Business Beat: Dam Tacos takes home ‘Best of’ gold

Boulder City is home to Las Vegas’ best food truck, as BC Dam Tacos recently earned gold in the food truck category in the 2020 Best of Las Vegas contest.

“We were not expecting that at all. … It’s surreal,” said Rolando Medrano, owner.

BC Dam Tacos also earned bronze in the taco category.

Medrano opened BC Dam Tacos three years ago and runs it with his family. He offers a variety of Mexican fare for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as daily specials.

“This is like a full-blown Mexican restaurant,” he said.

Medrano said his initial plan was to stay open until his daughter graduated from high school. Now, however, he has no plans to go anywhere because of the community’s support for his business.

“It’s the town telling us, ‘your food is good and we do like you’. … We’ve created such a following,” he said. “It’s wintertime, and we’re just as busy as we were in August.”

Since the beginning, Medrano said he constantly asks himself if his food is good enough for people to pay for it.

“Winning this tells me that, ‘Yes, our food is good enough,’” he said. “People come back because it’s affordable and because they like the food.”

Medrano also is passionate about helping the community. During the pandemic, he gave away trays of tacos to local businesses and donated six turkeys and $25 Albertsons gift cards to families who needed help at Thanksgiving.

“I just do what feels right. … I was glad it went to people who really needed it,” he said.

BC Dam Tacos is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Its daily specials are available on its website, http://www.bcdamtacos.com/.

Several other local businesses also placed in the 2020 Best of Las Vegas contest.

Just Detailing by JD earned bronze in the detailing category. Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters earned gold in the categories of family attraction, helicopter tours, place to take visitors and tour. The Dam Short Film Festival earned bronze in the arts and cultural event category.

Another Boulder City business, Rail Explorers also was honored recently. The company received Trip Advisor’s Best of the Best and Travelers Choice awards for all three of its locations: Rhode Island, The Catskills and Boulder City.

Businesses help each other

Whenever local business owners face issues, often the solution is just a phone call or email message away.

That’s where Boulder Business Development members excel.

The networking group, which meets once a week at Railroad Pass Casino, allows members to provide support, exchange ideas and share resources to promote each other’s businesses. Additionally, motivational messages and compliments are traded among members.

“The whole goal is to help each business grow and flourish,” said President Dyanah Musgrave of The Outcome is Income.

Each session provides a minute-long opportunity for members to introduce themselves, talk about what is going on with their business and offer referrals. They end their presentations with a slogan or tagline.

Additionally, one member provides a 10-minute program.

Taina Gude, vice president, updated members on the difference they are making, noting they generated $5 million in business for members last year.

“I love this group and these people. They are so supportive of each other,” said Lee Hagan of Auto Specialists.

Hagan said she has only been coming for seven or eight years, though her husband, Paul, has been coming longer.

The group is not designed for and does not allow special discounts or services between members, Musgrave said.

There is an annual membership fee of $250, plus $30 a month for use of the room and breakfast. The only caveat is that only one member per profession or service is allowed to join.

Musgrave said that limitation is designed so that the members cannot hurt one another through their referrals.

Currently, the group has 28 members, according to Musgrave.

Beyond helping each other, the group also sponsors a few philanthropic projects, such as support for the city’s mounted police unit.

Beauty Kitchen Boutique delivers

Beauty Kitchen Boutique, 501 Nevada Way, Suite 5, is now offering free local delivery for Boulder City residents.

The boutique is providing next-day contactless delivery and same day delivery Monday through Friday. Residents who want or need items delivered the next day should call Beauty Kitchen at 702-778-9338 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. For same-day delivery, they need to place orders by 1 p.m.; deliveries will be made by 4:30 p.m.

Co. Store adds Amazon lockers

Boulder City Co. Store, 525 Avenue B, is offering Amazon shoppers an alternative way to get their packages delivered. Lockers were installed inside the store earlier this month, allowing shoppers to have their orders delivered to a safe location.

According to Amazon, using the locker is simple: Just add the locker location as the shipping address during checkout. Once the package is ready for pickup, customers will receive an email with a six-digit code to use to remove the package from the designated slot.

This is Boulder City’s first and only Amazon lockers, said Tara Bertoli, owner of Boulder City Co. Store.

Additionally, to better serve customers during the pandemic, it has created a drive-thru in the back of the store.

Currently, the store is open from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday.

Business Beat wants your news

We want news, tips, anything you want to tell us about Boulder City business, as long as it’s true and as long as it’s not pure publicity. Send it all to news@bouldercityreview.com.