, and they worked on the old Dairy Queen, turning it into Taco Loco.
A few plumbers and electricians were willing to work with an agreement to get paid once they opened and hooked their employees up with catering food. The day the restaurant was scheduled for inspection, rain poured in and the roof started leaking. They failed inspection the day before opening, according to the article, “After 18 years, Shakopee’s Taco Loco says ‘goodbye for now,’” in the Shakopee Valley News, April 29, 2021. They agreed to return the next day.
The brothers patched up the hole and flooded the roof for hours that evening until the leak was fixed, and the next day, they passed inspection. Taco Loco opened, and the family-owned fast-food eatery developed a cult following, even beyond Shakopee’s borders.
Taco Loco was open 24 hours at first. The four Mendez brothers, Noe, Josue, Tino, and Aurelio, Jr., took 12-hour shifts. The restaurant took off by word of mouth.
On March 4, 2007, Aurelio, Sr., the family patriarch, was hospitalized with pneumonia, and he died of a diabetic coma. The vision continued when Aurelio, Jr., took over his responsibilities.
Aurelio, Jr., made sure to ground Taco Loco in the community, and vice versa. “He was our leader, and he led by example,” said his brother, Josue. “When my dad passed, he led us.” When anyone reached out to the restaurant for school fundraisers, sponsorship, or donations, Aurelio, Jr., never turned anyone away.
Along with his partner, Maria Isabel Garcia, Aurelio was the loving father of Brianna, Isaac, Audrey, Ayana, Jessica, and Aurelio Mendez III. Aurelio enjoyed being surrounded by his family, and he loved working at his family restaurant alongside his mother, brothers, and children.
Taco Loco moved to the east side of Shakopee and ran the restaurant near Dangerfield’s. Love, respect, and hard work was the motto.
In 2019, Aurelio, known as Junior, was diagnosed with adrenal cancer. Adrenal cancer is a rare cancer that begins in one or both small, triangular glands (adrenal glands) located on top of the kidneys. Adrenal glands produce hormones that give instructions to virtually every organ and tissue in the body. Adrenal cancer can occur at any age.
Aurelio, Jr., died March 19, 2020, at the age of 41. He was buried at the Catholic Cemetery in Shakopee.
Meanwhile, Josue, his brother, took over at Taco Loco. “I got thrown into this situation when my brother got sick. I wasn’t 100 percent ready to take over. I did what I could with what I had.”
The loss of Aurelio, combined with the hit the restaurant took during the pandemic, was hard for the family, and on Aug. 28, 2021, Taco Loco closed. But Josue said Taco Loco isn’t done for good; it’s just done for now in that particular building!