Project Overview
TacoSpots was a simple, fun iOS app designed to help users quickly find the best taco spots nearby.
Instead of scrolling through hundreds of generic search results, TacoSpots focused exclusively on tacos: surfacing nearby taco restaurants, food trucks, and stands with ratings, distance, photos, and key details in a clean, fast interface.
This was my first published app that used an external API to fetch real data.
The Problem
Finding good tacos was surprisingly frustrating. Popular apps like Yelp showed too many irrelevant results, and users had to scroll through long lists and read reviews just to find decent taco places. I wanted a much simpler and more focused experience: just great tacos, shown quickly and clearly.
The Solution
TacoSpots used the Yelp Fusion API to fetch real-time data and displayed nearby taco spots on a clean map and list interface. The app stripped away unnecessary complexity and focused purely on helping users find tasty tacos fast, with distance, ratings, and photos presented in an easy-to-scan format.
My Role & Process
I built TacoSpots completely by myself as a solo developer. This project served as an important testing ground for working with external APIs, location services, and map-based interfaces.
It was my first time integrating a third-party REST API (Yelp Fusion) into a production app, which taught me a lot about handling real-world data, API authentication, error handling, and performance.
Challenges
- First time working with a RESTful API at scale — handling API keys, rate limits, data parsing, and gracefully managing network issues.
- Combining Core Location and MapKit to deliver accurate, fast location-based results.
- Designing a simple yet engaging interface that felt focused and fun, rather than another generic restaurant app.
- Optimizing performance when fetching and displaying photos and data from the API.
Key Features
- Location-based search for nearby taco spots
- Clean map and list views with ratings, distance, and photos
- Fast, straightforward user interface focused only on tacos
- Real-time data powered by Yelp Fusion API
Technologies Used
- Swift
- Core Location
- MapKit
- RESTful API (Yelp Fusion)
- UIKit / SwiftUI (early hybrid approach)
Outcome & Learnings
TacoSpots was a pivotal early project for me. It served as a testing bed for many ideas I would later use in larger map-based apps like ShredSpots and making another food based app, WhattaEat.
This project taught me how to work with external APIs, handle real user location data responsibly, and build focused, single-purpose apps that solve one clear problem well. The lessons learned from TacoSpots; especially around map interactions and API integration, directly influenced my approach when building ShredSpots later on.
It was also a great reminder that sometimes the simplest ideas can teach you the most.