Michaela Merrick has been serving food under her Pretty Little Tacos brand since 2020, either out of a food truck, or from stalls at two metro Atlanta food halls.
Last week, she branched out with her first standalone brick-and-mortar location at 45 Moreland Ave. SE in Atlanta’s Reynoldstown neighborhood. The new location features the standard Pretty Little Tacos menu including birria tacos and ramen, along with some notable additions.
The expanded Moreland Avenue menu includes sharables such as fried avocados, street corn ribs, shrimp ceviche and stuffed jalapenos; main courses like a taco salad bowl, quesabirria and a po’boy burrito filled with fried shrimp, lettuce, tomatoes and Creole sauce; and new tacos including an al pastor option with pink pineapples and a Mardi Gras taco with fried shrimp and pineapple.
There are also new ramen options, with a gumbo ramen with Andouille sausage and chicken, with the choice to add shrimp or crab legs, and yakamein, a staple from Merrick’s native Louisiana that includes savory broth, beef, noodles, green onions and a boiled egg.
Dessert options include empanadas stuffed with peach cobbler and churros served with chocolate or caramel sauce.
A brunch menu will be added in the next couple of weeks, with breakfast burritos; breakfast tacos, including a chicken and waffle taco; Mexican scrambled eggs; and chilaquiles.
One of the biggest additions to the new Pretty Little Tacos location is a full bar with a cocktail list featuring drinks like the Maneater with purple Peruvian corn juice, lemon juice and rum; Cherry Bomb, a version of a Long Island iced tea made with cherry juice; and A Pretty Mess, a pink rum punch.
Nonalcoholic drink choices include a mango Tajin smoothie and raspberry and coconut lime “nojitos.”
Credit: Courtesy of Michaela Merrick
Credit: Courtesy of Michaela Merrick
Merrick, who has been working on the Moreland restaurant for almost two years, said she’s especially pleased with how the space turned out.
“It looks like a Barbie dollhouse, with the pinks balanced out by teals,” she said. Design elements include a painted sign that reads, “Pretty girls love pretty little tacos,” epoxy tables and pink pampas. “It’s really hard to be in a bad mood when you’re in here,” she said.
The restaurant has seating for about 45 inside, with an additional 25 seats on an outdoor patio set to open in March.
Merrick, who debuted her brick-and-mortar concept in the Politan Row at Colony Square food hall in 2021 and opened a second location earlier this month in the Politan Row at Ashford Lane food hall in Dunwoody, said her stalls have prepared her for her standalone restaurant, though she acknowledges that it has its unique challenges.
“I think the biggest thing is going to make sure we keep the staff on point,” she said. “We’re pretty structured at the food halls, and I need to make sure I keep them on the same program. I want to make sure that everything is consistent, that every time you come here, you have the same experience.”
Pretty Little Tacos joins several other food and beverage concept at the development at the corner or Moreland Avenue and Wylie Street, including That Burger Spot, Wylie & Rum and Nothing Bundt Cakes.
Pretty Little Tacos’ opening hours are 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-midnight Fridays-Saturdays and 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday.
45 Moreland Ave. SE, Atlanta. 470-701-6294, prettylittletacos.com
Scroll down to see the full menu for Pretty Little Tacos:
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
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