wholly owned subsidiary industry restaurant founded seattle washington united states june 8 1992 1992 06 08 headquarters lynnwood washington united states area served united states and canada products fresh mex parent franchise brands llc website 1 taco del mar is a seattle washington based fresh mex fast casual restaurant chain that specializes in mission burritos . since opening in seattle on june 8 1992 by brothers james and john schmidt it has expanded into over 260 locations in the u.s. and canada . it is known for its relaxed seaside themed decor . the name taco del mar meaning taco of the sea in spanish refers to the chain s original specialty fish tacos . like the larger subway chain the customer directs the preparation of his or her meal requesting ingredients as it moves along an assembly line . a standard selection of mission style referring to san francisco s mission district mexican ingredients is available including wheat flour tomato or spinach tortillas and fish beef pork or chicken . contents 1 2008 franchisee lawsuit 2 2008 explosion in vancouver 3 2010 bankruptcy filing 4 references 5 external links 2008 franchisee lawsuit edit in 2007 taco del mar announced that more than 30 franchisees closed their restaurants . citation needed taco del mar executives cited poor sales and bad locations as the cause of the closures . previously taco del mar closed restaurants throughout the dallas and boston markets due to poor financial performance . however a group of franchisees and master developers called the truth about taco del mar citation needed charged that several taco del mar executives took secret kickbacks from various suppliers that raised restaurant operating costs hurting franchisee profitability and contributing to the store closures . there is no evidence of alleged kickbacks ; furthermore taco del mar founder james schmidt said if there ever were kickbacks proven the money would be returned to the franchisee . there has not been one credible example of kickbacks ever brought to the attention of an attorney posted here or any one else that has come to my attention . if we were getting kickbacks and it was proven then franchisees would get money back we disclose we do not get kickback so if we took them then prove it and money will be returned james schmidt the group also claims that taco del mar intentionally removed former franchises from its uniform offering circular ufoc to mislead potential investors into purchasing restaurants from the franchise . in december 2007 reporter julie bennett conducted an investigation and found many franchisees outside of washington and oregon were losing money at taco del mar. 1 more than 20 franchisees are currently preparing a class action lawsuit to recover costs from taco del mar franchising corp and conrad & barry investments . in november 2007 taco del mar franchising corp president david huether resigned . 2 less than one month later neal hollingsworth taco del mar s vp of franchising sales also resigned and left the seattle tacoma area . 3 failure rates of restaurants is commonly thought to be high . recent studies have mitigated some of those assumptions but still show three year failure rates of all restaurants to be about 61.4 % and that franchise restaurants fare slightly better than independently owned locations . 2008 explosion in vancouver edit during the early morning hours of february 13 2008 a taco del mar franchise in vancouver british columbia was destroyed by a large explosion which damaged several nearby businesses . police confirmed that the blast was caused by an arsonist who had placed an accelerant inside the restaurant then set it on fire . 4 vancouver area police later arrested kamal jeet singh josan 5 suffering from burns to over 40 % of his body . 6 the motive for this act is currently not publicly known . 6 in april 2009 charges against josan were stayed due to lack of evidence . prosecutors took up the file again in january 2010 and josan plead guilty to one charge of arson on march 14 2011 . 7 8 josan was sentenced to two years of house arrest on june 13 2011 . 9 2010 bankruptcy filing edit on friday january 22 2010 taco del mar filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in seattle . among its major creditors were suzanne todd a franchisee in maryland with a disputed claim for 500 000 ; paul & shahnaz hendifar with a 125 416 judgment entered in texas ; canada revenue agency with a 105 324 tax claim and the city of seattle with a 95 289 claim for taxes . 