Buffalo Wild Wings buys a large stake in Rusty Taco

Buffalo Wild Wings is now in the taco business.

The Golden Valley-based chicken-wings-and-beer chain said Monday that it bought a majority stake in Rusty Taco Inc., which has nine fast-casual restaurants in Texas, Denver and the Twin Cities.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in Dallas in 2010, Rusty Taco offers fresh, street-style tacos for breakfast, lunch, dinner and the later-night crowd. It has a Twin Cities food truck and restaurants in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Maple Grove.

Rusty Taco CEO Steve Dunn said the deal would result in an "immediate" acceleration of the company's growth.

In the short-term, Rusty Taco's growth will be concentrated in markets where it already has a presence, Buffalo Wild Wings Chief Strategy Officer Kathy Benning said in an interview. Buffalo Wild Wings will provide more detail about the long-term strategy during its October earnings call.

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