Chad Franzen 15:02
you know, you guys, you mentioned you brought up kind of more of a corporate culture. My first impression of you guys is that you have kind of different personalities like Mike, you seem more like maybe more like a, what you’ve what somebody might perceive as a corporate type. And Randy seems more like, like, I’m just going to try whenever I can, I can do whatever I want. I’m just gonna try whatever I want. What would you say that that’s accurate? And that, that makes kind of a good fit?
Michael Mohammed 15:24
Yeah, I think there’s some accuracy in that for sure. You know, we balance each other out for sure. And, you know, I think that dynamic is good. And they’ll look, he’s brought me more towards, you know, that his his lifestyle, I brought him more towards mine. I think that there’s a good balance there. You know, I’m no longer having to wear the suit and tie.
Randy Wyner 15:46
I was just gonna say, I got out of the suit and tie.
Michael Mohammed 15:52
I got Randy to put his phone down when we’re in meetings.
Chad Franzen 15:57
Perfect, perfect.
Randy Wyner 15:59
Yeah, it’s balanced. You need it. i We actually talked about it quite a bit. Because it’s, it’s like we’re in a marriage.
Michael Mohammed 16:05
Yeah, we’ve been good friends. We’re not, you know, for us, we can have a heated debate over something. And, you know, a debate that could make anybody in the room uncomfortable, but for us, it’s not it’s you know, you walk away after its work. We know where each other’s coming from both sides are coming from what we think is best for the business. And I think only good ideas only can come out have a good debate. Yeah.
Chad Franzen 16:33
For for somebody who’s never been to Chronic Tacos, how would you describe it to see it from like, a vibe standpoint, and you can include the food as part of that vibe, but from like a vibe standpoint.
Randy Wyner 16:44
Um, I would say, you know, it’s good food, fresh food. Music’s going make it how you like it, it’s the way you want it. And, and that’s kind of like my thing.
Michael Mohammed 16:55
Yeah, I always go back to like, what Randy would tell me when he was working in the taco shops, and it was, you know, he wanted when he had a customer that came in that seemed like, they’re in a bad mood, or wasn’t having a great day, it’s his goal was to make that person leave, they’re in a better mood. And, you know, you know, the food’s gonna deliver, we want a fun atmosphere, you want music that reflects the brand. And, you know, we’ve got art on the walls, a lot of original work we do with local artists. But at the end of the day, is that personality to and engaging? I mean, that person, you don’t know what they’re walking in with. And if you can just, you know, make that their day that much better. I think that enhances everything.
Randy Wyner 17:40
Yeah, I remember, I would be like, someone would be grumpy. And I would be like, I got this, I got this to the to our employees, and I would walk the line with them. And then at the end, I’d be like, I’m buying your burrito today. I hope I hope that helps you. I hope that makes your day brighter. And they’re just like, instantly know who they are? Who’s this guy buy me a burrito, you know, or it’s trippy, like what that can do to somebody change?
Chad Franzen 18:09
Absolutely. So So you know, I was counting your locations, you have more than 30 in the US, you have multiple locations in Canada and in Japan. Is there a key to maintaining kind of a consistency of that experience? Now that it’s, you know, worldwide?
