Del Taco today announced the opening of its 500th restaurant after 45 years of operation. The new company-owned 24-hour restaurant is located at 2515 N. Hollywood Way in Burbank, California.

To commemorate the opening, Del Taco is hosting southern California firefighters for a free meal on Thursday, Jan. 10 from 7 am – midnight at the Burbank restaurant.

Reaching 500 restaurants is an important milestone for the nation’s second largest Mexican quick serve chain that began as a taco stand that also sold burgers in Yermo, California in 1961.

Today, Del Taco serves its made-to-order Mexican and American food with the same focus on quality ingredients as the early days. Del Taco makes its beans from scratch, prepares its salsa by hand, grates the cheddar cheese in the restaurant and grills chicken every hour. Each week, Del Taco serves more than 1.5 million customers.

A southern California icon, Del Taco is ranked No. 35 in the top 50 US chains by QSR magazine, and has translated its made-to-order Mexican food experience into a successful business with locations in 14 states.

“This is an important milestone for Del Taco in terms of both credibility and satisfying customers,” says Shirlene Lopez, 28-year company veteran and president/COO of Del Taco. “Every hour of every day we focus on serving our customers great tasting food at a good value. Our success is their satisfaction, and we take it personally.”

Del Taco continues to operate more than half of all Del Taco restaurants and new company restaurants are growing along with franchise openings. In 2007, Del Taco opened 10 company and 12 franchise restaurants.

“We are committed to growing Del Taco and as restaurateurs, we are both top- and bottom-line conscious, something our franchisees find appealing,” Lopez says.

Del Taco plans to open about 25 more restaurants in 2008.