Diablos Tacos

What Diablos Tacos does

Taco Diablo (referenced in source materials as "Diablos Tacos") is a single-location Mexican cantina and taqueria operating at 1026 Davis St. in Downtown Evanston, Illinois. Founded approximately in 2016, the restaurant serves house-made salsas, bold seasonings, and fresh-ingredient Mexican cuisine alongside a full bar featuring margaritas and tequila. The firm is operated under the Core & Rind Hospitality umbrella, a local restaurant group that also owns and manages three sibling concepts in Evanston — Five and Dime, LuLus, and Blue Horse Tavern — enabling shared back-office services, unified gift card products, and group-level catering and event operations.

The product portfolio spans the core dine-in restaurant experience, recurring weekday promotions (Less Sad Hour Mon–Thu 3:30–5:30 PM, Taco Tuesday 8–10 PM, Lunch Special daily 11:30 AM–3 PM), Toast Tab-powered online carryout and delivery ordering, a Toast Loyalty rewards program, off-site catering for corporate and private events, in-venue private event booking, and digital/physical gift cards redeemable across the Core & Rind portfolio. Underlying technology is a standard restaurant SaaS stack — Toast Tab for POS, online ordering, and loyalty; Webflow-based marketing website built by 1744 Marketing; creative services from Booden Media — with no proprietary technology, AI/ML layer, or patents disclosed.

The revenue model is a traditional full-service restaurant stack: in-store food and beverage sales, third-party delivery commissions, catering invoices, event venue fees, and gift card breakage/velocity. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, though promotional anchors (e.g., $10 anniversary specials, happy-hour food and drink deals) are referenced. The customer base is the local Evanston consumer and event/catering segment; no enterprise contracts, named logos, or external investment are evident. Headcount is approximately 7 employees per firmographic data.

Name

Diablos Tacos

Legal name

Taco Diablo (operated by Core & Rind Hospitality)

Website

https://diablostacos.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Taco Diablo is a single-location Mexican cantina and taqueria in Downtown Evanston, Illinois, serving dine-in, carryout, delivery, catering, and private events under the Core & Rind Hospitality group. It targets local Evanston diners and event clients with house-made Mexican cuisine and a full bar.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Mexican Restaurant

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511), Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages) (72241)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Mexican & Tex-Mex Fast Casual (THAFABAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Neighborhood Bars & Taverns (CRANACAA)

Keywords

• Mexican restaurant
• Taco catering
• Casual dining
• Tequila bar
• Mexican cantina

Headquarters

HQ city

Evanston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Taco Diablo is a Mexican cantina and taqueria located in Downtown Evanston, Illinois, that serves house-made salsas, bold-seasoned tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, and other Mexican dishes alongside a full bar of margaritas and tequila. The restaurant supports dine-in at its downtown storefront, carryout and delivery via the Toast Tab online ordering platform, off-site catering for corporate and private events, and private event booking within the venue. It also offers Core & Rind group gift cards and a Toast-powered loyalty rewards program.

