If Taco Bueno reminds you of a Taco Bell or a Taco John's, you're not at all off base.

Even the franchisee referenced the two well-known fast food places when talking about the chain.

Bueno has opened two stores - at 1442 O St. and 5012 N. 27th St. - within the past two months and plans to open a third at 84th and Leighton streets on Nov. 10. [Editor's note: The downtown location has since closed.]

"With so many Taco Bells and Taco Johns around, we wanted to roll ours out and let people know this isn't a mom and pop operation," operating partner Louis Waller said.

Indeed, it's not.

The fast-food joint was founded in 1967 in Abilene, Texas, and today has more than 145 locations, primarily in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kansas.

The Lincoln franchisee is Central State Bueno, based in Tulsa, Okla.

The chain prides itself on serving beef or chicken burritos, tacos, "chiladas" and "muchacos" and more fast.

A chilada is an enchilada, while a muchaco is a soft pita stuffed with a variety of ingredients.

The store's signature burrito, by the way, is the "Big Ol' Burrito" that goes by the name of "B.O.B."

Also noteworthy is that the restaurant makes its own tortilla chips, salsa and guacamole.

At Taco Bueno, diners can enjoy items a la carte or purchase platter or combo meals, which range from $2.99 to $5.99.

Platters include rice, beans, sour cream, guacamole and chips. Combos come with a medium drink.

I stopped in at Taco Bueno earlier this week for lunch and ordered the "No. 1" combo, a beef B.O.B with a beef taco, for $4.89.

Taco Bueno works like most fast-food places. The staff take orders at a counter and then call names when they are ready.

The food reminded me of what I've had at Taco Bell or Taco John's. It's typical fast-food Mexican.

I usually avoid fast food unless I'm in big hurry or I've been with friends on the O Street bar strip and crave some late-night goodies.

It comes as no surprise that both Taco Bueno locations stay open late. The downtown store remains open until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.

I'll be curious to see if Taco Bueno makes it here. The company started aggressively by opening multiple stores.

But so did Taco Del Mar, which closed both of its stores - downtown and SouthPointe - a little more than a year after opening.

Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.