Taco Cabana eyes return to Oklahoma with franchising

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OKLAHOMA CITY — A fast-casual Tex-Mex brand intends to return to Oklahoma, nearly a decade after the last company-owned location closed in the state.

Taco Cabana, a popular Mexican-inspired chain, founded in San Antonio, Texas in 1978, operated multiple locations in Oklahoma in the 90s and 2000s.

By 2001, Taco Cabana had 121 restaurants in Oklahoma, Texas and Arizona, with the Sooner State home to eight locations. Over the next 15 years, the company closed their Oklahoma restaurants, with one of, if not its last locations in the state closing in Tulsa in 2015.

“At some point they did a public offering, and like a lot of companies, when they go public, they raised a lot of capital, and in order to really move the stock price, they have to have high growth, so they went on a growth spurt,” said John Ramsay, director of franchise sales and development at Taco Cabana. “They were not individual franchises. This was the company, and they built too many restaurants too quickly, is the short story.”

Currently, Taco Cabana operates 146 locations in Texas and New Mexico after recently opening two restaurants in Houston. As part of their strategic plan, they’re now looking to bring in multi-unit franchisees with experience developing restaurants to markets in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.

Company President and COO Ulyses Camacho in October said they’re confident they now have the leadership and operational systems in place to deliver a nationwide franchising opportunity for experienced operators who want to introduce the 45-year-old chain to suburban markets outside Texas.

When Oklahoma stores open for business, Ramsay said patrons will notice the brand prides itself on serving food similar to a sit-down Mexican restaurant. All Taco Cabana locations do equal business between breakfast, lunch and dinner, he added.

Each Taco Cabana location is equipped with a drive-thru and offers complete meal options, dozen breakfast taco boxes, street tacos, combo plates, burritos and margaritas made with real tequila.

“We have quesadillas and enchiladas in addition to the tacos and the burritos. So you really get a wide variety of food,” Ramsay said.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago, Ramsay said the company has seen a shift in preference for service. He said more than 70% of their business is off-premise, whether that’s through the drive-thru, delivery or takeout.

“That convenience factor is a big part,” Ramsay said. “People know they can come to us and get a full variety of Mexican-inspired food in a convenient format that they could take home or have brought to their home.”

Before Oklahomans can re-experience Taco Cabana, or try it for the first time, Ramsay said they have to find the franchisees to operate them. He said they’re looking for a franchise partner who is connected to the community and has existing experience in the service industry.

Company leadership doesn’t have any specific locations in mind in Tulsa or Oklahoma City. That will be determined once a franchisee is brought in, Ramsay said.

“We’ll then work with them and the commercial real estate broker to identify which trade areas we’re going to focus on, and then, depending on what sites are available, we would evaluate and choose what we believe are the best sites,” Ramsay said. “If that’s on Northwest Expressway, we will put one there. If it’s Penn Square, we’ll open one there first. You sort of identify which areas you want to focus on, and then it’s just based on availability after that.”