There’s a whole lotta Mexican going on at Taco John’s, or so the regional “West Mex” fast food chain claims.
Perhaps best known for its signature Potato Ole’s, Taco John’s was founded in 1968 (as Taco House) in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where it remained headquartered until moving to the Minneapolis metro in 2025.
With just shy of 400 locations across 22 states, Taco John’s may be a distant place behind industry giant Taco Bell, but competes effectively as a regional Mexican fast food restaurant, even being the market leader in some cases. In fact, where I’m from, there are five Taco John’s locations and only three Taco Bells with Taco John’s opening a good decade or more before the first local Taco Bell.
History
With the help of James Woodson and Harold Holmes, John Turner opened a single taco stand from a converted travel trailer on the corner of Cheyenne’s Carey Avenue and West 24th Street in 1968 that he called “The Taco House” to cater to Cheyenne Frontier Days visitors. A Taco John’s now stands a block away, opened in 1973.
Woodson and Holmes acquired the restaurant and recipes from Turner the following year, and renamed it Taco John’s to honor Turner’s legacy. The duo began franchising Taco John’s soon after, strategically concentrating on smaller cities in the Midwest and Rocky Mountain region, which remained its focus until the early 2000s. Over the next few years, Taco John’s expanded into such states as Colorado, Nebraska, Iowa, and the Dakotas.
The first Taco John’s restaurants were prefabricated 30×12-foot taco stands reminiscent of the original “Taco House” stand. These had no indoor seating or drive-throughs. The first brick-and-mortar restaurant opened in 1973, one block away from its original stand, and was the first location with a drive-though, although it still didn’t include indoor seating. The first location to include both indoor seating and a drive-through opened in 1978 in Des Moines, Iowa.
Some of those first locations were also converted from shuttered gas stations, including one in my hometown that used to be an Exxon, although our first was one of the prefabricated buildings that later expanded to add a drive-through and indoor seating.
Taco John’s peaked at roughly 440 locations in the late 1990s. While it has since slipped a bit below that peak, it continues to open new restaurants.
Olé!
It wasn’t until 1979 that Taco Johns introduced its famous potato concoction—Potato Olés. These crispy, coin-shaped deep-fried potatoes, dusted with a signature spice blend, quickly became the menu’s star. When they were first introduced, they actually had a bean inside.
Branding & Marketing
The original Taco House logo featured a devilish character with the text “Tacos By John” and the slogan “The Hottest Spot In Town.” Upon adopting the Taco John’s moniker, the company introduced a cartoon Mexican character named Juan wearing a sombrero with the Taco John’s logo. Juan had a side-kick donkey named Pépé. Juan, in particular, was prominently featured on store signage and marketing from the 1970s through the 1990s. Taco John’s also used the catchphrase “Once we getcha, then we gotcha…. gotcha coming back for more!”
Starting about 1997, Taco John’s began using the slogan “A Whole Lotta Mexican,” often followed by “going at a Taco John’s” with an accompanying jingle. The company still uses this slogan and jingle in some promotions. It was about this time that Taco John’s introduced a new logo and began phasing out mascots Juan and Pépé, replacing them with a more generic, contemporary Mexican caricature. Taco John’s introduced a new official logo in 2018 and again in 2019, but continues using this 1990s-era logo and it’s common at many locations.
During the Christmas holiday season, commercials often feature the song “Feliz Navidad” while promoting its product Nachos Navidad®.
In the early 2000s, Taco John’s commercials featured Whiplash the Cowboy Monkey.
Trademarks: “Taco Tuesday” and “West-Mex”
If you’ve ever used the phrase Taco Tuesday before 2023, you owe Taco John’s some royalties as the company registered the trademark in 1986 in all but one state, where it was already registered. It began as part of a marketing campaign called “Taco Twosday” for its discounted double tacos every Tuesday. In 2023, Taco Bell filed a lawsuit backed by a marketing campaign against Taco John’s trademark arguing the phrase has entered mainstream culture and doesn’t warrant trademark protection. Taco John’s relinquished its trademark on the phrase.
Taco John’s also trademarked the term “West-Mex,” which it uses to describe its food and ambiance.
Menu
Taco John’s offers a traditional fast food Mexican menu, chiefly tacos and burritos. Its signature Potato Olés are deep fried seasoned potato nuggets similar to a skinny tater tot. These are often consumed as a side, but also directly incorporated into some full offerings, including its Meat & Potato burrito and its Super Potato Olé, the latter of which is essentially a loaded nacho dish replacing tortilla chips with Potato Olés. Taco Bravo is another signature item, first introduced in 1976 in test markets. It is a hard shell taco wrapped around a soft shell with refried beans sandwiched between.
