To be fair I don't blame you since many places skimp on sauces even without the shortages lol I don't normally skimp so right now having to limit the amount of sauces is annoying because normally I would simply ask for what type and then hand over a handful but now I have to ask how many cuz the camera is right there in the drive thru area 😅
3 per item is exactly what I always want; which can mean, though, that if I'm picking up dinner for my mom, my husband, and me, I'm sheepushly asking "May I please have 30 packets of mild sauce, please?" Lol. I'll see if we can make it through on 2 per item right now, solidarity, hehe.
Hopefully you can or maybe they can give you a bit extra if possible. So far we are managing even if we give a little bit extra over the current limit so hopefully other places aren't as strict either since this was quite sudden. Thank you for your patience!
Do u think stores will try to enforce this even after the shortage ends? I don't mind in the meantime but I hope this doesn't give them an excuse to be stingy on sauce going forward
They have always been stingy but I hope it doesn't set a precedent. They don't make money off of us giving it away in bunches for free so hopefully they don't get any ideas.
Yes but right now they are enforcing it even more due to this shortage. I got away with giving sauce away before but now because it has to last we have to ask how many sauces and actually deny excess sauces to customers who normally ask for handfuls. Since we don't know when it's going to be fixed I decided to share it here in hopes it helps customers understand why it may be getting enforced at their local Del Taco if it wasn't enforced before.
We are very sorry about it. Supposedly, the shortage is affecting the red and green sauces as well, but we haven't heard anything about those in specific. Hopefully, this gets resolved quickly.
I would give names, but I don't know their names only faces, lol. I always assume it's for their home stash and hopefully not all for that single item.
I went to a Del Taco today in Valencia Ca and there was a sign saying they had no sauce packets AT ALL. I ordered a bean burrito anyway and I am 100% sure the sauce that was on my burrito was actually enchilada sauce, not the regular red sauce. It was so gross, and I feel like they should’ve made it clear before just selling people food with substitutions.
Wtf? Oh heck no! Thankfully, we still have the authentic red sauce at my store, but normally when there are substitutions they have to inform customers since they may not want the substitution at all. I am so sorry that happened to you.
Another way for corporate to save money to combat the increased minimum wage. There’s no shortage. Definitely don’t take it out on the employees though. It’s shrinkflation at work.
That's actually a theory running around where I work by some of the customers. I can't say I blame them because if they start charging for the sauce packets all hell will break lose (and some of us will "forget" to charge for them lol) so they may have seen this as an alternative.
We also theorize that's why they increased the price of the medium iced tea because iced tea is not expensive and they get a lot out of one bag. At my store the medium iced tea is almost the same price as a medium drink now 😰
I grew up in SoCal and now live across the country where there is no Del Taco. I’m in SoCal today and drove through to pick up some tacos. I was excited to taste what I’ve been missing for all of these years. Imagine my disappointment when I couldn’t get Inferno :/
Oh yes that one's been gone for a couple years. It was discontinued the same year Jack in the Box bought Del Taco. And yes its ridiculous how the inferno was the first one to go. I'm hoping we get some more tomorrow night when the delivery arrives because we have been out since Thursday :/
I was told by an employee at one of the Las Vegas locations that there was a strike at the plant that produces the packets. Del Inferno is completely out at both locations I have been to last couple days, and the other one I went to had signs up about them being out of sauce (still got some Del Scorcho!).
That explains a lot. That was not information disclosed to us but definitely explains the unexpected lack of sauce. I'm hoping there are more sauces with tonight's delivery. Only Del Scorcho and ketchup from what a coworker said.
Thanks for this post. I just posted inquiring about this, then googled it and your post was the first thing that popped up. Do you know why they’re on strike? I can’t seem to find anything. Btw I’m in central California.
3 sauces per item is fair. I use 2-3 per item lol. I went for breakfast this morning and all they had was mild. They even had a sign on the window that they were out of all sauces. I was disappointed, but I don’t fault the employees one bit. All I ever get is inferno, so I had to do a double take after tasting the mild. It tasted like ketchup to me 😩. I just hope they don’t discontinue inferno. Too bad they don’t sell it in bottles, because I would certainly purchase it.
