Mexican chain celebrates 10 years and new menu items

Sarah Stowe

A Mexican franchise has celebrated 10 years in Australia with a bang, with new menu offerings and updated design for its newest flagship Sydney restaurant.

Guzman y Gomez (GYG) celebrated its 10 year milestone on Wednesday, unveiling a new look, company-owned flagship outlet at Australia Square, located in the heart of Sydney’s CBD.GYG celebrates 10 years. Image: Franchise Business

The opening of the new taqueria coincides with GYG’s 10th birthday as the business celebrates a decade since opening its first outlet in Sydney’s Newtown in 2006.

Co-founder Steven Marks reminisced about the experience of starting the first taqueria in Newtown with co-founder Robert Hazan.

“We started in Newtown 10 years ago,” he said.

“But after 10 years we have over 2000 people in our restaurants, we have close to 90 restaurants now. We’re in Australia, we’re in Singapore (and) we’re in Japan.

“The key is that we never compromise on our people …our food and definitely never compromise on the guest experience that we’re so proud to give to everyone that comes to GYG.”

CEO Mark Hawthorne praised the co-founders bringing a relatively new concept to Australia in Mexican food.

“Steven and Robert, they’re pretty inspirational. To start a restaurant chain ten years ago that no one knew anything about is tremendous.

“Someone’s always going to be following us, we always have to stay ahead of them.

“We’ve got new cocktails, we’ve got wine, we’ve got pastries, we’ve got coffee, we’ve got fries and we’re serving for the first time on proper plates and cutlery,” he added.

Marks said that the one off, new look model unveiled on Wednesday represents the versatile look of individual stores.GYG Australia Square. Image: GYG

“Guzman y Gomez is growing fast and we’re in a position to explore big ideas for the brand. One of the things that sets GYG apart is that we’ve never been limited to a single, carbon copy format, but create taquerias with a sense of individuality. Australia Square has been a chance for us to continue experimenting with fitouts and styles as we move into 2017,” he said.

“We are proud to be fast food and have no intention of stopping our expansion of food courts, strips and drive-thru taquerias.”

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