By Anna Yoder | Columnist

We have experienced a winter this year that has been a bit colder than the last few.  And on one of the coldest nights in January, my husband and I decided to visit an exciting pop-up restaurant on East Ohio Street called tacOcat. We did not know what to expect, yet realized as soon as we entered the relaxing, cool retro space that this visit was the purr-fect choice for a frigid night. We barely passed through the front door when we were enthusiastically greeted by the bartender and hostess. Once inside, every other person working there offered a kind hello and welcomed us.  We felt as if we entered a friend’s home who gave us a warm hug.

We have been to the “Fat Cat” location where tacOcat now resides, yet this time the space felt homier and more welcoming than ever! We nestled into the gently loved low-profile velour goldish orange-brown colored 1970’s sofa in the lounge conversation area. We were mesmerized at the large flat screen TV where the soft-spoken Bob Ross was miraculously transforming a blank canvas into a lovely woodland scene with just a few strokes of paint. To our left, the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II” movie was playing from a vintage VCR (video cassette recorder for those born after 1980) on a console TV. I suddenly felt transported back to my youth in my childhood home’s “game room.”

The bartender (Chris White) waited on us with his charming smile and likeable personality. He dutifully placed cocktail napkins under the water and beverages that were served on the wooden vintage coffee table. I thought “Wow this is a place where I feel welcomed and so at home.” And that is exactly the type of vibe that Roberta and Chris Acosta of tacOcat are hoping to achieve. Chris calls it the “greet to goodbye” hospitality. But the best was yet to come!

Check out the March edition of The Northside Chronicle for the full story.