Can Jersey Shore indie Tacoshop upstart survive Chipotle moving in next door?

CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE — Lucas Manteca was prepping the mole negro inside his Tacoshop recently when a winter storm suddenly ripped the awning right off his building’s facade, taking siding and string lights from the cheerful patio with it. As if operating a restaurant near the Jersey Shore during the doldrums of January wasn’t hard enough, this was yet another costly insult.

But that pales in comparison to the real hurricane brewing next door: a new branch of Chipotle is rising directly across Court House South Dennis Road. And its “Chipotlane” drive-through, where customers won’t even need to stop and talk to a speaker box to pickup their mobile app-ordered meal, is barely a burrito’s throw from Tacoshop’s front door. It’s not expected to open until this summer, Chipotle says. But the mere threat of its competition to the independently owned Tacoshop has gathered such steam, Manteca and his staff have been fielding premature condolences for months.

“I’ve literally heard it hundreds of times since news of the coming Chipotle broke — ’Oh, we hear you guys are closing!’” says Manteca. “Customers say it. My vendors ask me. Even my restaurant supplier. Oh, Jesus, if that is the word out there … it’s just so annoying!”

But Manteca and his wife and partner, Deanna Ebner, aren’t going down without a fight. They’re hoping for continued support from residents of Cape May Court House, the unincorporated mainland community within Middle Township across from Stone Harbor, where they also live. They’ve just added a more ambitious dinner service two nights a week to supplement the casual counter service menu that is their core daytime concept — which is how I found myself savoring lamb barbacoa and octopus sopecitos at a rare winter dinner visit to the Shore. Tacoshop recently lowered its regular menu prices, too, to remain as competitive as possible.

But will it be enough to stave off the $62 billion corporate juggernaut of Chipotle and the steady march of national chains that threaten small businesses in places like Cape May Court House, whose small historic crossroads has shown recent aspirations to become a more personal dining destination? The Tacoshop sits in the strip mall fringe just north of that hub.

“Where does it stop?” says Manteca. “This town is not going to grow out of a Home Depot, a Starbucks, and Chipotle. That’s not how a community enriches itself. We need theaters and art galleries and coffee shops and good eateries, too.”

Manteca and Ebner have put three years into building this version of Tacoshop, a takeout-friendly concept conceived during the pandemic to produce affordable renditions of handmade Mexican food with contemporary twists. Their menu includes Quesabirria tacos on housemade tortillas, tacos stuffed with gluten-free fried chicken, Mexi-poke tuna and shrimp ceviche, empanadas, Tamale Tuesday platters, and multiple meal combos for under $15.

These are very fair deals for fresh food with mass appeal from a star local chef best known for higher-end restaurants like the seasonal Quahog’s Seafood Bar & Shack in Stone Harbor and the Red Store they formerly operated in Cape May. My family and I really enjoyed Tacoshop this summer, when Manteca and his friendly crew went the extra mile to assure most of the menu was gluten-free. The craftsmanship and service were far superior to Chipotle.

The details of Tacoshop’s menu, with its emphasis on a variety of composed dishes inspired by traditional Mexicanflavors, is different from Chipotle’s pick-your-protein steam table assembly line. But those distinctions are bound to blur as customers veering off busy Route 9 are confronted with two choices for Mexican-adjacent convenience food.

“There’s no question he’s going to suffer,” says John Stanton, chairman of the Food Marketing Department at St. Joseph’s University, citing Chipotle’s brand recognition and economies of scale. “The chain restaurants have a huge advantage over the little guys.”

The opening of yet another Chipotle may seem like an inevitability considering the chain already has nearly 3,400 branches in 48 states with 315 more planned for this year. But Manteca is absolutely correct to take this one personally.

“His success [at that location] attracts competition,” says Stanton, who has worked on computer models for retailers choosing new locations. “If [Tacoshop] was going out of business, the Chipotles of the world would have second thoughts.”

Manteca’s friend and longtime customer, Diana Stopyra, shared her concern in a letter to the editor of the Cape May County Herald that this “David versus Goliath” showdown will threaten the security of not only mom-and-pop operations like Tacoshop, but the character of Cape May Court House itself.

