Torchy’s Tacos is expanding to North Carolina for the first time.
The Austin-based restaurant chain said Oct. 19 it will open next year in Raleigh, Triangle Business Journal reported. It already operates more than 80 locations in seven states: Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Mike Rypka founded Torchy’s in 2006 as a single food trailer. It has grown into a multi-state chain with about 6,000 employees selling queso, tacos like the fried chicken-packed Trailer Park and the seared tuna-toting Mr. Pink and other riffs on Tex-Mex.
New York-based private equity firm General Atlantic purchased a minority stake in Torchy’s in 2017. Rypka is still involved, especially on the publicity side, although the company’s top leader is CEO G.J. Hart, who came on board in early 2018 and was once president and CEO of California Pizza Kitchen.
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