'Taco Tuesday' Was Trademarked For Decades — But Taco Bell Changed That

Taco Tuesday is like a little drop of sunshine in the middle of the humdrum work week. For decades, schools, restaurants, and even many households across America have rung in the oft over looked week day with a variety of taco styles and maybe the perfect margarita. It's a beloved practice, a ritual that celebrates making special occasions out of the banal. As universal as this term seems, since 1989, it was trademarked by a Wyoming-based taco chain called Taco John's, which restricted wider use. Then, in May of 2023, Taco Bell launched an effort to free Taco Tuesday from restricted use. The mammoth fast food chain filed an official petition with the United States Patent and Trademark Office to remove the trademark. 

Taco Bell argued that the phrase was so ubiquitous, the trademark no longer held any relevance. While Taco John's initially bucked against this challenge, it ultimately relinquished its trademark in July 2023. Now, this victory only applied to 49 out of 50 states within the U.S. Thanks to a quirk in trademarking law, an establishment known as Gregory's Restaurant and bar retained its trademark on Taco Tuesday within New Jersey. However, Gregory's ultimately let go of its trademark in October 2023.  Thanks to the efforts of one very big fast food chain, Taco Tuesday once again belongs to the people. So feel free to draw up the banners and serve up tacos this Tuesday (or any Tuesday). 

While Taco John's was the original trademark holder of "Taco Tuesday" beginning in 1989, the history of Taco Tuesday stretched all the way back to the 1930s. The first use of the term can be found in a 1933 issue of the El Paso Herald-Post wherein the El Paso-based St. Regis hotel advertised a "taco Tuesday" deal for customers. In the decades following, the use of "taco Tuesdays" began to spread across the country. However, it wasn't until the 1970s that the term became a fully capitalized proper noun. This occurred in 1973, when an advertisement for a Taco Tuesday deal was printed in South Dakota's Rapid City Journal. 

Taco John's, the restaurant that trademarked the term, didn't begin using the phrase until the 1980s. Even then, the restaurant offered not a Taco Tuesday but a "Taco Twosday," a phrase which promoted its two for 99 cents taco deal. The chain later moved to using Taco Tuesday, and in the late 1980s, the chain trademarked the term. It wasn't until 2023 that Taco Bell challenged this trademark, citing the phrase's wide popular use as a reason to reel it back. Frankly, it's hard to argue with the fast food chain's logic, as the term was seen far and beyond the Wyoming based restaurant that previously held the trademark. Luckily, the days of restricted Taco Tuesday use are over. If you care to celebrate, you might want to start your toast with one of Taco Bell's many popular menu items.