GUAC MEXI GRILL OPENS LOCALLY
Canadian fast-casual restaurant chain offers fresh dishes with natural ingredients
Businesses and non-profit organizations regularly open and move in Saskatoon. Today the Starphoenix talks to Kishor Jajmera, co-owner of Guac Mexi Grill, which he brought to the Brighton area of Saskatoon, together with fellow co-owner Jatin Patel, a few months ago. Guac Mexi Grill is a fast-casual Mexican restaurant with upwards of 50 franchises across Canada, including another location in Martensville, under different ownership.
Q What made you decide to open the first Guac Mexi Grill in Saskatoon?
A I've been working in the food industry a long time. I've been a restaurant manager for the last 15 years. I have quite a bit of experience in the food industry and now this is something I can start on my own that I can build up. I talked to (business partner) Jatin about what we should come up with. We decided something that was fresh and not frozen. One of my friends opened Guac Mexi Grill in Regina, so we talked to him and went a couple of times to try the food and decided to go with this.
Q What makes Guac Mexi Grill unique?
A All of the food that we serve is fresh and made with natural ingredients, free of artificial flavours, colours, and preservatives. Most of our ingredients are made from scratch. Nothing is frozen. Most other restaurants have lettuce pre-cut, onions pre-cut, everything comes in a packing. We don't do that. We cook everything in-house every day. Even our salsa is made every day. We use 100 per cent grain-fed chicken, and our Canadian triple-a beef is cooked in Mexican seasonings, carefully marinated overnight and charred to perfection. We don't take shortcuts with the food that we serve. We have a wide variety of items. When people look at the store they see it's Mexican food, but then we're different when they try it, because everything is fresh.
Q What's on the menu?
A We have nachos, burritos, tacos, salad bowls, quesadillas, enchiladas, nachos and churros for dessert. We have lots of variety.
Q What are some of your more popular menu items?
A We have a gym beside our store and lots of people go in the gym and want to stick to their strict diet. The salad bowl is a pretty good option. You can choose the rice, beans, everything. We have a meat option as well. We do have chicken, ground beef, steak and barbacoa — which is basically shredded beef. And we have another meat, carnitas — it's a pulled pork. You can choose a meat portion and whatever salad you want. People can customize their salad bowls whatever way they want with cheese, vegetables, salsa, and other sauces. We make guacamole every day in-house as well. You can get chips and salsa, or chips and guacamole.
We have another good option and that is the enchilada. Enchilada is basically a regular burrito made in a wrap and once that is done we put enchilada sauce and queso cheese, which is a pretty good Mexican cheese. That sauce goes in an oven for five to seven minutes and that's a really good option for people who want a big meal.
We also have fiesta potatoes, which are basically deep fried potatoes, topped with the queso cheese and ground beef, tomato and sour cream. People have a good response to that dish as well.
Q Do you have any ongoing specials?
A We do have Taco Tuesday with a $2 taco. You get limited toppings, but that's a pretty good deal.
Q What's your background in the restaurant industry?
A My studies were in a commercial cookery. I was a chef in Australia. After that I took a course in business management. Once I finished my studies, my wife worked in Canada, so I moved out here. While I was studying in Australia I was with the Burger King company as well so once I moved I applied at Burger King in Canada and got the job. I'm still working at the Burger King as a restaurant manager there, too. I've been working in the food industry since about 2007 so I've been running a restaurant for the last 15 years and have a good knowledge on how to run restaurants and manage people.
Q What kinds of service options do you offer at your restaurant?
A We have dine-in seating for about 12 to 15 people. And we do deliveries on Skip the Dishes, and our own delivery option through our website.