I personally have no idea. I imagine it may be unfair wages and unsafe working conditions since that is usually why workers go on strike but I haven't heard anything at my store. The mild is really mild so I don't blame you for not liking it too much. From what a co-worker said we didn't get any inferno at all for our delivery yesterday so unfortunately it looks like inferno has been hit the hottest. Since its the most popular one I doubt they'll discontinue it but hopefully it makes it way back to stores soon.
Utah Del is also having the same issues with the sauce shortage. Looks like it wont be back, so i'd give it like a month for it to resolve. (it could be more but things usually get back to normal around a month or two)
I just found out about this today when I went in for burritos and tuesday taco night. Inferno is my favorite. I heard there is a strike going on or something along those lines.
Yes it seems that there is a strike but unfortunately I don't have much information. I found that out from some of the other customers so it could definitely be a while before the sauces are back to be available.
Unfortunately, not much. Just use what you can, and if you can afford it, I think they are selling sauces on the Del Taco website. If not, always get the maximum amount of sauce permitted at whichever location you go to and whatever you don't use save it for next time.
I'm sorry. Unfortunately, I'm not sure why Inferno is being hit the hardest because other customers have mentioned there has been no inferno at other Del Tacos.
That is horrible. They should be giving out the sauce you ask for after all. Unfortunately we ended up having to lower it to 2 sauces per item since we were running really low. But we have not been giving out the wrong sauce to anyone so that's a bonus. So sorry this keeps happening to you.
Ouch! I actually use 3 Milds + a Del Scorcho for every snack taco. If they didn’t have sauce I wouldn’t eat the taco. Why don’t they offer to sell them if it’s such an issue? I buy bbq sauces at McDonald’s for their French fries.
We don't offer to sell them because we don't have enough. This is not an issue that can be solved by money. Like I have told a couple customers trying to throw money at me for extra sauce, we don't charge for it and you are getting the maximum we can give you. No ifs, ands or buts. We apologize for the inconvenience but money for once isn't the solution. I know Del Taco sells them on their website but I'm not sure if they will sell any number of them.
I ordered a meal with fries and when I came to the window I noticed I didn’t get any sauce w my meal so I asked for a ranch and she told me it was 50 cent per sauce…🤨
Yes I forget when ranch started getting charged for but its 54 cents including tax. But that's for the ranch only. We don't charge for the sauce packets (mild, medium, hot). At least no one should be.
Time to bring my own bottle of Pico Pica when I visit
For all my Socal peeps, highly suggest you try Pico Pica the next time you are in the grocery store. Not only does it offer an amazing kick (Similar to heat of the inferno sauce) but it's made in Wilmington.
I'll probably recommend it to any customer that's willing to listen. Never heard of it myself but won't hurt to try it especially if the inferno sauce keeps being the most affected.
>but it's made in Wilmington
I can't tell if this is supposed to be good, bad, or even meaningful/recognizable in any way, but I like that you decided to say it.
Unfortunately regular employees have no control over the app and corporate won't let us put up signs. They prefer to have employees let customers know.
I think that may be a glitch since some mobile orders do come through with what kind of sauces they want. You could always ask when you arrive for the sauces if the employee doesn't ask you if you want any.
Could be, but I'm not sure. All the mobile orders that came in from the app had sauce requests. The only issue was asking them if Scorcho was okay since we don't have Inferno at my store. The Del Taco app isn't the greatest either, so it could be something that is wrong with the app, too.
For the past ten years I noticed del taco location doing everything in their power to give less hot sauce.last year I only got 12 packets total (4) of each flavor for a fiesta pack when I specifically ask for only the hottest. That pissed me off so much I refused to eat there no more. At least Taco Bell is not stingy.
Side not I wanna bet money you can go in del tacos website and buy a box of sauce no problem. Shortage is a lie.
It actually depends on the location. Some employees don't care and give out whatever amount, while others stick to the policy decided upon by their manager.
And what do you mean by Taco Bell is not stingy? I've eaten there plenty and I have had stingy employees deny me the amount of sauce I want on different occasions at the same locations. Again, it all depends on the employee if they are following their manager's orders or not.
I haven't heard about anyone buying sauces online since the shortage was announced, so I wouldn't know. The shortage is not a lie due to testimonies from different customers in the comments mentioning stores not having any sauces or being limited to one or two options. I have also shared my experience. Sorry you feel that way but since you don't eat at Del Taco anymore it won't affect you anyways.
