tesg's guide to big chain road food consumption

CHAIN -- Taco Mayo
Owner -- Privately held
Primary Operating Region -- Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, and Arkansas
Number of Locations -- 88 (2007)

I'll give them this...They've got the most colorful decor of any taco chain I know of.

Taco Mayo launched the new colorful look in 2003 as the chain celebrated 25 years of existence.  Taco Mayo was founded in 1978 by J.W. "Red" Garner and Susan Stocker-Garner with a single location across from Norman High School at 820 W Main in Norman, OK.  The month was May, they were selling tacos, so they called it Taco Mayo (pronounced "My-Oh", the Spanish pronunciation for the fifth month of the year).  The manager of the original store, Randy Earhart, now helms the chain.  Taco Mayo started franchising in 1980.

The menu is basically what you'd expect.  Tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos.  A little less expected are the salads.  You can get a taco salad with taco meat, chicken, or steak, or one of the "Spring Mix" salads, which include three unique varieties.

I always start out with the basic taco, my favorite food in the world.  Taco Mayo's looks pretty good and, for the price, taste pretty good.  I find the taco meat to be somewhat bland, but can't fault anything else about it.  The chicken and steak have a smoky taste to them that the taco meat could use.  

Taco Mayo has an extensive line of burritos.  There's your usual fast-food varieties, grilled burritos, fajita-style burritos, and "Cheddar and Rice Burritos". The Cheddar and Rice burritos feature the meat (beef, steak or chicken) along with a cheddar cheese sauce and rice.  The sauce overwhelms the flavor of the meat.  I personally think it would taste better with just regular shredded cheddar or maybe a less cheddary queso.  Otherwise, nifty idea.

Like most Mex chains not called "Taco Bell", Taco Mayo has a variation on the tater tot.  Taco Mayo calls theirs "Potato Locos".  They're little potato rounds like Taco John's Potato Ole's.  Sorry...They don't hold a candle to Potato Ole's.  Then again, what does.

Taco Mayo has done a pretty good job building a regional base in their first 25 years.  The new look is impressive, the menu seems to balance the expected and the unexpected, and the price is right.   

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