R Taco restaurant opening today on Brown Street near UD

The new street-style taco restaurant called “R Taco” on Brown Street near the University of Dayton has set an opening date, and is hiring now.

The new street-style taco restaurant called “R Taco” on Brown Street near the University of Dayton has set an opening date, and is hiring now.

The new street-style taco restaurant called "R Taco" on Brown Street near the University of Dayton has set an opening date.

John Slaughenhaupt, co-founder of the Dayton R Taco, said today that the restaurant — the first in Ohio for the Texas-based chain — will open March 13.

The restaurant is still hosting open interviews today, March 3.

“We love Brown Street and the University of Dayton neighborhood,” Slaughenhaupt — who is co-owner of the Milano’s Pizza, Subs & Taps at 1834 Brown St. in the same retail center as R Taco — told us in January. “And since we own the building, we decided to look at putting something in the old Qdoba space ourselves.

“As we looked around, we fell in love with the R Taco concept and felt it was a perfect fit for the area. Who doesn’t like tacos and margaritas, right?”

RELATED: Milano’s owner eyeing former Qdoba space on Brown Street

The R Taco franchise restaurant will share the same ownership as Milano’s: Slaughenhaupt, David Fisher and Eric Lundgren.

R Taco will hire around 40 and will seat about 80 inside and an additional 25 on a patio that will be connected to the restaurant via roll-up doors that will open up to the bar, according to Slaughenhaupt.

RELATED: Qdoba to shut down Brown Street restaurant after 2 years

Launched in Dallas in 2010 as Rusty Taco and named for co-founder Rusty Fenton, the company shortened its name in 2015 to R Taco as the concept accelerated expansion beyond its Dallas roots.

There currently are 15 R Taco locations — eight company-owned and seven franchised — in four markets: Dallas, Denver, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Omaha.

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