Del Taco

Del Taco is an American fast-food restaurant chain that specializes in American-style Mexican cuisine, as well as American foods such as burgers, fries, and shakes. The chain has approximately 600 locations in 16 US states, and was rated the best fast food restaurant by USA Today readers in July 2024.

On December 6, 2021, Jack in the Box announced it was acquiring Del Taco for $12.51 per share. The acquisition was finalized in March 2022. Del Taco is led by Brand President Tom Rose, and is headquartered in Lake Forest, California.

History

The first Del Taco in Yermo, CA.

The first Del Taco restaurant was opened by Ed Hackbarth and David Jameson in Yermo, California, on September 16, 1964under the name "Casa Del Taco." On the first day of business, Del Taco made $169. Success of the first restaurant led to two in Barstow, one in Needles, and a fifth restaurant in Corona (the first Del Taco with a drive-through window). Dick Naugle, who installed the kitchen equipment in the Corona store, was impressed by the design and joined Hackbarth and Jameson in the fledgling business. In 1966, the trio founded Red-E-Food Systems, Inc., with the idea of franchising the Del Taco brand. That same year, the original Del Taco sun logo was created. In 1967, Del Taco introduced their bean and cheese burrito with green or red sauce.

Naugle left the company early in the 1970s to start Naugles, a competing chain specializing in Mexican fare. In 1973, the company dropped "Casa" from its name and Red-E-Food Systems became Del Taco, Inc. By that time, the company opened a new restaurant every month. In 1976, Hackbarth and Jameson sold Del Taco to a group of investors. The new owners sold the exclusive rights to use and develop the Del Taco name throughout the US (excluding California; Eugene, Oregon; and Yuma, Arizona) to W. R. Grace and Company. Grace, primarily a chemicals company, founded a new company, Del Taco Restaurants Inc. of Dallas, Texas, and a new subsidiary, DTG Inc., to oversee the fast food chains it was acquiring.

The franchise continued to expand. In 1977 there were 50 Del Taco restaurants. In 1978 there were 100. In 1981, Del Taco had approximately 350 restaurants, located almost exclusively in California.

A Del Taco location in the 1980s.

In February 1989, Del Taco merged their restaurants with the 171 Naugles’ Mexican fast food outlets. Anwar Soliman was instrumental in the move. He was the mastermind behind the purchase of the rights to expand Del Taco throughout the US in 1977. With the merger, Del Taco increased in size, and spread as far east as Hickory, North Carolina. In the 1980s Del Taco began to stay open all night. In Lake Forest, California, there are two Del Tacos directly across the street from each other on Trabuco Road and El Toro Road. The one with the Trabuco Road address was formerly a Naugles. In Orange, two Del Tacos are across the street from each other on Tustin Avenue. The one with the Lincoln Avenue address was formerly a Naugles.

In 1990, Kevin K. Moriarty joined Del Taco as CEO, soon becoming the owner of the brand in conjunction with his management team. His team launched efforts to grow the brand's image while improving the total customer experience.

Del Taco POGs from the mid-1990s.

In 1992, Del Taco recaptured exclusive rights to its name from W. R. Grace and Company, and was able to expand outside of California. Del Taco launched a $14-million program to redesign its restaurant exteriors, kitchens and corporate logo. The company presented its Concept 2000 restaurant design and in August 1992 introduced its new logo. In place of the orange and blue sunset, there was a yellow sun that rose over green mountains against a red background. These colors represented the primary ingredients of Del Taco food: cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. Later that year, executives announced plans to expand the chain to 500 stores by 1995, and to add another 225 by 2000. The first new markets it sought were Las Vegas, Nevada; St. Louis, Missouri; and the Northeast Corridor.

Del Taco filed for protection in 1993 under Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Although renovations were made to keep Del Taco profitable, the company continued to pay rent on several unprofitable outlets that had been closed. They also attempted to negotiate lease reductions on other high cost sites. Also, Del Taco had been sued for $3 million by a former supplier. This was settled out of court.

From 1994 through 1998, Del Taco shrank and then grew. Though the company signed a deal to open 15 franchise stores in the Northeast with many more in the Southeast, the chain was not near the goals publicized earlier. In 1995, Del Taco had 300 stores, instead of growing to 500 stores. The chain began to prosper in 1997 when total sales reached an estimated $250 million. By December 1998, Del Taco had 325 stores in 12 states.

The first version of the Del Taco website.

By 2000, Del Taco had 372 stores located in ten US states. That year a deal was signed with the Compass Group PLC that enabled Del Taco stores to open on US military bases. The first to do business was at Patuxent River Naval Air Station in St. Mary's County, Maryland, in early 2001. Other Del Tacos were planned for US bases in Puerto Rico and Naples, Italy.

In early 2001, a group of former Del Taco employees, all of whom were black, brought a discrimination suit against the chain. The group claimed that while working at Del Taco in the Los Angeles area, they had suffered verbal abuse, had been passed over for promotions in favor of Hispanic workers, and were being fired and replaced by illegal immigrants. The case had not been settled.

In an effort to improve its reputation, Del Taco launched a sports-sponsorship program with teams in eight US states, including the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Arizona Coyotes hockey teams, basketball's Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’s football and basketball teams, and several minor league hockey and baseball teams. The deal placed the Del Taco logo on signs, drink cups, and special promotional items at the stadia of partner teams. It paid off as, in 2003, Del Taco announced that their restaurants had topped $1 million per store in average annual sales, which was remarkable considering that other US stores, notably McDonald's and Carl's Jr., featured a decrease in annual sales.

In 2004, private Nashville, Tennessee-based Sagittarius Brands, LLC (the parent company of Captain D's Seafood) purchased Del Taco.

In January 2008, Del Taco announced the opening of its 500th restaurant in Burbank, California. On April 27, 2009, a new Del Taco opened in Oviedo, Florida, marking the first time since the 1980s that Del Taco was available in the Orlando area. This location has since closed. There are two other Orlando locations still open. Del Taco returned to Texas with a new location in Denton, Texas. W. R. Grace and Company had previously owned and operated locations in Texas with a licensing agreement in 1978, but sold the restaurants to Taco Bell in 1992.

Guillermo Perales, one of the largest Hispanic restaurateurs in the nation, signed a franchisee agreement in 2011 to open additional locations in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas.

In 2011 Del Taco opened four locations in Colorado in Denver and Colorado Springs and currently operates 21 stores across the state. In March 2012, a location opened in Houston with plans for further expansion in the Houston area including both Harris County and Montgomery County.

Del Taco was purchased by Levy Acquisition Corporation and became a public company on June 30, 2015. In October 2020, Del Taco announced an expansion into the Columbus, Ohio market.

In September 2021, Del Taco has announced that it will expand into the state of Virginia starting with the Hampton Roads area and its first store is expected to open in Virginia Beach. In the same month, Del Taco released their new rewards program app called "Del Yeah! Rewards."

On December 6, 2021, Jack in the Box announced that it was acquiring Del Taco in a deal valued at roughly $575 million, saying that the merger will cause both companies to benefit "from a stronger financial model, gaining greater scale to invest in digital and technology capabilities, and unit growth for both brands." The combined company will have more than 2,800 locations across 25 states. The acquisition closed in March 2022 for about $585 million.

Gallery

A red version of the logo.

A Del Taco location in the 1970s.

External links

• Official website