The Devil Is in the Details: Mike Rypka and the Torchy's Tacos Story

This is not your everyday restaurant story.

In 2006—before food trucks were cool—Mike Rypka had a used trailer, a red vespa, and a resolute dream of opening a taco joint. Zipping around Austin, Texas, making deliveries and spreading the word, he staked his reputation on a menu of experimental tacos coined by customers as "Damn good!"

Over 100 brick-and-mortar locations later, a lot has changed at Torchy's Tacos, but the dedication to honesty and originality remains—alongside Rypka's memories of the steppingstones and wild chances that brought him here. 

In The Devil Is in the Details, bestselling author Don Yaeger takes readers on a madcap journey of redemption, risk and ultimately reward, chronicling the pivotal choices and hard-earned wisdom that went into building a restaurant chain from the ground up.

This thrilling story touches all corners of the restaurant industry, from Rypka's rock-bottom teenage years working his first job as a fry cook, to country clubs and corporate kitchens, to the recent, unprecedented challenge of expanding his business during the coronavirus pandemic.

Part love story, part biography, part manifesto. What is depicted in these pages is not just the history of a taco restaurant, but an account of the people behind a beloved brand, its quirky culture and its big heart.

Don Yaeger is an 11-time New York Times bestselling author, longtime associate editor at Sports Illustrated, and one of the most in-demand public speakers on the corporate circuit today. He delivers an average of 70 speeches a year to an average annual audience of nearly 100,000. He also hosts the popular Corporate Competitor Podcast. He lives in Tallahassee, Florida with his wife and two children.