The Tacombi taqueria chain first served tacos from a VW microbus in the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. / Contributed photo

By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — To find a taco truck from this town, you’d need powerful binoculars and a very high perch.

But a modest chain that started as a taqueria in a VW microbus on the Yucatan peninsula is hoping to roll in and set up shop at an aged gas station at 1680 Post Road East. 

Tacombi is its name. That’s a mashup of taco and combi, as VW microbuses were known way down south.

The old gas station, circa 1955 and most recently home to AJ’s Farmstand, might soon be Tacombi’s latest outpost, minus the vintage VW with an air-cooled engine.

Tacombi reps attended Monday’s meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission to ask for site plan approval.

This building on the former AJ’s Farmstead site, which once was a gas station, circa 1955, might soon be home to a Tacombi taqueria. / Photo by Thane Grauel

Joseph Iazzetta, chief development officer for the restaurant company, said the business started about 15 years ago.

“We started slinging tacos on the beaches of Playa del Carmen,” he told commission members.

Architectural rendering of the new Tacombi restaurant at the old AJ’s Farmstand on Post Road East.

“We migrated to the U.S. about five years after existing in Mexico,” Iazzetta said. “Today, we have locations in Manhattan, in Queens, in Brooklyn, and very recently down in Miami, and Virginia, in Arlington.”

Commission members gave the proposal a soft, rather than crunchy, reception.

“They had me at fish taco,” said commission member Neil Cohn. 

“I wish you guys a lot of luck here,” member Paul Lebowitz commented.

The P&Z voted to approve the site plan, but issues regarding a canopy still have to be hashed out with other agencies.

Tacombi — “… connecting you to Mexico,” is the restaurant’s slogan — features tacos, ranging from Mexico City-style marinated pork and pineapple, to beer-batter Alaskan cod. Also, a variety of quesadillas and burritos are on the menu, plus sides and more.

The origin story, from the Tacombi website: 

“We purchased a 1963 ‘combi’ bus in Mexico City, wheeled it slowly (very slowly) through the Yucatan peninsula and parked it comfortably in the once-sleepy, now wide awake, beach town of Playa del Carmen. The engine was scrapped, transmission sold, seats swapped for cooking equipment, and the roof was reeled back to produce a taco serving stand with warmth, charm and character.”

The chain opened its first brick-and-mortar location in New York City in 2010, where the bus is displayed inside.

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