Our Crew

Mike Monen - The Founding Padre About 3 years ago, Mike Monen was unemployed after a long career as a co-owner of Sticky Fingers Restaurant.  He was sitting on his couch watching TV eating a lot of Taco Bell.  And when I say a lot, I mean a TON.  Mike's wife Taylor told him to get off his butt and do something.  And one day a lightbulb went off and the idea for Taco Mamacita was born.  In all seriousness, Taco Bell was not the inspiration for Taco Mamacita, but it always gets a few laughs.  Mike has a true passion for for the restaurant business and it was no surprise that after a short hiatus he re-entered it.  Now it is totally cool if he eats tacos everyday.

Taylor Monen - Head Mama Behind every great man, there is usually a woman who should get credit for at least half of his accomplishments, right? In the case of the Monen partnership, Taylor has no problem making herself heard.  Literally.  Every employee and customer who knows Taylor will laugh as they read this because Taylor is by far the loudest person and the biggest goofball in this company.  A big part of the culture of Taco Mamacita is based around the word "Play" and having fun every day and no one is better at this than her.  In all seriousness, Taylor basically takes care of all of the important stuff that Mike and the guys either don't have time to do or don't want to do.  This includes the design and decor of the restaurants, THE BAR and all of it's lovely libations, any healthy item on the menu and just about every bit of paperwork that the restaurants have to deal with.  She absolutely, 110% lives up to her title as Head Mama.  Oh, and her #1 claim to fame at Taco Mamacita is that she is the creator of the Chicken Tortilla Soup.

Chad Phillips - Co-Owner - Nashville Taylor and Mike met Chad when he was in high school.  He was a friend of a friend and I think the first encounter that Mike and Chad had together was that Chad held up a funnel full of beer for Mike at a keg party. Seriously. Thus the Monen-Phillips partnership was formed.  When Mike decided he would open Taco Mamacita he knew he needed a young, energetic and motivated person to help him grow the company.  Chad was a shoe-in for this role and was the first ever Taco Mamacita hire.  Chad has been with Taco Mamacita from day 1.  He was there to mediate the menu arguments between Taylor and Mike.  He was there when every other night for six months before the restaurant opened was taco testing night.  He worked 90 hours a week when Taco Mamacita opened its first location in Chattanooga.  And he now has a (booming!) store of his own in Nashville.  Did I mention he was the Chattanooga Times Free Press Bachelor of the Year in 2009?

Anthony Harney - General Manager-Chattanooga The hire of Anthony Harney is what we like to call "kickin' it old school".  Anthony worked for Mike at Sticky Fingers back in the day and when Mike decided to open Taco Mamacita he knew he needed some of his old talent back.  So enters Anthony.  Anthony quickly worked his way up the ranks at Taco Mamacita and was just recently promoted to General Manager of our Chattanooga location.  His hard work and dedication to this company are unmatched and he has earned his position this way.  He is a complete example of our "promote from within" policy. He has been referred to as a "Jared Leto look alike", thinks he has a better voice than Paul Simon and has a thing for Classic Rock.  He also claims to hold the record for the most Chicken Tortilla Soups sold during a shift, but we think he made it up.

Ricky Johnson - General Manager-Nashville Ricky Johnson is the reason I come to work every day.  Well, not the only reason, but he is a perfect example of what makes Taco Mamacita a fun place to work. He is a hard worker, he's great at his job and any shift with Ricky is a total blast. Not only is he willing to work 115 hours a week if necessary, but he is the complete package.  Ricky was a day 1 kitchen line cook when Taco Mamacita first opened in Chattanooga. A friend of Chad's and straight out of college, Ricky wanted to work in a restaurant to further his experience to pursue a career in culinary arts.  Hopefully, we have talked him out of that by now.  Ricky is another one of those people that we have no idea what we would have done without.  Actually, I think I have heard HIM say that he has no idea what we would have done without him around.  He likes to take credit for ALL new menus items whether they were his idea or not.  And he recently named himself the Taco Mamacita Lead Culinary Director.

Heath Bowen - Assistant General Manager-Chattanooga Heath Bowen is a restaurant ninja.  I have never worked with a more skilled restaurant employee.  Heath is also the most quiet person I have ever worked a shift with.  He can bust out the busiest shift of all time running the window in the kitchen without even breaking a sweat or saying more than three words.  Heath has helped create some of the most important kitchen operational systems that we have in place today and continues to help make this restaurant the best it can be.  Heath is also a former Mike Monen Sticky Fingers hire.  To this day we still have no idea how we would have made it this far without his help.  Heath's Taco Mamacita claim to fame is the Buffalo Chicken Taco (which I can't even remember if we have ever run as a special) and he wears a chef's coat when he works in the kitchen that says "Love, Peace and Taco Grease".  By the way, he HATES spicy foods.

Matt Alexander - Bar Manager-Nashville The first time you see Matt, the question that comes to mind is, "Which one of his parents was a bear?"  The second question is, "Why does he look so much like Chuck Norris?" Matt is by far the best referral hire in the entire history of Taco Mamacita.  When we decided that we were going to open in Nashville, we knew we needed to send some true talent with Chad to help run the place. Ricky Johnson suggested that we meet his friend Matt from college (Roll Tide!) and the rest is history.  Matt is as brawny as Paul Bunyan but has the moves of a ballerina.  We think he might have been a stunt double for Tom Cruise in the movie "Cocktail" but we don't have solid proof yet. I also think Matt holds the record for the most overtime hours ever worked during a restaurant opening week.