On Sunday, Aug. 25, El Taco in Orange served its final meal.
The small eatery, which focused on such Cali-Mex fare as enchiladas, burritos and, of course, tacos, opened its first location in Long Beach in 1956, according to L.A. Taco. Its Orange location, found on Tustin Street and Chapman Avenue, opened in 1964.
The small chain, the brainchild of Taco Bell founder Glen Bell, has only two locations remaining in Downey and Long Beach. (Fun fact: Bell mentored one of his El Taco employees, John Galardi, who later went on to create hot dog chain Wienerschnitzel in 1961.)
Noted for its Spanish-Mediterranean tiled rooftop, walk-up window and handful of outdoor dining tables, El Taco will turn into a new Cajun seafood spot soon after its closure.
SEE ALSO: Felix Continental Cafe in Old Towne Orange closing after 45 years
Well wishes and fond memories of the decades-old taco pit stop poured in following the news of its closure. “So sad, this is such a good place to come and eat,” noted Kathy Medina Sanchez on the unofficial El Taco Facebook page. “I had a crush on a boy that worked there in 1968,” remembered Susanne D’Arcy. “The end of an era, for sure!” While Fast Food Maven wrote, “I’ve been covering restaurant openings and closings for nearly 20 years and I’ve never seen such a strange transition.”
Orange’s El Taco replacement, the Boil Daddy, has already put up new signage. (Photo by Brady MacDonald)
Even before El Taco’s last day, the replacement restaurant already begun making its presence known by switching the exterior “El Taco” sombrero signage with its successor, the Boil Daddy, a local chain founded by Jun Cho.
Cho, according to Forbes, dropped out of college to co-found his seafood delivery-focused chain with $30,000 of his own money in June 2020. The Boil Daddy has locations throughout the country, including a spot in Stanton.
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The Boil Daddy, one of the fastest growing Cajun seafood restaurants on the West Coast, offers such Neptunian fare as fried oysters, snow crab legs, and shrimp, clams, po’boys and more. It will tentatively open this week.
El Taco’s closure comes on the heels of another longtime Orange restaurant announcing its final days: Felix’s Continental Cafe, which opened in Old Towne Orange in 1979, will shutter at the end of August after 45 years.
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