Haz clic aquí para leer esto en español
Editor’s Note: Box of Cubans is a Cuban restaurant in Riverview, Florida, that recently announced plans to franchise. Publisher Ed Avis interviewed Marcos Silverio, who co-founded the restaurant with his wife, Onelia Silverio.
Avis: Why did you found Box of Cubans?
Silverio: I was in healthcare sales for many years, and as I traveled the country, I would always host these lunches. Being Cuban Hispanic, I always wanted to make it a treat for the physicians and insurance companies that I would meet with, so I would try to find a Cuban restaurant. What I always noticed that no matter where I was in the country, it was a challenge. Or if I did find one, it was like a very mom-and-pop shop.
But I also noticed that everybody would enjoy the black beans and rice, the Cuban sandwich. And I kept looking at Panda Express and Panera and I said, why isn't there a Cuban cuisine franchise? And that's the question I brought back home.
So I started talking to my wife about the idea, but quite frankly, this was a retirement plan. I said, when we're retired, we'll sell Cuban sandwiches and maybe do something with it. But then we noticed that there were a lot of changes in the healthcare industry, and my wife said, let's just go for it. Let's make Box of Cubans a reality. So back in 2017, we started at a gas station.
Why did you start in a gas station?
We started very humble because we wanted to have proof of concept. We said, okay, if we can be in the Cuban sandwich capital of the world -- which is highly disputed, between Miami and Tampa – and we go into a gas station, we have success and we learn our craft, then we have something. So over the first few years, it was a matter of my wife and I understanding the business, learning the numbers.
How long were you there and what did you learn?
We were in the gas station for five years. By then we had the proof of concept, we understood our costs. Our system does not allow for waste, which in the restaurant business is unheard of. Let me give you a prime example: The pulled pork that we marinate overnight, we use for our sandwiches, we use for our bowls. And then of course anything that's left over, we put into our empanadas.
We moved into our next location in 2022. We walked into that location and felt that it met all the criteria that we're looking for, great location, great parking, all the things that you look for. And of course that was a learning process, too, because we went from a very small space to much bigger space and you have to learn how to manage that. We're very focused, my wife and I, and now my kids are with us. We're very focused as a family, as a unit.
So what do you think makes Box of Cubans stand out?
We have four pillars [to our concept]. Our first pillar is specialty coffee, Cuban coffee. We've mastered that and that's one of our strong selling products.
The next pillar is our sandwiches. The Cuban sandwich, obviously being my top seller. We marinate the pork overnight Caribbean style. Typically when they make a Cuban sandwich, they use sliced pork. We don't, we use pulled pork. And then we use a Serrano ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, mustard. And we have other sandwiches, too, such as a steak sandwich and breakfast sandwiches.
Our third pillar is the rice bowls, which is going to be the black beans or the red beans and rice. It's going to be white rice with a choice of the steak, chicken, or the pulled pork.
And then finally, the fourth pillar is empanadas. We have 13 types of empanadas. We have really taken the time to really master each of these pillars.
What’s the significance of the name?
I came up with the name Box of Cubans because my other passion is cigars, I’m a cigar guy. And the idea came up that when we do catering, we have a box. So you put a Cuban sandwich in a box, hence a Box of Cubans. We felt that if we go north of Florida, the name's going to be very important. So we immediately trademarked the name.
That’s a good segue to the next question: Why did you decide to franchise?
Once we discovered that our numbers were a little bit better than the average, we said, we're going to have to make a fundamental decision here. Are we going to continue to open up our own locations or are we going to start franchising? That's the position that we're at. And sure enough, we met with a company last year and we reviewed all our systems, and they said, man, you got something hot here. So we said, okay, let's do it.
Click here to read a previous article about Box of Cubans franchising.
You recently opened another location to serve as a flagship and training location. Tell me about that.
Our new flagship restaurant is where we’ll do training and support our franchisees. This new location is about 2,400 square feet, a little bit bigger than what we're accustomed to. But we did that for the sole purpose of having a training center for franchises, where they can learn from the front end to the back end to ordering to all the systems. That's a conscientious decision that we're making to be a franchise -- we're going to be very hands-on. I feel like if they honor us by wanting to participate with us, it's our obligation to support them.
What geography are you aiming for?
Obviously Florida is our backyard now, but if a multiunit that's outside of Florida inquires, we'll absolutely consider it.
Do you have some goals?
We're looking to have at least 75 locations in five years, and I think that’s very conservative. The reason why we feel that is just because the initial response that we received when we put a word out. And the other thing that we've done very well, you walk into our location, even at the gas station, we made it where it felt like a national brand. I'm very proud of that.
Don't miss a thing! Subscribe to el Restaurante's digital publications for free by clicking here.