Rusty Taco is an American-based chain of

fast food restaurant A fast-food restaurant, also known as a quick-service restaurant (QSR) within the industry, is a specific type of restaurant that serves fast food, fast-food cuisine and has minimal Foodservice#Table service, table service. The food served ...

s originating in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

in 2010, by founders Rusty Fenton and his wife, Denise Fenton. Rusty Taco is a

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...

of Gala Capital Partners. , there are 37 restaurants in nine states.

History

Rusty Taco was founded by Rusty Fenton, his wife Denise and Steve Dunn in 2010. The first location was opened at a former

gas station A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...

. Rusty Fenton died in 2013 of

kidney cancer Kidney cancer, also known as renal cancer, is a group of cancers that starts in the kidney. Symptoms may include blood in the urine, a lump in the abdomen, or back pain. Fever, weight loss, and tiredness may also occur. Complications can include ...

Name change

The name was shortened to R Taco in 2015, but on September 5, 2018, R Taco announced it was changing its name back to Rusty Taco.

Inspire Brands subsidiary

In 2014, a majority of shares of Rusty Taco were acquired by

Buffalo Wild Wings Buffalo Wild Wings (originally Buffalo Wild Wings & Weck, and nicknamed BW3, or BDubs or BWW) is an American casual dining restaurant and sports bar franchise specializing in chicken wings. As of March 2025, there are over 1,300 locations a ...

. Buffalo Wild Wings along with R Taco were acquired by Arby's Restaurant Group in 2018, forming

Inspire Brands Inspire Brands LLC is an American fast-food restaurant franchise company. Backed by Roark Capital Group, it owns the Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic Drive-In, Jimmy John's, Dunkin' Donuts, and Baskin-Robbins chains, which have a combined ...

. On December 19, 2022, Inspire Brands announced that it had sold Rusty Taco to Gala Capital Partners, owner of

Cicis Pizza Cici Enterprises, LP, doing business as Cicis Pizza and also known as simply Cicis, is an American chain of buffet restaurants based in Coppell, Texas, specializing in pizza. The company was founded in 1985, and started franchising by 1987. In N ...

Dunn Brothers Coffee Dunn Brothers Coffee is a franchise company of coffeehouses founded in St. Paul, Minnesota, in December 1987 by brothers Ed and Dan Dunn. As of October 2024, Dunn Brothers Coffee has 48 locations in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, South ...

, and

Mooyah Mooyah (stylized as MOOYAH) is an American fast casual restaurant chain headquartered in Plano, Texas. The chain reached over 100 locations in 20 U.S. states and nine countries in 2016 in North America and the Middle East. They specialize in ham ...

References

External links

* 2010 establishments in Texas 2014 mergers and acquisitions 2018 mergers and acquisitions 2022 mergers and acquisitions Fast-food chains of the United States Fast-food franchises Fast-food Mexican restaurants Restaurants established in 2010 Inspire Brands {{US-restaurant-stub