Mighty Taco
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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Fast food |
| Founded | Buffalo, New York, U.S. (1973) |
| Founder | Dan Scepkowski Andy Gerovac Ken Koczur Bruce Robertson |
| Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | 24 |
Area served | Western New York |
| Products | Tacos, burritos, fajitas, roastitos |
| Owner | Dan Scepkowski |
Number of employees | ~650[1] |
| Website | mightytaco |
Mighty Taco is a Mexican-style fast-food restaurant chain in the Buffalo, New York, United States, area. Mighty Taco restaurants are owned and operated by Mighty Taco Inc., a privately owned corporation.
The first Mighty Taco opened at 1247 Hertel Avenue in Buffalo, NY 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 February 2016, Mighty Taco has 24 locations throughout the Western New York region.[2]
Mighty Taco opened its first restaurant in the Rochester, NY area in April 2012, the second location outside the Buffalo market, the first one outside the Buffalo market since the closure of the Fredonia, NY location in 2003. On June 16, 2014 the second Rochester area location opened in Greece.On January 25, 2016 the first Mighty Taco in the Syracuse area opened up in Cicero.
On August 31, 2013, Mighty Taco marked its 40th anniversary.
Fare
The Super Mighty, El Niño Burrito, Roastitios and Buffitos are signature products of Mighty Taco. Other menu items include tacos, burritos, fajitas and nachos, as well as vegetarian and meatless options.
One of its first specialty burritos, the "El Niño Burrito, features a half-pound of ground beef.[3] In 2008, Mighty Taco began serving the "Buffito" made with Buffalo-style chicken and blue cheese or ranch dressing. In 2009, the "Mighty Fish Taco" was introduced, consisting of a battered fish filet, lettuce, tomato, cheese, tartar sauce or salsa. The "Carne-Alota" became available in 2012, featuring BBQ pork, Buffito chicken, fajita chicken, seasoned ground beef and fajita steak in an extra-large tortilla. 2013 saw the addition of the "Max Buffito" which includes a new extra-large jalapeño-cheddar tortilla. An enhanced menu was introduced in the summer of 2013, allowing more options, extras and combinations of basic ingredients including the tortilla—white, wheat or corn; and the meat—seasoned ground beef or seasoned ground chicken.
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.[4]
Illness
In October 2016, more than 100 people got sick from eating refried beans at Mighty Taco locations in Erie County and Niagara County. Mighty Taco removed that batch of beans.
Advertising
Mighty Taco is known for having unusual, somewhat surreal TV advertisements, created by Paragon Advertising (which went out of business in 2015).[citation needed] 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, such as prescription drug commercials, with a non sequitur at the end of the commercial directing listeners to Mighty Taco.[citation needed]
In April 2014, Mighty Taco earned international notoriety for their advertising campaign allegedly "banning" Russian President Vladimir Putin from the chain.[5]
References
- ^ Deluca, Michele. "Islanders storm Mighty Taco's grand opening » Features". Niagara Gazette. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
- ^ "Locations". Mighty Taco. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
- ^ "Menu!". Mighty Taco. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
- ^ George, Eli. "Mighty Taco shipping burritos to 48 states". WIVB.com. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
- ^ Putin banned from 'Mighty Taco' restaurant. Associated Press (April 4, 2014). Retrieved April 4, 2014.
- ^ "Mighty Taco coming to Syracuse area: A Buffalo favorite returns". syracuse.com. Retrieved 2015-10-12.