Zantigo is an American

fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredien ...

restaurant chain serving

Mexican food Mexican cuisine consists of the cooking cuisines and traditions of the modern country of Mexico. Its earliest roots lie in Mesoamerican cuisine. Its ingredients and methods begin with the first agricultural communities such as the Olmec and M ...

. It began operation in 1969 as Zapata, a restaurant in St. Paul, Minnesota. With over 80 locations at its peak, Zantigo was sold to

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...

in 1986. Zantigo was re-established a decade later under new ownership in the St. Paul market.

Original Zantigo chain (1969–1987)

Zantigo was founded in 1969 as Zapata by Marno McDermott, who would later be the co-founder of another Mexican chain,

Chi-Chi's Chi-Chi's can either refer to a Mexican food restaurant chain founded in the United States in 1975, which continued in Europe only (as a Tex-Mex restaurant, under different ownership) after the North American owner declared bankruptcy and fol ...

. In 1974, McDermott sold Zapata to

Heublein Heublein Inc. (also known as Heublein Spirits) was an American producer and distributor of alcoholic beverages and food throughout the 20th century. During the 1960s and 1970s its stock was regarded as one of the most stable financial investments ...

, owners at the time of

KFC KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...

. (Zapata's home Mexican food product line was renamed Ortega at this time.) In 1976, the chain of Zapata Mexican fast-food restaurants was renamed Zantigo. The chain grew rapidly in this period. Television ads for Zantigo featured a Mexican-American narrator with an accent who ended the commercials with the tag line, "Zantigo – you'll be back, amigo." In 1977, it was reported that average annual sales for a Zantigo location, $300,000, exceeded those for a Taco Bell store, $230,000, and the Louisville-based Zantigo was eager to challenge Taco Bell in the market. But by 1980, KFC had put expansion plans for Zantigo on hold in order to focus on its core Kentucky Fried Chicken business. Heublein was acquired by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in 1982. Following the 1985 takeover by Reynolds of

Nabisco Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International. Nabisco's ...

, the new company, RJR Nabisco divested itself of many businesses. In 1986, KFC was sold to

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manuf ...

for $850 million. Since Pepsi already owned a national Mexican food chain,

, the decision was made to close or convert all existing Zantigo restaurants, of which there were 82 as of the October 1, 1986 announcement. The conversion was complete by late 1987 and the Zantigo name disappeared. In many cases, the existing Zantigo stores were in better locations or in better physical condition than nearby Taco Bell locations. So, most Zantigo locations were rebranded as Taco Bell and the nearby Taco Bell stores closed. This led indirectly to the Taco Bell chain adopting many of the distinctive

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...

details of the Zantigo design into new Taco Bell restaurant buildings. Zantigo also had several unique menu items – the Chilito, the Taco Burrito, Chips 'n' Cheese. Of these, the Chilito was carried over by Taco Bell after the purchase in former Zantigo markets. The Chilito was promoted to a chain-wide item, and was later renamed "Chili-cheese Burrito".

New Zantigo chain (1996-present)

A new Zantigo chain, under new ownership consisting of a former Zantigo manager and his brother, had opened three restaurants in Minnesota by 1996 and currently has four locations in Minnesota.Zantigo Locations
/ref> The restaurants are located in Bloomington, Fridley, Saint Paul, and Woodbury, Minnesota. The newest restaurant is on West 7th Street and Davern in St. Paul, Minnesota (a former Zantigo location).

References

External links

Official website
{{Restaurants in Minnesota Fast-food Mexican restaurants Restaurants in Minnesota Restaurants established in 1969 Re-established companies 1969 establishments in Minnesota Taco Bell 1987 disestablishments in the United States Restaurants disestablished in 1987 Defunct restaurants in the United States Restaurant chains in the United States Regional restaurant chains in the United States KFC