May 7, 2021

If you’d like to treat Mom to Taco John’s for Mother’s Day, go Saturday.

The Sioux Falls locations will close for the first time this Sunday in honor of Mother’s Day.

“It was the right time,” vice president of operations Ted Miller said. “People we do have have been working their tails off.”

Employees were especially grateful for the day off, he said.

“I traditionally don’t get many emails from employees unless there’s an issue. But I was overwhelmingly surprised by the number who reached out personally and said it means the world,” he said. “So it was probably a much bigger deal than I gave it credit for and quite frankly something we should have been looking at some time ago.”

The idea was so popular it spread to some other markets, he said.

It’s part of a large effort at culture change, recognizing what worked for employees when he was a 15-year-old working at the restaurant needs to be adjusted for today, he said.

“I think people that are thinking of employees are going to win this battle.”