The beloved vegan and vegetarian Mexican institution has made the best of a bad situation.
When social distancing restrictions hit in what now feels like a lifetime ago, Trippy Taco were able to swiftly adapt their Gertrude Street eatery into a takeaway-only outlet. Unfortunately, their Southside venue was a different story with owner and founder Simon Fischer making the tough call to shut up shop for good in St Kilda.
“It was obvious the beginning that I’d, unfortunately, have to close St Kilda and shrink right down into a ball to survive,” explains Fischer. “Then basically we’ve been focusing on takeaway/delivery which comes naturally to us and didn’t really require any adaptation.”
The flagship Fitzroy venue was already accustomed to a high-level of takeaway, so slipping into the new model was a pretty seamless transition and has allowed the Trippy Taco team to streamline this side of the business for when the doors finally reopen.
Although restrictions have now been eased to allow 20 customers to dine-in at cafes and restaurants, the four square metre rule which remains in place to ensure social distancing means a small venue like Trippy Taco is unable to seat many customers, so reopening for table service simply isn’t feasible at this point.
“We are looking forward to opening up for table service at some point, but [we’re] waiting for restrictions to ease as with limited seating inside, we could only seat four people at the moment,” says Fischer. “I also want to be sure that the staff are confident that it’s safe to open, so for the moment we’re sticking with a takeaway/delivery model for a little while longer.”
Despite the turbulent and stressful circumstances that have clouded the hospitality industry since March, Trippy Taco have not only managed to make the best of a bad situation, but they’ve ensured their regulars have been able to count on Trippys throughout the shutdowns to get their comfort food fix.
So, although it may be a while before you can sit in at the cosy Fitzroy venue and knock back a margarita with your taquitos, you can rest assured that the masters of vegan and vegetarian Mexican fare aren’t going anywhere. And in the meantime, you can still get your Trippy Taco fix to go.
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Find Trippy Taco at 234 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy or visit their website for the menu, opening hours and more information.
