Torchy’s, with restaurants in Austin, Houston and Dallas-Ft. Worth, claims that Texas Taco, a chain of three stores, used Torchy’s “Taco Bible” to create a nearly identical menu. According to the complaint, a former employee of Torchy’s stole the book of detailed recipes. The cook now allegedly works at Texas Taco, where some items with identical descriptions have appeared on the menu.

The plaintiff claims that its recipes constitute trade secrets because they detail start-to-finish processes describing the order in which ingredients are cooked and how they are combined.

According to the lawsuit, a Torchy’s manager viewed security footage that showed an employee hiding the Taco Bible under his shirt and exiting the restaurant. The manager called the employee and demanded he return the book, which he did approximately six hours later. He was then fired.

Two months later, Torchy’s claims that a manager visited Texas Taco Co. and found the ex-employee working there and nearly identical items on the menu.

According to a local news report, some of the descriptions on the menus of the two restaurants are duplicated verbatim.

Torchy’s claims that the ex-employee provided Texas Taco with trade secrets in violation of a nondisclosure agreement he signed.

Gregory D. Jordan is a business lawyer and business litigation attorney in Austin, TX. To learn more, visit http://www.theaustintriallawyer.com or call 512-419-0684.

The lawsuit, filed in Harris County, claims that a former Torchy’s employee stole the company’s “Taco Bible,” which contains detailed recipes. The grill cook now works for Texas Taco, where the menu items are allegedly duplicated. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and an injunction requiring Texas Taco to stop using confidential information gained from Torchy’s.

Although a taco recipe may seem like something that is generally known, and therefore not capable of being a trade secret, Torchy’s says that its Taco Bible and “Build Book” are different because they contain detailed start-to-finish processes of the way that food ingredients are combined, the order in which they are cooked and the manner in which they are assembled.

The lawsuit claims that Torchy’s Chef Michael Rypka — who started the company in Austin in 2006 with a motor scooter and food trailer — personally developed or approved all the menu items and “food concepts and food designs” served at the restaurants.

The lawsuit claims that a security camera at Torchy’s captured a then-employee putting a copy of the Taco Bible under his shirt and then exiting the restaurant. According to the lawsuit, a manager saw the security video and demanded that the employee return the book, which he did approximately six hours later. The employee was then fired.

The complaint alleges that approximately two months after the incident, Torchy’s discovered that the new Texas Taco restaurant in Baytown, approximately 30 miles outside Houston, had a similar menu. A Torchy’s manager visited the restaurant and claims he found the ex-employee working there and nearly-identical items on the menu.

According to a local news report, the descriptions of some items on Texas Taco’s menu are a word-for-word match to Torchy’s menu items, with only the name of the item changed. A taco that Texas Taco named the “William Travis” has the same 27-word description as the item that Torchy’s calls the “Republican.” The same is allegedly true for other items, including quirks such as the use of all-capitalized letters for some ingredients.

The lawsuit alleges that the ex-employee gave trade secrets to Texas Taco in violation of a nondisclosure agreement that he signed with Torchy’s.

Gregory D. Jordan is an Austin business attorney and business litigation lawyer. To learn more, visit http://www.theaustintriallawyer.com or call 512-419-0684.