Daniel Cox, 33, and his fiancée and business partner, Lillian Rodriguez, 46, didn’t know what to expect when they launched Savage Tacos in April 2024. Now they’re preparing for the next chapter as their business continues to grow.
Savage Tacos was two and a half “painful” years in the making, Cox said. They bought the empty trailer in 2021 and did all the work themselves — electrical, plumbing, installing equipment, even the paint job. Rodriguez helped Cox hone his cooking skills, and they worked together to develop a menu. They scoped locations like Lakeland Regional Health and Keiser University.
“We had planned to work our regular jobs and do it on the side for as long as it took, really,” Cox said. “It didn’t happen like that at all. It really took off pretty quickly.”
‘They ain’t going to leave hungry.’
Cox said that Rodriguez is the spirit behind their business. “She stuck with me through the bad, the really bad,” like when he thought he might have to give up and sell the half-finished trailer. “Thank God that she really put her foot down because we wouldn’t be where we are now without her … The business exists because of her.”
Rodriguez is also the mastermind behind the food. She was a chef in Puerto Rico before moving to Florida…