Category: Business

How to get a free taco on National Taco Day

With National Taco Day coming up on Sunday, Oct. 4, some local restaurants are participating in a taco giveaway for residents.

The Kansas City, Kansas, Convention and Visitors Bureau is giving away 400 free tacos on Sunday, Oct. 4, at four participating restaurants.

According to a spokesperson, residents may go to the four participating restaurants at 11 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 4, and receive a voucher. Each restaurant will have 100 vouchers, and it will be first-come, first-serve.

The vouchers may be redeemed on Sunday, Oct. 4, only, during the hours the restaurant is open, according to the spokesperson. Each restaurant will be offering a different type of free taco. There is a limit of one per person. For more information, visit www.visitkansascityks.com/event/national-taco-day/7364/.

The four restaurants participating in the free taco promotion include:


• El Camino Real, Al Pastor Street Taco
903 N. 7th St. Trafficway
Kansas City, Kansas

• El Menudazo, Birria Taco
904 N. 18th St.
Kansas City, Kansas

• El Torito Supermart, Carne Asada Taco
1409 Central Ave.
Kansas City, Kansas

• Don Antonio, Pollo Taco
7510 State Ave.
Kansas City, Kansas


KCK Taco Trail promotion begins Thursday

The KCK CVB also is launching its KCK Taco Trail on Thursday, Oct. 1, encouraging people to visit restaurants and earn rewards. The website is at https://www.visitkansascityks.com/tacotrail/.

Nearly 50 local taquerias are participating in the KCK Taco Trail promotion. In this promotion, people download a free pass at the website, visit restaurants and buy a taco. The list of restaurants is at www.kcktacotrail.com.

Prizes earned for visiting the restaurants will include a KCK Taco Trail decal for checking into five restaurants; a jar of Tradicion flavor from Spicin Foods for checking into 15 restaurants; a KCK Taco Trail T-shirt for checking into 30 restaurants; and a KCK Taco Trail Championship Flag for checking into all restaurants. This promotion runs Oct. 1 of this week to Oct. 31, 2021. The promotion uses mobile phones to check into locations.

“Tacos play a key part in connecting our neighborhoods in Kansas City, Kansas,” Alan Carr, KCK CVB executive director, said. “The KCK Taco Trail supports local mom and pop shops and we are thrilled to showcase some of the best taquerias in the city through this unique experience.”

In the future, the KCK CVB plans promotions featuring other types of restaurants as well.

Other Taco Day promotions

There are some other restaurants holding National Taco Day promotions.

• Taco John’s at 13032 Kansas Ave., Bonner Springs, will give away beef stuffed grilled tacos all day on Sunday, Oct. 4. The restaurant is open until 10 p.m. on Oct. 4. One per person. Guests can receive one free Beef Stuffed Grilled Taco by downloading the Taco John’s App., https://tacojohns.com/app/.

• Nebraska Furniture Mart and Blind Box BBQ are holding a promotion for National Taco Day. Customers may register for a virtual cooking class with NFM and Blind Box BBQ, then come to the store and pick up a bag with the ingredients they need to create their own tacos at home. Pickup will be from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 4 at Blind Box BBQ. The class will be livestreamed at 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4. There will be a $5 charge per bag that will include appetizer, taco kit for two and optional drinks, with proceeds going to Noah’s Bandage Project. Registration for this promotion will be open until Thursday, Oct. 1, and it will be limited to the first 100. Registration is at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/taco-lab-at-nfm-tickets-121258031035?fbclid=IwAR2tSZxDHeeRoeXS6MHYtnnPYLlnRybcK1ucml-vtH0htpFqG3XijXsNH-I.

Aldi grocery coming to Legends area in 2021

A new Aldi grocery store is planned for Parallel Parkway and Stadium Drive in the Village West area, according to an announcement. (Submitted photo)

An Aldi grocery store is coming to the Legends Outlets area in early 2021.

The store is now under construction on the corner of Parallel Parkway and Stadium Drive in Kansas City, Kansas, according to a Legends spokesperson.

