Retail Intel
Retail Intel
Ep. 62: Quesadilla Gorilla
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What happens when a chef treats a tortilla like a canvas and a restaurant like a community lab? Miguel Reyes, cofounder of Quesadilla Gorilla, shares how a tiny Fresno storefront grew into a franchise-ready brand rooted in scratch cooking, playful specials, and authentic connection. We unpack the systems behind consistent quality, the menu philosophy that balances tradition with experimentation, and the real estate strategy that favors grocery-anchored centers over drive-thrus. If you're curious about scaling with soul, Miguel’s transparent roadmap, from focused margaritas to franchisee-led marketing is packed with insights.
People-First Culture And Values
Miguel ReyesI mean, for us, we always say our employees are our number one asset. Again, if you have happy employees, they're gonna serve customers happy, and then the customer is gonna be happy. And so really taking the time to find people that have those same values because yes, at the end of the day, employees are numbers and you have to run your business with status, but again, it's like taking the time to know them. We do like employee appreciation where it's like, hey, you get a chef knife on your year anniversary or you get an Amazon gift card. We make sure that like birthdays are put into our communication platform. So it's just like stuff like that and finding people that have the same values. We created Quesadilla Gorilla to build connections.
Meet Miguel And The Origin Story
Brian SheehanWelcome to Retail Intel, the podcast where we spotlight the most innovative brands reshaping the retail and restaurant landscape. I'm your host, Brian Chian, and today we're thrilled to have Miguel Reyes, founder of Quesadilla Gorilla, joining us. Miguel launched this California-based fast casual concept with his wife, Michaela, in 2013, turning the humble Quesadilla into a movement built on peace, love, and deity. From a tiny storefront in Vitalia to a growing franchise, Miguel's journey is one of grit, creativity, and community. Let's dive into the story behind the brand, the lessons learned along the way, and what's next for Quesadilla Gorilla. Well, Miguel, welcome to the show. How are you doing? Doing good. Yeah, happy to be here. Great. Thanks so much for joining us on the podcast. Um I'd love to start with your background. What were you doing before and what led you and Michaela to launch Quesadilla Gorilla?
Miguel ReyesInitially we met in a restaurant. Um we uh I was pretty much the the I was the head chef in the back and then she was running the front. We were at a a cafe. Uh so they did some lunch, and then our um boss also owned a pizza shop. So I'd work the days there and then go over there at nights. And so um we pretty much were like, hey, we're we're doing this already, let's just go, let's go, let's go do it for ourselves instead. So we did.
Brian SheehanThat's awesome. And I think I read somewhere before that you said the tortilla is a blank canvas. How did that philosophy shape the menu
The Tortilla As A Blank Canvas
Brian Sheehanand brand identity?
Miguel ReyesSo we originally bought a pizza by the slice spot when the original location was to like, hey, let's just do this. We'll do wings, we'll open late night, we're downtown. Our original location was downtown. And uh, you know, one night I was kind of going to bed. I was like, oh, we should do quesadillas. You know, we we could do your your grandma's chili verde, your grandma's salsa, my family's salsa, and so we um really just kind of went all in on on that idea. We do different cheeses. I I'm a sauce guy, like every bite has to have sauce on it. Like I have like 10 different salsas in my fridge and different levels, you know, this one's specifically for eggs, this one's for you know salads, and so when we started this, it was like, all right, we need to have like a base menu of like, hey, here's what you can kind of get every single day. But then again, kind of taking that pizza approach, like you know, we looked everywhere on Main Street and there's a pizza shop everywhere, you know. So it's like, oh, let's let's take that idea and and do quesadillas and do different, you know, build your own menu, and then let's get crazy. So, like the the core of our menu is definitely like authentic Mexican food that just getting the the recipes from my from my wife's family, we're we had just started dating, and it was very much, hey, can we get the chilibre recipes? Like, well, you're not part of the family yet, but uh, you know, it's like, hey, we're we're dating, but we're planning to get married. And even that, it's like there was no recipe. Uh, it's like a little bit of onions, a little bit of tomatillos, a little bit of this, and it's like, wait, wait, wait, let me weigh that before you put it in. And then from there we had to like simplify it and make it more approachable because everything's just super spicy. And so we kind of toned it down a little bit. And then with that, it was just like, all right, here's our base, uh, and then let's do
Breakthroughs: Real Estate, Catering, Bar Program
Miguel Reyescrazy stuff. I mean, we've done anywhere from uh spaghetti and meatball quesadilla to this month we're doing a whiskey-infused barbecue burger, bacon, quesadilla with onion rings in it. So that we kind of have a little bit of fun with our monthly specials. Uh, but again, sauce, it's like, all right, it has a sauce in it, you know, it has a protein. Who everyone loves bacon? And so, but yeah, it's kind of kind of what we went with.
