After 56 years of relying a lot on the intuition of corporate staff and local franchise owners to shape its menu and promotions, Wyoming-born Taco John's is turning to big data to understand its customers better — and specifically to cut into rival Taco Bell's youth market share.

The Cheyenne-founded quick service restaurant chain — don’t call it “fast food” — recently announced a partnership with Bikky, a New York City-based data analysis firm that's making a name for itself among chain restaurants.

The move comes as the company, which began as a small taco stand in the late-1960s before two local businessmen bought the franchise rights in 1969, seeks to blend its uniquely spiced institutional knowledge with modern analytics.

"We have franchisees that have been with us for 50 years and

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