About

Taco Tuesday refers to a phrase created by the owner of the American restaurant Taco John’s in the early 1980s to increase sales on the slowest day of the week for the establishment, Tuesday. The expression is present in memes on social media dating back to 2011, being used for taco enthusiasts and also in sarcastic memes.

Origin

Taco Tuesday^[1] is a custom in many cities of the United States in which people go out to eat tacos or other Mexican food on Tuesday nights. The idea was coined by a Wyoming-based fast food restaurant Taco John's^[2] in 1982 and was granted a trademark for "Taco Tuesday" in 1989.

The expression, which was already popular among Mexican food lovers, was incorporated into ironic memes in the early 2010s. One of the earliest examples, posted (seen below) by Anon99^[3] on Memerial^[3] on August 22nd, 2011 shows a comic strip about a customer losing their temper after finding out it was not "Taco Tuesday."

Spread

The "Taco" Tuesday" custom was the topic of several memes through the years. For instance, On May 3rd, 2012, YouTube^[4] by the @MondoMedia show Dick Figures. The episode (seen below) shows the characters working in a pizza restaurant after failing to pay their bill. The video garnered 4.6 million views and 34,000 likes in 11 years.

Professional basketball player LeBron James has also shared on multiple videos his love for "Taco Tuesday." For example, on October 2nd, 2019, YouTube^[5] channel @Houseofhighlights shared a live-stream video of LeBron celebrating "Taco Tuesday" with his family. The video (seen below) received 1.7 million views and 31,000 likes in four years.

Image macro memes have been created mentioning the expression "Taco Tuesday." For example, a post uploaded on Know Your Meme on January 17th, 2013, shows the "One does not simply walk into Mordor" version of the "Taco Tuesday" thematic. Another instance, posted to the site Digital Mom^[6] uses the Dawson crying meme to joke about the special Tuesday.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References