Downtown taco shop likes to surprise guests

Ghett’Yo Taco likes to get a little wild and crazy with its tacos.

The goal is to surprise their regular guests, by always having something new on the menu.

“Try coming up with something new every week,” said Stuart Shaneberg, the director of operations for the downtown restaurant. “Every week I change it … we have fun with it.”

Sometimes those wild and crazy ideas become favorites. So, when they revise their regular menu, they consider promoting the most popular from weekly special to a menu staple.

And that’s how the Stu-Taliano found its way on the menu. It’s a taco filled with spaghetti and meatballs, tossed in house marinara and mozzarella cheese.

Ghett’Yo Taco hosted a special Cinco de Mayo event and donated some of the profits to the Chandler Education Foundation.

“We just wanted to give back,” said owner Wally Ansari. “We figured this is the best way to do it. Obviously, it’s a lot of fun.”

Giving back to the school district made sense.

“We try to think of our restaurant as a very family-oriented restaurant with a diverse menu to accommodate families and kids,” Shaneberg explained.

“For us to get involved with the Chandler school system was another way of showing our diversity of the menu.”

Ghett’Yo has built a reputation as one of the best places to go for a late night meal in downtown.

It is open to midnight Sunday through Thursday, and until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

“If you ask anyone in downtown Chandler where to eat late, we’re hands down the answer,” Shaneberg said.

Building that reputation wasn’t easy.

As with most restaurants, the pandemic challenged them. It was not always easy finding staff for those extended hours, but Ansari said that has improved in recent months.

“We got a solid crew right now,” Ansari said.

The 6-year-old restaurant is a bit off the main path. It’s inside a 100-plus-year-old building on Oregon Street, next to The Perch.

The quality food and fun vibe has helped the owners attract customers.

It was really hard when they first opened because Oregon was closed as the city built a parking garage at the corner of Oregon and Chicago.

Ansari said they are considering expanding their patio area within the next couple of years, taking over more space that is currently a parking lot.

He said new apartments currently under construction will be open by then and the downtown scene has improved each and every year they’ve been opened.

In addition to dine-in service, takeout and catering, they deliver to a select number of local downtown businesses.

And if any customer has a party coming up, the owners will fence off part of the patio and reserve it.

“We’re unique in downtown Chandler – you know, a 100-year-old home,” Ansari said. “It kind of feels like you’re in Rocky Point (Mexico).”