Axo Tacos takes Mexican food to the next level with Asian-inspired dishes

ByTimothy Walton WPVI logo

Thursday, June 15, 2023

Axo Tacos takes garage business to a brick and mortar

Axo Tacos is the product of a pandemic passion for cooking and birria tacos that friends of the owners fell in love with.

LINDENWOLD, N.J. (WPVI) -- Back in April, Jose Lorenzo and his wife Maricela Palillero opened Axo Tacos.

The restaurant is the first brick-and-mortar spot for the couple who started making tacos out of their garage during the pandemic.

At first, it was Jose making birria style tacos for a friend.

Work quickly spread and he started selling them.

Lines formed and eventually the couple was asked to sell the food at Clementon Park.

They had such a successful first summer at the park they used that money to open the brick and mortar.

The menu is a fusion of Mexican and Asian flavors.

Jose and Maricela are both from Mexico.

They were born in the same area of Puebla but never met until they were adults living in New Jersey.

The Asian flavors come from Jose's mom who could not find a Hispanic grocery store so she shopped at the Asian market and used those ingredients in her kitchen.

Jose has taken it to another level with birria tacos Korean Al pastor, seafood tacos with a blend of salmon, crab and shrimp, a ribeye rice bowl and eggrolls stuffed with your choice of taco meat.