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 $575 million. The acquisition was finalized in March 2022. On October 16, 2025, Jack in the Box announced it would sell the chain to Yadav Enterprises Inc. for $115 million. The transaction is expected to close in January 2026.

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. 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 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 under Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in 1993. Although the chain was profitable, the company suffered from financial problems such as continuing to pay rent on several unprofitable outlets that had been closed, and was attempting to negotiate lease reductions on other high cost sites. It had also been sued for $3 million by a former supplier, which was settled out of court.

In 1995, Del Taco had 300 stores, falling fall short of its goal of 500. The chain began to rebound 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 in 1999.

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 an effort to boost its public visibility, 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, the privately-owned Nashville, Tennessee-based Sagittarius Brands, LLC (the parent company of Captain D's Seafood) purchased Del Taco.

A Del Taco in 2012.

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.

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 announced 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."

A 2021 Del Taco prototype.

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.

In April 2025, Jack in the Box announced it was "in the process of exploring strategic alternatives for the Del Taco brand, including a possible divestiture of the business." Acknowledging "implementation challenges," CEO Lance Tucker said the brand could "thrive," but "it just needs to be in a situation that’s probably not with Jack in the Box, where we need to focus on our core business." On October 16, 2025, Jack in the Box announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to sell the chain to Yadav Enterprises Inc. for $115 million.

Availability

The chain operates in 17 US states, 1 US Territory (Guam), and had 594 locations as of May 1, 2023. The majority of their restaurants are in California. Del Taco also operates in several other states, including Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Virginia and Washington. The company has a handful of locations east of the Mississippi.

Las Vegas, Nevada, has the most Del Tacos of any single city, and California has the most Del Tacos of any state.

Products

The Del Combo Beef & Bean Burrito.

Del Taco's standard menu includes:

• Hard Shell Tacos
• Soft Tacos
• Burritos
• Quesadillas
• Nachos
• Deluxe Taco Salad
• Crinkle Cut French Fries
• Chili Cheddar Fries
• Double Del Cheeseburger
• Bacon Del Cheeseburger
• Triple Del Cheeseburger
• Fries
• Shakes
• Fresh House-Made Guacamole
• Dinner Burritos (at least four types)

On April 25, 2019, Del Taco introduced plant-based Beyond Tacos nationwide in partnership with Beyond Meat. Since this introduction, Del Taco has created multiple other vegetarian and vegan menu items using Beyond Meat's plant-based crumbles including the Beyond Avocado Taco, the Epic Beyond Cali Burrito, and the Beyond 8 Layer Burrito.

Marketing

Del Taco.

The first mascot of Del Taco was a character of the same name used from 1999 through 2000. Del Taco was sued by Zorro Productions, Inc., and Tristar Pictures, Inc., who claimed that the "Del Taco" character – masked and costumed in black – infringed on their rights to the trademark Zorro character. Del Taco settled the suit in January 2000, agreeing to make changes to the Del Taco character, and soon discontinued the ad campaign.

Dan from Del Taco.

From 2000 through early 2006, a series of commercials featured Dan, a geeky "product guy" played by Gregg Binkley who would clumsily try to promote Del Taco. Over the years Dan would inadvertently destroy cars, break hockey-rink glass, and hold a sales event at a nude beach.

From August 2007 through July 2008, Del Taco commercials featured "The Beast", a personification of hunger. "The Beast" typically stood next to a customer and persuaded him to order a particular item (or items) so that they could "Feed the Beast" (Del Taco's slogan). "The Beast" made his debut in August 2007 promoting Del Taco's improved Chicken Soft Taco. He also endorsed the Crispy Fish Taco in February 2008, the improved Chicken Quesadilla in April 2008, and Del's Deal in June 2008.

Del Taco has used a variety of commercials to promote the slogan, "Go Bold or Go Home." The first commercial featured a team of miniature "Mole Men" to promote the Spicy Chicken Mole Soft Taco, which aired in August 2008. Ads included Del Taco's promotion of their improved regular taco in September 2008, the Classic Combo Deal in November 2008, three separate meal deals for under three dollars in January 2009, the crispy shrimp taco in February 2009, the chicken soft taco in April 2009, and the chicken fajita burrito in June 2009.

On June 27, 2018, Del Taco launched a campaign celebrating employees' successes while working at their restaurants using the new slogan, "Celebrating the hardest working hands in fast food," although the slogan, "That's unfreshing believable", is still used to promote their fresh food.

Controversies

In February 2002, 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 undocumented immigrants.

In 2017, Del Taco was accused of violating state wage and hour laws, with the case including people who worked for the company between 2012 and 2021. In June 2022, Del Taco agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit in California for $50 million.

In 2018, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit against Del Taco, stating that the shift leader and general manager of stores near Rancho Cucamonga, California, harassed female employees through vulgar comments, physical conduct, and propositions of sex. The EEOC stated that the harassment occurred almost daily, and those who spoke up were retaliated against by having their work hours shortened or schedules changed. In December 2020, Del Taco settled the lawsuit by agreeing to pay $12.5 million and enter a three-year consent decree. The decree required Del Taco to train employees on anti-discrimination laws with an emphasis on sexual harassment, retain an employment monitor, and make it easier for employees to report harassment and discrimination.

In popular culture

Del Taco in The Simpsons.

• In the 2009 film Land of the Lost, a character eats Del Taco as one of several meals, causing him to lapse into a food coma.
• In the series Grace and Frankie, the character Frankie regularly mentions her love of Del Taco. Scenes include her revealing that she and her husband once bought a franchise and Frankie taking her friend Grace on her first Del Taco visit.
• A Del Taco is seen in a 2017 episode of The Simpsons.
• A character in the series Hacks advises another character to stay in her lane, "which I believe is the drive-thru lane at Del Taco."

Gallery

A red version of the logo.

A Del Taco location in the 1970s.

Jason Momoa in a Del Taco commercial.

External links

• Official website
• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• Del Taco (@deltaco) on Twitter
• YouTube