Lake Forest-based Del Taco Restaurants Inc. (Nasdaq: TACO) said it inked a deal with Reef Technology Inc. that’s aimed at strengthening the restaurant operator’s delivery business.
Miami-based Reef, which late last year raised $700 million in a round led by Mubadala Investment Co., uses its base of more than 4,500 parking lots to create ghost kitchens that help restaurants fulfill their off-premise orders. Restaurant clients include Wendy’s, Umami Burger, Papa Murphy’s, Kona Poké and Buns and Bao among other brands.
Del Taco said the delivery-only location model with Reef will begin in Los Angeles’ Mid City neighborhood and expand from there. The goal is to have locations in areas with high demand for delivery.
Del Taco counts about 600 restaurants in 16 states. The company’s stock was up 1% to $9.11 in midday trading Tuesday for a market cap of $331.6 million.
