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By Natalia Otero
Tu Asador Mexican Steakhouse, a Monterrey-style grilled meat restaurant in San Antonio, is opening its second location in September. The Gonzalez Martinez family, owners and founders, are taking what they learned from the first location to ensure success at the second.
The new Tu Asador, which will have a soft opening in early August and a grand opening on September 15, will be a duplicate of the original, because, after four years of experience, the González Martínez family knows that it is better to expand by replicating the structures, recipes and suppliers that have already worked for them, rather than starting from scratch.
The difference will be that the new one will be twice, almost three times, as big: today, they have 40 employees, the next one will have three times this capacity.
Born During COVID
The González Martínez family consists of three sisters and a brother, all of whom are involved in the restaurant. The eldest, Valentina, is in charge of administration. Emilia, the next one, is in charge of training and being the manager in the front of the house. Regina, the youngest of the women, is in charge of marketing, the image of the restaurant and the bar. Finally, Jose, the younger brother, is the one who inherited his father's gift for meat. He is the face and the concept of Tu Asador and chef, although he works less and less in the kitchen.
Each one manages his own area and delegates, and so they sail the ship in harmony. Of course, the mother, Sandra Martínez, is the one who harmonizes them and from whom many recipes come from.
Today, the father, José Luis Gonzáles, is the one who opens the doors and makes sure that everything is in order, because the others must rest for the next day. The father was a cattle rancher in Monterrey and now he has a supplier in Texas from whom he buys meat for the restaurant and for his own consumption.
Since in Monterrey everything revolves around carne asada, after the economic crisis of the COVID pandemic, the family decided to get together and set up a carne asada restaurant. They say, in Latin America, that "every cloud has a silver lining," and so it was for the González Martínez family.
They set up a mini-restaurant at home and did home deliveries. They divided up the work and used social networks. The community supported them and continues to support them. They lasted a year and, when they saw that there was a flow, they decided to open the restaurant.
They arrived at the first location and it had everything they needed. The rent was affordable, it came with tables, and it had the required equipment: a grill, a smoker, a machine to make the potatoes they had dreamed of. They saw it as a sign from God, leading them. In March 2021 they signed papers and opened the first location.
Today, three years later, they are about to open their second location.
Learning During Growth
In the beginning, they saw challenges in managing staff, making decisions and developing as entrepreneurs. In this new restaurant, after the experience gained, they will focus a lot on processes, training, recipes, kitchen management and bar recipe books.
"We realized that we were slow to understand the importance of processes: having them in writing, for example," explains Regina. "As in any business, we learned by trial and error along the way."
For the co-founders of Tu Asador, it is important to report everything, including losses. No matter if there are mistakes, the reports are useful to know where resources are going and, from there, to propose solutions.
In this second location they will focus on product, process and employee work tracking at the kitchen level. According to Regina, it is important to know how productive each person is and how their time is spent. To this end, they will include two manuals, one for service and the other for sales.
They will also focus on staff training so that they can provide more sales and better service. And they will work on a relevant issue: downtime. It is necessary to fill the times when not much is being done in the restaurant.
"The new restaurant is going to be completely the same. We don't want to start from scratch, no recipes, no product, no suppliers, no system, no waiters, no bar, no kitchen. The idea is that the team from one side can go to the other restaurant," she says.
Regina says it is necessary to think about capital and how much of that capital can be invested. For that, you have to make intelligent decisions. Don't rely on the fact that there will be a flow, and invest in a lot of remodeling, but simply adapt the space to the concept. It is true that you will have to invest in bar equipment, pans, plates, glasses and forks, but the place already comes with most of the equipment.
"I'm having a son in October, and each sibling has the routine more limited by life circumstances,” she says. “We no longer have the same availability as we did in the beginning. So, it helps us to just double up. You definitely have to let it flow, learn to delegate and trust the managers more, who are not family, but give them confidence.”
They are not a chain restaurant, but they know that in this system, following the bases and structures, it is possible to have two or more well-developed restaurants. As the family grows, the business expands and new challenges will come, but they know it is a great opportunity.
"We feel grateful and blessed for the opportunity and life change. We are very excited about a new location, and confident that we are ready. The grand opening, on September 15, Mexico's Independence Day, will literally be an excuse to go wild. That's what the waiters' T-shirts say," she says, cheerfully.
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