Michael Mohammed 18:24
Yeah, I think it’s really, you know, for us, we’ve always been really hands-on with the franchisees getting into the stores, understanding the community that they’re in so that we can replicate, you know, what’s made us successful in other areas. And obviously, COVID was a challenge for that. And I think that that really, you know, carried on for a couple of years, where it limited our ability to get into the stores. And, you know, we had to adapt to that, obviously. But I think, really what makes us successful is, is we have our culture as a brand and you’ve, you can’t just write that down and an email and send it to somebody and hope that they understand that and reflect that in their story. You have to be in there. So we make an effort to get out to the stores quite a bit. You know, we just wrapped up our 20-year anniversary tour, we’ll return around, you know, to all the stores, it was myself and Randy and Wieman and it was great. We I mean, we were on a road trip, you know, planes, trains and automobiles like everywhere we went, we got to have a party at the restaurant. People did meet and greets with women and then I think most importantly, the franchisee got a feel for the personality of the brand, a reminder of what we’re about. And we’re also able to get out and take the franchisee out for dinner and really understand what’s going on in their community. And it was you know, it’s refreshing for us. You know, it reinvigorates that passion for the brand for the franchisee because look, you know the last year A couple of years have been really stressful for anybody in the restaurant business, you know, not just, you know, you’ve got COVID, then you’ve got to deal with inflation, then you got to deal with lack of employees, it’s, you know, they’re dealing with a lot. And at the end of the day, you know, we want to remind them that also you want to have fun, right? You know, we work hard, play hard, that’s always been, you know, our motto. And it was great to get out and meet with the franchisees and really spend that kind of quality time with them.
Chad Franzen 20:31
So is the is the vibe, you know, Alabama, I think you guys have a location in Alabama, Alabama has a different culture than California, and Japan has a different culture than the US, is the vibe, consistent worldwide? Or does it? Is there some alterations as a result of the culture in that location?
Michael Mohammed 20:51
I think there’s always going to be some alterations based on the culture. But, you know, the, you know, the, I guess, the main, you know, the main vibe was always going to be reflected in who we are. I mean, we are a California-inspired company. And I think, you know, like, when you look at Japan, they really embrace that, that’s something they want, they want to reflect that, and they want to emulate that. And they want, you know, the people that come to work, I mean, they’re having fun, they get to kind of take on that persona. And I think that that’s key, but it’s, you know, comes down to the food, the consistency that, you know, obviously we always feel our food is is a differentiator in the recipes and the freshness, and it’s just not your run-of-the-mill, Mexican food. And so I think that’s always pretty consistent.
Chad Franzen 21:47
How did you mentioned kind of surviving the the COVID pandemic? Did Chronic Tacos change or evolve significantly as a result of that experience?
Michael Mohammed 21:57
I think we all changed, but, you know, it’s, of course, we’ve we’ve had to make changes, and we’ve had to evolve. I think technology’s changed a lot. I think that actually sped up technology in the restaurant industry. And we obviously you have to adapt to whether it’s how you communicate and train how, you know, customers are placing their orders expectations. So I think that definitely has that impact changed us as we go forward. And I also think that, you know, we learned a lot about our efficiencies. And, and when you have to, you know, it’s already a, an industry where you’ve really got to manage your costs close. And I think we’ve learned even more through COVID,
Chad Franzen 22:44
I saw that you have a new cell phone app. Why is that important?
Michael Mohammed 22:50
Well, I think that again, as technology evolves, having that app, being able to engage has making it easy for our customers to place orders have loyalty, you know, a big part of is just having that loyalty piece for it. But also you can pay for it preorder you can pay for or pay for your meal at the at the counter. So you know, all those things kind of changed over there was obviously a big swing in the beginning. And then it’s somewhat normalized. But so you know, a lot of that is has carried over. So I think you you have to, you have to implement a lot of technology. But for us, we also really don’t want to forget, you know what it’s about, which is that customer service. You know that and that quality food.
Chad Franzen 23:37
You mentioned when you first came on board, you kind of took a step back from franchising. Have you gone? Have you move back toward trying to expand through franchising?