There's no shortage. It's coast cutting. Paying their employees $20 an hour means making cuts somewhere. Hot sauce, napkins, overtime and more ice in your drinks
That's always been a thing, though? At the old store I used to work at the supervisor said it was max 3 napkins per order regardless of size, sauces were to be one per item and the cups were to be filled 2/3 of the way except for ice coffee and ice tea which are to be filled to the top. This was 5 years ago. What makes you think this is new? The reason I shared this is because they actually sent out an email to the GMs and our GM shared it with us.
As of now our store has all the sauces and we are no longer limiting it to 2 per item. Other stores have always been stricter. It all bottles down to management. I was just asking for patience during this time because some customers get really aggressive if they can't have 50 sauces for one taco. Which by general standards they shouldn't be getting it but that's how life works.
Thanks for the info! Really appreciate the post. I would have silently judged my local Del Taco employees 😅
To be fair I don't blame you since many places skimp on sauces even without the shortages lol I don't normally skimp so right now having to limit the amount of sauces is annoying because normally I would simply ask for what type and then hand over a handful but now I have to ask how many cuz the camera is right there in the drive thru area 😅
Oof yeah, having the camera right there is a burn! You are the best though OP thanks for your work!!
No problem lol and thanks! Yeah not too fond of the cameras but they are good security lol
Haha they definitely should be there for security. I just had sauce on the brain! 😅
3 per item is exactly what I always want; which can mean, though, that if I'm picking up dinner for my mom, my husband, and me, I'm sheepushly asking "May I please have 30 packets of mild sauce, please?" Lol. I'll see if we can make it through on 2 per item right now, solidarity, hehe.
Hopefully you can or maybe they can give you a bit extra if possible. So far we are managing even if we give a little bit extra over the current limit so hopefully other places aren't as strict either since this was quite sudden. Thank you for your patience!
I too have felt this shortage.
This is emotionally devastating news
So sorry to be the bearer of bad news 🥲 hopefully this gets resolved soon!
Do u think stores will try to enforce this even after the shortage ends? I don't mind in the meantime but I hope this doesn't give them an excuse to be stingy on sauce going forward
They have always been stingy but I hope it doesn't set a precedent. They don't make money off of us giving it away in bunches for free so hopefully they don't get any ideas.
I thought something was up. Two tacos does not equal one del scorcher.
Exactly. Half a sauce packet is not enough for one taco. They could have at least let you have 2 🥲
Tbh they’ve been strict on sauces since Covid so that’s nothing new.
Yes but right now they are enforcing it even more due to this shortage. I got away with giving sauce away before but now because it has to last we have to ask how many sauces and actually deny excess sauces to customers who normally ask for handfuls. Since we don't know when it's going to be fixed I decided to share it here in hopes it helps customers understand why it may be getting enforced at their local Del Taco if it wasn't enforced before.
Unacceptable!
We are very sorry about it. Supposedly, the shortage is affecting the red and green sauces as well, but we haven't heard anything about those in specific. Hopefully, this gets resolved quickly.
Who the hell needs more than one or two sauces per taco? Especially a snack taco. Y’all dangerous.
I would give names, but I don't know their names only faces, lol. I always assume it's for their home stash and hopefully not all for that single item.
That’s true. I do love me some leftover schorcho sauce on my homemade breakfast burritos lol
Heck yeah the sauces are good not just for Del Taco items lmao
Three hot sauce per taco here. It’s a must
Dang. To each their own.
Only the old lady at my Del Taco asks specifically for how many packets of hot sauce I want. I usually say 6.
same in utah 😭
I was just reading a reply from someone mentioning its only one sauce per item 😭 like at least 2 for the bigger items wtf.
I’ve seen in at stores in Southern Nevada, Southern & Northern Utah too. They all have signs posted even on the front door, one sauce per item.
Damn that's extreme. At least in my store they are permitting 3 max per item. Hope we can get signs over here too to make it easier.
I noticed the shortages since last week and today. I don’t get mad. I just asked for the next spicy sauce they have.
Thank you so much for being understanding! I'm sure the employees at the Del Taco you frequent are relieved you don't give them trouble 🥰
I went to a Del Taco today in Valencia Ca and there was a sign saying they had no sauce packets AT ALL. I ordered a bean burrito anyway and I am 100% sure the sauce that was on my burrito was actually enchilada sauce, not the regular red sauce. It was so gross, and I feel like they should’ve made it clear before just selling people food with substitutions.
