A fresh slab of paint and a restored sign, opens a flood gate of memories for Duran Martinez.
"It reminds me of the old place. I'm getting excited," Martinez said.
Along with the memories is a growing number of excitement for the return of a local favorite.
"We've lost so much of our local flavor," Martinez said about the closing of Mr. Taco. "The excitement and memories are all flooding back at one time."
Mr. Taco has been closed since 2005 but last year there was buzz that it could reopen bringing nostalgia for Martinez.
"You've talked to your kids about it or your grandkids about it and there was always that mystery now hopefully soon we'll be able to share that experience," he said.
But before the open sign can turn back on. The co-founder's widow, Sheryl Eytcheson, and Euguene Bonofiglo first have to settle a dispute.
Bonofiglo and his son Bill sued Eytcheson because she claims to have the original recipes.
The Bonofiglos already have the recipe but fear Eytcheson may try and publish or sell it, so they took her to court to prevent it from happening.
Friday Judge Draganchuk ordered Eytcheson to hand over the recipe to her lawyers to ensure that she doesn't give it to anyone.
"It's kind of like a local legend and so there's a lot of interest in it reopening," said Eytcheson's lawyer, Joe Ernst. "So who owns the right to open that business is important."
Judge Draganchuk believes the rightful owners of Mr. Taco is the Bonofiglos but Eytcheson believes she has some rights to the company.
"If they don't have a bases for contesting our claim. I'm extremely confident that they don't," said Bonofiglo's lawyer, Michael Perry. "We'll either settle this case and it'll be over."
Who owns the restaurant and recipe doesn't matter to Martinez, "it's really exciting talking about it more" Martinez said. "I'm getting hungry and more excited about everything right now."
All he cares about is that the flavor is the same as he remembers.
With or without the recipes, the Bonofiglos are moving forward on reopening Mr. Taco, they just haven't set a date yet.
