Zach Burg, owner and chef of 28th Street Tacos, is taking it seriously. But not too seriously.
Burg opened his breakfast taco stand this fall in the front of his Fraternity house, Sigma Alpha Mu, amid his senior year as a USC business student. On Sundays at 11 a.m., he sets up shop to serve eggs, potato, chorizo and even – upon request – vegetarian tacos that cost $4 each.
For many Greek life members, 28th Street Tacos is their neighbor. The inspiration for his low-key, laid back business sprung from his own observations as a USC college student and Greek life member.
“There’s not really that great of breakfast food near us on a Sunday morning, so I was like, if you just wake up and want food then just walk a block down the street,” he said.
Beyond fulfilling this apparent need for breakfast food fast, Burg has remained largely easy going about his business. There’s no set menu, no one to help him cook and apart from his Instagram profile for the stand, there’s no real advertising. And, sometimes, 11 a.m. opening, really means 11:30 a.m.
As a 22-year-old business student who is now employed outside of school, he is tip-toeing between following his professional instincts and not trying too hard.
“I try not to get overly analytical. That’s why the business side first inclined me to think log, website, all this stuff...but I don’t want to take it that seriously from the start. I’d rather just go do it,” Burg said.
For most weekends over the past two semesters he has gone headfirst in serving food to friends and those who stop in, mostly Greek life members.
Fellow Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity member and one of Burg’s most frequent customers, Max Goldstein, acknowledges the challenge to reach more people in the community.
“It can be weird just showing up to a porch at a frat house, but it’s a friendly environment and really good tacos in a convenient location,” said Goldstein.
In efforts to expand his pool of customers and reach other members of the USC and surrounding area community, Burg has reapproached his business model.
“I thought that was the edge, not taking it seriously. But then I realized, for some people lack of legitimacy probably was giving them a hard time to come to, or maybe it wasn’t fully believable. I was actually trying to emulate some other food trucks that do a very similar thing of being very brash, kind of the marketing ploy of being very unfiltered,” he said.
Now, he has a logo, better cooking tools and even – he said with a laugh – an apron.
As the end of his senior year nears, however, the future for 28th Street Tacos is uncertain. While Burg has toyed with the idea of moving his stand Downtown, he also mentioned that he would consider giving “his baby,” as he puts it, to a fellow student in hopes to keep it a USC business.
“I think it’s kind of sacred: by students for students,” he said.