It will be located between J.C. Penney and U.S. Bank, near 109th and Parallel, according to the spokesperson. Also in the area will be the La Fuente Mexican Street Food.

The need for a grocery store has been a frequent theme of Piper reader comments over the years.

Currently, there is not another freestanding grocery store in the Legends Outlets area or in the Piper area. There are some grocery aisle sections within Walmart, Target and Sam’s Club in the area. The new Aldi store will be several miles away from a grocery store in Bonner Springs and four or five miles from existing grocery stores in Kansas City, Kansas.

Aldi will have a new, freestanding building with 20,000 square feet, according to the Legends spokesperson.

Aldi currently has another store in Kansas City, Kansas, at 48th and State Avenue. Aldi’s operates 2,000 stores in 36 states and is on track to be the third largest grocery retailer by the end of 2022, according to the spokesperson.

Aldi, short for Albrecht Discount, was founded by brothers Karl Albrecht and Theo Albrecht in 1946 in Germany, and has more than 10,000 stores in 21 countries.

The store features high-quality groceries at affordable prices, saving people money on food and products they want most, according to the spokesperson. The store offers shoppers a curated selection of Aldi-exclusive brands, according to its website. More than 90 percent of the discount grocery store consists of Aldi’s exclusive products.

As the Target and J.C. Penney’s stores, the Aldi store will not technically be in the Legends Outlets, but it is considered a Legends tenant, according to the spokesperson.

$825,000 available for UG grant to support small businesses

As part of the Unified Government’s (UG) CARES Act request, the UG Commission recently approved $825,000 to support the Economic Development Department’s WYCO Loves Local Small Business grants.

The WYCO Loves Local initiative was created to encourage continued growth and provide support for small businesses in Wyandotte County. The $825,000 approved by the Board of County Commissioners will provide much-needed support to local businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Local businesses are the backbone of our community and remain critical to on-going economic recovery and future growth efforts in Wyandotte County,” stated Mayor David Alvey. “As such, today I’m pleased to announce the WYCO Loves Local Business initiative will provide $825,000 in grants to businesses that have been impacted by COVID-19. This initiative provides much-needed relief directly to local businesses, helping them offset unforeseen costs or losses resulting from COVID-19, while also encouraging them to reinvest for the future as our community continues to recover from the pandemic. Moreover, by helping local businesses succeed and grow, we simultaneously maintain and create jobs for our local workforce.”

Businesses with 1-25 employees are eligible for up to $10,000 in grant support, and businesses with 26-500 employees are eligible for up to $20,000 in grant support.

Grants may be used to address the following challenges in response to the impact of COVID-19:
• Rent or mortgage payments (excluding property tax payments)
• Accounts payable, including utilities, vendors, suppliers, and working capital expense paid, or to be paid, between March 1 and December 1, 2020
• Facility Remediation/Cleanup Costs
• Innovation to promote outdoor business to protect employee and public health
• Cost associated with additional training or virtual learning in response to COVID-19
• Increasing technology capacity to enable alternative/remote work
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Costs

Because these grants are provided by the UG’s CARES Act funding, grantees will be subject to the rules and regulations set forth by the United States Treasury Department and the State of Kansas concerning CARES Act allocations. The UG’s CARES Act Planning Team will work with grantees to ensure compliance.

“This a unique opportunity for our businesses to receive direct monetary assistance to help them through these unprecedented challenges and keep our businesses strong. We hope that businesses will take advantage of these grants while defining their path forward,” said Katherine Carttar, the UG’s Director of Economic Development.

Applications are reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis. The first review of applications will be Thursday, Sept. 24. Following Sept. 24, applications will be reviewed on a continual basis as funding permits.

To apply for a grant, visit the WYCO Loves Local Small Business Grant Application page.

Businesses with questions about the application should contact the CARES Act Planning Team by email at [email protected].

To learn more about the CARES Act in Wyandotte County, visit www.wycokck.org/CARES.

  • Story from Unified Government