The Definitive Taco Tico

Last fall, I was enjoying a Sancho (a burrito shell full of taco fixins) and some Cinnamon Crustos (Fried tortillas coated in cinnamon sugar) at Lexington Kentucky’s sole remaining Taco Tico. It occurred to me that despite my lifelong love for the Taco Tico brand and the unique blend of fatty ground beef, fillers, and spices that is at the heart of most of their menu items, that my entire Taco Tico experience had been only at locations in Kentucky. Since Kentucky has only had two Taco Ticos for more than a decade, that worldview was a little too narrow for my taste.

This has been my go-to Taco Tico for more than 15 years

Dan Foley opened the first Taco Tico in Wichita, Kansas in 1962, and there were once 120 locations all over the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. In 2013, following decades of slow decline and shrinking location count, ten company-owned, Wichita area Taco Tico locations were forced to close by the Kansas department of revenue due to their failure to remit sales tax revenue back to the state, leaving only a handful of franchised locations, including the two in Kentucky, open for business. This marked the low point in Taco Tico history, and while things aren’t much better today, there is a faint glow of a bright future for Taco Tico.

Most of the Wichita area Ticos that were forced to close by the state have since re opened, and today, a total of 17 Taco Tico locations are open for business, nine in Kansas, plus two each in Oklahoma, Iowa, and Kentucky, one in Louisiana, and one in Texas. The restaurants are loosely associated today with each owner running a separate website, many of which show nonstandard menu items supplementing the classic tacos and burritos. 

 Like Seymour Skinner, I'm an odd fellow, but I steam a good ham

In the early days of this blog, I set out to replicate Taco Tico’s signature meat using a copycat recipe shared by YouTuber, AverageIowaGuy. I found his recipe to be bland, and lacking in the garlicky pungency of the Taco Tico meat I grew up eating in Kentucky. To paraphrase Seymour Skinner, I came close to madness trying to recreate it here in Michigan, but I just couldn’t get the spices right! That experience caused me to wonder how much regional variation there was in the flavor of Taco Tico meat, and if there was a recipe that could be considered the definitive Taco Tico. 

Mason City's Taco Tico is ridiculously photogenic at night.

My investigation began last December in Iowa, specifically in Mason City, home to one of the state’s two Taco Tico locations. It was the winter solstice, and night had fallen early as it often does on the shortest day of the year. I had been eating all day, storing up fat for winter like the large hairy woodland creature that I am, and Taco Tico was my last stop in a single-day broken chain marathon that included meals at Zantigo, Bonanza, and Happy Chef. 

But it's pretty standard inside. 

 Come to think of it, it's also weird that they had Pepsi. Every other Taco Tico I can remember has had Coke products. 

As one might imagine, I wasn’t terribly hungry, and tried, in vain, to work up an appetite by taking pictures of the exterior of the building, which featured the unique zigzag stripes that many Lexington-area Taco Ticos had during my childhood. (The surviving Lexington Taco Tico appears to have had few updates since the 1970s does not sport the ‘80s vintage zigzags, but functions as a time capsule from an earlier era.)  

Inside, the time warp feeling was milder. While the building still had its original built-in booths and tables, the menu board had been updated with a non-standard unit, and the freestanding tables and chairs were modern. I ordered up three tacos, two crispy, and one Choco after the cashier caught me taking a picture of the menu and asked if I had come to take pictures or order food. I paid, and she handed me a curious little ticket with the Taco Tico logo and my order number on it. I had never seen this before, and I still carry it in my wallet. (I’m a weirdo.) Oddly, it was the the only Taco Tico branded piece of ephemera I received on that visit.

My order came up a few minutes later, and I was greeted by a tray containing two tacos in plain white wrappers and a white Styrofoam drink cup. Despite their relative isolation from the Taco Tico homeland in Kansas, the Lexington and Louisville Taco Ticos have used custom printed cups and wrappers for years, with only a brief interruption around the time the state shut down the company owned Ticos in Wichita. 

Generic wrappers and an odd little order ticket.

