Taco Time Northwest

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storewanderer
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Taco Time Northwest

Post by storewanderer »

I am really surprised how this Seattle-based Taco Time Northwest seems to be able to successfully execute this concept and brand while the main Taco Time chain seems to keep shrinking.

Are these Seattle-based Taco Time Northwest locations all company operated or are some franchises? The reason I ask this is the location I went to had signs up that said "now open on Sundays." I am not sure if maybe they were closing for Sunday for some reason during COVID or what but I would find it odd for a chain to have this type of a policy in place.

Other than this the location seemed quite well run. There were 5-6 employees, all were in clean uniforms, I was greeted by 3 of them when I walked in, order taken and delivered quickly, and the entire facility was spotlessly clean. Food was hot and well prepared, despite the high price I was quite satisfied with the meal. I wish I could say the same for my last couple visits to locations of the main Taco Time chain.
Super S
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Re: Taco Time Northwest

Post by Super S »

storewanderer wrote: March 20th, 2021, 11:43 pm I am really surprised how this Seattle-based Taco Time Northwest seems to be able to successfully execute this concept and brand while the main Taco Time chain seems to keep shrinking.

Are these Seattle-based Taco Time Northwest locations all company operated or are some franchises? The reason I ask this is the location I went to had signs up that said "now open on Sundays." I am not sure if maybe they were closing for Sunday for some reason during COVID or what but I would find it odd for a chain to have this type of a policy in place.

Other than this the location seemed quite well run. There were 5-6 employees, all were in clean uniforms, I was greeted by 3 of them when I walked in, order taken and delivered quickly, and the entire facility was spotlessly clean. Food was hot and well prepared, despite the high price I was quite satisfied with the meal. I wish I could say the same for my last couple visits to locations of the main Taco Time chain.
I believe the Taco Time locations in Longview and Kelso are franchises under the same owner and/or family. The Taco Time on Ocean Beach Highway in Longview has been in this location for many years, possibly since the 1970s. It was closed on Sundays until about two years ago, and they always had signs up to visit the newer Kelso Taco Time location which has always been open on Sundays. The closure on Sundays in Longview had been in place as far as I can remember. Of course now there is a Taco Bell across the street and a recently opened Chipotle nearby. I am not really a fan of Mexican food but do enjoy basic tacos from time to time and will say that the Longview Taco Time has been consistently one of their better locations.

Taco Time (regardless of division/chain) has very spotty coverage these days though.
storewanderer
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Re: Taco Time Northwest

Post by storewanderer »

What is interesting is in the early 90's we had Taco Time in Reno area (the main chain) and they had a new location in the local mall which was my first time trying them and it was really good. The mall location did very well (was across the hallway from a McDonalds which also did well) but the mall decided to do a food court/expansion in conjunction with a new build Sears around 1995 and as a result most of the existing food tenants throughout the mall got booted out and the food court was occupied by different/worse tenants (Burger King for burgers, Taco Maker for tacos- both long gone). That food court has been a revolving door of tenants from the day it opened (the Flaming Wok and Hot Dog on a Stick are two original tenants still present). Taco Time had a couple other locations around town and I recall trying to go to one of those once and finding it closed on Sunday which seemed very odd at the time. They were out of business not long after that but Taco Time did reappear twice in Reno area in gas stations over the years but didn't last long either time.

I think that Taco Time Northwest, compared to the main chain, has better coverage. It looks like they have well over 50 locations around Seattle. Compare that to the main Taco Time having less than 10 locations around Portland...

Taco Time in Winnemucca, NV ended up out of business after a Taco Bell opened in that town. They did try to keep it going for a few years but it was clearly not a place many people were interested in once Taco Bell arrived. I really dislike Taco Bell, and I largely refuse to eat there given the use of imitation shredded cheese on the tacos and for years in Nevada they did not even carry unsweetened iced tea (now they have a fountain based one which is terrible and may as well not even be there; some of the NorCal Taco Bells do have actual brewed iced tea though).
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Re: Taco Time Northwest

Post by SamSpade »

storewanderer wrote: March 21st, 2021, 12:23 pm Taco Maker for tacos
Off Topic
Ughhhh :-)
RE: Taco Time NW
Super S covered it, I have been hoping to wander through Longview & Kelso again to get my fix. They are definitely different, with a few core staples shared between the chain and the larger national brand that seems to be in decline/priced high.
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Re: Taco Time Northwest

Post by storewanderer »

SamSpade wrote: March 21st, 2021, 1:17 pm
storewanderer wrote: March 21st, 2021, 12:23 pm Taco Maker for tacos
Off Topic
Ughhhh :-)
RE: Taco Time NW
Super S covered it, I have been hoping to wander through Longview & Kelso again to get my fix. They are definitely different, with a few core staples shared between the chain and the larger national brand that seems to be in decline/priced high.
Their "soup" offering, a white chili, is quite good. The crisp burrito (seems to be a shared offering with the main chain) is always a good bet and the basic taco is also good. Have had some of their chicken items from time to time and those are good too. Americanized Mexican food, yes, far from authentic stuff, but satisfying if the ingredients are good quality, which in this case they seem to be.

I find the variation on how their serve their "taco" interesting. The Taco Time Northwest puts a half slice of tomato on top of the taco. The main Taco Time chain puts diced tomato. I feel like in the past the main chain put the tomato slice too.

I think the Taco Time Northwest may be priced higher than the main chain is though... not sure on the difference in serving sizes between the two though. Might also be a WA pricing thing as generally higher prices in WA than OR. See Chickfila Vancouver vs. Hillsboro for an example of that.
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Re: Taco Time Northwest

Post by marshd1000 »

Taco Time NW does have a few franchises. But the Tonkin family who holds the Taco Time rights for most of Western Washington and Wenatchee has been busy trying to buy up all the franchises. Interesting fact, the Tonkins had been part owners of the main chain and when Taco Time International started to franchise more, the Tonkins sold their shares for the rights to operate Taco Time NW independently as they wanted to be restaurant operators. So hence the slow move out of the franchise business in their operating area!
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