Product overview

Taco Diablo is a single-location Mexican cantina and taqueria operating as part of the Core & Rind Hospitality group in Downtown Evanston, Illinois. The restaurant offers a unified dining experience centered on Mexican cuisine with house-made salsas and fresh ingredients. Its product portfolio includes the core restaurant service (dine-in with full bar), online ordering via Toast Tab platform, catering services for off-site events, event space booking, gift cards under the Core & Rind brand, and a Toast-powered loyalty rewards program. The restaurant also runs recurring specials including Less Sad Hour, Taco Tuesday deals, and daily lunch specials.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Taco Diablo Restaurant (Mexican Cantina & Taqueria) Full-service Mexican cantina and taqueria in Downtown Evanston, Illinois serving house-made salsas, bold-seasoned tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, and other Mexican dishes with a full bar of margaritas and tequila. Offers dine-in, carryout, and delivery for individual diners and local community customers.
• Off-Site Catering Services Catering service that brings Taco Diablo's Mexican food to customer-specified venues for corporate luncheons, birthdays, backyard celebrations, and other events. Sold as a standalone service via the Core & Rind Hospitality events platform.
• Private Event Booking Private event space booking at the Taco Diablo restaurant for parties and celebrations, providing a venue with built-in Mexican cantina atmosphere and bar service.
• Core & Rind Hospitality Gift Cards Digital and physical gift cards redeemable at Taco Diablo and affiliated Core & Rind Hospitality restaurants (Five and Dime, LuLus, Blue Horse Tavern), sold as a standalone gift product.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Toast TabcoreTechnology or IntegrationToast Tab is the online ordering and loyalty platform partner for Taco Diablo, enabling carryout and delivery orders as well as the Toast Loyalty program for customer retention.
• Core & Rind HospitalitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTaco Diablo is operated under Core & Rind Hospitality, which also owns Five and Dime, LuLus, and Blue Horse Tavern in Evanston. The hospitality group manages shared services including catering, events, careers, and gift cards.
• 1744 MarketingminorOthers1744 Marketing designed and maintains the Taco Diablo website.
• Booden MediaminorOthersBooden Media provides photography and videography services for Taco Diablo.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Moe's Southwest Grill: National fast-casual Mexican chain (FOCUS Brands/RBI) competing on tacos, burritos, and value pricing. Comparable to Taco Diablo as a Mexican offering competing for the same consumer occasions, but operates at much larger scale and a fast-casual (counter-service) format rather than full-service cantina.
• Taco Bell: Largest U.S. Mexican QSR chain (Yum! Brands) with industry-leading value daypart programming (Happier Hour, Taco Tuesday). Comparable to Taco Diablo's value-led daypart specials strategy, though competing on price and convenience rather than full-service cantina experience.
• Chipotle Mexican Grill: Largest U.S. fast-casual Mexican chain with digital ordering, catering, and a national loyalty program. Overlaps with Taco Diablo on Mexican menu, online ordering via Toast-like stack, and catering, but at vastly greater scale and a counter-service model.
• Qdoba Mexican Eats: National fast-casual Mexican chain (owned by Apollo) with broad menu, catering program, and loyalty/rewards platform. Comparable to Taco Diablo on Mexican cuisine, catering capability, and loyalty-program strategy, but at much larger chain scale and fast-casual format.

Direct peers

• On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina: Casual full-service Mexican chain with a strong cantina-style bar program featuring margaritas and happy-hour daypart specials. Directly comparable to Taco Diablo on full-service Mexican dining, bar-led check average, and value-driven daypart promotions.
• Rosa Mexicano: Upscale full-service Mexican restaurant chain with multiple U.S. locations, offering house-made salsas, margaritas, and tequila-forward bar programs. Directly comparable to Taco Diablo on cuisine, full-bar cantina format, and dine-in / event positioning, though at a higher price point and larger scale.
• Chevys Fresh Mex: Full-service Mexican casual-dining chain with house-made salsas, fajitas, and margarita-driven bar programs. Comparable to Taco Diablo on full-service Mexican menu, bar strategy, and catering/group-event exposure, though operating at smaller chain scale post-restructuring.
• Bartaco: Casual Mexican-inspired restaurant brand emphasizing house-made salsas, tequila, and margaritas in a vibrant atmosphere. Closely comparable to Taco Diablo's cantina concept, daypart programming, and bar-driven check average strategy, but at multi-state chain scale.

Others

• Blue Horse Tavern: Sister restaurant under Core & Rind Hospitality in Evanston, sharing the same parent group's catering, events, gift card, and back-office infrastructure. Not a competitor but a directly comparable operating asset for benchmarking unit economics and group-level performance.

Regional players

• Big Star: Chicago-based (Wicker Park) Mexican-inspired casual restaurant and bar with house-made tacos, tequila program, and a vibrant cantina-style atmosphere. Highly comparable to Taco Diablo on concept, format, and bar strategy, but operates in a different Chicago neighborhood and does not directly compete in Evanston.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/tacodiabloevanston
• Instagraminstagram.com/tacodiablorestaurant/?hl=en
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/diablos-tacos

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Diablos Tacos