Love and Hominy Tacos: Where Everyone Has a Seat at the Table
Step inside Love & Hominy, and the message is instant and unmistakable: you’re welcome here — no cool factor required, no velvet rope or pretense, you’re in. It’s not a question. It’s a given.
Just great food, positive energy, and a space that says, “Come as you are.”
That’s how this bright, soulful taco shop on Oak Street in Hood River’s main drag operates. It’s food, yes, but it’s also a philosophy. A place built with so much intention and so much heart that you can feel it before you even read the menu.
At Love & Hominy, everyone belongs. And it shows in everything they do.
A Room That Talks Back
When you look around the place, every inch tells a story.
The collage wall, when you walk in the door, sets the tone: a mosaic of quotes, quirky art, unexpected layers, and joyful aspirations. Thought starters. Mood shifters. One-liners that make you laugh or pause, and comment to your neighbor in line.
You’ll see someone point across the room to a discovery and share it with a friend. Someone else laughs, and the group at the window seat starts a conversation with the table next to them.
That’s the design. That’s the point. “Get off your phone,” it urges. “Make eye contact. Connect.”
This is a place that encourages you to be present and to open up, even without realizing it. Not in a curated, influencer way, but as humans.
More Than Tacos (But Also the Tacos)
Owners Shaeda and Jonathan Love started Love & Hominy in 2019. Jonathan grew up in Hood River; Shaeda now calls it home. Their decision to establish a business in Hood River was driven by a desire to be close to family and longtime friends. Acquired initially as a food cart, “The Downwinder” was located on the Columbia River waterfront.
The couple was unaware of the global pandemic that would soon unfold. And while the world hunkered down at home, so did they, but with a goal in mind: pour their time into creating. As they developed recipes and experimented with flavors, they asked themselves what they wanted to bring not only to the food scene but also to the people of Hood River. They took something everyone knows and loves, tacos, and reimagined it with a menu that encompassed the regions they’d lived in and the places that shaped them. Think protein and tempeh assortments, accentuated with inspired flavors such as Louisiana remoulade, pickled daikon radishes, Thai-inspired slaw, street corn, or hot honey. Big flavors. No borders. Built to be handheld, eaten on the go or at a leisurely pace, and entirely their own.
It was food made with purpose, and the people noticed.
Locals encouraged a brick-and-mortar, and in 2022, they did just that, transforming a hole in the wall on Hood River’s main drag into something entirely new. A space that’s playful, intentional, and exudes good energy.
Now, Love & Hominy is more than a taco shop. It’s a can’t-miss spot. A backdrop for dates, hangouts, quick dinners between activities, lunch breaks, and deep conversations. A place where you’ll share a laugh with the table next to you, and strangers don’t exist.
The Full Spectrum
What’s remarkable about Love & Hominy isn’t just the food, the decor, or the margaritas (though those are worth the trip). It’s what happens in the room.
Look around on any given day, and you’ll see a crew of windsurf instructors next to a couple visiting from the Bay Area. Two teachers from down the street are catching up over lunch. A family with kids. A solo diner sipping Frosé and reading the wall like a book.
This place doesn’t have a “type.” It has a purpose.
A Business That Puts People First
Shaeda and Jonathan didn’t set out to create a scene. They set out to create something human.
It isn’t just about the food, though it will keep you coming back. It’s about how you’re greeted, how the space flows, and how the team shows up. It’s why prices remain reasonable, and their systems were built for efficiency and consistency. And why their small staff feels more like a tight-knit family than a kitchen crew.
They’re thinking about the person who walks in exhausted after work. The parent who is trying to grab a moment. The visitor who doesn’t know where to begin. They’ve built a space that says, simply, you’re good here, we see you.
Come As You Are, and Stay Awhile
Love & Hominy doesn’t try to be everything; it just tries to be itself. Honest. Generous. Alive. From the tacos to the art to the warm counterservice with a smile, it’s a place that invites you in and asks for nothing but your presence.
So pull up a chair. Meet someone new. Read the wall. Eat something unexpected, because at Love and Hominy, you’re already part of the conversation.
Learn more about Love & Hominy and visit their website at: