11/19/2023
Hi Everyone, many of you know that I also own MAD taco. I just sent this message out and what to share it here as well.
It has been a few months since I last sent out a message. Sometimes you can take a 15 minute drive somewhere and once you arrive you have no concept of the trip itself. It has been like that for me lately. I show up for work one day and 3 months later I am surprised with how much time has passed and I have little recollection of meaningful actions while getting there.
Next year will mark 40 years in the industry for me with the last 20 as an owner. Tara, for her part, has battled with me for the last 27; not always side by side in the restaurant, but more often as a victim of my addiction to the work.
Truthfully, 2022 and 2023 have been difficult years. We have been fighting to get through each month. Up to this point we had become used to, and numb to, the demands and effects of the restaurant business. Covid woke us up some. We gained perspective about our lives and what is truly important, and since 2020 have been evaluating how to move forward in life and business. For many years I have told myself, and others, that I want the definition of my life to reflect my relationship with God, being a husband, and being a father. Well, saying it does not make it so, and owning and operating restaurants while trying to live up to that definition has not yielded the outcome I have always hoped for. We did a lot of pivoting during the first two covid years; believe me when I tell you that it is still shaping many lives and that is certainly true for us. As a result, everything is more expensive in our industry (true in many industries I'm sure): food, supplies, rent, interest on loans, and workers. And there is a limit to what one can charge for a taco to support these increases. I won’t rehash everything we have done, or attempted to do, to keep things alive while also trying to maintain the life we want, but I hope the gist of the situation has been somewhat conveyed.
So. A chapter in our lives comes to a close. Saturday, November 18, 2023 was/is (depending on when you read this) MAD taco’s final day of operation, it is closed permanently (at least with us as the owners). We can no longer fight to keep it less than alive, and life is too short, and experiences with loved ones too precious, to let them slip by as faint memories.
My life as a chef has been fulfilling, even while oftentimes chewing me up and spitting me out. Some of you know me from my Cafe Eccell days from the mid ‘90’s to early 2000’s, but many of you know me better from my Madden’s and MAD taco days, 2004-present. I have had a love/hate and contradictory relationship with this industry. It has given me much, but has, at minimum, taken an equal portion.
My fondest memories are the relationships forged with the countless people I have had the pleasure to work next to in my kitchens and restaurants. None of what I have accomplished would be possible without them and their efforts, and that is true of the current staff at MAD taco who all have remained to the last day/hour to support us in this. Thank you to all of them as they move on.
And of course, the people I have gotten to know through my food and restaurants have been a blessing. There is simply not enough time to reflect on the impact you have had on my life.
God does work in mysterious ways and no doubt His finger has been at play in our lives for many years. I am grateful to need Him, the way a child is grateful for a parent’s hug when hurt or in need of affection. This journey, the good, the bad, and the ugly, has played out exactly as it should. We needed the laughs, tears, fears, pain, relationships, and experiences to provide the tools, perspective, and wisdom for the next phase of our life. Sometimes a big event is needed, good or bad, to provoke change. And while it is scary to take that next step, we will take it nonetheless.
Covid. What a strange thing it was/is; like a tornado that ravages dozens of homes but “decides” to leave neighboring structures completely untouched…some storms come to destroy and some come to clear a path. Covid did both and it is difficult to formulate a feeling about it. I hate that it took so much from us… but I welcome the new life we are about to embark upon.
I will keep MAD piez open, I have some loose plans, some that involve pizza and some not, that may come to fruition out of that space. First thing I am going to do is enjoy Thanksgiving week with my family.
Stay connected with me on social media to see what the future holds. We will keep the MAD taco social media pages open for a time.
Do have a great Thanksgiving and Holiday season!
Thank you all for the years of support, laughs, tears, and prayers.
Peter Madden
Instagram: Madtaco, Madpiez, thepetermadden
Facebook: Madtaco, Madpiez, chefpmadden