A smear of meat up one side of the shell

The construction of the tacos themselves was curious. Firstly, the meat was smeared on one side of the shell rather than along the bottom, but I seemed to recall Louisville’s Taco Tico doing something similar. Secondly, a single tomato slice was in top rather than the diced tomatoes I’d eaten on Taco Tico tacos in Kentucky my whole life. The biggest shock came with my first bite though. The flavor of the meat bore little to no resemblance to what I had become accustomed to in Kentucky. Simultaneously, it tasted nearly identical to AverageIowaGuy’s copycat recipe. Kudos to him for perfectly replicating his local Taco Tico meat formulation, but it didn’t taste like the Taco Tico I know and love. 

Taco Tico’s Wikipedia page states there was a change in the meat recipe implemented following Dan Foley’s sale of the brand to a former KFC executive 1988. The change proved unpopular, and was quickly reverted to the original. Were the Iowa Taco Ticos still using the 1988 vintage recipe, the Taco Tico equivalent of New Coke, or was I raised on the supposedly inferior meat recipe in Kentucky? My parents would have started taking me to the Lexington area Taco Ticos right around 1988. Had my exposure at an early age caused me to develop Stockholm Syndrome for the Taco meat everyone else hated?

For better or worse, the next major event in Taco Tico’s history is set to happen in Lexington Kentucky. Longtime Cheddar’s franchisee, The Greer Companies, purchased the Lexington Taco Tico earlier this year along with a 10% stake in the entire Taco Tico brand. They’re planning widespread expansion starting with a second Lexington location across town in a building that was originally a G.D. Ritzy’s. I visited that very building last spring on my trip to every operating Ritzy’s. Taco Tico setting up shop a former G.D. Ritzy’s is a combination of my two favorite fast food brands that had only occurred in my wildest fantasies. The news that it’s set to become a reality had me acting more weirdly obsessive about both Taco Tico and G.D. Ritzy’s than usual for at least a solid week.  

Once a Ritzy's, later an Arby's, soon to be a Taco Tico

Still, the suspicion that the Kentucky Taco Ticos were using the wrong meat recipe was getting to me, even if it was the recipe I preferred. Relief for my foil hat-level paranoia regarding a taco meat recipe came when Esmeralda Fitzmonster suggested we take a trip to New Orleans in the spring, and since  Louisiana’s only surviving Taco Tico is just around the corner from the New Orleans airport, I emphatically agreed with her suggestion. Naturally, Taco Tico was our first stop after we landed and picked up our rental car. For the first time ever, I had flown to a broken chain. 

If you ever visit New Orleans for the food, you can't pass up the Taco Tico by the airport. 

The Kenner, Louisiana Taco Tico is housed in a purpose built Adobe with a near identical layout to its counterpart in Lexington. The main differences being that the Kenner location wears ‘80s vintage zigzag stripes similar to those at the Mason City, Iowa Taco Tico, and that one of the front corners of the dining room is walled off and houses a few slot machines, no doubt the owner taking advantage of local gambling laws to create a second non-taco related revenue stream. The walls inside were decorated with murals that evoke a 1980s southwestern aesthetic. While no such murals are present at either surviving Kentucky Taco Tico, I have vague memories of them being present at other Lexington locations that closed in the mid ‘90s. 

I want this exact mural in my kitchen at home. 

This location is a near perfect 1980s time capsule

I placed my normal order, a #2 combo, two tacos and a Sancho, with cautious optimism, comforted by a decades old menu board identical to the one at the Taco Tico in Lexington. Esmeralda ordered the same. I was delighted to see branded cups and wrappers on the tray when our order was ready, and the first bite of my Sancho took me right back to every Taco Tico meal of my childhood. 

I've never been here before, yet it feels like home. 

Behold the bounty of Taco Tico

Louisiana’s only Taco Tico was using the meat recipe I grew up with. The very same flavor that fueled my lifelong obsession with Taco Tico was here, 750 miles from Lexington. With the Louisville, Lexington, and Kenner Taco Ticos serving my preferred garlicky taco meat, Mason City, Iowa was the outlier, the weirdo selling the bland garlic-less tacos in plain white wrappers.

The tiny Taco Tico casino is behind the partition.

Sadly, though, the nagging taco paranoia continues. I’ve only eaten at four of the 17 total operating Taco Ticos, and in only three of the six states that house them. I’ve never eaten at a Taco Tico in Wichita, home of Taco Tico Enterprises and birthplace of the brand. That’s where the truly definitive Taco Tico flavor is, tax evasion and all. I’d like to make it to every Taco Tico eventually, but regardless of what and where the definitive Taco Tico is and was, it’s likely to be the Lexington flavor in the future. 