Brian SheehanThose sound delicious. Yeah, thinking about the growth of the brand and like your journey getting to this point, what do you think were some real key pivotal moments that helped Quesadilla Gorilla break through?
Miguel ReyesWhat comes to mind is the mistakes we've made. I mean, you're a real estate guy, and so it's like we we opened a location in a really bad spot, and um, it definitely hurt us and kind of stunted some of our growth. Um, but because of that, it's like we've been a little a a way more selective in where we open, but definitely making that mistake on the flip side of that uh is catering. We do a lot of catering, so we have a uh we we had a food truck up until uh just a couple years ago because the engine blew out. And so we're able to test the the different markets with the food truck. So we had our original location in Viselia, and then from there we're able to open in Fresno, which is 45 minutes away, because they were very food truck friendly, and then from there we opened two locations. One of them was a big flop, the other one's still open today. So, yeah, seeing how much catering adds to your business. I mean, we're doing weddings, we're doing you know, private employee appreciations where you know we go out and make three thousand dollars in an hour or two, and so that as well as two years ago, we added a bar program to our concept. So we kind of took the same approach with quesadillas and we applied it to margaritas, um, and they just go hand in hand. Most people eat one quesadilla, but they'll have three margaritas, and so now our average tickets are going up. The bars, again, we're not we we take the same approach with food where it's like we do everything from scratch, so there's no mixers, it's quality stuff, like we've you know, fresh fruits, um, all that kind of stuff, and we just do it well and simplify it. So I think those were definitely some some big breakthroughs.
Crafting A Brand People Wear
Brian SheehanQuesadilla Gorilla is known for its made from scratch menu, very laid-back vibe, got community-driven culture. How'd you think about building the brand identity? You know, call that kind of from the ground up.
Miguel ReyesWhen we started, uh it was very much like restaurant, like we're restaurant focused. And over the years, that has shifted to like, no, we're a brand, and how do we build a brand, an identity where people like want to uh wear our merch? Uh where it's cool to like, hey, like, you know, it's cool to go to KCD at Gorilla, like, oh, I go to Gorilla all the time, or I go to Dillo, or you know, there's a bunch of you know different ways people say it, but really it was just kind of like how do we how do we make it approachable for most people? Again, these are authentic recipes, but how do we make it approachable where it doesn't feel like a hole in the wall? It feels unsafe to go there, and so we kind of just made it look cool. And we did that with our social media and some of the videos that we recently started doing, um, and just again like building up the hype with like, hey, I want to be here, you know, where um I have uh four kids myself, and so it's like all right, like yes, we have a bar, but we still want to be family friendly, and so how do we accomplish that? It's like, no, we're not a sports bar. You're still gonna be able to have a conversation when you come in, but again, there's something there's I mean, we got high schoolers, old people, um, we got you know, um anything, everything in between.
Media Boost And Ambassador Strategy
Brian SheehanSo I read that there was an article in the Fresno B that gave you guys a boost kind of early on, and it's I don't know, fun thinking about legacy media and how that can help propel a brand forward. I'm curious kind of how you think about that and how important community has been and that local media in your growth.
