Taco Time

Taco Time is a familiar landmark across Utah. Its crisp burritos and cinnamon crustos have been feeding people in Utah since Taco Time opened its first store in Ogden in the 1960s. When you look at a Taco Time restaurant, your first thought might be it's just like every other fast food place offering Mexican food. But you'd be wrong.

What sets them apart from their competition is the freshness of their food; everything they offer is homemade in their stores. Although Taco Time doesn't open for lunch until 10 a.m., they have staff there starting at 7 a.m. to make their salsas, grate the cheese and fry the taco shells for their hungry guests. Taco Time prides itself on offering the freshest ingredients and giving its customers an American experience eating Mexican food.

"We try to offer our guests more, especially with our fresh salsa bar," says District Manager Dave Glazier. "Even though we offer a drive through, we want people to think of us as more than just fast food you can get anywhere."

Taco Time has extremely high standards when it comes to the quality of its food and only accepts the best local produce. Since they don't offer precooked food like some chain stores, they feel their food is healthier because it isn't loaded with preservatives.

Taco Time has a full menu that has something for everyone. Dave says they try to keep things fresh and offers a new promotional item every 10 to12 weeks, which is something not a lot of restaurants do.

Starting in September, Taco Time will offer the Big Juan Burrito, a crispy burrito filled with rice, beans, ground beef, cheese and salsa verde. If a particular promotion is very popular, it makes it onto the regular menu, Dave says.

By far, Taco Time is known for its crisp burritos that come in bean, meat and chicken. These burritos are light and fried until they are crispy.

"People have tried to recreate our crisp burritos but they never succeed," Dave says. "You just can't mess with perfection."

The recession has had its toll on Taco Time like any other business, Dave says, but they've managed to stay on top and haven't had to raise prices. When other restaurants have lowered prices to make their menu seem like a better deal, they've also lower portion size, he says. Taco Time decided not to raise prices and to keep their large portion sizes the same. People see the value in what they are getting and keep coming back, Dave says.

Taco Time has three locations in the south end of the valley: in Draper at 11400 South 82 East, in Riverton at 1939 West 12600 South, and in Herriman at 13054 South 5600 West.