Torchy's Tacos is a fast casual
taco
A taco (, , ) is a traditional Mexican cuisine, Mexican dish consisting of a small hand-sized corn tortilla, corn- or Flour tortilla, wheat-based tortilla topped with a Stuffing, filling. The tortilla is then folded around the filling and fing ...
chain based in
Austin, Texas
Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
, United States. As of 2023, they have over 110 locations across 14 states.
History
Torchy's Tacos initially began as a food truck in Austin in 2006 by Mike Rypka, who is CEO of the company.
They began to transition into brick and mortar locations starting in 2010. Beginning in other large cities in Texas such as
Dallas
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 ...
and
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
, from there, they began expanding into other markets in Texas and in surrounding states.
They do not franchise stores and there are currently no plans to do so.
Their mascot is a baby devil, which came after an epiphany Rypka had.
Their slogan, "Damn Good", came from the positive feedback they received from their customers.
In 2019, during
South by Southwest
South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...
, they parachuted tacos to attendees of the festival.
Torchy's Tacos was featured on
season 9 of the
Travel Channel
Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, who previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in Manhattan, with ...
series ''
Food Paradise
''Food Paradise'' is a television series narrated by Jesse Blaze Snider (formerly by Mason Pettit) that features the best places to find various cuisines at food locations across America. Episodes were originally shown on the Travel Channel. O ...
'' in 2016, and again on
season 11 in 2017. ''Delish'' ranked Torchy's as one of the best taco spots in America in 2019. In 2023, readers of ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...
'' ranked the chain as one of the best fast casual restaurants in the United States.
References
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American companies established in 2006
Food and drink companies based in Texas
Food and drink companies established in 2006
2006 establishments in Texas
Restaurants established in 2006
Food trucks in the United States
Companies based in Austin, Texas
Mexican restaurants in the United States