Tired of Taco Bell? When it comes to Mexican fast food there are other options. Bounce
on over to Del Taco. This Mexican-style chain has been thriving in California since the
70s. To maximize your Del Taco experience, take a look at some of the secrets from this
list. You won’t regret it. So let’s unwrap the Top 10 Untold Truths Of Del Taco.
The Founder of Del Taco Still Works There
One of the founders of Del Taco believes so much in his brand that to this day he still
works there. Ed Hackbarth along with David Jameson created the now popular chain back
in 1964. The first location was opened in Yermo, California and as of January 2018,
they have 564 locations across the United States. More are coming so clearly this company
is thriving. The founders don't really need to work anymore but tell that to Hackbarth
who continues to be front and center at the Barstow locations. We don’t know how many
days a week he puts in but the fact that he shows up at all is amazing. Your brand is
only as strong as you believe in it so, at his old age, this man is showing some real
dedication. Really, what else can you do when you don’t really have to work and you don’t
want to be bored at home? It’s good that Hackbarth has this option.
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“Bold” Is An Important Word at Del Taco
When entering a Del Taco location on an extremely empty stomach keep in mind that you can basically
get all you can eat. If you are starving just ask the helpful cashier to “bold” your
meal. What does “bold” mean at Del Taco? It’s basically like upsizing. You get fries
and more secret sauce rolled into whatever you already ordered. So let’s break this
down for everyone. This means you will get fries wrapped up in your taco or burrito.
Which honestly, sounds crazy delicious. To us it seems like going “bold” is the only
way to go. Who doesn’t want a meal that has everything wrapped in it and can be eaten
with one hand? We don’t know of many places that offer something like this and we have
to admit it’s making us want to travel to California just to get some Del Taco. That
being said, we have focused so much on the tacos. Del Taco also sells burgers and shakes
and you can go “bold” with those two options as well. Yup, you heard that right. Fries
on your burger or, stuffed into your shake. We have been dipping fries in our shake for
years so this is coming off as an extreme delight for us.
Del Taco Have A REAL Dollar Menu
Almost every fast food place claims they have a dollar menu and cool, that’s their right.
However, we all know that not every dollar menu is created equally. Some of the best
dollar menus we’ve seen are McDonald’s and Taco Bell. We are ashamed to admit that
we have been sleeping on the Del Taco’s dollar menu. They apparently have the lowest
starting price point in the fast food industry, starting at .59 cents. It’s been reported
that you can order all 16 items on the dollar menu for $15.00. That sounds like something
that would make someone really happy. Well happy or left with a hurt stomach for eating
16 items in one sitting. They have a bean and cheese cup (yum!), chili cheese nachos,
grilled chicken taco, double beef taco, and of course, a regular taco. Truly, the entire
Del Taco menu seems endless - we don’t even know how many items are actually on there,
including specialty items and limited time offers. It’s a wonder this company isn’t
more expanded. They seem to have so much to offer.
Del Taco Bought Out Their Competitors
Del Taco doesn’t play when it comes to their franchise. One of their employees thought
it was a great idea to be a snake, so they basically cut the head off. They already had
too much competition with Taco Bell popping up everywhere. So, when a former Del Taco
employee decided to basically create the same restaurant with a new name, Del Taco owners
were not having it. The hopeful fast food chain was called Naugles and it opened in
1970 in Riverside. We aren’t sure what happened exactly but Del Taco owners approached the
owner of Naugles’ and basically said, “we want to buy you out”. So in 1988 Naugles
“merged” with Del Taco and basically disappeared. It took a few years but by 1995 Naugles ceased
to exist. All of a sudden, all the Naugles locations were now Del Taco locations. But
in 2009, Naugles decided they wanted to make a comeback. A new owner named Christian Ziebarth
opened a location in Fountain Valley, California. It became a permanent location in 2015. They
now have 2 locations in California and we are sure they are planning for more. The owners
of Del Taco must have released them from their contract once they realized that they had
enough locations to survive and no longer needed to hold them hostage.
All Del Taco Cheese Is Hand Grated
Cheese is a staple on any traditional taco. So, it’s only natural that Del Taco would
treat their cheese like gold. By gold, we mean that to this day they grate their cheese
all by themselves. Yea, all that cheese you are tasting in your yummy Del Taco items was
grated that day. Freshness is the key to making things taste amazing. It was reported that
every year, Del Taco grates more than 9 million 40-pound blocks of cheddar cheese. To put
things into perspective, one person realized that that much cheese weights 3 times the
weight of the Titanic. So, think about that while you are thoroughly enjoying your menu
items. It sounds like Del Taco is trying to keep things as fresh as possible. They apparently
slice fresh avocados equaling up to over a million avocados a year. No wonder their stuff
has rivaled Taco Bell for so long. The company is so up on their social media that they know
what to advertise and what not to advertise. They have shared videos of fresh cheese being
grated and avocados being cut up. Now, unless, this is all a rouse we have to say that we
are 100 percent loving how into freshness Del Taco is.
