he Fast Casual Nation Podcast offers exclusive interviews with experts ranging from top chefs and brand makers to executives and restaurants who work in one of the fastest-growing segments of the restaurant industry. In this episode I talk with Josh Luger, co-founder of Capital Tacos about key strategies for successfully expanding your restaurant.

Capital Tacos founded in 2013 is a fast-casual Tex-Mex chain of restaurants Based in Tampa, Florida, known for their scratch-made kitchen and a menu crafted by chefs. Luger talks about the first location that opened in Land O’ Lakes Florida and says, “there was no money to put up a sign, so there was no sign for a few years there and the focus was just delivering the best Tex-Mex we could out there, flavorful and inventive, trying a new take on what a fast-casual Tex-Mex concept could be.”

Luger shares that Capital Tacos recently expanded, opening their first store in Orlando and 2023 expansion plans include new markets South Florida, Atlanta, Charlotte and Colorado. As the Capital Tacos team is planning for growth, Luger offers several strategic expansion strategies to ensure success and profitability. He talks about product offering saying, “I think to even start one restaurant, let alone think about scaling it across a market or multiple markets, you really have to look inward and think, what is truly different and differentiated about our product offering, what do we have to say? And so, for us, there's a few core things that really start offering that we think make us distinct and unique in the Tex-Mex landscape and we're confident as we expand across Tampa and across new markets that folks will find us interesting and want to give us a try and hopefully come back.”

The Capital Tacos co-founder takes a deep dive into several layers of the business that are key to successful expansion in regards to their roadmap for success. Luger’s insights include:

• Truly Differentiated Product Offering
• A Brand That Stands For Something Beyond The Food
• A Capital Efficient And Flexible Development Strategy
• Diversified Revenue Streams
• Keep On Innovating
• A Focus On Truly Great Operators
• Reward loyalty, provide value, and have fun!

To hear detailed steps to a successful expansion roadmap, Luger’s top 3 tips for creating a new menu special check out this episode of Fast Casual Nation or tune in on Apple Podcasts.

Need to simplify your operations or increase productivity? You can hear the strategies CEO of Newk’s Eatery implemented here.