Lane’s Quickie Tacos leads Tex-Mex takeover | Readers’ Choice

“It’s absolutely humbling and amazing at the same time,” Quick said of winning the award. “We obviously couldn’t have done it without the customers. I want to make it clear that we are not a Mexican restaurant and there should be a taco category.”

He was quick to compliment other Mexican and taco restaurants in Fairbanks, such as El Ranchero, Rack Shack BBQ, Miguel’s and Taco King. Quick’s food is inspired by what he ate as a child in San Antonio, Texas. Everything is slow cooked, not grilled, and he started this practice because his mother was his first taste tester and she didn’t have any teeth at the time.

“I don’t think anyone makes the kind of food I make (in Fairbanks),” Quick said. “Basically, my restaurant just has the food I miss from home. That’s all. I’m not a great cook or anything, I’m just an old hobby griller turned restaurant owner. I started cooking all this stuff for my mom, stuff she missed from home.”

Quick had no experience as a chef before starting Lane’s Quickie Tacos, but he improved through trial and error and by getting feedback from his mother and coworkers while bartending at the Blue Loon. Upon recommendation, he took his tacos to the Tanana Valley Farmers Market and built the business from there.

The small indoor space of his restaurant is a nod to Quick’s South Texas childhood, with San Antonio Spurs memorabilia among other Lone Star State relics and sci-fi toys. But the real gem of the College Road eatery may be the patio and its umbrellas outside.

Lane’s Quickies Tacos offers six classics on the menu, referred to as “The First Six”: The Alaskan, The Texan, The ‘Merican, The Hippie, The Po Boy and The Kiddo. For some variety, he also offers a rotating seventh taco.

Seventh Taco’s meat offerings range from jerk chicken to steak fajitas, pork shoulder, barbacoa, sausage, bacon and more, with an array of sides. Quick updates the restaurant’s Facebook and Instagram profiles when the offerings change, whether it’s every week, every few days or after a month.

It’s been just 11 years since Lane’s Quickie Tacos was founded, and not much has changed for Quick’s lunch and takeout spot, which is open daily from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Quick is still surprised by the support from the community, which he credits with helping him stay in business during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Not being a chef, I was really surprised that people liked my food,” Quick said.

Still, he believes the consistency and care he puts into preparing the tacos is what keeps customers coming back. And in his decade and a half as a bartender, he learned the customer service skills he needed to run his own restaurant.

“The customers become my family,” said Quick. “It’s my social life.”

Miguel’s Authentic Mexican Cuisine on Airport Way took second place and Mayan Palace on Airport Way took third place.