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In some ways, you never get past your first love. And I’ve tried, several times, to leave Taco John’s behind. There were the years where I stopped eating fast food, and then the years I spent in a job that took me 1,600 miles west of the franchise’s Midwest base. I thought I was done. Really, I did.

But Mexican food is my favorite, and has been since I was a kid. Whether on the streets of Playa del Carmen or at a small burrito stand in the Four Corners’ desert, I cannot shake the craving. And as much as I enjoy the vast, incredible tastes of this too often pigeonholed cuisine, Taco John’s was my first love.

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Yeah, it’s fast food, and 200% more “Tex” than “Mex.” But I swear, this place is the

Happy Thursday and welcome back to the Streetwise newsletter.

This week is dedicated to creative solutions for longstanding problems. I covered both Mangiare and Ashwaubenon Bowl, which had innovative approaches to hurdles brought on by the pandemic.

First, Mangiare, an Italian restaurant that opened in downtown Green Bay in July, added a robot to its team to offer support during the worker shortage. The owner, Patrick Neph, explained how using the robot, Servi, ideally will relieve strain on his employees.

Ashwaubenon Bowl, a bowling alley and restaurant, had a lack of delivery orders during the onset of the pandemic because many didn’t think to order food from a bowling alley. To increase orders, it partnered with two delivery-only restaurants, also called ghost kitchens, and saw great returns.

In other business news, I covered Los Magueyes Mexican Restaurant, which opened a fourth location in Pulaski this week.

In case you missed