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By Ed Avis
Early jobs seem to have an outsized effect on people. That was definitely the case with Erin Bila, who was just 20 when she worked as a cashier for a few months at a California Tortilla location in Maryland.
“It was one of the happiest places I ever worked at,” Bila remembers. “The culture was great, my managers were amazing, it was just a happy place to be.”
Bila left that restaurant to start her family, and subsequently built a successful career working for a Dunkin’ Donuts franchisee, where she is now a business affairs and human resources executive.
But she never forgot the fun she had at California Tortilla, and now, 16 years later, she has acquired a franchise location in Columbia, Maryland. She and her husband Rogerio Bila, and their business partner, Dilshad Awan, closed the deal with the previous owner August 1.
“Cal Tort just stuck with me, it was in my heart all this time,” Bila says. “The food is fresh and healthy, something you can eat every day. It was just meant to be.”
California Tortilla has 30 locations, all in the mid-Atlantic states. It’s known for the “Wall of Flame” selection of hot sauces and customized orders. Click here to read a 2024 el Restaurante interview with CEO Keith Goldman.
Moving from restaurant employee to franchise owner is a big step, but Bila says she and her partners – who met each other at Dunkin’ Donuts – were seeking a new level in their business endeavors. All three have years of experience in managerial roles at Dunkin’ Donuts and wanted to apply their skills in building their own business.
“We were always looking to climb up and to learn more things,” she explains. “We have all of this knowledge and wanted to use it for our benefit.”
Bila's Cal Tort location in Columbia, Maryland
The partners had signed a franchisee agreement with California Tortilla about a year and a half ago, and had planned to open a location from scratch. But they found it difficult to obtain a suitable location, so when they learned that the owner of the Columbia, Maryland franchise wanted to sell, they jumped on it.
Like all franchisees, Bila had to train for five weeks to learn Cal Tort’s processes. She says she appreciates the advantages of owning a franchise, such as having established recipes, marketing concepts, and workflow.
“All the ideas come with the franchise deal, so you just need to apply your knowledge of how to run things smoothly with what has already been provided to you,” she says.
Bila is running the back-of-house at the restaurant, and her partners are running the front. They have some ideas for improvement, but the essential California Tortilla experience will remain the same, of course.
If things go as planned, the former cashier and her partners will eventually own multiple Cal Torts.
“We would love to open other locations,” Bila says. “Hopefully we’ll expand here in this area.”
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