Restaurant fuses world flavors into tacos

After two years of serving up innovative combinations from a food truck, Watson Taylor and Jordan Smith of Atomic Tacos have found a brick-and-mortar shop to call home in Kalispell.  

Maintaining its Cold War era theme since opening as a restaurant in April, Atomic Tacos can now put to use more power and square footage to develop and expand its creative menu. Taylor and Smith have put in a few 100-hour weeks this spring to keep up with demand, but are excited at the opportunity to give customers year-round fusion-forward food. 

“With the food truck, we originally had all these grand ideas,” said Smith. “But once you start actually cooking, you realize which things are just unrealistic, and then we had to trim the model a little bit.”

As they settle into their new location, Taylor and Smith plan to slowly start doling out specials  and already have some ideas of what they’d like to offer apart from the regular menu.

“We've been in this industry a long time and we've worked for a lot of people,” said Smith. “Now we have freedom and can do what we want.” 

As both chefs have worked in fine dining restaurants, they are excited to branch out into casual food, while still making it as homemade as possible. With few fusion restaurants in the valley, they hope to tap into that niche and continue exploring new options. 

“The food on this menu are things that we want to eat. It wasn't like, ‘Oh, we have to have this, we just thought ‘Oh, that sounds good,” said Smith. 

The menu features an array of tacos, burritos, as well as kids meals, salads and other vegetarian options like cauliflower tacos. Inspired by street food, Smith said that the taco has become their primary template for crafting unique medleys such as the Korean BBQ tacos or the beef and lamb gyros.

“Our food is definitely a mashup of cultures,” said Taylor. “Tacos are a great format and you can really touch into any brand of food whether it's Mediterranean or Asian.”

In the fall, Taylor went to Europe and had the opportunity to explore the Borough Market in London, a world famous food market steeped in nearly thousand years of history. Both chefs enjoy visiting food markets, trying different ethnic foods, and putting their own spin on those dishes. 

An often asked question at Atomic Tacos is “Do you guys have normal tacos?” 

“They mean tacos with ground beef, iceberg lettuce, and sour cream,” said Smith with a laugh. “And we have to tell them that we don’t have that here. But now people are branching out and trying new things.”

Having tried food from all over, the duo said different ethnic foods are a pinnacle to the foundation at Atomic Tacos and the chefs hope to bring that same appreciation to customers through their eclectic menu. 

“We try new things too,” said Taylor. “And not everything is going to be a home run, but we can’t be afraid to fail.”

“I am so grateful for the community,” added Smith. “There's such a positive reception for us and our food and we've had a lot of regulars who are just very kind to us.”

Atomic Tacos still has one of its food trucks in hopes of setting it up in Whitefish and to make occasional appearances at markets and other events. 

Atomic Tacos is open Monday through Saturday and is located at 136 East Idaho Street in Kalispell. Call 406-260-2293. 

Reporter Summer Zalesky may be reached at szalesky@dailyinterlake.com.

    Watson Taylor and Jordan Smith at Atomic Tacos in Kalispell on Tuesday, April 30. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    The Dragon Belly tacos featuring pork belly in a sweet and slightly spicy dragon sauce with onions, bell peppers and cilantro at Atomic Tacos in Kalispell on Tuesday, April 30. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider   

    The Quesa Birria tacos featuring braised beef, melted cheese, salsa roja, onions and cilantro at Atomic Tacos in Kalispell on Tuesday, April 30. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
 Casey Kreider