Privacy Policy

Last Updated: July 17, 2026

This Privacy Policy describes how Taco Buddha, LLC (“Taco Buddha,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, and shares information when you visit or interact with tacobuddha.com (the “Site”) and our restaurant locations in University City, Kirkwood, and St. Louis, Missouri.

Who We Are

Our website address is: https://tacobuddha.com. Taco Buddha, LLC operates this website along with three restaurant locations in the greater St. Louis, Missouri area.

What Personal Data We Collect and Why We Collect It

Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, along with the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string. We use Akismet, a service operated by Automattic, to help detect and filter spam comments. Akismet’s privacy policy is available at https://automattic.com/privacy/.

An anonymized string created from your email address (a “hash”) may be sent to the Gravatar service to check whether you use it. The Gravatar service’s privacy policy is available at https://automattic.com/privacy/. Once your comment is approved, your profile picture is visible publicly alongside your comment.

Media
If you upload images to the website, please avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors to the website can view and extract location data from images that include it.

Contact Forms
Our Site uses two form plugins: Contact Form 7 and WPForms. When you submit a form, we collect the information you provide (such as your name, email address, and message). This information is used solely to respond to your inquiry.

Submissions made through both Contact Form 7 (via the CFDB7 add-on) and WPForms are stored indefinitely in our own website database so we can review and respond to past inquiries; they are not sent to any third party and are not automatically deleted. A cookie (wpfuuid) is also set to track WPForms interactions and is retained for up to 11 years.

Online Ordering, Rewards, and Gift Cards
Online ordering for takeout and pickup is handled through Toast, Inc. via order.tacobuddha.com. When you place an order, your order details and payment information are collected and processed by Toast, not stored directly on our own servers. Our “Peace Points” rewards program is also run through Toast (toasttab.com). Please review Toast’s privacy policy for details on how they handle your data: https://pos.toasttab.com/privacy-policy.

If we offer gift cards through a separate provider, that provider will similarly process your payment information; we do not store full payment card details ourselves.

Newsletter Sign-Up
If you sign up for our Kirkwood or University City newsletter, your email address is collected through OptinMonster, a form and popup tool. Your email address may be passed to an email marketing platform to send you newsletters and marketing communications.  You can unsubscribe at any time using the link included in each email you receive from us.

Cookies
Our Site uses cookies to operate certain features, understand site usage, and (only with your consent) run analytics tools. A full list of the cookies we use, their purpose, and how long they last is available on our Cookie Policy page. Non-essential cookies, including analytics cookies, are not set until you provide consent through the cookie banner on our Site.

If you leave a comment on our site, you may opt in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies for your convenience so you don’t have to re-enter your details for future comments. These cookies last one year.

If you visit our login page, we set a temporary cookie to check if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we also set cookies to save your login information and screen display choices. Login cookies last two days, and screen option cookies last a year. If you select “Remember Me,” your login persists for two weeks. Logging out removes your login cookies.

If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie is saved in your browser. It contains no personal data, only the post ID of the article you edited, and expires after 1 day.

Embedded Content From Other Websites
Pages on this Site may include embedded content, such as our Instagram feed and Google Maps location maps. Embedded content from other websites behaves exactly as if you visited that other website directly.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content — including tracking your interaction if you have an account and are logged into that website (for example, Instagram/Meta or Google).

Analytics
We use Google Analytics (GA4), managed through the MonsterInsights plugin, to understand how visitors use our Site, including which pages are viewed and how visitors navigate the Site. Google Analytics collects information such as your IP address and device/browser identifiers, which is transmitted to Google. This data collection only occurs after you provide consent through our cookie banner.

You can learn more about how Google handles this data in Google’s Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy. You can also opt out of Google Analytics tracking across all websites by installing Google’s opt-out browser add-on: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Who We Share Your Data With

We share personal data with the following categories of third parties:

Google (Google Analytics and Google Maps), for website analytics purposes (only after you consent) and to display store location maps. OptinMonster and MailChimp, to collect newsletter sign-ups and send marketing communications. Toast, Inc., to process online orders, payments, and our Peace Points rewards program. Cloudflare, for website security and performance (content delivery, bot protection). Automattic (Akismet and Gravatar), for spam filtering and to display commenter profile pictures. Meta/Instagram, through our embedded Instagram feed.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

How Long We Retain Your Data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely so we can recognize and approve follow-up comments automatically rather than holding them in a moderation queue.

For registered users (if any), we store the personal information in their user profile. Users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time, except their username. Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

Contact Form 7 and WPForms submissions are retained indefinitely in our own database; we do not currently have an automatic deletion schedule in place for either. Analytics data collected through Google Analytics is retained according to Google’s default retention settings of 14 months.

What Rights You Have Over Your Data
If you have an account on this Site or have left comments, you can request an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you’ve provided. You can also request that we erase personal data we hold about you. This doesn’t include data we’re required to retain for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

To make a request, contact us using the information below.

Where We Send Your Data
Visitor comments are checked through Akismet, an automated spam-detection service. Data shared with the third parties listed above (Google, OptinMonster, MailChimp, Toast, Cloudflare, Automattic, Meta/Instagram) may be processed on servers located outside of Missouri, including in other U.S. states.

Your Contact Information
For questions about this Privacy Policy or to exercise your data rights, contact us at:

Taco Buddha, LLC Email: info@tacobuddha.com Phone: (314) 502-9951

How We Protect Your Data
We use industry-standard security measures, including Cloudflare’s security services, to help protect personal data collected through our Site from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

What Data Breach Procedures We Have in Place
In the event of a data breach affecting personal information we hold, we will take reasonable steps to investigate, contain, and remediate the incident, and will notify affected individuals and applicable regulators as required by law.

What Third Parties We Receive Data From
We may receive data from Meta/Instagram in connection with our embedded Instagram feed, and from Automattic/Gravatar in connection with commenter profile pictures.

What Automated Decision-Making and/or Profiling We Do With User Data
We do not perform automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects on visitors.

Children’s Privacy
Our Site is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The “Last Updated” date at the top of this page reflects the most recent changes.

Industry Regulatory Disclosure Requirements
Taco Buddha, LLC operates exclusively in Missouri and does not currently meet the applicability thresholds of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). If applicable law provides you with additional rights, including under state privacy laws, please contact us using the information above to make a request.