Pup ‘n’ Taco was a privately owned chain of fast-food restaurants in Southern California; the chain’s headquarters were located in Long Beach. The business was started by Russell Wendell in 1956 as a drive-in restaurant that served tacos, hot dogs, and pastrami sandwiches. Russell already owned Big DoNut, a chain of successful doughnut stores in Los Angeles that featured gigantic doughnuts atop a drive-in bakery. The first officially branded Pup ‘N’ Taco was opened in Pasadena, California in 1965. The menu consisted of tacos, tostadas, pastrami sandwiches, burgers, several varieties of hot dogs (the “pup” in Pup ‘N’ Taco), and french fries. Beverages included R.C. Cola, root beer, and a variety of flavored slushes. In January 1972, there were 50 locations. One year later, there were 62 locations. Russ Wendel Sr. designed many of the buildings. Ninety-nine stores in California were bought by Taco Bell in 1984 for their prime locations in pricey real estate markets, effectively ending the chain. However, three operations in Albuquerque, New Mexico, were not included in the deal and two existed as Pop ‘N’ Taco until closing in the 2010s. With orange and white signs and orange roofed A-frames, Pup ‘n’ Tacos were once a SoCal staple. This design features the original ’60s logo along with an illustration of one of their signature SoCal locations with period-correct muscle cars and tricked out vans to help set the scene.