Today we’d like to introduce you to Dylan Tyson.
Hi Dylan, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve always worked in the food and hospitality industry since I was able to get a job and throughout college. I moved to Orlando in 2016, and the year after, I ate some tacos from Chef Chico on the Bem Bom truck that we’re so good I asked to work for him, and I fell in love with the food truck work and culture. Working alongside him and seeing the passion he put in his food, tasting the flavors he created and seeing how he gained respect from many from his dishes and his concept changed how I looked at the food industry from a temporary source of income to a possible career.
During that time, after nine years, I finally got my bachelor’s degree in business and began my “real job” search but I quickly realized I would not enjoy the white-collar work or environment. After realizing this, I knew I needed to follow my passion for food and do something with tacos, but struggled with what concept to do until one day I thought, “Ice Cream Taqueria.” After taking a year to create a business plan, research how to prepare my product and create recipes, I took a loan from family and started selling ice cream tacos as a pop-up.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Research and development were pretty difficult. The way I figured out how to make my tacos is different from others who are making ice cream tacos currently doing, and it took a lot of trial and error.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I’ve created one of Florida’s only Ice Cream Taquerias making small-batch ice cream tacos. We form our ice cream into taco shapes which are wrapped in a waffle shell “tortilla “ while they’re still hot, and then dipped and topped in various topping based on their recipe. My menu has creative flavor combinations, like a peanut butter banana ice cream with bacon, or strawberry jam on top or vanilla ice cream with potato chip crumble. I think our experience and product set us apart from others because everyone has had an ice cream cone, but not many have had ice cream in a taco, especially as unique and fresh like ours.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
All business owners are risk-takers and I definitely consider myself one. However, one of the reasons I started this business was because of the low risk involved compared to many other food start-ups. Ice cream has little waste and can be done with minimal equipment, and I thought it would be the best concept to start as a first food business.
Pricing:
- Ice cream tacos range from 5-$7.50
Contact Info:
- Email: Chillintacosicecream@gmail.com
- Website: Chillintacosicecream.com
- Instagram: @chillintacosicecream
