Del Taco’s founder Ed Hackbarth visited Riverside on Saturday, March 29, for the launch of a test throwback menu in one of the chain’s earliest restaurants.
Hackbarth, 91, was part of the Inland Empire’s fast food renaissance of the 1950s and ’60s along with Richard and Maurice McDonald, who opened the first McDonald’s in San Bernardino in 1948, Neal Baker of Baker’s Drive Thru and Glen Bell, founder of Taco Bell.
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Hackbarth, in fact, was mentored by Bell, who was running hot dog stands in the 1950s while trying to get his dream of a taco empire off the ground.
Hackbarth opened the first Del Taco in Yermo in 1961, followed by another in Barstow. He sold the company in 1976 but kept three restaurants in Barstow, which serve early menu items such as Bun Tacos, even though they dropped off the chain’s menu.
He lives in Dana Point and keeps in touch with Del Taco, which is based in Lake Forest.
The chain decided it was time to revisit Hackbarth’s original Barstow menu as well as items from Naugles, a fondly remembered 1970s chain that was founded at 14th Street and Brockton Avenue in Riverside and later acquired by Del Taco.
The “Classic Menu” is being tested alongside Del Taco’s regular menu at 6333 Riverside Ave., near Central Avenue and Riverside Plaza, which Hackbart said is franchise restaurant No. 1.
It includes the Bun Taco; a Taco Salad; a Combo Cup with beef, beans and cheese; a Bean & Cheese Cup; an Orange Cream Shake; and a Stoner Burrito made with fries and a secret sauce that representatives said was previously a secret menu item.
The restaurant is also serving fries in a cup the old-fashion way instead of in a bag.
Hackbart chatted with guests, posed for selfies and signed autographs in the dining room.
He said the Bun Taco is his favorite. He said he invented it while he was working at Glen Bell’s Taco Tia. A customer came in and asked for a taco on a bun.
“I said, ‘Just for you I’ll do it.’ Back then in the ’50s, you didn’t do anything different for customers.”
When the customer came back a few weeks later and ordered two, Hackbart learned that he had false teeth and didn’t like to chew crunchy things.
Kevin Pope, vice president for operations innovation, launched the test menu.
“This is a very exciting day for Del Taco,” he said. “What’s old is new.”
“It’s part of the rich history of this company.”
Information: deltaco.com