tacos with a twist
Gringa is on a mission to bring the community together, one taco at a time.
Words Madelaine Cherrington
Images Silly Studio
Gringa Taco Bar has quickly become a favourite among Tarrawanna locals, offering a unique twist on a popular Mexican dish, the much-loved taco. With a focus on community and sustainability, Gringa is worthy of the hype.
Situated next door to local powerhouse Reub Goldberg Brewing, Gringa has an equal amount of heart as there is quality food. A small yet mighty establishment, Gringa has some of the best Mexican food the Illawarra has to offer. Owner and founder of Gringa, Brittany Carree, has been working towards Gringa since she was a teenager.
“I’ve always loved cooking – loved cooking with my grandparents, cooking at home with my family,” Brittany tells me. “I wanted a job in the hospitality industry, so I started washing dishes, and then the boss there asked me to be one of the pizza chefs, so I did pizza, and then I continued down with back-of-house hospitality.”
After gaining experience in front of house with various bartending and waitressing gigs, Brittany made the move to Australia. Following a quick stint in the personal training space and a trip back to Canada with her partner, Brittany found herself inspired by food once more.
“Pat and I went back to Canada, and we did a massive road trip – eating, drinking, having a great time,” explains Brittany. “I said do you think this is something we can do when we move back to Australia? Pat was like absolutely, whatever you want to do, I’m there to support you. When we got back to Australia, I was all pumped up, I wanted to save as much money as I could so I could open a restaurant – that was my end goal.”
It wasn’t long until Brittany had landed on her cuisine – tacos. Brittany started with pop-ups at local breweries and providing catering at weddings, slinging her signature tacos wherever people would have her. It was during the second COVID-19 lockdown that Brittany found not only her partnership with Reub Goldberg but her connection with the Tarrawanna locals.
“Anna and Billy from Reub Goldberg said ‘Do it here! If you want to stay here, if you want to be here every day, you can,’” says Brittany. “The locals came down and really wanted to support the brewery, they wanted to support the Thai place, they wanted to support everyone in their community.”
Brittany is dedicated to matching that support with looking after her patrons in as many ways as possible. At Gringa, the entire menu is gluten free. People with gluten intolerances and those living with coeliac disease can rest easy when they’re enjoying a meal at Gringa.
“With Mexican cuisine, it’s actually quite easy to do - it’s corn in most things,” says Brittany. “A lot of people came down who were gluten free and coeliac, so that became a following as well.”
On top of catering for those who are gluten free, Brittany tries to be conscious of other dietary requirements when building her menu and goes above and beyond to ensure anyone and everyone can eat at Gringa.
“I like having that standard across the board, and we can swap this out or move this. Even when I’m creating the menu, I do have people in mind who have allergies - gluten free, egg allergies, garlic and onion! I know that’s in a lot of Mexican cooking, but I do keep common allergies in mind.”
Brittany is also dedicated to keeping her patrons guessing. In addition to a tantalising standard menu, from the succulent beef birria to the addictive black bean gringa, each week Brittany creates a feature taco, often incorporating other cuisines. For Brittany, coming up with new recipes is as about drawing inspiration from all around her.
“I want to keep building up this little guy in Tarrawanna, and in the future, I’d love to have Gringas all over the Illawarra”
“I love reading cookbooks – most of the things that pop up on my social media are food related, and look great, but how can I change this? How can I bring the fusion into things?” Brittany explains. “It keeps me on my toes, it keeps my brain ticking over, so I’m not becoming stagnant. I do a lot of research, and I love all kinds of food. I just happen to love tacos the most!”
In addition to ensuring Gringa is a place everyone can enjoy, Brittany is also passionate about using local produce and keeping the business as sustainable as possible.
“I try to use a lot of fresh stuff, to reduce packaging,” Brittany explains. “A lot of times there’s so much packaging that ends up going in the garbage. Everything we use is biodegradable, so we only have a FOGO bin and recycling bin.”
When it comes to the future of Gringa, Brittany has her sights set on expanding as much as possible.
“I want to keep building up this little guy in Tarrawanna, and in the future, I’d love to have Gringas all over the Illawarra.”
If you ask me, the more tacos the better.