Del Taco, founded in the early 1960s in a tiny desert town called Yermo, is looking back to its roots in its latest menu innovations.
The result is bigger burritos.
The chain, now based in Lake Forest, is boosting what interim president Sarah McAloon calls its “classic” burritos to more than half a pound each.
“We’re looking at making sure that our core products are always improving as well as adding new items,” McAloon said in a phone interview.
The upgrade includes the signature Bean & Cheese Burrito, which is included in three value combos called El Big Boxes.
A $5 Clásico box includes the burrito, a mini quesadilla, crinkle-cut fries and a 16-ounce soft drink.
A $7 Mex Faves box includes the burrito, a Grilled Chicken Taco, a soft Snack Taco, fries and a drink.
A $9 Ameri-Mex box includes a Double Del Cheeseburger, the burrito with choice of red or green sauce, a Snack Taco, fries and a drink.
When they were launched in April, McAloon said she thought the $5 box would be the most popular, but said more people are going for the $7 and $9 boxes.
Other enlarged burritos include the Combo Beef & Bean Burrito, the Beef & Cheddar Burrito, the Grilled Chicken Burrito, and the 8-Layer Veggie Burrito.
Del Taco’s nutrition guide for August shows classic burritos weigh about 9 to 12 ounces, a couple of ounces more than January’s nutrition guide. Epic Burritos weigh a lot more, 14 ounces to a pound.
Fries are also a core item at Del Taco, part of what McAloon called the Amer-Mex menu that founder Ed Hackbarth created in the first Del Taco.
“We went back to our origin story in the high desert of Southern California, where Ed Hackbarth combined American items – burgers, fries and shakes – with Mexican items, tacos and burritos, that together made an unexpected combination. We’re using our origin story for our current proposition with that unexpected combination of Ameri-Mex flavors.”
Hackbarth was part of the fast food renaissance of the 1950s and 1960s, when several major brands emerged out of the Inland Empire. He was mentored by Glen Bell, who would go on to found Taco Bell. The circle also included McDonald’s founders Richard and Maurice McDonald and Neil T. Baker of Baker’s Drive-Thru, the first to have a “dual kitchen” concept of burgers and burritos.
Hackbarth sold the company in 1976 but kept three restaurants in Barstow, which the 91-year-old still oversees. His drive-thrus have some menu items that dropped off the Del Taco menu, including a Bun Taco.
In late March, Del Taco turned one of its Riverside restaurants into a pop-up with a “classic menu” based on Hackbarth’s Barstow restaurants. He attended the launch.
“We said it was a pop-up. That was four months ago,” McAloon said. “We said we’re going to stop doing this as soon as we feel like it’s run its course. But it’s still holding its own. We’re still seeing an uplift in traffic. But we’ll wind it down when we feel like it’s run its course.”
The throwback mentality was also behind Del Taco’s resident novel food item, a Fried Pickle Taco that was offered in mid-July to mark National Dill Pickle Month.
McAloon called the notion of putting a breaded dill pickle spear in a tortilla with cheese and sauce brought on “that yeehaw that you get, that cowboy, that Route 66 vibe.”
She said her team pulled the concept together quickly with a supply of 400 cases of pickles and offered the tacos in Southern California restaurants only, not knowing how they would go over.
Customers liked them, and they drove new traffic.
“It went brilliantly, and not only from a business point of view. We’ve really enjoyed working on it. We’re laughing in every meeting when we bring up the pickle tacos. It’s been so fun.”
Along with the Big Box reboot, Del Taco is bringing back its Orange Cream Shake, one of the items on Riverside’s classic menu, as well as Funnel Cake Fries for a limited time.
Del Taco’s current limited-time promotion is carnitas, which is running its course. McAloon said premium chicken items will be coming in October. She also said the burrito upgrade would be followed by improved taco shells.
Going forward, McAloon said Del Taco would be more intentional about the way it combines American and Mexican foods on its menu, especially with its shakes, which she said not all Mexican fast food chains have.
A Dana Point resident, founder Hackbarth keeps in touch with Del Taco’s current leadership, and McAloon said she values his example
“Ed pops into our office all the time. Sometimes we know he’s coming, and sometimes we don’t. But when he decides to visit, everyone wants to take photos with him,” said Aloon.
“We, in general, are kind of in awe of Ed, and you’ll see a lot of the stuff that we did for the Riverside store was either on the founding menu or going back to the way that Ed does his products today.”
Information: deltaco.com