Greer Companies’ president, Lee Greer is a longtime Taco Tico fan, and his long term plan includes acquiring a majority stake in the Taco Tico brand and moving headquarters to Lexingon, Kentucky, much to my delight. Lexington, one of the few cities that has been home to a continuously-operating Taco Tico for the past four decades may soon be home to the Taco Tico brand itself. For me that makes Lexington Taco Tico the definitive Taco Tico, regardless of how the Sanchos taste in Mason City or Wichita, but if you're a midwesterner and/or vampire who grew up without garlic in your Taco Tico tacos, YouTube user, AverageIowaGuy has you covered. He even figured out the bean recipe. 

Broken Chains Store

Broken Chains on Facebook

Ghosts of Taco Tico Past

This very taco wrapper is now framed and hanging in my living room. 

If there's one broken chain that comes close to usurping G.D. Ritzy's status as my favorite, it's probably Taco Tico. Thanks in part to its dominance in Central Kentucky during my childhood there, Taco Tico remains my favorite fast food taco chain. I grew up in a time when there were just as many Taco Tico locations nearby as there were Taco Bells. As a kid, who knew little of what was outside of Central Kentucky I thought of them as equals in terms of market share. (I was a weird kid.) In the mid nineties, most of the Taco Ticos in Lexington closed. A few soldiered on for a few years under the name Tacos Too, which I suspect was one franchisee’s strategy for avoiding paying franchise fees while still operating a very Taco Tico like business. Some of the Tacos Too locations were later converted to Popeye's, presumably when the franchisee wanted to try something new, or perhaps when they received a cease and desist letter from Taco Tico corporate.

1483 Boardwalk, Lexington, KY
Lexington's last operating Taco Tico; the 1970s vintage pueblo style building has had a fresh coat of paint since I ate here last.

Interior of the Lexington Taco Tico, a nicely maintained time capsule

5925 Terry Rd, Louisville, KY
Kentucky's other Taco Tico, located in Louisville, opened in 2007, the only operating Taco Tico not in a freestanding structure. It's also the newest operating Taco Tico location anywhere if you don't count the older, previously closed restaurants in Kansas that have reopened in the past couple of years. 

Every time I’m back in Lexington, I make it a point to eat at the one remaining (and thriving!) Taco Tico in town. I did just that on my recent trip to Kentucky. I also ate at the Bluegrass State’s other Taco Tico, located in Louisville. While visiting a few of the other historical fast food sites in Lexington, I noticed that there were still a hell of a lot of old Taco Tico buildings still standing, some repurposed, some empty. With nothing better to do, I drove around the area and photographed every building I remember being a Taco Tico. I thought I’d use those photos to document what’s left of Taco Tico’s presence in and around Lexington, Kentucky. I doubt this is a complete or definitive list. If you know of any other old Taco Tico buildings in the area, or anywhere else for that matter, feel free to make me aware of them. Below, you'll find every building I photographed with a description of what I remember about them. 

771 E New Circle Rd, Lexington, KY
This was the penultimate Taco Tico location in Lexington. My friends and I would frequent this one as well as the Boardwalk location. My best guess is that it closed sometime around 2006. It's had some new paint and awnings, and some decorative flourishes have been removed from the roofline, but the basic shape of the building is the same as it was. I'd guess fewer than half of Taco Tico buildings were the distinctive trapezoidal pueblos. The other buildings were much more conventional by comparison. Wing Hut is a local business and has another location in Lexington in the building that served as the first ever Fazoli's, among other things. 

504 Lexington Road, Versailles, KY
An impressively intact pueblo-style Taco Tico building, much like the one still in operation now houses an authentic Mexican restaurant serving cuisine far removed from Taco Tico's menu, which was  conceived in the sixties by gringos in Kansas. This location is one that turned into Tacos Too and survived well into this century. It was spared the indignity of being converted to a Popeye's.

172 Imperial Way, Nicholasville, Kentucky
Now nearly unrecognizable, this building was originally a Taco Tico. It was an outparcel in a shopping center that contained the nearest Walmart to where my family lived, so we'd often have dinner here before a mid-week Walmart run. I used to beg my parents for quarters so I could play the tabletop Pac Man game here. Like most Taco Ticos in the area, this one closed in the mid 90s, and sat empty for a few years, before turning into a Popeye's.

