Amigos Mexican: The Outlook
Find out how Sergio Alderuccio's 30 year combined background in franchising and consulting is helping him grow his brand.
QSR Media: Tell us about Amigos Mexican Inspired Restaurants?
Sergio: Amigos restaurant group was established in Melbourne in 1981. The concept is a full service restaurant offering Mexican inspired cuisine with cutting edge signature cocktails and Melbourne’s widest range of tequilas. There are now five Amigos restaurants throughout Melbourne, located on high pedestrian traffic streets. The Hardware Lane venue in the Melbourne CBD features a new concept tequila bar on the first floor, featuring many exclusive lines of the famous Mexican spirit.
What are some of Amigos Short and Long Term Goals?
Our short term goals are to continue consolidating and streamling our systems to help achieve a higher level of efficiency and consistency throughout our group. Restaurants are a complex business and we are continually striving to simplify our operations. We place a strong emphasis on training, which we design and implement internally as we feel we can better capture the essence of Amigos this way.
Moving forward our plan is to continue adding stores in strategic locations. To date our locations have all been in the CBD or city edge, and we have started to assess prime suburban sites as well. Where possible, we welcome our staff as franchisees. Former staff are franchisees in four of our five restaurants. We have received interest from interstate and overseas, which we have resisted so that we expand in an orderly and efficient pattern. Our immediate growth focus is in Victoria, and interstate will follow. Ultimately, we see ourselves as an international company, which is why we are placing so much emphasis on building a strong foundation and culture. We have a high ratio of support people relative to the number of stores, with a lot of work going into development. One of our founders is now based in New York and continues to be involved in hospitality. She provides an invaluable perspective on what is happening in New York and abroad generally.
How does your background in consultancy help?
I had been a franchise advisor to Amigos for a number of years, initially assisting them to prepare for franchising, and later as the chair of their franchise advisory board. I have always enjoyed the energy of the group and although unconventional in many ways, l admired their ability to cultivate and retain people. Half of the Head Office team has been with Amigos for over 10 years, as have many of the people in our venues. When they were seeking to appoint a CEO it was not something l had entertained, but a natural synergy emerged. The group’s extensive hospitality knowledge was married with my 30 years franchising experience. I have been able to draw on the growing pains of the many Australian franchisors l have seen grow from a small beginning. I also have the luxury of being able to bounce ideas and questions off my franchisor colleagues. My consulting background has contributed to helping shape the business for future growth by placing more emphasis on business planning, structure, formalising systems and manuals, communication and reporting.
How do we differentiate ourselves from in the Mexican dining space?
Our core business model is not fast casual, we are a full service restaurant and bar. Our guests typically visit our venues for a longer sit down meal or to catch up for drinks with friends after work or a show. We place emphasis on providing an inviting and relaxing ambience, unique food choices and an extensive range of tequilas and Mexican beverages, many which are unique to Amigos. We have been providing more tequila education such as our recent tequila flight testing where people get to expand their tastes by sampling a range of tequilas. The flight testing was launched with a new tapas and tequila matching menu.
Having said that, we are working on a quicker lunch offer at an attractive value so that we can build our lunch trade by attracting a more casual diner. We are also trialling weekend breakfasts in two of our venues.
What is your vision for Amigos?
Our vision is to expand Amigos throughout Australia and internationally. Mexican food has been gaining interest in Australia recently, but we have been operating for 20 odd years and have long been inspired by the impact Mexican cuisine has overseas, particularly in the United States. We are confident that a quality Mexican inspired restaurant and bar will have a place in our market.