Miguel ReyesYeah, uh, I mean, that article is was definitely a game changer. I mean, uh, back in the day when we first started, like 30 quesadillas was a good day. It's like, cool, we made 300 bucks, you know? And that article came out and we went from like 300 to like 1200 overnight, and and it was like we we we were just not prepared for that. We were running out of food left and right. Uh, we had a couch upstairs at the time, so I was like sleeping in the restaurant cooking food throughout the night. Uh, and people are like coming in with their newspaper, like, oh, I saw you in the newspaper, you know. So definitely like media has been a huge hit for us, and so now we're doubling down on that, and so we're kind of stepping into more macro influencers. And just recently we we're launching a a brand ambassadors where we reach out to local influencers uh who already love us, we're calling them dilla dillers, and so like with that, they are going to you know be posting about us, and and again, it's like like be authentic, like tell us what why you come in all the time, you know, and and some of their reach, it's like you know, there's some videos to get you know a hundred thousand likes. It's like, how do you like you're a stay-home mom? How are you getting this much traction on your on your stuff? And so seeing that as like another um added benefit to like reach more people.
Brian SheehanYou've
Founder Balance And Building A Team
Brian Sheehanbeen really candid about the toll that entrepreneurship can take. And I find it fascinating on this podcast. And I'm fortunate I get to speak with founders, people like yourself who have built, you know, a really interesting and innovative brand. But I wonder if you could talk about kind of the personal side of building a business while raising a family. How do you balance that?
Miguel ReyesUm, well, I didn't for a long time. Um, it was definitely everything that I had went to the business. It was just very much like, you know, early mornings, late nights. And my wife was very supportive the whole time. I mean, she she works just as hard as I do. Um, and I think that's why we fell in love. But now it's been more of like, okay, this isn't sustainable. We need to really shuffle the deck of cards and how do we how do we build this uh to where uh this isn't built around me. Um, this is a built around like the people that work here. And so I'm sure we'll talk about it in a little bit, but we have some big plans for expansion, but um with that, it's like getting the people who've been with us for five, six years. It's like, hey, like you're gonna be stepping into this new position because we need you to, um, so that we have that balance, you know, um, and even personally making moves to where it's like my phone is getting put on the charger when I get home at five o'clock. Yes, I go over there and check it still from you know, when my wife's not looking, but it's like the intention of like, hey, like I'm going to try to put this down, shut work off, so I can I can be here for family, and then when I need to be here for work, then I'm here for work. So there's definitely been a little bit more balance uh recently in that regard.
Brian SheehanWell, and you've brought up kind of the future and expansion.
Franchising Strategy And Ideal Partners
Brian SheehanYou guys have recently leaned into franchising, correct?
Miguel ReyesYeah, we we started franchising um probably about 18 months ago is when we actually like officially launched franchising. Uh we've probably been working on it for about three years or so, just getting all the SOPs, training videos. You know, it's like, hey, like we know how to do this like the back of our hand. Um it's really easy. So how do we get uh how are we going to support and build that? I would say like last year was definitely like the first year where it's like, all right, like we're we're going all in on that.
Brian SheehanSo you talked about wanting to find more uh Miguel's and Michaela's. What's that mean in terms of franchise culture and kind of the values, you know, and thinking about the type of partners you're looking for?
Miguel ReyesYeah, I mean, for us, you know, we always say our employees are our number one asset. Again, if you have happy employees, they're gonna serve customers happy, and then the customer is gonna be happy. And so really taking the time to find people that have those same values because yes, at the end of the day, employees are numbers and you have to run your business with the status, but again, it's like taking the time to know them. We do like employee appreciation where it's like, hey, you get a chef knife on a on your year anniversary, or you get you know, an Amazon gift card. We make sure that like birthdays are put into the our communication platform, you know. So it's just like stuff like that, um, and finding people that have those same values, uh, and then past that again, it's the customer service, you know. Like we created K C Dia Grill to build connections, you know, like we're not a fast food joint, it takes a little bit longer to get food. I mean, not in comparison to fast food, you know, but we're really built on creating and crafting connection through K C Diaz, and that's just kind of what we're about. You know, if people are in that same vein, then it's like, okay, we can talk, you know, the financials, the, you know, the experience.
Consistency Versus Innovation On Menu
Miguel ReyesLike, yes, you do need to have some experience, but it's it's those values and visions that if like if we can't line up, I don't I don't care how much money you have or how many locations you want to buy, it's just it's gonna be more of a headache down the road.
