Taco Shop Flooded With Orders After Owner's Daughter Posts Emotional Video

An Illinois taco shop experienced a "Christmas miracle" after the owner's daughter posted a video to TikTok showing it looking completely empty in a desperate plea for customers.

Within 24 hours, the shop was flooded with orders, selling over 500 tacos in the space of just one very busy shift. The demand is showing no signs of slowing down.

Taco-Bout-Joy's in Glenview, Illinois, is owned by sisters Joy Milan and Kack Keomanivong who came to the U.S. as refugees from Laos in the 1980s where they grew up in poverty.

Avid chefs who regularly cooked at family gatherings, the pair realized their dream of owning their own restaurant when Taco-Bout-Joy's opened back in October.

But the restaurant industry can be tough. Research from the University of California, Berkeley in 2014 estimated 17 percent of independently owned full-service restaurant startups failed within their first year.

Taco-Bout-Joy's doesn't look like it's going anywhere anytime soon though thanks, in no small part, to the positive power of social media. It all started when Joy's daughter, Isabel, posted a video to their TikTok account tacoboutjoys showing their shop looking empty this past Thursday, December 8.

"It breaks my heart to see my mom watching the door everyday waiting for a customer to walk in," she wrote alongside the post. "I wish I could give her customers for Christmas."

Little did she realize that Christmas wish would soon be granted with the video racking up over 37 million views and counting. More importantly, the comments section was awash with people eager to get food from Taco-Bout-Joy's

A few hours later, Isabel posted another video showing Joy, Kack and an assortment of staff members busily working their way through the deluge of orders that followed her online plea.

Kack's daughter, Jordyn, told Newsweek from the moment they opened at 10:30 a.m. the next day, "cars flooded in and customers came to visit us to support the restaurant."

She said Isabel "didn't think much about it" when she first posted the video, but quickly realized something was happening when her mom called her up to come and help down at the restaurant.

Jordyn said the influx of orders was an even bigger surprise to the two owners.

"Originally Joy and Kack had no idea what was happening," she said. "It wasn't until they got to the restaurant and we explained the situation that they realized."

"Kack didn't believe that many people would come out and support us like they said they would," she said. "Joy was astonished at how many people came to admire her food seemingly out of nowhere."

Several additional family members were called in to help out with Kack and Joy also calling in a favor from their friends and owners of Nina's Tacos in Sycamore who provided extra staff. They needed it too.

"We sold over 150 birria tacos alone," Jordyn said. "We ended up selling out of birria, shrimp, guacamole, and sent out relatives to purchase more steak. I would say over 500 tacos were sold alone, not including burritos and tortas."

She said the family has been left "truly amazed and grateful" at the amount of support shown in such a short space of time.

"Thank you for helping and spreading the word about my mom and aunt's restaurant," Jordyn said. "To go out and do something to support your community is very appreciated. Giving the recognition my family deserves is one of the best gifts to ever come from anyone!"

Describing the effort as "a Christmas miracle" on the taco shop's Facebook page, Jordyn said it was incredible to see the positive impact one social media post can have.

"None of us ever thought that that one Tiktok post would make it this far and reach so many people not only around us, but over the country and other countries as well," she said. "It's great knowing that social media can be used to support our community."