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tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption
CHAIN -- Taco
Johns No restaurant chain has ever come up with so many ways to utilize what effectively are tater tots on a single menu. Their Mexi-Fries (REALLY seasoned variation on tater tots) are legendary. You can get them plain, with Nacho Cheese, as "Potato Ole's Bravo" (a variation on nachos with cheese, beef, beans, onions, sour cream, and tomato), as "Super Ole's" (a bigger version of the "Bravo") and even in some of their burritos. To believe the website, Taco John's came to be because of the man they call "Juan", or sometimes "John" who ("legend has it") cooked for the hungry cowboys on the open ranges. Somebody convinced Juan to open a restaurant, so he did. Romantic, and a complete bunch-o-hooey. The original Taco John's was actually called "Taco House". John Turner, a McDonald's manager, opened the first location in Cheyenne, WY. He sold the franchising rights to Local businessmen Harold Holmes and Jim Woodson in 1969. They rechristened the brand as "Taco John's" in honor of Turner. Smartly, they targeted small towns largely ignored by everybody else for growth. The original buildings were pre-fab trailers constructed in Cheyenne and trucked to the sites, opening literally overnight. That era has long since passed, although some of those original trailers are still operating in more modern guise. Turner actually continued to own the trademark, recipes, and distribution rights until 1985. As far as you knew, the whole chain was run by Whiplash the Cowboy Monkey, right? Or maybe the more recent "TJDJ". "TJDJ" has got to be the dumbest advertising campaign since Hardee's singing biscuit. In recent years, Taco Johns has worked towards consistency. Franchisees, who make up 98 percent of the restaurant ownership mix, were largely doing their own thing. This has changed, and the chain has benefited tremendously. When I say "consistency", I mean menu items, not specifially how they're made. Taco John's likes to claim that they have "the best tacos in town" in their advertising, but that of course is subjective to taste, location, and the crew that happens to be working at any given moment. It also depends on how long the taco meat has been stewing. Simply put...the longer, the better. Go in at 5pm when business has been slow for several hours and hopefully the meat has been stewing since the lunch rush ended. Or late at night. And hope you get a crew that's generous with the meat. If you get the crew that skimps on the meat and gets generous with the lettuce, you're doomed. No matter how much Taco John's might want to persuade you to believe they put the same amount of everything in every taco, the truth is it depends on the crew. You can go to the same location for dinner that you did for lunch and end up with half the meat and twice the lettuce that you got earlier in the day. Aside from tacos and potato ole's, there's the usual burritos, nachos, and some specialties like the Sierra Chicken Sandwich and Meat & Potato Burritos. Our area Taco John's toyed around a bit with co-branding, bringing in and abruptly pulling out Noble Roman's Pizza. Taco John's corporate and some franchisees co-branded some stores with Good Times Burgers. The best Taco Johns anywhere happens to be one of those. Taco John's also has been pushing a completely throwaway breakfast menu that basically consists of a soft taco and a burrito, each with nacho cheese, egg, Potato Ole's, and your choice of bacon or sausage. Taco meat was an option for awhile and frankly was the better choice. My local franchisee, who has about a dozen stores, has added it and removed it from various locations around town over the past couple of years. One will have it, then it won't, then the one down the street will have it, then it won't... Until they learn from Del Taco and let you order from the full menu during breakfast hours, they may as well just quit this nonsense. Click here to return to tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption |
