Best del taco items article contains content that is written like an advertisement. Taco Cabana is an American fast casual restaurant chain specializing in Tex-Mex cuisine. Taco Cabana was founded by Felix Stehling in September 1978, with its first restaurant at the corner of San Pedro and Hildebrand Avenue in Midtown San Antonio.
The restaurant focused on fresh foods, rather than pre-packaged or pre-prepared foods. As the business grew, Stehling asked his two brothers to help expand the chain throughout San Antonio. It soon grew to nine restaurants. In 1986 the brothers left the company, after differences in opinion on how to manage the business. In 1990, Taco Cabana began expansion into neighboring states and continued its growth throughout Texas. Richard Cervera became president of the company in 1990, implementing a plan to franchise the brand.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the success of Taco Cabana encouraged imitators such as Two Pesos. In January 1987 Taco Cabana filed a suit against Two Pesos for allegedly duplicating Taco Cabana’s branding style. In 1992 Taco Cabana went public with its first stock offering, and ended the year with 17 restaurants. That year, Stehling decided to resign as chairman and was succeeded by Cervera.
Despite the rise in revenues the company saw while Cervera was in charge, stock prices for Taco Cabana drastically dropped, and Cervera resigned in 1995 and was replaced by Stephen Clark. In 1995, Cervera resigned as president for a position with the House of Blues, remaining chairman and CEO. Stephen Clark was appointed both COO and president. Clark began an evaluation of Taco Cabana’s operations with his own management team. He closed several of the company-owned restaurants, restructured some of the franchisee debt, sold assets not related to restaurants, and slowed the expansion. In 1996, Taco Cabana introduced a new type of restaurant to the Dallas-Fort Worth area which was reminiscent of an old Mexican cafe. 30 million on brand image and while profits had grown, the stock price remained low.