Taco Del Mar decides the time is right for eastward expansion

Taco Del Mar is eastward bound, and fast.

The Seattle chain of Mexican-food restaurants has 235 stores reaching from Hawaii to Orlando, Fla. It plans to open another 100 by year's end stretching as far as Toronto and possibly Connecticut. And, in 2008, the company is looking to Australia and maybe India.

"The time is now," says Taco Del Mar President David Huether. "We need to take advantage of this market opportunity."

It's a niche that Chipotle, Qdoba and a handful of other chains are competing to fill — something called Mexican fast-casual that is a cut above Taco Bell but not full-service dining.

The average customer check at Taco Del Mar is $7.50, and it does a thriving lunch business that it hopes will lead to a strong dinner crowd. With that thought, the chain recently added platter options — two entrée choices like a taco and enchilada, plus rice, beans and condiments on a plastic plate rather than rolled in foil. The platters already account for more than 10 percent of sales companywide.

It also hired a new ad agency, Grey Advertising's Vancouver, B.C., office, whose first Taco Del Mar campaign launches in mid-March.

Executives decided in the summer of 2002 that Taco Del Mar needed to expand faster to cash in on the Mexican fast-casual bonanza. The company was a decade old then and had 52 stores, most in Seattle, but others in Montana, Alaska and as far south as Portland.

Its small group of 35 employees work at its South Lake Union headquarters and the chain's only company-owned restaurant on Queen Anne. Another 35 contractors known as "master developers" work closely with the company to spot new locations and find franchisees.

Taco Del Mar has a second restaurant concept called Slo Joe's Backyard BBQ that might eventually become available to franchisees. A test Slo Joe's location opened in South Lake Union two years ago, and a second one arrived on Mercer Island last year.

Some of Taco Del Mar's 26 owners have a stake in other restaurants as well.

John Schmidt, who co-founded Taco Del Mar with his brother, James, in 1992, opened the Southlake Grill near REI this month. He is also the principal investor in the Greenlake Bar & Grill and Eastlake Bar & Grill.

James Schmidt and Patrick Coyne are the principal investors in Paddy Coyne's Irish Pubs in South Lake Union and Tacoma.

— Melissa Allison

The University of Michigan has released its annual American Customer Satisfaction Index, and the most satisfied customers in the goods and services sector never come face-to-face with a retail worker. Go figure. The online retail industry posted the highest score, with 80.0 on a 100-point scale. At the top of the list: BarnesandNoble.com (88), following closely by Seattle-based Amazon.com (87.) Other locally based retailers received high marks. Costco ranked the highest among specialty retail stores (81), while Expedia topped the travel sector (78). The index is prepared in conjunction with ForeSee Results. — MSO

Redhook Ale Brewery CEO Paul Shipman is relieved that the company's Yahoo! message board works again after shutting down a few weeks ago. He likes to track what investors and customers say there, and he had been a tad worried about what was happening at Yahoo!, in which he owns stock. While the message board was down, some investors discussed Redhook on the Yahoo! board for Seattle-based Pyramid Breweries. A Yahoo! spokesman said the problem stemmed from a technical glitch that was fixed last week. — MA

Sales of U.S. craft beer reached 6.7 million barrels in 2006, up 12 percent from a year earlier, according to the Brewers Association. The dollar volume was $4.2 billion, a fraction of the $87 billion overall U.S. beer market. For a taste of some regional brews, the Washington Brewers Guild is selling $35 advance tickets to its eighth annual Washington Cask Beer Festival on March 10. — MA

Despite all the beer talk , next week kicks off Washington Wine Month, which some local restaurants are celebrating with new wine lists and other features that recognize Washington's growing reputation as a wine-making state. Restaurants participating in the twice annual "25 for $25" meal deals have partnered with the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance to offer wines from that part of the state. The "25 for $25" begins March 1 with three-course prix fixe lunches for $15 and dinners for $25, Sunday through Thursday. — MA

Upscale lingerie retailer Zovo plans to debut a new line of intimates and ready-to-wear apparel this month at the fashion markets in New York and Las Vegas. Retail prices for its collection range from $20 to $198 for intimates and $40 to $200 for loungewear. The Seattle startup raised $2.5 million last fall, partly to launch a wholesale apparel business. Zovo's flagship store is at University Village. — MSO

Luxury retailer Coach has opened a store in The Village at Lynnwood's Alderwood Mall. The purveyor of pricey handbags has formed an alliance with General Growth Properties to open and expand Coach retail stores at its collection of malls over the next two years. Could a store at Westlake Center be far behind? — MSO

Retail Report appears Fridays. Melissa Allison covers the food and beverage industry. She can be reached at 206-464-3312 or mallison@seattletimes.com. Monica Soto Ouchi covers goods, services and online retail. She can be reached at 206-515-5632 or msoto@seattletimes.com.