Rodrigo Sanchez, owner of El Tequileño, offers up a small margarita.
By Ed Avis
Thousands of Mexican restaurants have been hammered by COVID, but some have actually seen business increase. One is El Tequileño, a four-unit restaurant in the Denver area.
“I’m up 30 percent over last year,” says Rodrigo Sanchez, who owns the restaurants and two sports bars that are located beside two of the restaurants. Sanchez, who launched his business in 2003, was recently named one of the Titan 100, an honor given to 100 top CEOs in Colorado. He will receive the award in September.
So how has El Tequileño thrived during this crisis when so many others have failed? To-go business has grown during the COVID crisis, which has certainly helped the overall success of El Tequileño. But Sanchez feels the real reason his restaurants have succeeded – long-term, not just during COVID – is his deep appreciation of his customers and the high level of service that appreciation brings with it.
“One thing that makes us special is I’m always at the restaurants taking care of customers,” Sanchez says. “I’m making sure everything is right.”
Sanchez's make-sure-it's-right attitude extends to his 134 employees. He says that 12 of the 14 employees who started with him in 2003 still work for him, testament to his good treatment. At least 40 employees have worked there at least 10 years, he says.
Another way Sanchez shows respect to customers is by maintaining his restaurants’ posted hours, no matter the conditions. “I don’t care if we have three feet of snow, we always respect the hours of the restaurant,” he says. “Even if we’re not seeing any customers and not making any money, we have to stay open in case someone shows up.”
And his restaurants are spotless, Sanchez says. This is probably especially comforting to customers during the COVID era.
“When you go to some other Mexican restaurants, you come home smelling like a cook,” Sanchez notes. “Not here. I make sure there are always enough employees working that we can keep everything clean – a lot of restaurants don’t want to spend the money to do that. If you come to one of my restaurants on a Friday night, you’ll see that they are as clean as they were at 11 in the morning. As long as we are open, we are always cleaning.”
Of course, having great food also keeps the customers coming. Sanchez says their pork carnitas, made from his own recipe from his home state of Michoacan, is the most popular protein. He estimates they sell 6,000 pounds of carnitas per month, in everything from fajitas to enchiladas to burritos.
To wash down those carnitas, Sanchez’s customers normally chose margaritas, made from one of 200 tequilas he stocks. His current favorite is Casa Mexico: “We’re selling it like crazy. It’s so smooth, and the price is right.”
So there’s no magic to El Tequileño’s success; it’s simply the combination of great food and drinks served by friendly employees in a clean, comfortable environment. COVID can’t compete with that!
“We always take care of the customers,” Sanchez says. “We want to make sure it feels like their home and they’re comfortable. And I’m always talking with the customers all the time. That’s the way I am.”