Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
Wil Pelly is taking his Rock Star Taco Shack act on the road, but he’s not going far.
Pelly, who’s a seasoned chef—having worked at Café Ventana, Sugarfire Smoke House, Boundary, The Libertine, and Nudo House, among others—as well as musician by trade, opened Rock Star Taco Shack in a 100-square-foot lakeside kiosk in St. Charles' New Town just over a year ago. That show’s been sold out ever since.
“We’re open from 5–8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and we sell out every night,” reports Pelly.
Then there are the special events and side gigs, which are plentiful and profitable. Pelly says devotees travel from as far away as Troy, Barnhart, and O’Fallon, Illinois, just to partake in his scratch-made creations. “It’s getting a little out of hand really” Pelly says.
Rebecca Schaff (formerly of Reeds American Table and Noto Italian Restaurant) and a small staff are responsible for Rock Star’s day-to-day operations and creating daily specials.
In a previous conversation with SLM, Pelly explained that "Rock Star" had become an adjective for "next-level" anything, so the menu options are endless. The selections have been scaled back during the pandemic, but many of the themed taco names remain: Shrimp Bizkit (shrimp), Livin' on the Veg (veggie), Thunder Cluck (chicken), and Amy Swinehouse (Cuban pork).
Pelly describes his secret seasoning, Rock Star Dust, as “sweet and hot, with paprika, cumin, sugar, salt, onion, garlic, chipotle, ancho peppers, powdered citric acid, and MSG.” Pelly says he sends “cases of it” to Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, who “loves the stuff and gives it to all his friends.”
Courtesy Rock Star Tacos
It was Alice Cooper’s daughter, musician Calico Cooper (along with her husband, bassist Chuck Garrick), who led him to expand. Apparently, Calico's side band plays at the two-year-old Diamond Music Hall in St. Peters (the former Electric Cowboy space) and concoctions are well-known in music circles, so Rock Star got the call.
Discussions with the venue’s owner began after that, and a change in culinary direction—from frozen pizzas and sandwiches to Pelly's taco-based fare—was discussed and then agreed upon. One nod to the past will be the Rock Star Taco Pizza, which uses the award-winning Dan O’s Pizza (another business founded in New Town) as the base.
Courtesy Rock Star Tacos
“The Diamond Music venue is 12,000 square feet, and they've got live acts booked every weekend through December,” Pelly says. “They pretty much know how many guests will be in attendance, so we’ll pretty much know how much prep we’ll need. During the week, there are comedians, line dancing… I think we’ll do well there.” He anticipates a late September opening.
Pelly says that in the restaurant game, you have to learn to discern when the right opportunity arises, “and this is one,” he says. “It’s the same food model, but instead of ordering at a window, we’ve got a bar.”
