A vision of drunken, late-night eats

The story of how Daniel Biello and Randy Wyner came together to create Chronic Tacos isn’t the type one might use to inspire children to be future entrepreneurs.

Biello and Wyner, some six years ago, decided to create the taco shop after a long night out in Newport Beach left them hungry.

After leaving a bar, Biello pointed out a small shop in the center at Superior Avenue and West Coast Highway.

The story differs from there between the high school friends, but the conclusion was the same – a taco shop would be perfect.

After the hangover subsided, the two found themselves owning the location and starting their way to creating that little taco shop.

Now, the pair is branching its chain out to 35 stores, including some in Canada, and they are looking toward going national.

“More than anything else, I was just excited to have a job,” Biello said of starting and working at the first Chronic Tacos. “I just wanted to live on the beach.”

Since the start, the pair says they have sold about $6 million in tacos at the stand, which celebrated its anniversary July 2.

Smattered with stickers on the walls, windows and doors, music showering through the entrance — sometimes too loud Wyner notes — the line can often run out the door.

The two credit the popularity to its location, but also say it is the style they brought to a taco stand, along with a great recipe, that gave them success.

“The first year we were kind of skeptical — a bunch of white guys doing tacos,” Wyner said. “But we wanted it to be a hardcore little taco shop. We wanted it to be cool. Not just your regular taco shop.”

Biello and Wyner are opening one to two shops a month at this point, with four coming to Colorado, two new shops to complement one already in Arizona, six in Canada, three in Idaho, and more to come all across California.

They plan to reach their 35-store goal in 2009 before taking a break.

“The economy is so bad we don’t know what’s next,” Biello said.

“But we plan to keep moving forward.”

The recipe is developed from the Bonilla family in Santa Ana — Biello and Wyner went to high school with Jason Bonilla.

It was a perfect match, and the two modeled their store behind the fresh-made aspects of each taco and a quality recipe.

They bought out the family six months later, but continue to use the recipe.

“The food is excellent,” customer Ken Bennett said. “But the service and atmosphere is unheard of here. They make everyone comfortable. Here you can meet the owners, and they are very nice.”

And while the two are taking the Chronic Taco style elsewhere and manipulating it to fit the needs and characters of future home towns — Biello recently moved to the Inland Empire and one of the Arizona stores has a “Day of the Dead” theme — the two are still connected to their roots.

“People like that it is originally from Newport Beach,” Biello said. “It’s good for the college kids.”

DANIEL TEDFORD may be reached at (714) 966-4632 or at daniel.tedford@latimes.com.