Connecting the hearts and stomachs of Springdale, one taco at a time

As employee of Charly’s Taqueria, Ever Castilla, sits at the edge of the restaurant’s counter, awaiting the regular customers, he starts to notice a wave of new faces, experiencing new food like never before. It turns out the faces he’s seeing have seven more stops to go, as he notices maps of downtown Springdale in their hands. The customers are on a mission, or even better, a tour. A Taco Tour.

Brought to this city through the creative minds of Amber and John Perrodin, in charge of the famous Team Springdale, the Taco Tour has made its way into the lives and stomachs of many Springdale residents.

“We grew tired of hearing suggestions as to how to make Springdale better. We think it’s already pretty amazing, so our mission is simple. We plan to showcase local businesses, events, happenings, and the people that are already here on the ground committed to making our town an amazing place to live,” said John Perrodin.

On Team Springdale’s website or FaceBook, there is a map with eight places and a variety of wonderful food options right in your backyard. Often overlooked, these restaurants are secretly becoming the median between East and West Springdale.

For so long, East Springdale has been separated from West Springdale, and no one has started to change that until now.

“The underlying desire for the tour is to bring people together,” said Perrodin, “One of Team Springdale’s main missions is helping people to connect with each other. And what better way to build bridges than over food?”

According to senior Caroline Hornor, the bridge building has been a success.

“Sometimes Springdale feels divided, but incorporating the Mexican restaurants is a great start to diversifying Springdale. And the food is very good, so thats a plus,” said Hornor.

Not only has the Taco Tour benefitted the people of Springdale, but it has benefitted the restaurants as well.

“It’s been really cool…They [John and Amber] were regular customers here and then they just asked us if we wanted to be a part of it… We’ve gotten a lot of new customers,” said Ever Castillo, who works at Charly’s Taqueria, number one on the list of featured places.

Proof that this idea of combining food with relationships is actually working can be seen really easily. On Instagram alone, there are over 230 posts with #SpringdaleTacoTour.

“I think that is an amazing idea. It is a great way for members in the community to reach out to vendors that they hadn’t visited before. So, people are meeting new people while expanding sales in the small-business arena,” said spanish teacher, Robert Snyder.