10 taco del mar was auctioned in a bankruptcy sale on september 30 2010 and the winning bid of 3.25 million came from connecticut company franchise brands llc according to a story in the seattle times . 11 franchise brands was created in 2005 by fred de luca and peter buck the founders of subway restaurants . both subway and franchise brands llc are based in milford conn. references edit franchise times story taco del mar s president steps down . the seattle times . 10 november 2007 . retrieved 17 september 2015 . another executive leaving taco del mar . seattlepi.com . retrieved 17 september 2015 . canada news winnipeg sun . winnipegsun.com . retrieved 17 september 2015 . surrey leader new twist in taco del mar arson case a b cbc vancouver police id suspect in taco shop arson owners still wondering why their restaurant was targeted surprise guilty plea in fast food restaurant blast . british columbia . retrieved 17 september 2015 . suspect pleads guilty in broadway explosion . cbc.ca . 14 march 2011 . retrieved 17 september 2015 . sheila reynolds . two years house arrest for arsonist . surrey leader . retrieved 17 september 2015 . taco del mar files for bankruptcy . puget sound business journal . retrieved 17 september 2015 . taco del mar goes to conn. firm in bankruptcy auction . the seattle times . 1 october 2010 . retrieved 17 september 2015 . external links edit official website franchise times article taco del mar no day at the beach for franchisees taco del mar closes doors taco del mar s president steps down neal hollingsworth taco del mar s vp of franchising resigns v t e fast food and fast casual restaurant chains in the united states chicken chains coffeehouse chains pizza chains hamburgers a & w back yard big boy burger king carl s jr. checkers rally s cook out fatburger five guys freddy s fuddruckers the habit hardee s in n out jack in the box johnny rockets krystal mcdonald s roy rogers shake shack smashburger sonic steak n shake wayback wendy s whataburger white castle asian l & l hawaiian barbecue manchu wok panda express pei wei asian diner pick up stix sarku baked goods au bon pain auntie anne s bruegger s cinnabon corner bakery cafe dunkin donuts einstein bros. great american cookies honey dew donuts krispy kreme mrs. fields nestl toll house panera bread pretzelmaker pretzel time shipley do nuts tim hortons t.j. cinnamons wetzel s winchell s beverages argo tea biggby coffee caribou coffee bean & tea leaf coffee beanery dunn bros gloria jean s jamba juice juice it up orange julius peet s planet smoothie robeks seattle s best coffee smoothie king starbucks teavana tropical smoothie cafe tully s frozen desserts baskin robbins ben & jerry s braum s bruster s carvel cold stone culver s dairy queen dippin dots fosters freeze friendly s golden spoon graeter s h agen dazs handel s kiwi yogurt maggiemoo s marble slab menchie s pinkberry red mango rita s sweet frog tastee freez tcby tropical sno tutti frutti yogen fr z yogurtland hot dogs hot dog on a stick nathan s famous portillo s wienerschnitzel mexican style tex mex baja fresh cafe rio chipotle del taco el pollo loco freebirds green red burrito moe s pancheros qdoba rubio s taco bell taco bueno taco cabana taco del mar taco john s taco mayo taco time wahoo s fish taco noodles fazoli s noodles & company sandwiches arby s atlanta bread blimpie capriotti s charley s cos cousins d angelo daphne s erbert & gerbert s firehouse subs great wraps jason s jerry s subs jersey mike s jimmy john s lenny s sub mcalister s deli miami subs mr. hero newk s eatery penn station port of subs pdq potbelly quiznos rax runza sandella s schlotzsky s steak escape subway togo s tubby s tudor s biscuit world which wich seafood arthur treacher s captain d s h. salt esquire ivar s long john silver s skippers seafood & chowder house defunct bresler s ice cream brigham s burger chef carrols d lites druther s henry s hamburgers hot n now hot sam pretzels naugles red barn sandy s zantigo retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title taco del mar & oldid 737179059 categories cuisine of the western united statesfast food chains of the united statesfast casual restaurantsmexican restaurantsfast food mexican restaurantsrestaurants in seattlerestaurant chains in the united statesrestaurants established in 1992hidden categories all articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from march 2008articles with unsourced 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