Taste for tacos
Restaurant franchise looking for second location in St. John’s
The response to the first Quesada Burritos and Tacos restaurant in Newfoundland and Labrador has been so strong, the owners are already looking for a possible second location.
The husband and wife team of Mark and Amy Norman, along with Mark’s brother, Stephen, opened the doors to Quesada in St. John’s on Regatta Day.
The restaurant is located off of Kiwanis Street, in the Kelsey Drive area.
“Business has been booming. It’s been crazy,” Amy said Thursday. “We opened at number one (in sales in Canada) and we’ve kept that for six weeks.”
Quesada is a Canadian franchise, with its head office in Toronto and more than 60 shops nationwide.
“It’s fresh and fast,” said Stephen, when asked to describe the food, explaining the sourcing of some of the required ingredients — like avocados — is one of the challenges being met only through a concerted effort of the partners, and Atlantic Grocery.
“Newfoundland is just not an easy place to get this stuff into,” he said.
But the ingredients are essential for signature fresh-daily salsas and guacamole.
Burritos and tacos are pulled together in no time for customers at the counter, in a line service. But the speed at the counter does not reveal the preparation required behind the scenes by staff.
“Salsa’s like two to three hours. The beans are two and a half hours (to make),” Stephen said, before getting on with making a large batch of fresh guacamole.
“We do heavy prep before we start and we do prep all day. The back of house runs pretty much like a regular restaurant (as opposed to some fast food).”
To date, the three Quesada location owners have each contributed to making the business a success.
“Mark is the true entrepreneur. He will drive business. He’s the person who gets things done,” Amy said. “Stephen is the food guy. He knows the industry. … I think for me, I’ve been involved in some of the Tacos at Quesada Tacos restaurant. Burritos and strategic decisions, but also HR. Stephen and I hire the team.”
It’s working. There are 23 people employed at the restaurant, covering the seven-day schedule.
Amy said location has also been a large part of the results to date — tapping into the traffic from the growing residential area of Kenmount Terrace, the surrounding commercial area and new office space just down Kelsey Drive.
In terms of a next spot, the Normans would only say they’re going east, are into required market research and are willing to wait for the right space if needed.