Tacombi to grow across U.S. with $27.5M funding round led by Danny Meyer’s Enlightened Hospitality Investments

The 13-unit New York City-based taqueria Tacombi has won a $27.5 million investment from the growth equity fund affiliated with Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group, the fund announced Thursday.

Enlightened Hospitality Investments, or EHI — which has a growing portfolio that includes Dig, Salt & Straw and Joe Coffee Company — is joined in the Tacombi funding round by Mexican firms Capital Mazapil and Rodina, a private investment firm and family office led by Andres and Felipe Chico; as well as Gary Hirshberg, co-founder and former CEO of organic yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm. Hirshberg will join Tacombi’s board.

Dario Wolos, who was born in New York but spent much of his life in Monterrey, Mexico, launched Tacombi in 2006 on the Yucatan peninsula in the beach town of Playa del Carmen. Initially, it was a taco stand out of a converted Volkswagen bus — known in Mexico as a “combi.”

Wolos’ mission was “sharing Mexican culture through exceptional hospitality and experiences.” The restaurants offer a focused menu of tacos and burritos, with beer and some cocktails, though Wolos said the bar is not the focus. The concept does about half its sales as takeout or delivery, he said.

Tacombi now has 11 locations in New York and units have opened in the Washington, D.C. area and Miami within the past few weeks.

With the investment, the taqueria plans to grow to reach at least 75 locations across the U.S. with multiple formats over the next five years. In 2022, three more are planned for both the D.C. and Miami markets, and Wolos said leases have been signed for new units on Long Island and in Chicago.

Read more at Nation's Restaurant News.

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