Margaritas Mexican Restaurant, an award-winning New England Mexican dining concept known for its fresh Mexican cuisine and vibrant décor, plans to significantly expand its presence across the Northeast with the goal of opening at least 10 new franchised and corporate locations in the coming years. This comes on the heels of last month’s debut of a fresh restaurant redesign in Waltham, Massachusetts, which will serve as a prototype for future locations.
Margaritas Mexican Restaurant is a leading full-service Mexican restaurant chain with 25 locations throughout New England and Pennsylvania. Through a combination of existing franchise deals and corporate-owned restaurants, the company expects to add five new restaurants to the system, increasing its footprint 20 percent by 2017. Margaritas is currently seeking additional franchise partners to expand the brand’s presence in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Southeastern New York.
“We’ve built a reputation for offering one of the best Mexican dining experiences in the region,” says Hugo Marin, president of Margaritas Mexican Restaurant. “With such high brand recognition, we are eager to open more locations to meet the demand seen throughout the Northeast. Pennsylvania, Maryland and Southeastern New York are areas that exemplify this demand and we’re looking to partner with the right people to bring Margaritas Mexican Restaurant to these communities.”
Last month in Waltham, Mass., the chain unveiled a new restaurant design, featuring a more spacious floor plan centered on a large, wrap-around bar finished with reclaimed wood and ornate tiles. The redesign also lends itself to displaying the larger, more intricate artwork sourced directly from Mexico.
Founded in 1986 by John Pelletier, Margaritas Mexican Restaurant has built a strong reputation on its freshly made food rich with flavors from Mexico, family-friendly atmosphere and hand shaken, made-to-order margaritas. Margaritas’ owners and managers frequently travel to artist communities and manufacturing towns in Mexico to fill the restaurants with hand-selected crafts, tiles, pottery and carved furniture meant to evoke the excitement of the Mexican culture.
As part of Margaritas’ commitment to bringing multicultural experiences to the local communities it serves, the company developed The Margaritas Education Outreach Program in 1999 to integrate cultural events with local schools and cultural institutions. Biannually, the restaurant brand brings Mexican artists, carvers, weavers and sculptors to the Northeast to share their talents with students and Margaritas guests.
“Throughout the past 30 years, we’ve developed a loyal guest base by refining and focusing on our four core objectives: quality food, serving the best margaritas, providing value and offering an entertaining authentic Mexican atmosphere,” adds founder John Pelletier.
Margaritas seeks relationships with highly experienced, multi-unit operators that have a strong community presence and the infrastructure in place to support high-volume, full-service restaurants. The total investment for a full-service Margaritas restaurant ranges from $1.5 to $2.5 million and varies based on location and square footage.
