Financially, for the smallest development agreements (2 units), your group must have a minimum of $750,000 in net worth and $300,000 in unencumbered liquid cash assets. For larger deals, greater assets and liquidity are required.

Operationally, we do require restaurant experience.  If you are not intending to be an owner-operator, at least one member of your group must have acceptable recent restaurant management experience at the general manager level (for 2-3 unit deals) or at a multi-unit level (for larger deals). QSR restaurant management experience or experience operating a 24-hour restaurant concept is preferred.

The operating partner is required by Del Taco to be an equity partner, not simply an employee, and this person must participate fully in the investment at an appropriate level.

Note: Del Taco operates free-standing restaurants with a 24-hour drive-thru. Our commitment to quality and the complexity of our cooked-to-order menu requires franchise groups to be fully committed to executing our brand the Del Taco way. This requires a “hands-on” approach to running our business.  While financial investors may live anywhere, the operating partner must reside no more than an hour’s drive away from their proposed locations.

Del Taco is in the restaurant business not the real estate business. We franchise to people who are passionate about being in the restaurant business. Owning the land under our restaurants is not a prerequisite for us, and it cannot be a prerequisite for our franchisees. In other words, a candidate seeking a Del Taco franchise as a vehicle for real estate development is not approvable.

Del Taco has devoted many years and considerable resources to developing the tools and support infrastructure to select sites that are the most likely to be successful as Del Taco locations. There are never guarantees in the process, of course, but over time we have refined the process to be highly reliable.

Del Taco will provide you with full support from site selection through construction in order to give you the highest degree of confidence that the restaurant is opening in the right location and in a timely manner. Please understand that all sites must be formally approved by Del Taco before development can begin.

If you own property that you would like to develop with a Del Taco restaurant, please understand that unless that location fits pre-determined demographic and other criteria, the site will not be approved for a Del Taco restaurant.

There is a reason people in the restaurant business say the key to success is “location, location, location!” We at Del Taco are focused on educating our franchisees in the proper methods of market planning and site selection because we know that even the most well-run restaurant will struggle if it is not in the right location.

The prototypical Del Taco drive-thru restaurant sits on a half-acre of land, with a 2,260 square-foot building and roughly 23 parking spaces.

Del Taco uses sophisticated site models, demographic studies, and personal visits by representatives from Del Taco’s Development Department to determine which locations are appropriate for the brand.

Franchisees have access to Del Taco's decades of market planning and site-selection expertise, and will always be provided with the necessary tools to make informed business decisions.

Free-standing, drive-thru, quick-service restaurants are extremely expensive to develop. Excluding land, expect your total investment to be in the range of $1 million to $1.5 million per restaurant. There are regional differences in site costs and construction that can make this figure higher or lower. We seek multi-unit developers, so if real estate is taken into consideration, the investment level can reach into several million dollars and up.

A detailed break-down of the average investment is available in the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC).

Del Taco does not offer financing for franchisees. Our franchisees secure financing from a variety of third-party lending institutions. Please note that there are numerous nationally-known institutions ready and eager to finance qualified Del Taco franchisees.

Importantly, every franchise group is required to maintain at least 30% equity in each restaurant; therefore, an injection of unencumbered cash per unit of approximately $250K is required. This is not negotiable – Del Taco requires franchisees to be properly capitalized and to maintain reasonable equity ratios.

Del Taco franchised restaurants pay a royalty of 5% of net sales on a weekly basis by EFT.

For each franchise location, franchisees pay a one-time $25,000 franchise fee. Upon signing of the Multi-Unit Development Agreement (MDA), franchisees pay the fee for the first restaurant up-front as well as $10,000 for each additional restaurant committed in the agreement. The balance of $15,000 for each remaining restaurant is paid upon signing the franchise agreement for each subsequent restaurant.

For example, a candidate with a 5-unit development agreement would pay $25,000 + $40,000 ($10,000 X 4) for a total of $65,000 in franchise fees up front. When the first restaurant opens, the franchisee would not pay a franchise fee. When the second restaurant opens, the franchisee would only pay the remaining $15,000 to Del Taco, and so on.

In addition, for each new restaurant, franchisees are required to contribute $6,000 prior to opening for a Grand Opening Fund -- 100% of those funds are spent on the grand opening of that specific restaurant.

All Del Taco restaurants, corporate-owned and franchised, contribute 4% of net sales weekly to the marketing fund. From this amount, approximately 3/4 is returned to the local DMA for media and/or local marketing support while the remaining 1/4 is put to use managing brand marketing and the delivery of in-restaurant marketing displays (POP).

It is important to note that Del Taco does not profit from services or supplies delivered to our franchise locations and in general Del Taco franchisees benefit from the same contractual arrangements that have been negotiated for the Del Taco corporate-owned and operated restaurants.

Del Taco’s principal distribution company is MBM, based in North Carolina, and they currently service all of our restaurants from two distribution centers, one in Southern California and one in Ohio. Currently, approximately 95% of your weekly orders come from this one distributor. As we grow, we anticipate more MBM centers to come on line.

Del Taco provides outstanding, comprehensive training for franchisees, their managers and shift coordinators. To be successful, Del Taco franchisees must be fully trained. We require certain members of each franchise group, when not owner-operators, to be trained and certified by the Del Taco Training Dept. For financial investors, at least one member of the ownership must be fully trained in addition to the Operating Partner. Each unit is required to have a number of certified management and shift leaders in each location. The 5-week training program is conducted in corporate units, and the final week takes place at the corporate headquarters in a classroom setting.

