Who owns tijuana flats

Under the leadership of a new brand-fanatic CEO and well-capitalized ownership group, Tijuana Flats is back in the franchise game.

Founded in , the Tex-Mex chain initially opened corporate and franchise locations, but in opted to focus on new company stores and the handful of franchisees already in the system.

Then watching it grow over the years as I came in and out of Florida many times, you could see it was. I gave an award to a gentleman who was also celebrating his 25th year. How often do you see that? That was always something you could see at Tijuana Flats. The pep in the stores and the passion at the home office helped the brand slog through the worst periods of the pandemic, and its many restaurant patios were an immense help as dining moved outside the four walls.

He said it was a lot like starting from scratch, with a new customer relationship management system, new PR company and then digging through the proverbial inquiry box for a second deal, also in Florida. The trick is getting the Tijuana Flats name out there. He said corporate will open two or three company stores a year and a couple franchise locations as it gets the word out to prospective franchisees. The first location was in a strip mall, opened by Brian Wheeler, then an inexperienced something-year-old who had to borrow the necessary money from his father.

But what Wheeler did have on his side was timing. The fast-casual Tex-Mex industry that has come to dominate the country's restaurant scene was just taking on steam in the s when Tijuana Flats opened its doors. Since then, Tijuana Flats has expanded to more than locations and the business continues to grow. That puts it among the top 20 U. It also makes Tijuana Flats one of the country's largest restraint chains of any kind. It's even more impressive considering that, opposed to nationwide chains Taco Bell and Chipotle, Tijuana Flats is almost entirely isolated to just one state.

The chain has one location in Virginia, two in Indiana, and five in North Carolina. The remaining plus stores are all in Florida.

From the mids through the early s, Tijuana Flats slowly but surely expanded its footprint with new locations. These consisted of both corporate-owned and franchise stores.

In , however, the company switched up its business model and stopped accepting new franchisees, according to Franchise Times. Instead, it focused on opening more corporate restaurants as well as working with franchise owners already in the system.

The move apparently worked, as Tijuana Flats grew to more than corporate locations and nearly two dozen franchise stores. But after a year hiatus, Tijuana Flats announced in that it's getting back into the franchising game via Franchising. Believe it or not, the first thing you notice upon entering a Tijuana Flats restaurant likely won't be the irresistible smell of burritos, quesadillas, and chimichangas.

Every location is adorned with brightly colored, hand-painted murals unique to that particular store. The murals are meant to pay homage to the restaurant's local community.

The chain's Indiana locations in Fishers and Noblesville, Indiana, for example, sport murals featuring race cars and farmland with the Indianapolis skyline in the background. And in May, Tijuana Flats remodeled its Longwood, Florida location, complete with a brand-new mural featuring a native bald cypress tree. According to QSR , Longwood was home to the largest such tree until it burned down in In its honor, the mural depicts a scientist trying to re-grow the tree with a hot sauce-based formula.

If you're a believer that there is nothing better in life than free food — and who isn't? The chain never ceases to find an opportunity to give its customers free grub. Tijuana Flats kicked off the food giveaways in with a special Super Bowl promotion.

On February 6 and 7, guests were offered a free gallon drink as well as a free dessert with the purchase of a taco or burrito take-home meal kit. Catering orders for 10 or more people also received free drinks and desserts. The free food offerings haven't slowed down since February. Already in , Tijuana Flats has given away such items as free side dips on National Chip and Dip Day , free kid's meals during Easter weekend, free entrees for teachers and nurses during their respective appreciation weeks , free appetizers for graduates each Sunday during graduation season , and free queso on, you guessed it, National Queso Day.

If all this wasn't enough, Tijuana Flats just wrapped up a sweepstakes promotion in which customers had the chance to win free tacos for a year. One of the first additions Tijuana Flats founder Brian Wheeler made to his growing restaurant was a "hot bar", where customers could add the hot sauce of their choosing via Orlando Sentinel.

After all, what's a burrito without some hot sauce? But Wheeler wanted to go one step further and create a signature hot sauce for the restaurant.

After some trial and error and enlisting some professional help the recipe was ready. They're available both at the restaurants as well as for individual sale. As the name implies, the Death Wish sauces are dangerously hot.

Since then, Tijuana Flats has grown to restaurants in four very lucky states. While most college grads would be stoked just to own their own restaurant, Brian had a burning desire to go beyond burritos.

But the truth is, we care deeply about the people in our company, restaurants and communities. Which is why we attract the best-of-the-best team members who engage with guests from the time they walk in to the time they leave.

We may be fast casual, but everyone at Tijuana Flats takes the time to truly care. Since day one, Tijuana Flats has always given back to the community. But in January , we created the Just in Queso Foundation to give back even more. Much more.

We give back internally too through team member scholarships, a team member assistance fund and other in-house initiatives. And we proudly celebrate every person and every community with Tex Mex For All. That nicely sums up what we do. But who are we at our core and what do we believe?