TACO Del Taco Restaurants Inc

Del Taco, the nation’s second largest Mexican quick service restaurant,* takes top taco honors for The Del Taco as “The Best Fast Food Taco in America” in Thrillist’s annual The Fasties Fast Food Awards. This is the second consecutive win for The Del Taco from Thrillist. The Del Taco is made with lots of freshly grated cheddar cheese, seasoned beef, fresh lettuce, and diced tomatoes in a big six-inch crunchy corn shell.

To illustrate the size and amount of ingredients, Del Taco is launching a marketing campaign that directly compares The Del Taco against Taco Bell’s Crunchy Taco in addition to celebrating the award from Thrillist. The campaign shares that after conducting extensive research through an independent lab, findings showed that The Del Taco was easily 30% larger and two-times cheesier than Taco Bell’s crunchy taco.**

“When we launched The Del Taco in 2016, it was our goal to deliver the best crunchy taco in fast food. Thrillist has clearly recognized the quality, flavor, and value of The Del Taco now for the second time in a row,” said Tim Hackbardt, Del Taco’s Chief Marketing Officer. “The Del Taco is not the small crunchy taco that Mexican fast food restaurants have grown a reputation for. It’s a bigger, quality crunchy taco with a significant amount of seasoned beef and topped with a lot of cheddar cheese that we grate fresh throughout the day from 40-pound blocks of aged cheddar.”

Today, Del Taco will also host the first in a series of “Where is The Del Taco?” contests across its social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, where fans have a chance to win prizes like free menu items and limited-edition merchandise.*** The first 25 people to find The Del Taco hidden in an image and reply , tell Del where The Del Taco is hidden and follow @DelTaco, will get 2 FREE The Del Tacos (Del Yeah!™ Rewards registration required), a limited-edition hot sauce tin with 100 Del Taco Hot Sauce packets, a Del Taco Hot Sauce beach towel, and a limited-edition Del Taco recycled tote.

*By number of units.**Based on comparison of Del Taco recipe with average weights of Taco Bell Crunchy Tacos taken from 431 locations in 3 states across 5 days and independently verified by a third-party laboratory.*** Winners notified via DM. Open to US Residents only and must be age 13 or older to participate. No purchase necessary to enter to win. 2 FREE The Del Tacos will be delivered via the Del Yeah!™ Rewards App.

About Del Taco Del Taco offers a unique variety of both Mexican and American favorites such as burritos and fries, prepared fresh in every restaurant's working kitchen with the value and convenience of a drive-thru. Del Taco's menu items taste better because they are made with quality ingredients like freshly grilled chicken and carne asada steak, fresh house-made guacamole, freshly grated cheddar cheese, slow-cooked beans made from scratch, and signature creamy Queso Blanco.Founded in 1964, today Del Taco serves more than three million guests each week at its approximately 600 restaurants across 16 states. Del Taco’s commitment to providing guests with the best quality and value for their money originates from cooking, chopping, shredding and grilling menu items from scratch. For more information, visit deltaco.com.

Media ContactAnnie DruryAllison+Partners for Del Tacodeltaco@allisonpr.com619-342-9386

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6f182e7c-a5d1-496e-818e-6152b054c3bf