Fast Taco owners dream of taking authentic Mexican restaurant chain nationwide
Fast Taco owners Armando and Jesus Cruz have one goal for their burgeoning Mexican restaurant chain: Open locations all over the country.
“I want to see this company like McDonald's,” Armando said.
Yes, like McDonald's. At least when it comes to speedy service and franchising locations across the United States. So far, Fast Taco has grown from one location in Chilton to have quick service restaurants in Green Bay, Kaukauna, Sheboygan and Manitowoc. Plus, there are Fast Taco food trucks you'll find often in Appleton, Menasha and elsewhere in northeast Wisconsin.
When it comes to the food, Fast Taco will stick with its authentic Mexican fare. Seasoned pork, ground beef and shredded chicken put a spicy (but not hot) bite in tortillas, in tortas and on nachos. But the most popular meat with customers is steak carnitas.
Inspired by ‘The Founder’
Fast Taco wasn't always fast. And it served a lot more than tacos.
The Cruz brothers, like the McDonald brothers, revamped their first restaurant concept.
The restaurant that would become Fast Taco started in 2014 as part of Lupita's Mexican Store in Chilton.
Jesus Cruz would have continued with the dine-in restaurant concept, but Armando didn't like it because it wasn't fast enough. It took too long to make the food and for tables to turn over.
Then they went to see “The Founder,” a movie about Roy Kroc and the founding of McDonald's.
One scene in particular caught their attention. Richard and Maurice “Mac” McDonald tell Ray Kroc that they closed their barbecue drive-in, got rid of most of their menu items, and developed the “Speedee Service System” to focus on their bestsellers — hamburgers, fries and soda — which accounted for 87% of their sales.
“They were kind of in the same boat as we were,” Jesus said.
On Lupita's menu of about 50 items, nearly 90% of sales were tacos. Armando and Jesus decided to focus on tacos, burritos, tortas, nachos and quesadillas. Each item comes with a choice of meat, including beef tongue, and varying combinations of toppings.
Tacos are still the bestseller and come either as American (meat, flour tortilla, cheese, lettuce, tomato and sour cream) or Mexican (meat, corn tortilla, cilantro, onion, lime wedge) style.
The selling point that makes burritos popular might be the massive size as they are stuffed with, well, just about everything — meat, beans, rice, cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado and sour cream.
The 14-inch quesadilla (a 7-inch version is also available) — filled with meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado and sour cream — is a full meal unto itself. For what it's worth, Armando says the quesadilla is his favorite.
The torta — filled with meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado and beans — is a two-hand and five-napkin (at least) endeavor.
While the brothers are united in their business goal, when it comes to their house-made salsa, Jesus likes the milder green, and Armando likes the hotter red.
Armando said having fewer menu items allows them to deliver consistent food with fast service.
While Fast Taco deploys food trucks across northeastern Wisconsin, the focus is on adding physical restaurants.
As the business grows, Jesus likes that Fast Taco makes authentic food and fast service available to anybody.
“When somebody comes and tells me the tacos are very good and they are like the ones I ate in California or Texas or reminds me of home, I feel good when that happens,” Jesus said.
From Mexico to management
Armando and Jesus grew up in central Mexico before arriving in the San Diego area in search of better-paying
jobs.
Jesus said they came to America with nothing and didn't know English.
After about six years working in San Diego and looking for affordable housing, they moved to Chilton in 2005 and 2006 on advice from another family member. Indeed, they found rent and homes far more economical in Wisconsin than California.
Jesus and Armando went from working in factories to farms. Eventually both rose to be managers.
That's when the entrepreneurial thoughts took root as both started thinking if they could manage somebody else's business, they could run their own business.
Seeing a need for a store and restaurant serving the Hispanic community in Chilton, they opened Lupita's Mexican Store with their sister Julia. She's since taken on management duties in the growing business.
Armando has had a lifelong affinity for cooking. He earned a good reputation while cooking for his family in California.
“We love to create jobs,” Armando said. “I feel good when people call and they ask you for a job and they come working with us and then they are telling us they have goals and they are getting done their goals,” because of their jobs.