Mighty Taco is a

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

-style

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 ...

chain in the

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, United States, area. Mighty Taco restaurants are owned and operated by Mighty Taco Inc., a privately owned corporation. The Super Mighty, El Niño Burrito, Roastitios and Buffitos are

signature product A core product or flagship product is a company's primary promotion, service or product that can be purchased by a consumer. Core products may be integrated into end products, either by the company producing the core product or by other companies ...

s of Mighty Taco. Other menu items include tacos, burritos, fajitas and

nacho Nachos are a Mexican culinary dish consisting of fried tortilla chips or ''totopos'' covered with melted cheese or cheese sauce, as well as a variety of other toppings and garnishes, often including meats (such as ground beef or grilled chicken ...

s, as well as

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...

and meatless options.

History

The first Mighty Taco opened at 1247 Hertel Avenue in Buffalo, on August 31, 1973. There were four owners: Dan Scepkowski, Andy Gerovac, Ken Koczur and Bruce Robertson. Dan Scepkowski is the current owner of the company, having bought out the other founders. As of December 2021, Mighty Taco had 19 locations throughout the

Western New York Western New York (WNY) is the westernmost region of the U.S. state of New York. The eastern boundary of the region is not consistently defined by state agencies or those who call themselves "Western New Yorkers". Almost all sources agree WNY in ...

region. In April 2012, Mighty Taco opened its second location outside the Buffalo market in the Rochester, New York, area (the first one outside the Buffalo market since the closure of the Fredonia, New York, location in 2003). On June 16, 2014, the second Rochester area location opened in Greece. The Greece location was closed as of July 10, 2017. The Henrietta location was closed as of October 1, 2018. On January 25, 2016, the first Mighty Taco in the Syracuse area opened in Cicero. The Cicero location was closed as of December 30, 2016. On August 31, 2013, Mighty Taco marked its 40th anniversary. In mid-March 2020, all locations abandoned dine-in service, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was reinstated by March 2021. Until the pandemic, a location was based in the

Erie County Medical Center Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) is a hospital with 550 beds located in the East Side of Buffalo, New York and a member of the Great Lakes Health System. It is the primary teaching hospital for the University at Buffalo. It is also a New York S ...

's lobby with two other national fast food outlets. In general, those operations were criticized for being contrary to the health mission of a hospital.

Fare

Chow Down ordering service

On October 25, 2010, Mighty Taco began offering an online ordering service called "Chow Down", shipping Mighty Taco Beef and Cheese, or Bean and Cheese Burritos, to anywhere in the United States. This serves as a national

catering Catering is the business of providing food service at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major services be ...

service that ships the restaurant's food in bulk orders.

Advertising

Mighty Taco is known for having unusual, somewhat

surreal Surreal may refer to: *Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art * "Surreal" (song), a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki * ''Surreal'' (album), an album by Man Raze *Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor ...

TV advertisements, created by Paragon Advertising (which went out of business in 2015). Several of these commercials are also designed to be permissible on commercial-free public television stations, and WNED-TV airs the advertisements when promoting Mighty Taco as a supporter. Their radio advertisements are usually parodies of

popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...

, such as

prescription drug A prescription drug (also prescription medication or prescription medicine) is a pharmaceutical drug that legally requires a medical prescription to be dispensed. In contrast, over-the-counter drugs can be obtained without a prescription. The rea ...

commercials, with a non sequitur at the end of the commercial directing listeners to Mighty Taco. Mighty Taco Delaware Avenue Location Inside

In April 2014, Mighty Taco earned international notoriety for their advertising campaign banning Russian President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

from the chain.Putin banned from 'Mighty Taco' restaurant
''Associated Press'' (April 4, 2014). Retrieved April 4, 2014.

References

External links

Official website
{{Culture of Buffalo, New York, state=collapsed Restaurants in Buffalo, New York Regional restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants established in 1973 Fast-food Mexican restaurants 1973 establishments in New York (state)