 | |
| Taco Bueno | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Restaurant |
| Genre | Quick service |
| Founded | 1967; 58 years ago (1967) inAbilene, Texas |
| Founder | Bill Waugh |
| Headquarters | Farmers Branch, Texas |
Number of locations | 133 (2023) |
Area served | Southern United States |
Key people | Omar Janjuea (CEO) Robert Sanders, VP of Taco Bueno, Sun Holdings |
| Products | Tacos,burritos, and otherMexican-relatedfast food |
| Revenue |  $187 million |
| Owner | Sun Holdings |
Number of employees | 3,856 (2021) |
| Website | tacobueno.com |
Taco Management LLC, doing business asTaco Bueno, is aU.S.-based,quick service restaurantchain specializing inTex-Mex-style cuisine. The company is headquartered in Farmers Branch, Texas, in theDallas–Fort Worthmetropolitan area. Its first location opened in Abilene, Texas in 1967. The food chain has locations in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.[1]
Taco Bueno was founded in 1967 by Bill R. Waugh, an art graduate fromAbilene Christian University. The first store was located inAbilene, Texas.[2]
In 1981, British food manufacturerUnigate paid $32.5 million to acquire Taco Bueno.[3]
In 1996, Taco Bueno was sold toCarl's Jr.'s franchisorCKE Restaurants.[4]
In 2001, the private investment group Jacobson Partners purchased the chain for $72.5 million to help aid CKE Restaurants in a debt battle.[5]
On August 10, 2005, Palladium Equity Partners announced the purchase of Taco Bueno from Jacobson Partners. At the same time, John Miller was appointed CEO of Taco Bueno.[6] In 2011, Ed Lambert became CEO of Taco Bueno, LP., followed by Mike Roper in 2015.
In fall 2015, Taco Bueno announced its first delivery expansion collaboration withmobile appTapingo.[7]
In early December 2015, Taco Bueno was purchased by TPG Growth, a division of the Fort Worth private-equity firmTPG Capital.[8]
On April 28, 2017, season eight, episode seven of theCBS showUndercover Boss,[9] debuted with the CEO of Taco Bueno going into the field to several Taco Bueno locations.[10]
As of April 2018, Mike Roper who had left in late 2017, was replaced as CEO by Omar Janjua,[11] who subsequently filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy on November 6, 2018, for reorganization and continued operation, and also agreed to be acquired by Dallas-based Sun Holdings, which already owned or controlled over 800 various other fast food franchise locations, for an undisclosed amount.[2][12] Anaffiliate of Sun Holdings, Taco Supremo, assumed Taco Bueno's outstanding debt and supplied $10 million in working capital to reorganize and revitalize the business.[13] On January 15, 2019, Taco Bueno emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[2]
In mid-June 2020, amid theCOVID-19 pandemic, the chain opened its firstHouston-area location inKaty.[14]
