VISALIA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Miguel Reyes, owner and CEO of Quesadilla Gorilla for 11 years, says his journey with the company has been a roller coaster.
In 2013, Reyes said he and his now-wife took a chance and started working at a small place in Visalia.
“Our first location in Visalia was a little hole in the wall, maybe 400 square feet at the top,” Reyes said. To do this, you will also need to borrow money. ”
Reyes said the opportunity paid off, and Quesadilla Gorilla began selling 30 quesadillas, making $300 on a good day, and franchising restaurants in many Central Valley cities. I'll tell you.
“We actually had an article published in the Fresno Bee and it hit us overnight,” Reyes said. “So we started finding food trucks and asking, 'Where do we go next?'”
Reyes said the food truck helped Quesadilla Gorilla grow even further, and soon opened two locations in Fresno in three months.
Reyes said the Fresno store was a learning opportunity. One store was successful and he eventually became Quesadilla Gorilla's first franchise, and his other store closed.
“I definitely learned from that. We opened a second store and a third soon and it made me think, 'We need to put more systems in place.'”
Quesadilla Gorilla has expanded further into Hanford with a trailer. But just as the COVID-19 pandemic began to impact the industry, the trailer's engine began to experience serious problems.
Reyes said the business lost a lot of revenue during the initial shutdown, but was fortunate to be able to find a spot near Three Rivers where they could park their trailer and operate with outdoor seating.
“It worked really well and then it didn’t work out,” Reyes said. “It was hard to run all of our stores with food trucks.”
Reyes said he was still able to open a store in San Luis Obispo, which he said was a lifelong dream.
“We're still thinking about it,” Reyes says. “We're actually going to relocate. We've tried different things, but again, it's all based on the simplicity of just doing one thing and doing it well.”
Reyes, like many small business owners, said the trial-and-error approach took a toll on his physical and mental health. Because of this, Reyes decided to take a step back from a business that had grown into a multi-store franchise and turned into a passion project he started a long time ago.
Reyes says she never imagined she would get this far. In the future, there are plans to close the original location and move to a larger venue, open franchises across the state, and possibly expand across the country.
He says he's most looking forward to taking a step back and reconnecting with himself before moving on to the next chapter of the Quesadilla Gorilla story.
