Taco Bueno®

Taco Bueno is committed to providing an authentic, better-tasting Tex-Mex experience through made-fresh-daily preparations, hand-selected ingredients and genuine friendly hospitality. Founded in 1967 in Abilene, TX, Taco Bueno is a privately held company that operates nearly 140 restaurants throughout the American South and Southwest – including Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

Sun Holdings has owned this brand since 2019.

Current Units: 130

Visit https://www.tacobueno.com/ for more information.

Brand Highlights Real-Food Ingredients and Made-by-Hand Preparation in New Ad Campaign

Dallas, TX-  This Summer, Taco Bueno, the popular quick-service Tex-Mex chain, will celebrate 52 years of serving up delicious, quality Mexican-inspired classics by doubling down on quality and made-by-hand preparation. “When we acquired the Taco Bueno brand earlier this year, we saw a real opportunity to bring fresh, authentic Tex-Mex food back to the forefront of the category. The whole menu went through a complete upgrade to fresher, higher quality ingredients and original recipes from the 1967 kitchen everywhere possible. It’s a difference you can see, smell, and most importantly, taste,” said Guillermo Perales, CEO and President for Sun Holdings Inc., which owns the Taco Bueno brand and recently opened its 1,000th restaurant location as the country’s third largest franchise group. Perales did not disclose the exact financial figures behind the shift in Taco Bueno’s operations, but estimates that the re-investment totals millions of dollars. 

While other chains in the category are looking to cut food costs and augment their menus with cross-over LTOs and fusion offerings, Taco Bueno is reinvesting in top-grade proteins, such as  fresh-never-frozen ground beef, chicken and brisket, as well as salsas, guacamole, and beans made fresh, from scratch, in house daily. The brand also fries its tortilla chips and taco shells in restaurants each day. Two exciting new returns to the menu are the original Taco Bueno queso recipe as well as Coca-Cola® products – two top requests from Taco Bueno fans. The brand’s recommitment to made-in-house preparation is a strategic shift, one they believe will become a hallmark for the brand as hand-made preparation gets increasingly rare in the quick service market.

To highlight both the menu improvements and a renewed focus on quality flavor, the brand has engaged a new creative and media agency – Plein Air – out of Dallas. The agency team handles both the creative development for the brand, as seen its latest ad campaign, as well as media buying. The campaign gives a vibrant new look to the Taco Bueno brand, making certain to show hand preparation in restaurant kitchens of real food ingredients while Mariachi musicians sing the praises of the fresh recipes for salsa, tender grilled steak, and more all being carefully hand-made in house. The ads all end with the tagline “It’s Tex-Mex, Mi Amor” to reinforce that Taco Bueno makes food with love and care – a nod to the way it did when it first opened 52 years ago, and a promise about who the brand is moving forward.

“Today’s restaurant guests are realizing that the classic way of doing things simply tastes better,” adds Paul McEnany, CEO at Plein Air, the creative agency partner for Taco Bueno. “It is a message that all lovers of Tex-Mex food need to know… That Taco Bueno is back to creating great food the right way.” Perales for the brand, agrees. “At Taco Bueno, we wanted to get back to our roots,” he says. “We chop veggies daily to make our sauces and salsas. We make our guacamole in small batches and from scratch through the day. Our beans are famous because we actually simmer them from whole pintos and refry them for 35 hours.  We sauté our 100 percent fresh ground beef to be juicy and full of flavor. And, most importantly, we assemble tacos, burritos, and other menu items to order – so guests can customize their food exactly the way they like.”

“To make it 52 years in this business, quality has to be a part of every guest experience – regardless of whether they order from our Bueno Under a Buck menu or choose any other of our tacos, burritos, nachos, platters, or more,” finished Perales. “We invite every Tex-Mex fan to indulge in their favorite flavors knowing they’re getting excellent taste at an unbeatable value.”