Here's the good news: Tacos Impala offers first-rate food in an unconventional, effortlessly cool kind of way. Now for the bad: It will close come spring. So hurry up and go.

Open since December, this window-service taco shop on H Street Northeast is the brainchild of area entrepreneurs Erik Yang, 26, and Troy Hickman, 31. The idea popped up as a way to supplement their income, and have some fun, while they built Toki Underground, a Taiwanese-style ramen joint in the works since 2009.

The name of their temporary taco business does not refer to the animal native to Africa, Hickman says: "Impala is just a fun word. It's got a cool East L.A. vibe."

They leased space in Philadelphia Water Ice while it is shuttered for the winter to offer three types of tacos. Hickman's Mexican grandmother taught him how to cook; his affection for this street-food staple is infectious. He and Yang oversee the operation and buy ingredients at the Florida Avenue Market daily. Cooking credit goes to their talented staff.

Hickman helped open Jimmy Valentine's Lonely Hearts Club on Bladensburg Road NE in 2007. Yang was general manager of Sticky Rice, another local establishment, from 2008 to 2009. Both are as devoted to the Atlas District as they are to their product.

Supple corn tortillas, made fresh all day, exemplify that passion. Try one filled with carnitas: juicy braised pork from the picnic shoulder cut that is seared to a crisped edge before serving. Vegetarians will delight in the bean tacos, which hold a soft, flavorful mash of mayacoba beans, tomatoes, garlic and onion with crumbled Cotija cheese on top. Marinated beef is cooked to order for the carne asada taco, the most popular (though we were partial to that pork). All are $3 and come with a choice of sauce. The brick-red Impala version is deeply smoky; the pulpy salsa verde, made with tomatillos and jalapeno peppers, is vibrant and addictive.

The crispy pork skin dish known as chicharrones makes an occasional and welcome appearance as a fourth option ($3). All tacos are garnished with crunchy bits of radish and onion, flecks of cilantro and wedges of lime. We took ours to a friend's house in Arlington and were impressed by how well they survived the trip.

Mexican sodas are available for $1.50.

Hickman plans to open a sit-down Mexican restaurant someday. And if fortune allows, he'll find a new home for Tacos Impala. For now, it's scheduled to close March 31.

- Catherine Zuckerman (Good to Go, February 16, 2010)