ILLUSTRATION BY MATT LEHMAN
Flaco’s was the first place where many St. Louisans encountered fish tacos, after Dean and Pam Flacco decided in the early 1990s to bring a taste of Baja California to a little spot at 3852 Lindell, on the edge of Saint Louis University’s campus.Not served on the more familiar crisp-fried shells, it was also the first soft taco for many St. Louisans.
Battered pieces of just-cooked cod were nestled in soft corn tortillas and crowned with thinly sliced cabbage and a creamy sauce seasoned with tomatillo. The Flaccos went even further with an immense burrito containing nearly a pound of fish, cabbage, and sauce wrapped in a flour tortilla. Oh, there were also grilled chicken and shredded beef fillings, as well as tostadas. Though the seasonings of the fillings and the tomatillo sauce were mild, a salsa bar was available, featuring a no-name option labeled only with a skull and crossbones.
A dramatic refurbishment later gave it a beach-inspired theme, and the restaurant expanded with a downtown site in 1995. Another location opened on McKelvey in 1998, but it was too much—the lunch crowd from Westport was good, but the locals wanted drive-thru–style Mexican in the evening, said Pam. Within months, Flaco’s Tacos closed all of its locations.
Later, a “tribute restaurant,” Flaco’s Cocina, opened on Delmar, though it wasn’t the Flaccos’. Even now, folks still babble about the lost Flaco’s burritos and sigh over the sauce.