Brian SheehanIt's just so fascinating. You know, a quesadilla is one of those shareable food items. I love them. I'm thinking about how many times in my life I've probably shared a quesadilla with someone, you know, like and but it never occurred to me that it's a food item built in a way that allows for people to make connections.
Miguel ReyesYeah, I mean, it's been cool to see like first dates down to uh now we're catering their wedding, now we're catering their one-year uh their baby's birthday, and it's like, hey, you got a KCDA caterer for your one-year birthday, like this is for you, not for your baby. Let's just be honest, you know. But yeah, it's uh it's just been yeah, it's cool to see the relationships built externally and internally, you know.
Brian SheehanOne thing I find pretty fascinating about franchising is you know how you balance brand consistency with allowing franchisees some flexibility, and you see it play out in different ways across different brands. And and sounds like it's still sort of early on in the journey for you in terms of franchising, but how do you think about that?
Miguel ReyesYeah, I mean, I I definitely what comes to mind is the whole McDonald's approach. You know, it's like the all all the good ideas have come from franchisees. You know, we've done one thing and that's it from the very beginning. Yes, we have a secret menu. It's like you can get, you know, a quesarito with with no cheese in it, and it's it's pretty much a burrito, but we don't call it that. You can do a quesadilla with no uh tortilla and it's a
Footprint, Markets, And Expansion Plans
Miguel Reyesbowl. We have small corn tortillas for gluten-free people, and they're again we don't say they they're pretty much tacos, uh, but they're like these grilled, you know, mini quesadillas, what we call them. And so some of the stuff when it comes to like menus, like, hey guys, like we've been doing this for 12 years now. Oh, we're we're celebrating 12 years next month, and it's like this is what's worked for us. Like, we're open to hear ideas as far as like menu, but like just try this first and sell this first, you know. Like, this is like get people in the door, have them try the food, and I guarantee they'll they'll be back. And so, um, but when it comes to like marketing stuff, it's like you know, like we have uh we have a a franchise in a college town in in San Luis Obispo and our franchisees there, it's like, hey, can we try this? Can we try that? It's like, yeah, let's try it, you know. Um, so we're open to to trying new things. Um again, we're I think that's what I'm looking forward to the most with franchising is like coming into connections with these other franchisees who have a different experience, who probably have, you know, a a different perspective on operations or uh or marketing or financing or whatever it might be. And so taking that and adding that to the value of Casey Dia Gorilla for our own stores and for other franchisees.
Brian SheehanYour menus I would say kind of simple and creative, um, and you have a lot of you know fun names for the different items on the menu. How do you think about kind of balancing consistency with some of the innovation? The so you mentioned a couple of the different um ones, like a meatball and spaghetti quesadilla. How do you think about balancing consistency and innovation?
Miguel ReyesYeah, I mean I like I feel the biggest jump for us was from one location to two locations. It's like, oh yeah, we
Real Estate Lessons And Site Criteria
Miguel Reyescan do this. And we just had nothing ready. Like we had no SOPs, we had no training videos. It was an eye-opener that it's like, oh, we did everything here. And so um since then, we've again we've put a lot of like focus, spent a lot of money on training videos to have that consistency where it's like to have the same quesadilla two and a half hours away and us not be there is like okay, great. We nail in on that side of things, but again, just like the the innovation piece that's I have tattoos on my arms and it says cook to live, live to cook. Uh and so, like again, I love cooking, like it's just like a passion of mine. When I was five, I was the kid that was like, Hey, like, I want to open my own restaurant, and so and and here I am. And so um I was always stirring stuff in the in the kitchen, you know. I wasn't playing video games with my brother. It was just like, hey, I'm trying this, trying this, hey, add this, you know, to it. And so uh like right now we're getting we're getting ready to launch uh some some churros uh adding to the menu. We're looking at some new sides to the menu, and so that's like this is what I get really excited about of like okay, here's a product that uh is going to be new, and so it's really exciting, and I can do this and cook this all day long, but how do I simplify this to where we do have that consistency across all the locations? And then from there, how do we scale this? How do we like I made a small batch now? How do I make this times 50? How do I make this more efficient? And so that part is is definitely the the part that I like for sure.