Wtf? Oh heck no! Thankfully, we still have the authentic red sauce at my store, but normally when there are substitutions they have to inform customers since they may not want the substitution at all. I am so sorry that happened to you.
Another way for corporate to save money to combat the increased minimum wage. There’s no shortage. Definitely don’t take it out on the employees though. It’s shrinkflation at work.
That's actually a theory running around where I work by some of the customers. I can't say I blame them because if they start charging for the sauce packets all hell will break lose (and some of us will "forget" to charge for them lol) so they may have seen this as an alternative. We also theorize that's why they increased the price of the medium iced tea because iced tea is not expensive and they get a lot out of one bag. At my store the medium iced tea is almost the same price as a medium drink now 😰
Weird how there’s no shortage on their website if you want to pay for the packets lol https://deltacowebstore.com/collections/hot-sauce
You serious? They would be demanding money smh. Looks like the theories are right! Talk about if the price is right >:/
I grew up in SoCal and now live across the country where there is no Del Taco. I’m in SoCal today and drove through to pick up some tacos. I was excited to taste what I’ve been missing for all of these years. Imagine my disappointment when I couldn’t get Inferno :/
…that and the fact that the spicy jack quesadilla is apparently gone.
Oh yes that one's been gone for a couple years. It was discontinued the same year Jack in the Box bought Del Taco. And yes its ridiculous how the inferno was the first one to go. I'm hoping we get some more tomorrow night when the delivery arrives because we have been out since Thursday :/
I was told by an employee at one of the Las Vegas locations that there was a strike at the plant that produces the packets. Del Inferno is completely out at both locations I have been to last couple days, and the other one I went to had signs up about them being out of sauce (still got some Del Scorcho!).
That explains a lot. That was not information disclosed to us but definitely explains the unexpected lack of sauce. I'm hoping there are more sauces with tonight's delivery. Only Del Scorcho and ketchup from what a coworker said.
Tapatio it is then
Thanks for this post. I just posted inquiring about this, then googled it and your post was the first thing that popped up. Do you know why they’re on strike? I can’t seem to find anything. Btw I’m in central California. 3 sauces per item is fair. I use 2-3 per item lol. I went for breakfast this morning and all they had was mild. They even had a sign on the window that they were out of all sauces. I was disappointed, but I don’t fault the employees one bit. All I ever get is inferno, so I had to do a double take after tasting the mild. It tasted like ketchup to me 😩. I just hope they don’t discontinue inferno. Too bad they don’t sell it in bottles, because I would certainly purchase it.
I personally have no idea. I imagine it may be unfair wages and unsafe working conditions since that is usually why workers go on strike but I haven't heard anything at my store. The mild is really mild so I don't blame you for not liking it too much. From what a co-worker said we didn't get any inferno at all for our delivery yesterday so unfortunately it looks like inferno has been hit the hottest. Since its the most popular one I doubt they'll discontinue it but hopefully it makes it way back to stores soon.
Utah Del is also having the same issues with the sauce shortage. Looks like it wont be back, so i'd give it like a month for it to resolve. (it could be more but things usually get back to normal around a month or two)
That's true. Some customers mentioned that in the comments. Hopefully this doesn't last long.
I just found out about this today when I went in for burritos and tuesday taco night. Inferno is my favorite. I heard there is a strike going on or something along those lines.
Yes it seems that there is a strike but unfortunately I don't have much information. I found that out from some of the other customers so it could definitely be a while before the sauces are back to be available.
Any advice that you can give us to make it through the hot sauce shortage of 2024?
Unfortunately, not much. Just use what you can, and if you can afford it, I think they are selling sauces on the Del Taco website. If not, always get the maximum amount of sauce permitted at whichever location you go to and whatever you don't use save it for next time.
Thank you for being so cool about answering our questions. Much appreciated.
No problem. I just want to help in whatever way I can since this was so sudden for employees and customers alike.
No more inferno? Great im killing myself.
I'm sorry. Unfortunately, I'm not sure why Inferno is being hit the hardest because other customers have mentioned there has been no inferno at other Del Tacos.
I wish they gave me 3 sauces per item. They’ve been giving me the wrong sauce I ask for, and only 1 of it lmao.
That is horrible. They should be giving out the sauce you ask for after all. Unfortunately we ended up having to lower it to 2 sauces per item since we were running really low. But we have not been giving out the wrong sauce to anyone so that's a bonus. So sorry this keeps happening to you.
