The story of Taylor's Tacos
Taylor Mason, (left) is the founder and proud owner of Taylor's Tacos Chicago. She met Maya Mason (right) in 2016, and together they launched Taylor's Tacos Chicago, LLC. What started as a fun way to bring friends together has blossomed into a pop-up catering company that specializes in authentic street style tacos with a whole lot of soul!
Taylor was born and raised on the west side of Chicago. She graduated from Whitney Young High School and went on to Pepperdine University on a full basketball scholarship. That is where her love for street style tacos flourished. When she wasn't playing ball, she was known as the team cook and her infamous Taco Tuesdays. Her senior year of college, her mother had back to back brain aneurysms and Taylor made the decision to return home after graduation and help her family while her mother was nursed back to health. While home, she missed bringing people together in the name of tacos. As her mother got much better, she decided to curate The VIBE Collective and she sold the first Taylor's Tacos for $1. After a sell-out event and a line around the corner she knew that there might be something to the taco life!
Maya Mason went to the illustrious Chicago Academy for the Arts with a focus of ballet that she practiced for about 15 years. She went on to Columbia College in Chicago in the hopes of becoming a fashion merchandiser. She acquired her work ethic from her parents who both had culinary degrees and worked within the food industry. She grew up in her mother's garden, learning how to grow and manipulate her own organic foods. Cooking, design, and the art of food was something that was always close to her heart.
Taylor and Maya met in 2016, two years after the first Taylor's Taco was made. Maya brought on the creative direction and together they unofficially launched Taylor's Tacos Chicago. They learned so much and officially launched Taylor's Tacos Chicago in 2018. They moved into their own commercial kitchen a few months later where they have grown their business tremendously. Taylor and Maya have curated and conducted over 700 catering events to date. They married in July 2020 and working towards opening their own brick and mortar location in 2021.