Brian SheehanWe could probably do a whole episode on you know how do you scale things, and I can't wait to try the churros. I'm sure those are gonna be amazing. And congratulations on 12 years, by the way. That's that's really awesome, especially for somebody who had a vision, you know, as a kid to have his own restaurant. That's that's really exciting. How many locations are
Who The Core Customer Is
Brian Sheehanthere now? And what's the ideal size for Quesadilla Gorilla Restaurant now and going forward?
Miguel ReyesYeah, so currently we have uh five locations. Uh two of those are franchised. Uh, and then we're opening up our third franchised unit uh at the end of this year, pretty close to us. And then we're actually will be opening our first out-of-state store in spring of next year in Idaho. So that one I'm sure we'll kind of get into uh a little bit, but uh that one will technically uh be a franchise location, but it'll it'll also act as our new headquarters as we're actually looking to relocate um to Idaho personally.
Brian SheehanSo what market in Idaho have you guys already landed on a location?
Miguel ReyesYeah, uh we have a lot of family in Moscow, Idaho. So uh University of Idaho there, New St. Andrews, uh, and then it borders Washington University. So the the plan is
Five-Year Vision And Franchise Fund
Miguel Reyesto kind of open three locations there in the next couple years, uh pretty close to each other and start building the market there.
Brian SheehanAnd what's the uh the right size uh square footage wise for your restaurant?
Miguel ReyesUh so we have two different options. You know, with the full bar, you know, some states, some locations, you're not gonna be able to get a full liquor license, which again, part of it of why we're expanding out of state, um, it's a little bit easier in some areas. Um so with a location with a full bar, we're looking at like 2,000 square feet. And again, it's not a full-on tons of drinks, but it's more of an express uh full bar type of option, but it has full liquor that focuses on tequila. Where if you don't have alcohol and you do just have beer, because again, you have to have you have to have at least beer on on the menu, you're looking at like a 1400 uh to 1600 square foot spot.
Brian SheehanYou had talked uh before. I mean, it sounds like you've had a lot of uh experience in terms of finding you know real estate, good real estate. I was thinking about I'm curious about what you know, if there were some common threads that the locations that flopped or didn't do as well had in common. What have you learned about kind of real estate, what works well for Quesadilla Gorilla?
Miguel ReyesYeah, we actually had um some colleagues of ours come down to kind of talk about doing something with them. And uh so we did a site walk of all our locations and it was just like, hey, you have a great brand, you have great food, uh, you have terrible real estate. And it was just like, ouch. And so uh he was like, all of your locations are very destination-based where you know you have to be coming to downtown to try our food. Most of our locations are located in downtowns, uh, because again, community aspect, you know, all you know, all everyone's coming in here. But seeing it for what it is, it's like, hey, sometimes parking's terrible, you know, you have to drive around the block a couple times, versus uh what we're shifting to now is the Target shopping centers. I mean, you you've all people know it's like you have to have good
Advice To First-Time Restaurateurs
Miguel Reyesanchor tenants uh to bring people, and so uh rather than trying to get people to come downtown, it's like let's go where people are ready going. They're going to the grocery store, they're going to Walmart, they're going to Costco, they're going to Target. And so those are going to be the the locations that we're that we're targeting moving forward.
Brian SheehanAre you going to be targeting inline spaces? Are you looking for end caps? Do you think you need a drive-through?
Miguel ReyesUh definitely inline again for our concept. Like, you know, I think drive-throughs is again, you can't accomplish that connection piece. And again, it's like we're we're just not fast food. And so um, you know, I think definitely the inline spaces, so like being next to like a Dutch Bros, being next to you know, Jersey Mike's, like these brands that people kind of already know. And so that's kind of what what we're looking for. And again, it's like the price per square foot, you know, is gonna be much cheaper, you know. A drive-thru you're looking any easily, you know, north of a million dollars to build out versus you know, on our end, anywhere from like 450 to 850. So that's definitely gonna go down as we continue to grow too.
Brian SheehanSo and what are the right demographics for you? Who's your kind of core customer?