At the beginning of the relationship, Del Taco awards exclusive protected search areas (in most cases) to franchise developers. This means the franchisee alone (with certain non-traditional exceptions) has the right to operate Del Tacos in the area awarded in the Multi-Unit Development Agreement (MDA). This exclusivity covers only the development search time frame and is upheld only as long as the franchise developer is opening restaurants on schedule. Renewals are possible – see the offering circular for details.

Once a Del Taco opens, another kind of exclusivity is granted: Protection for the individual unit. All traditional franchise locations, once opened, have a protected area of one-mile radius around the restaurant, per the franchise agreement,

Del Taco is not actively pursuing locations outside the United States at this time apart from an existing relationship with operators on American military installations. It is possible that certain territories in Canada that are contiguous with existing Del Taco franchises will be developed in coming years.

Del Taco is engaged in traditional “direct franchising,” meaning franchises are awarded directly by the franchisor, Del Taco LLC, and there are no intermediary parties. Del Taco does not award what are often called “Area Developer” or “Master Franchise” agreements (where you represent the company in an area).

Del Taco awards Multi-Unit Development Agreements (MDAs) of 2 or more units, generally for no more than 8 to 10 units. Upon signing the MDA, we refer to you as a “developer;” upon opening your first restaurant and signing the Franchise Agreement (FA) we refer to you as a “franchisee.”

Note that there are currently no co-ops and no franchisee associations. Del Taco is proud of its long history of harmonious and synergistic franchise relations.

Del Taco is privately owned and does not disclose its corporate financials to the general public. However, credible franchise candidates with an active application to franchise our concept will receive a copy of Del Taco’s most recent Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC). Included in that document is an audited financial statement on the performance of the company and a comprehensive earnings claim (Item 19).

You will find that this earnings claim is very thorough (showing a complete unit P&L drawn from an average of almost 60% of our system – the entire corporate free-standing portfolio), and by combining this information with the direct experience of franchisees with whom you speak, you will gain a meaningful understanding of the economics of our business.

The leadership at Del Taco prides itself on maintaining a close and personal relationship with each of our franchisees. We look at franchising as a long-term business relationship. The average franchisee has been open for business with us for over 11 years.

For this reason we are not interested in signing just anyone. In fact, we turn down over 98% of all inquiring parties. Franchisees who do get approved are those who are passionate about Del Taco. They know our story and have followed our tremendous success over the years. They have many years experience in restaurant operations and they understand how strong our business model is when compared to our competitors'. Some have real estate development experience and all have the financial wherewithal to grow the Del Taco brand in their respective markets.

Del Taco is focused on recruiting the best of the best in restaurant development and operations. Our franchisees represent a diverse cross-section of America, and they all share the common goal of building a profitable business that stands out in their communities.

Our brand is strong and attracts many inquiries from all over the world. The select few who become franchisees share with us a vision of the potential opportunity that comes with being associated with such a strong brand and a commitment to work with us to achieve that potential.

NOTE: Because much of our preliminary communication with prospective candidates is via email, it is important that your anti-spam software not filter out these communications. If you do not hear from us within 72 hours, please check your deleted mail folder or spam filter for correspondence that may have been inadvertently deleted.

1. Complete the initial, confidential online inquiry.
2. You may be called by our Franchise Coordinator to verify parts of your inquiry.
3. A regional Franchise Recruiting Director will then contact you via email or phone to set up a time to answer any questions that you may have and help with the application process.
4. If it appears you may qualify on a preliminary basis, you will be asked to complete our formal Franchise Application. The application is completely electronic and is done on a secure, password-protected website. You will be given instructions on how to do this, and it is expected that all candidates be sufficiently comfortable with electronic forms and processes to handle this task in a timely manner. You will initially submit only 2 parts of the 3-part application: the “general information” and “management commitment” sections.
5. The recruiting director will then direct you, if your application is accepted at this preliminary stage, to fill out the third part of the application package, the “financial application.” Please understand that Del Taco LLC requires a completed application package for all members of an applicant’s group to proceed with this process – you must disclose pertinent facts about you and your group before we will share any more information with you. Further, you (and partners) will be asked to sign a background check authorization at this point. This is required; the process cannot proceed without our being able to do this basic due diligence on applicants (in addition to being able to comply with certain provisions of the Patriot Act).
6. At this point, a Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC) will be sent to you (and partners). You will be asked to sign and date a receipt for this important document.
7. Del Taco then performs a thorough credit and background check on candidates and will request third-party verification of assets.
8. The operator in your group will go through a two-stage qualification process – first, an interview with Del Taco’s franchise operations department, and second, a third-party performance profile.
9. Concurrently, you will be performing your due diligence – contacting franchisees for more information, visiting units, consulting with professional advisors, etc.
10. After these steps, if you gain financial and operational approval, you will be invited to attend a day of meetings and presentations called “Discovery Day” at Del Taco corporate headquarters in Lake Forest, California.
11. At this point, provided final operational and financial approval is granted, the terms of your proposed development agreement will be worked out with you.
12. After the terms are agreed upon, a Multi-Unit Development Agreement (MDA) will be sent to you.
13. After the MDA is executed and your initial up-front fees are paid, you will become a part of the Del Taco Franchise Community. You will then receive the full support and expertise of the Del Taco Development staff in the process of selecting your first site, getting trained and opening your first restaurant.