Ivan Flores’ very first dive into cafe ownership arrived in 2013, with the opening of Mexican thought El Encinal.
He did so with out figuring out ample about demographics and menu engineering, and all of his dollars went toward opening the restaurant. The final result was swift and unforgiving.
“Within a few of months, I now was out the doorway,” says Flores, who dreamed of possessing a restaurant when doing work on his grandparents’ El Encinal Ranch in Mexico’s Baja California.
From that preliminary knowledge, Flores not only recognized the significance of genuine estate and value details, but also how to match merchandise with customer demand. A person of El Encinal’s most well known products was Buffalo Fries, and the restaurateur made a decision to make it the hero item for his upcoming job. The merchandise includes golden crisp fries protected in hand-breaded, diced rooster and customers’ option of 12 sauces. Flores also opted for a extra populated area—full of attractive millennials and Gen Z customers—and landed in Very long Beach, California.
That marked the commencing of The Buffalo Location, a speedy-relaxed chain that’s grown to extra than 40 outlets across California, Arizona, and Texas. Identical to what Flores saw at El Encinal, 70 percent of the brand’s company arrives from Buffalo Fries. In 2019, the budding restaurateur additional Blue Burro, a further rapid-support location regarded for its burritos, shakes, and fries, with recipes he stored from his to start with cafe. There are now 3 units in Southern California.
Then in Oct 2021, Flores introduced Tacomasa, a new taqueria he fondly refers to as “one of my toddlers.” The Extended Seashore-based cafe, with its vivid blue, white, and black shade plan, is reminiscent of a taco stand in Tijuana, Mexico, where he grew up. With Latin tunes taking part in in the history, the place products and services reliable tacos, mulitas, tortas, and quesadillas.
Collectively, the trio falls underneath Encinal Manufacturers, with Flores serving as CEO. When every of the a few restaurants occur with distinctive offerings, a single facet unites them—a simple, simple-to-study menu, an notion that was not dropped on Flores when El Encinal closed nearly 10 yrs in the past.
“I’m a correct believer in a basic menu for my workers, for the shoppers,” Flores claims. “It’s super crucial to me. You can also cross-use your menu elements. Owing to the inflation, you’re able to save some cost there.”
The effectively-outlined menus put The Buffalo Spot, Blue Burro, and Tacomasa in a place to franchise, and Flores expects 150-200 openings in the following five many years. The strategy is to improve concentrically out of California, Arizona, Nevada, and Texas. Lately, two Blue Burro stores debuted in Gilbert, Arizona (company) and Lemon Grove, California, (franchise) two Buffalo Place places debuted in San Antonio (franchise) and Arlington (corporate) and a second Tacomasa device is planned for Cypress, California.
“All of my makes are concentrated on all those marketplaces exclusively simply because we want to be capable to guidance our franchisees as we establish,” Flores claims. “Obviously we do want to go nationwide at a person place, but which is a potential goal. As of ideal now, this is our key emphasis and that is just to totally support our franchisees the correct way.”