Miguel ReyesUm, core customer, I would I'd definitely say the young working professional, you know, looking to grab a quick bite. Couples who, you know, young families are definitely a big ticket item. But really, our customers is everything, you know, it's like everyone loves quesadillas, so it's like again, you get, you know, my my daughter loves cheese and bacon in her quesadillas. Uh, and then the same old guy loves cheese and bacon in his quesadillas. So there really is for something for everything. And then again, we have margaritas for mom and beers for dads.
Brian SheehanSo yeah, I like all those. I like cheese and bacon in my quesadillas, I like margaritas. Yeah. Um, thinking about the future, I guess. Last couple questions for you. What's next for quesadilla gorilla? Where do you want to see the brand go over the next three to five years?
Miguel ReyesYeah, for us, we are kind of again reshuffling the cards. Uh, last year we spent a ton of money, a ton of time just like spending on marketing, trying to find leads. And rather than spending all that time and effort on like leads, we're just like, hey, let's just go do this ourselves. And so what we're doing now is we're actually raising our own private fund where um that fund is essentially going to acquire our corporate stores uh and convert them to franchises as well as open uh more franchises. And so we're we're looking to continue to expand in California because I think it's still a great market to expand into. But we're looking to expand into Idaho, uh, Nevada, as well as Tennessee. And so currently we have some connections in each one of those states. And the plan is to open uh 14 more stores over the next like five years or so, and and kind of again all still be under this franchise, this franchise arm. So these will technically be franchises. And so what we're trying to accomplish is hey, I'm going to build a portfolio of what your portfolio could look like. It's like I'm gonna pay my myself royalty fees, I'm gonna pay my like the same franchise fees and royalties fees and marketing, like like I'm going to essentially show you that like, hey, this can be done, and we are gonna take it out of state ourselves because we're we're confident that this is gonna work in these different markets. Uh, and then from there, strategy-wise, now we have support in these areas to where it's like, hey, like we're ready to open East Coast, like guess who's supporting the East Coast is gonna be the Tennessee branch, you know, and so as far as like travel-wise, you have you know support there where it's like franchisee needs uh, you know, some help. We're sending someone from Tennessee versus California versus Idaho, but then we'll continue to franchise in those areas. So like right now we're uh targeting uh kind of the Franklin area, and it's like you know, we're hoping to find the right franchisee to take over the whole Nashville, to take over Knoxville, to take over Chattanooga, because again, these are all very prime markets that uh like ACD Agrill is going to work. And again, a liquor license is 500 bucks in Tennessee. And so we will kind of be the footprint and kind of
Closing And Where To Connect
Miguel Reyesdo what we did here in California, but in these other markets, and then continue to franchise um to other franchisees.
Brian SheehanThat's awesome. Miguel, one last question for you, I guess. In thinking about you, there's a lot of entrepreneurs I think that listen to this podcast who are interested in opening maybe their first restaurant location or store location. And for those folks, you know, what's a piece of advice you would give to them?
Miguel ReyesThe first thing that always comes to mind is like, don't do it. Um no, but when it comes down to the restaurant space, like if people, if they don't one, if they don't have the experience or they don't have the capital, um, I always tell them start small. Like we started our original location was 400 square feet. I mean, our rent was $400 a month. Uh, and so it kind of was like a pop-up. And so I typically tell people, hey, test a market, do a pop-up at the farmer's market. Do people even want what you what you're offering? And then from there, you know, now you now you have some traction, now you have some data that can I do this and pay for this much rent. Now I have an overhead, now I have employees, and so versus like just jumping in and spending anywhere from 300,000 and up on a new concept that you haven't even tested. So that's that's definitely um I tell people to start there.
Brian SheehanWell, Miguel, that's excellent advice, and it was great speaking with you today. Thanks for joining me on Retail Intel. Yeah, be sure to check out Quesadilla Gorilla in person and follow them on Instagram and TikTok at Quesadilla Gorilla. Whether you're an aspiring real estate mogul, a seasoned pro, or simply curious about the places where we shop, dine, play, and work, this podcast is your all access past in the world of commercial real estate. Connect with me on LinkedIn, and if you're interested in being a part of the Retail Intel podcast, send a message to nationalaccounts at PhilipsEdison.com. If you want to hear more about new and expanding brands, keep tuning in to Retail Intel. And please subscribe, follow, like, and repost. Talk to you next time.