101 E Tiverton Way, Lexington, KY
This was the first Taco Tico I remember seeing with a Tacos Too sign out front. As you can probably guess, it was eventually turned into an ill-fated Popeye's. I had to take this picture through my windshield while sitting at a red light, as the parking lot is completely fenced off, perhaps to deter trespassers. It's been empty for years. Edit: I've been informed that this building served as a Qdoba until last year when a former manager robbed the place and set it on fire. I completely missed that somehow. 

1445 Village Drive, Lexington, Kentucky
I had no idea there was a former Taco Tico here until I saw it in the background of a picture in an Atlas Obscura article about the piece of mimetic architecture next door, which was originally built as a mortar and pestle shaped pharmacy. Its neighbor is another nicely preserved pueblo style Taco Tico, now serving as an authentic Mexican restaurant. The two story margarita next door seems fitting and probably doesn't hurt business.

1001 Elizabeth St. Nicholasville, KY
This Shell station never housed a Taco Tico, but it's two restaurant slots that are now a liquor store and a barbecue joint were once a Popeye's and a Tacos Too. I therefore felt obliged to include it here given the connection to nearby Taco Tico locations. Not long after the Popeye's closed, its former slot did duty as a makeshift Daewoo showroom for the dealership next door during the brief window of time in which you could buy a new Daewoo car in the US.

3750 Palomar Centre Dr. Lexington, Kentucky
I saved my favorite conversion for last. That's right, this bank used to be a Taco Tico. We'd also visit this location frequently when I was a kid. I have distinct memories of mixing Coke and orange soda from the self-serve drink fountain here. This building never did time as a Tacos Too or Popeye's as I recall. I believe it's only been a Taco Tico and a bank, weirdly enough.  

So that's my attempt at documenting an extremely esoteric bit of history. I'm going to check my bank balance to see how much interest has accrued on those enchiladas I deposited.

Luxury Grills and Economy Cars Part 3

Something's Cooking....

All too often in my travels for this blog, I visit establishments that are approaching defunct status or resting on the laurels of previous greatness. Neither is the case with G.D. Ritzy's. The six locations I visited on my trip are still producing a high-quality product in a pleasant environment that is the right kind of dated. All six (G.D.) Ritzy's are not only surviving, but thriving. The three stops I made on the final full day of my trip represent the past, present, and future of the G.D. Ritzy's brand, which I'm very pleased to report has a bright future ahead of it.

In my childhood, Ritzy's had four locations in Lexington, Kentucky. When they all closed in the early '90s, the buildings were quickly repurposed. One became a Rally's, the first Rally's I had seen with an indoor seating area. They even kept the railings with the "R" logo glass in the interior. The building was eventually demolished and a Chick-Fil-A was constructed in its place. Another Lexington Ritzy's was either demolished or heavily renovated and is now home to a dry cleaner. One more, I don't think is still standing, but I haven't been able to find definitive information on its original location, but I'm fairly sure it was located somewhere on Richmond Road. If any past or present Lexingtonians reading this can help me narrow down its location, please let me know. Near as I can tell, there is only one Ritzy's building in Lexington still standing in more or less its original form. Located at the 3110 Pimlico Parkway, the building served as an Arby's for many years, the only fast food in the area. The Arby's recently closed, when a new McDonald's opened up next door. As of the writing of this article, the property is listed as being up for lease. Having stayed with family in Lexington the night previous, I stopped by for some pictures and light snooping on my way out of town. I wish I could have gone inside it for some interior pictures, but the original layout seemed pretty well intact, even the elevated dining area was still there. By this point, it had been over 36 hours since I had last eaten at Ritzy's, and I was ready for one last Ritzy's meal, so the Festiva and I moved on.

Aside from the big lighted sign on the wall, the exterior of the building is fairly unmodified. 

Note the bike rack. If I had a Ritzy's within biking distance when I was a kid, I would have been soooooo happy. 

The original drive thru sign frames are even still in place. 

