The $460 Million Taco: Why Your Favorite Late-Night Run Just Became a Business Lesson

I inherited a love for Del Taco.

My dad was probably the biggest hoarder of Del Scorcho packets around, and on our pilgrimages to Vegas, a required stop was the best Del Taco on Earth — Barstow. I like the grilled chicken taco combo. And the fries slap.

Today it was announced that Jack in the Box sold Del Taco for $115 million after buying it for $575 million just three years ago. That’s a $460 million haircut on a brand I still adore.

And that’s what makes it interesting...because it doesn’t look like a demand problem. It’s that the world changed fast since 2022.

California’s $20/hr fast-food wage, insurance premiums climbing, rent inflation. All of it crushed margins. Same-store sales slipped a few points, and suddenly the math didn’t work anymore.

You can have loyal customers and still lose money.

This is the same pressure small business owners feel every day, just on a smaller balance sheet. Labor costs don’t negotiate. Rents creep. Insurance jumps. Customers tighten their spending.

But here’s the thing: this is also the best market in a decade for strategic small-business buyers.

When the giants are trimming fat, small operators can get scrappy again: renegotiate leases, go direct to suppliers, adapt pricing in real time, and run leaner, faster, closer to the customer.

What crushed Del Taco’s margins is exactly what creates openings for owners who still touch their own business. Jack in the Box sold because they couldn’t make the numbers work at scale. But small operators can.

If you know your numbers, keep your team tight, and operate with intention, this economy is forcing the kind of efficiency that builds wealth for the next wave of owners.

So yeah, having the best Diet Cokes in town couldn’t save them from a $460 million loss.

But that’s the beauty of small business: you can pivot faster than the big guys ever will.