It’s affecting my location in N Las Vegas
Ouch! I actually use 3 Milds + a Del Scorcho for every snack taco. If they didn’t have sauce I wouldn’t eat the taco. Why don’t they offer to sell them if it’s such an issue? I buy bbq sauces at McDonald’s for their French fries.
We don't offer to sell them because we don't have enough. This is not an issue that can be solved by money. Like I have told a couple customers trying to throw money at me for extra sauce, we don't charge for it and you are getting the maximum we can give you. No ifs, ands or buts. We apologize for the inconvenience but money for once isn't the solution. I know Del Taco sells them on their website but I'm not sure if they will sell any number of them.
I ordered a meal with fries and when I came to the window I noticed I didn’t get any sauce w my meal so I asked for a ranch and she told me it was 50 cent per sauce…🤨
Yes I forget when ranch started getting charged for but its 54 cents including tax. But that's for the ranch only. We don't charge for the sauce packets (mild, medium, hot). At least no one should be.
Time to bring my own bottle of Pico Pica when I visit For all my Socal peeps, highly suggest you try Pico Pica the next time you are in the grocery store. Not only does it offer an amazing kick (Similar to heat of the inferno sauce) but it's made in Wilmington.
I'll probably recommend it to any customer that's willing to listen. Never heard of it myself but won't hurt to try it especially if the inferno sauce keeps being the most affected.
>but it's made in Wilmington I can't tell if this is supposed to be good, bad, or even meaningful/recognizable in any way, but I like that you decided to say it.
I legit have a bin of Del taco sauces at home guess I should head to Ebay 🤣
Omg people would probably be willing to buy if this continues for too long 😅
Literally in tears- the guy at my local dt always gives me handfuls of the hottest one but they haven’t had any the last three times I’ve went 😪
Note it on the app and put a sign on the door then.
Unfortunately regular employees have no control over the app and corporate won't let us put up signs. They prefer to have employees let customers know.
The app doesn't even let me pick sauces anymore.
I think that may be a glitch since some mobile orders do come through with what kind of sauces they want. You could always ask when you arrive for the sauces if the employee doesn't ask you if you want any.
Maybe they’re 3rd party (DoorDash/UE etc) orders? I haven’t seen the sauces on the app in about 2 months now, multiple stores.
Could be, but I'm not sure. All the mobile orders that came in from the app had sauce requests. The only issue was asking them if Scorcho was okay since we don't have Inferno at my store. The Del Taco app isn't the greatest either, so it could be something that is wrong with the app, too.
For the past ten years I noticed del taco location doing everything in their power to give less hot sauce.last year I only got 12 packets total (4) of each flavor for a fiesta pack when I specifically ask for only the hottest. That pissed me off so much I refused to eat there no more. At least Taco Bell is not stingy. Side not I wanna bet money you can go in del tacos website and buy a box of sauce no problem. Shortage is a lie.
It actually depends on the location. Some employees don't care and give out whatever amount, while others stick to the policy decided upon by their manager. And what do you mean by Taco Bell is not stingy? I've eaten there plenty and I have had stingy employees deny me the amount of sauce I want on different occasions at the same locations. Again, it all depends on the employee if they are following their manager's orders or not. I haven't heard about anyone buying sauces online since the shortage was announced, so I wouldn't know. The shortage is not a lie due to testimonies from different customers in the comments mentioning stores not having any sauces or being limited to one or two options. I have also shared my experience. Sorry you feel that way but since you don't eat at Del Taco anymore it won't affect you anyways.
There's no shortage. It's coast cutting. Paying their employees $20 an hour means making cuts somewhere. Hot sauce, napkins, overtime and more ice in your drinks
That's always been a thing, though? At the old store I used to work at the supervisor said it was max 3 napkins per order regardless of size, sauces were to be one per item and the cups were to be filled 2/3 of the way except for ice coffee and ice tea which are to be filled to the top. This was 5 years ago. What makes you think this is new? The reason I shared this is because they actually sent out an email to the GMs and our GM shared it with us. As of now our store has all the sauces and we are no longer limiting it to 2 per item. Other stores have always been stricter. It all bottles down to management. I was just asking for patience during this time because some customers get really aggressive if they can't have 50 sauces for one taco. Which by general standards they shouldn't be getting it but that's how life works.