The “Stoner Burrito” from Del Taco
Now that Canada has legalized canabis we have to assume that Del Taco is planning on making
it’s way over there. They have a “stoner burrito” - where else would they go? This
burrito is actually an item on the secret menu but if you are savvy enough and in the
know you too can try it. It's a 1/2-pound bean-and-cheese burrito-behemoth with red
sauce, special sauce, and crinkle-cut fries. Whoa, that does sound like a stoner's dream.
Again, fries wrapped into anything is basically genius. Although they must be a good quality
fry and it sounds like Del Taco’s crinkle-cut fries are it. We wonder if you can add more
to it like ground meat and queso cheese. This burrito is one of the best-kept secrets at
Del Taco and yet, it is quite popular. What does this mean? Maybe that we have a bunch
of stoners in the world, more than anyone realized. If that sounds like too much food
for you then have no fear, there are so many other smaller items to choose from including
a mini cheese quesadilla. The invention of the stoner burrito is making us wonder if
Taco Bell has anything like that and if so, can we taste it ASAP? After all, you don’t
have to be a stoner to eat like one, right?
Zorro Sued Del Taco
When Del Taco first opened up they came out full force including a mascot. Their mascot
looked like Zorro and acted like Zorro, only he was kind of clumsy and was giving away
tacos. He also had a costume that was quite similar to Zorro’s cape and mask. So, of
course, the creators of the Zorro character were not impressed. Del Taco was ultimately
sued for ripping off the character of Zorro and settled for an undisclosed amount. That
being said, Del Taco put a lot of effort into their mascot including a commercial that told
the story of the “legend of Del Taco”. A masked man handing out free tacos to villagers
who looked to be poor and hungry. He is ultimately challenged by a group of nasty cowboys who
have overrun the village. They shoot his sword out of his hand but he has something else
to defeat them. An arsenal of Del Scorcho sauce. He holds a taco in one hand and rips
open a package of the sauce in the other hand. One drop of the sauce hits the floor and the
cowboys run away. The character is wacky and goofy, he seems to have two left feet and
he is more worried about eating tacos than anything else. We can see why the creators
of Zorro would want to sue.
Beyond Meat Partnership with Del Taco
Del Taco is always trying to stay ahead of the game especially since they have such a
huge competition in Taco Bell. So, their next venture is sure to make a lot of people happy.
They partnered with Beyond Meat to be able to accommodate vegans and vegetarians. The
announcement was made in September 2018 and since then they have been moving quickly to
put things into place. Unfortunately, the partnership isn’t across the franchise,
it’s only available at two of its Los Angeles locations. The locations are in Santa Monica
on Wilshire Blvd and Culver City on Robertson Blvd. You have the option of ordering Beyond
Meats vegan crumble in a regular taco, an avocado taco or by swapping out protein for
the meat substitute in any of Del Taco's menu items. Of course, this is for an additional
charge. In case you don’t know what Beyond Meat is, they create some of the tastiest
vegan fake meat we have ever eaten. It tastes and looks just like real meat. They are so
good at what they do that even A&W paired with them for a veggie burger. Word spread
and the burgers sold out so fast that people had to wait weeks before it came back in stock.
Del Taco Were Ahead Of The Drive-thru Game
Everyone associates McDonald’s with the drive-thru craze. But what most people don’t
know is that Del Taco had the drive-thru game locked before McDonald’s did. Meaning they
have basically mastered it. They have one of the fastest, most accurate drive-thrus
of all the fast food restaurant chains. Keep in mind they are considered a small restaurant
chain not even having a fraction of the locations that Taco Bell, Wendy’s, or McDonald’s
has. Del Taco actually had their drive-thru intact and ready to go a whole ten years before
McDonald’s. So, really, no one should be surprised that they have one-upped Mickey
D’s for the best drive-thru. Their drive-thru window is open 24 hours a day and they even
have a hashtag for it. #Never2Late4Del is making the rounds on Twitter and Instagram.
Obviously now a lot of fast food restaurants are open “late” or 24 hours because they
have to keep up with the competition. However, Del Taco might actually be the only Mexican
fast food joint that has a 24-hour drive-thru window.
Get Del Taco Hot Sauce Delivered
You too can make Del Taco’s hot sauces a staple in your home. The brand has 3 different
types of hot sauces; inferno, scorcho and mild. Apparently, word on the street is that
they’re better than Taco Bell sauces. So, why not have them on hand for basically every
meal. You also get a bucket to store your hot sauce of choice in, you don’t want to
look like a crazy person having drawers full of hot sauce packets. Some people may actually
think you stole all that sauce from your local Del Taco. Del Taco isn’t the only company
to allow loyal food lovers to purchase bulk packages of their sauce. Or, be able to consume
their sauces outside of a restaurant setting. McDonald’s recently made their popular sauces
Big Mac sauce, McChicken sauce, and Tartar sauce available to purchase in stores. This
concept is catching on, and Del Taco is in great company.
So, now that you know all this about this gem of a taco joint, don’t race off to the
drive-thru just yet, we’ve got way more for you to watch! So click on another one
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