Buffalo Wild Wings Dips Into Taco Segment

Buffalo Wild Wings has made a majority investment in Rusty Taco, a privately held Dallas-based chain. Buffalo Wild Wings, which has more than 1,030 locations in North America, says it wants to help expand the taco chain throughout the country. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Rusty Taco, founded in 2010, specializes in street-style, fresh-made tacos. The fast-casual chain, helmed by CEO Steve Dunn, has two company-owned stores and seven franchised locations in Dallas, Denver and Minneapolis/St. Paul.

In addition to Rusty Taco, Minneapolis-based Buffalo Wild Wings also has a minority investment in Los Angeles-based PizzaRev, a growing artisanal pizza concept. “As part of our long-term growth strategy, we are actively looking for additional concepts to invest in to build a portfolio of emerging brands and continue to build a dynamic restaurant company,” said Kathy Benning, Buffalo Wild Wings’ exec. v.p., chief strategy officer and new business development.