Michael Mohammed 23:46
Yeah, and even when we went through COVID, we, we, we would say we took a step back, but our focus was not on growing so much as making sure that the restaurants that were in our company that they succeeded. And so, you know, this year and towards the end of last year, yeah, we’re, we’re back in the mode of, of getting into franchising and you know, there’s luck we’ve learned plenty of lessons good and bad through franchising mistakes, you’ve made wrong choices. So I think that’s positioned us better to be, I would say more selective in terms of how we choose our franchisees because we’ve seen what happens in the you know, in the worst of times who survived who you know, who didn’t so
Chad Franzen 24:37
yeah, what do you look for in a potential franchisee you know, most important
Michael Mohammed 24:41
really to us right out of the gates is are they a fit for the brand do they do they get the brand because if they don’t it’s they’re never going to reflect that in their store that you know you you’re always going to have the franchisees personality in that culture in and we want them to that to match, so the only way that, you know our culture is going to work its way down as if the franchisee shares that, that same passion. And, you know, there’s many personalities that are going to differ, but as long as they understand that part that’s, you know, first and foremost, and then you know, business acumen is is really important as well, you know, we like we always say, we can train the restaurant side, but we want you to understand how to run a business. And that’s not just your P.I. is it’s how to deal with people and, and that’s super important. If you’re going to succeed.
Chad Franzen 25:39
From a franchisee standpoint, what do you think makes Chronic Tacos a good opportunity?
Michael Mohammed 25:45
Well, I think we are, you know, we’re in that white space of where there’s opportunity to grow. And it’s opportunity to grow with a brand that has a proven track record, we’ve been around for 20 years. It’s, you know, if you, if you, I guess if you understand our culture, and that culture, you is kind of a reflection of yourself, it’s a great opportunity to be a part of a group of we’re very hands-on, we’re very involved. We know everybody. And I think that it’s a great opportunity to, you know, not only just open one restaurant, but to be able to take over an area and really build up that way. So, you know, we’ve established a brand we’ve been around for 20 years, we’ve got great tools, we’ve got great support. And for somebody opening a franchisee what’s great is that there’s territories available, you know, everything’s already set up for it.
Chad Franzen 26:45
I have one more question for you guys. But first, just tell me how people can find out more about Chronic Tacos for both a customer standpoint, and maybe even a franchisee standpoint?
Michael Mohammed 26:55
Well, the, our website is ChronicTacos.com You can follow us on Instagram @chronictacos. And then from the website, you can download our app or apps available in the App Store.
Chad Franzen 27:09
Okay, great. Hey, yeah, when each of you go to Chronic Tacos as customers, what is your go to item of choice?
Michael Mohammed 27:19
Mine, I gotta go first because I have one you probably you get you’ll have a few. Ay for me, is El Pastore and I get a bowl with our Spanish rice refried beans, and our very day. I keep it very simple, but it’s to me that’s you know, I think for me, you can overdo it with too many toppings. So like, I like the fact that I can just, you know I get the most flavor out of that and the El Pastore is a unique item that we we have.
Chad Franzen 27:50
Okay, sounds great. What about you Randy?
Randy Wyner 27:53
I go carnitas and then I do our breaded fish, Mahi Mahi, Baja style. And then I switched it up with carne asada or El Pastore. Either one of those. And then actually Today I had a chicken taco, which was pretty, pretty good. So I vary all the meats.
Chad Franzen 28:10
Well, you’re the founder. I mean, you’re the one who decided there was no good tacos around what what makes those particularly good out of the ones that you’re already offer anyway to you?
Randy Wyner 28:19
Well, to me, it’s just I like it a certain way. And I love how we do our meats. I love how we marinate them. I love our seasonings in the meats. The carnitas we cooked for like three and a half hours. It’s the best carnitas I’ve had in our beer batter. It’s made with like Ducati a beer it’s so good. You know, that’s, that’s how it is for me. It’s the meat.
Michael Mohammed 28:40
I mean, we have a lot of unique items that you know we have we do a surf and turf burrito, which is sauteed shrimp with our carne asada, and we do a California burrito, which is French fries, you know, our carne asada with french fries instead of rice and beans with guacamole. And then we also do a chronic fries, which is essentially just nachos, but with fries. So there’s some cool items that people really come in for.
Chad Franzen 29:06
Okay, sounds fantastic. Hey, Mike and Randy, it has been great to talk to you both today. I really appreciate your time. Thank you so much.
Randy Wyner 29:13
Thank you.
Michael Mohammed 29:13
Thank you.
Chad Franzen 29:14
So long, everybody.
Outro 29:15
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