Naughty Chile Taqueria Expands in Convenience Channel

DENVER — Naughty Chile Taqueria is growing its presence in the convenience store channel with the opening of seven new locations throughout the south central and western United States.

This brings the quick-service restaurant brand, which focuses on serving fresh, authentic Mexican food, to a total of 46 taquerias nationwide.

The new taquerias are located inside Stop-A-Minit stores in Diana and Gilmer, Texas; Pak-A-Sak in Amarillo, Texas; Sunnyslope Market in Nampa, Idaho; Butler Market South in Bend, Ore.; and Pious Petroleum in Oakland, Calif.

"This has been a great summer for Naughty Chile Taqueria," said Shultz Hartgrove, founder and president. "The seven new locations are in terrific markets and our new partners bring a wealth of foodservice experience to the table. The Oakland taqueria marks our first in California."

Naughty Chile's expansion comes at a time when the Mexican restaurant industry is thriving, with more than 62,000 restaurants operating in the U.S. and the Mexican menu type edging out pizza to become the second most popular in the country.

"I was really impressed with the whole concept — easy fresh food preparation, a delicious quality product, and a very reasonable capital requirement," said Nick Patel, owner of Pious Petroleum's Oakland Gas location. "It's the perfect quick meal offering for my customers in Oakland who prefer authentic ethnic foods."

Denver-based Naughty Chile Taqueria is a licensed Mexican food concept scalable to any size non-traditional retail location. Its three-daypart menu features authentic street tacos, burritos, bowls, quesadillas and nachos prepared with proprietary recipes.