2 Taco John’s restaurant locations close in southwest Ohio

The Kettering location had several signs posted at the restaurant Friday that read, “closed for rebranding.” Signage identifying the restaurant had been taken down.

Taco John’s opened its first location in the Dayton region in January. The Kettering location was picked for the store because of its high volume of traffic, officials from Meritage Hospitality Group, a franchisee for Taco John’s, previously said.

The area near East Stroop Road-Wilmington Pike intersection averages about 20,000 vehicles a day, Kettering officials said.

Taco John’s opened the West Chester Twp. location in April 2023. At that time, an official with Meritage said the group was “excited to bring 50-plus locations to the Ohio-Michigan area over the next couple of years.”

“We have been a Wendy’s franchisee for the past several years, and we’re one of the biggest Wendy’s franchises, nationwide. We hit our cap on growth as far as the Wendy’s brand is concerned, so in order to grow and build more restaurants, and to expand the portfolio, we started looking at other brands that we could dive deep into and we really felt like Taco John’s has a huge potential,” area director Brandon Parnell previously said.

The Wyoming-based restaurant chain also closed a location in Cadillac, Michigan last week, according to Cadillac News. That restaurant opened in Dec. 2023.

Taco John’s has seen several locations close permanently over the last two years including restaurants in Illinois, Minnesota and Washington, according to the Franchise Herald.

Taco John’s, founded in 1968, has more than 350 locations in 23 states. Ohio locations that remain open include Athens, Bellville and Circleville, according to its website.