Oct. 16, 2024

A new restaurant with more than two dozen taco options has opened in Worthing.

The Taco Vault is the creation of Dean Marshall, owner of The Big Orange Truck, and Austin Metivier, who worked on the food truck. It’s located on Main Street in a former bank building – hence the name.

The old vault has been repurposed as a drink station.

“What we are is an artisan taco place, with craft tacos and craft beers,” Marshall said of the full-service restaurant. “We want to give back to the community by creating a place to hang out with your family.”

The first floor is filled with the kitchen and seating at tables and booths.

The lower level includes tables, a bar, small stage, board games and an arcade game, with more to come.

The business partners plan to throw parties for holidays like Halloween, host trivia nights and bring in standup comedians and solo music acts.

At a friends and family night earlier this week, the most popular tacos were The Vault with beef, onion, cilantro and Vault sauce, and The SD with chislic, deep-fried corn and ranch dressing, Marshall said. Vault sauce is a creamy chipotle lime sauce, “heavy emphasis on the lime.”

Along with the variety of all the crafted tacos, customers can pick from smoked chicken, fried chicken, smoked pork, sweet smoked salmon, fried shrimp and beef on many of them.

Marshall and Metivier had fun creating the names for the tacos, from The Brotherly Love Taco with smoked chicken or steak, onion, peppers and Swiss cheese to Memphis Raines with a choice of meat, barbecue sauce and creamy slaw.

Customers can choose corn or flour tortillas. Any style of taco also can be turned into toppings for nachos or a salad, Marshall said.

Marshall and Metivier have crafted four veggie tacos, and tofu can be substituted for protein options on most menu items.

The menu has five breakfast tacos that are available all day.

In addition to all the tacos, there are salads and beef or lamb chislic.

Appetizers includes options like Southwest Chicken Bites, Stensland Family Farms’ garlic cheese curds, deep-fried corn and deep-fried horchata bites, which are breaded cream cheese cinnamon balls with a raspberry chipotle compote and a maple bourbon dipping sauce. Chips Mix & Match is housemade tortilla chips served with choices of queso, guacamole, salsa and roasted street corn dip.

For dessert, there are churro fries and tres leches cake.

Five of the six taps are craft beers. Marshall said he listened to pleas from the community for an “easy drinker,” so Coors Light got one of the spots. Options expand with bottled and canned beverages, including sour, pale ale and IPA beers, ciders and the new THC drinks.

As another way to build community, each month, the walls of the restaurant will feature works by a different artist. The restaurant will take a 10 percent cut, Marshall said, which it will donate to support arts programs in local schools.

The first featured artist is Jason Gandee of Sioux Falls, who owns 605 Artisan Surfaces. He made the restaurant’s tabletops and also creates artwork.

In addition to serving Worthing, Marshall said the restaurant will be an easy drive for people in Sioux Falls — just 12 miles south of the city — and neighboring towns like Harrisburg, Tea, Lennox and Canton.

To start, hours will be 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.