Rusty Taco plans 3rd area location

Rusty Taco will open its third Dayton-area restaurant across from the Dayton Mall in space that was recently vacated by El Toro Bar and Grill.

“We have finally sealed the deal - it is happening,” John Slaughenhaupt, co-founder and co-owner of ThreeWitt Enterprises Inc., Rusty Taco’s Dayton-area franchisee, said of the 2335 Miamisburg-Centerville Road restaurant coming this fall.

The space housed an El Toro restaurant until a few months ago, when El Toro relocated to the former TGI Fridays up the street.

The Dayton area’s third Rusty Taco will occupy about 2,700 square feet and will seat about 130, 90 inside and 40 on a patio, Slaughenhaupt said. It will employ about 60, he said.The restaurant should open this fall, possibly as early as October.

Rusty Taco, then known as R Taco, launched its first Dayton-area restaurant in March 2017 on Brown Street near the University of Dayton, and followed with its second location across from the Mall at Fairfield Commons in Beavercreek in November 2018.

“Given the location of our other two Rusty Tacos, we knew we wanted to look to the south,” Slaughenhaupt said. “After an extensive search, we settled on the old El Toro location due to the favorable demographics, heavy traffic flow and nice patio setup.”

Slaughenhaupt said he anticipates opening more Rusty Taco locations in the region. In 2017, ThreeWitt Enterprises Inc. jointly announced it had signed a 13-unit agreement to greatly expand the Dallas, Texas-based taco chain’s footprint in the Dayton, Columbus and Cincinnati areas.