Meal #1
Location: G.D. Ritzy's, 1335 Hal Greer Boulevard, Huntington, West Virginia
Order: Double Ritz with cheese, fries, cole slaw, Diet Mountain Dew

My next stop was the final operational Ritzy's that I had yet to visit on this trip, located just over the West Virginia state line in Huntington. I had messaged the Facebook pages of all the Ritzy's I was planning to visit, and Sid, the owner of the Huntington location told me to ask for him when I arrived at his place. I did just that, and after I received my order, he was nice enough to sit with me as I ate and tell me stories and tidbits about his experience as a Ritzy's franchisee. He's been there since nearly the very beginning, opening in 1983. He told me all his children had worked there at some point, and that his was the oldest operating Ritzy's location. The Huntington Ritzy's is the only location that still sports an early-style lighted sign with the G.D. Ritzy mascot on it, and Sid said that he elected to keep it when later style Ritzy's signage became available, preferring the style of the mascot sign. I think I do too. Sid seemed as excited to meet me as I was to meet him. He even promised to order and send me a free Ritzy's T-shirt in my size. He also took me on a tour of the back of the restaurant, showing me storage and food prep areas as well as a tiny manager's office. I had always been impressed with the design of G.D. Ritzy's buildings' and their efficient use of space, (I'm fond of Ford Festivas for similar reasons.) but seeing the back half of the building only served to increase my appreciation. A building smaller than a standard Waffle House was designed to function not only as a restaurant with a full kitchen, drive thru, seating, order counter, and a pair of public bathrooms, but also functioned as a small ice cream production facility, making 16 flavors of ice cream in-house. Despite all this, no portion of the building ever feels cramped. It feels bigger on the inside than the outside. It's the T.A.R.D.I.S. of burger joints. The architecture of a G.D. Ritzy's is an architectural marvel of both form and function, making every square inch of real estate count, while wearing classic Art-Deco lines.

Almost Heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountians, Huntington G.D. Ritzy's

The last of the mascot signs

Just look at that stylish chap! Don't you want to buy a chili dog and some ice cream from him?

In the past I've mentioned that G.D. Ritzy's founder Graydon Webb is working on opening a new Ritzy's in Columbus, Ohio. Fortunately, there was already a Facebook page already set up for the new Ritzy's set to open in the Clintonville neighborhood in north-central Columbus. While preparing for my trip, I inquired on the Facebook page if the new location would be open by the time I'd be passing through, the reply I got was probably not, but that reply came with an invite to stop by for a sneak preview. Columbus was therefore the final stop on my Ritzy's tour. I had no idea who I was talking to via Facebook, but they instructed me to come by the new location for a quick tour. I showed up at the agreed-upon time, where I was greeted by Graydon Webb's son, Corey. I discover he's the person I've been talking to, that he's read my previous blog entry about my Ritzy's trip, and that he'll be the one running the new restaurant.  Demolition on the former A&W Root Beer stand that's set to be the world's newest G.D. Ritzy's has recently been completed, and an almost entirely new building will occupy the site. Corey shows me around the site and points out where certain features of the new restaurant will be. We discuss the differences in operations and menu items at the various locations I've visited He also hands me a couple wooden nickels good for a free ice cream cone once they're open. After a few minutes, the door of a construction trailer at the edge of the parking lot opens, and Graydon Webb himself steps out to join us. He introduces himself. I'm starstruck and suddenly very aware that I'm dressed in my typical road trip attire of a ratty T-shirt and ripped jeans, not to mention the fact that I'm sporting a silly handlebar mustache that I carved out of a three-month beard just for laughs before starting my trip. I stammer out a greeting. He asks about my experience with his restaurants and my favorite ice cream flavor. I loosen up. Both of the Webbs are beyond gracious and accommodating as we chat for a few minutes more. We pose for a selfie, and I thank them for their time and leave with the promise to come back regularly once they're open. I can't think of a better way to conclude my trip than meeting the man who started it all, and I can scarcely stand the anticipation of the prospect of having a G.D. Ritzy's run by the founding family less than half a day's drive away.

Sorry Corey. I'm totally keeping these for my collection. I'm afraid you'll have to accept actual money in exchange for ice cream. 

If you find yourself anywhere near one of the three, soon to be four, cities where G.D. Ritzy's has a presence, do yourself a favor and stop in for a meal and/or some ice cream. I firmly believe that a better fast-casual restaurant concept does not exist, and who doesn't love a good comeback story? I have high hopes that the Webbs and their franchisees will have a bright future in the restaurant business. I know that I'll continue to be a loyal customer as long as I'm within some semblance of a reasonable distance.