While the colourful sign has come down and its building sits empty, Haliburton’s popular Mexican eatery, Poquito Loco, hasn’t closed up shop entirely.
While it looks for a new location, it’s teamed up with Castle Cafe and Antiques to keep the tacos alive, serving up food and live music each Friday from 5-9 p.m.
They’ve coined the event “Tacos and Tunes.”
“We’re thankful Castle Antiques stepped up and offered us that space on Friday evenings… so that we can keep the Poquito Loco name going for our regulars to go so they can still get their tacos and burritos,” said owner Claudette Pitre.
The Highland Street business shut down operations this fall due to rising rent.
The first Tacos and Tunes will be Nov. 11.
Co-owner Mark Christiano will be there as one of the Ya Baby’s, playing tunes and inviting the audience to sing along or step up to the mic.
“We want it to be more like ‘come and sing and play with the ‘Baby’s’’. We want it to be more like an open stage. If people want to get up and sing, we can back them up. We want it to be really inclusive.”
The Ya Baby’s, Christiano and Craig Titus, have played for Poquito Loco diners before during the summer and Midnight Madness, and have long been a favourite on stages and patios across the County.
“If I play on somebody else’s patio to build their business, I probably should play on mine,” Christiano said.
They found live music and tacos to be a winning combination.
“It’s a really good addition to the business,” Pitre said. “It was nice for people to come out on Fridays after work and have a taco and a beer and some good music.”
As for a perfect song for Poquito Loco’s Taco night? Christiano paused for a moment and picked a classic Elton John tune, Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.
For more information on Tacos and Tunes visit Poquito Loco on Facebook.