“I don’t begrudge anyone fast food — affordability is important,” Stopyra told me. “But Court House is very much a community in flux right now … We’ve been saying for years there’s going to be a renaissance … but enough is enough. There has to be a place for real food and restaurateurs like Lucas and Deanna, who could do what they do anywhere, but do it here because they love this community. If we don’t love them back, we do ourselves and our kids a disservice.”

Middle Township Mayor Christopher Leusner says he knows and appreciates Tacoshop and that “I hope they succeed … But as a township we want to be business-friendly and create the conditions for a smart, balanced approach to development.”

Provided new projects meet zoning requirements, he says it isn’t government’s role to dictate what style of restaurants are built where: “The market kind of decides that.”

He noted that several independent Mexican restaurants currently coexist near a Chipotle and Taco Bell in Rio Grande, just a few miles south of Cape May Court House.

Manteca is well aware of the cutthroat battlefield of restaurant economics. He also knows he’s unlikely to outmaneuver Chipotle at its own fast food game, no matter how much he shaves prices. That’s a reflex St. Joe’s Stanton warns against: “It just needs to be a fair price for the quality. (He) will lose the price battle.”

But Manteca still has advantages Chipotle can never replicate: a passion for cuisine as a cultural expression, not just a fast food theme, and an outgoing staff that delivers real hospitality. While the corporate competition doubles down on minimizing human interaction in the Chipotlane, Tacoshop is smart to lean into Manteca’s experience as a restaurateur with dinner service, essentially transforming the airy quick-serve space into a charming 30-seat BYOB on Friday and Saturday nights. (The counter remains open for the regular menu, as well.)

As we settled into our votive-lit table behind some potted palms, and sipped nonalcoholic cocktails made with aguafrescas (note: even better if you bring your own tequila), I was delighted to see general manager Amanda Berrodin step out tableside from her usual spot behind the register to lead diners on a well-informed tour of the evening specials.

Among them were two items I guarantee you’ll never see at Chipotle: fresh masa sopecitos cups layered with refried black beans, tender wine-poached octopus, crunchy chicharrones, and creamy dabs of avocado salsa; and fresh-pressed tacos cradling plancha-seared sweetbreads with salsa roja. Delicious! Though it seems I may have been one of the few to order that sweetbread taco in weeks.

“I’ve eaten a lot of my own sweetbread and lengua tacos this first month,” concedes Manteca, acknowledging he’s still finding the perfect balance of familiarity flavors and cheffy adventure for his audience.

I’m glad he’s pushing some boundaries to see just how far these dinners can go. But there are more than enough dishes on this menu already that should gain broad appeal. Like tacos topped with sweet local scallops and salsa pipián. Or the cornmeal-encrusted whole fish with salsa macha. Or the soulful pozole de la montaña, a heartily thick rendition of hominy pork stew inspired by chef Fernando Lopez’s grandmother in Guerrero. At $19 for one large and hearty bowl, it’s a bargain on a dinner menu that tops out at $28 for carne asada.

Other dishes, like the Teotitlán-style Oaxacan mole negro with braised chicken, or the Hidalgo-style lamb shoulder barbacoa, which takes three days to make before it arrives steamy and tender in a banana leaf bundle beside stewed black beans, nopales, and a crock of rich consommé from the drippings, is the kind of meal I’d build a road trip around. And then finish with a sweet corn tamale stuffed with tangy guava and molten cheese.

Of course, there’s already a growing collection of excellent Mexican restaurants at the Jersey Shore cooking many styles of traditional Mexican cuisine. But when Tacoshop steps out of its quick-serve mode to become a destination restaurant, it brings an added contemporary touch that is distinct, even if the menu is still honing its perfect pitch while the dinner audience grows slowly in the off-season.

Manteca might have never unlocked that added level of sit-down ambition to his fast-casual dreams had it not been for the coming challenge of a chain competitor. But will it be enough to survive when the summer burrito hoards begin pouring through the automated Chipotlane across the street? Will they give the local place a chance? In these cold winter months of preparation, Lucas Manteca can only keep cooking and hope.

Tacoshop, 5 Court House South Dennis Rd., Cape May Court House, 609-536-2821; tacoshoptacos.com