Overview
El Chico Restaurants, Inc. is part of an organization with 65 years of restaurant experience and 35 years of franchise experience. We operate over 100 company owned restaurants and 25 franchise restaurants in 18 states and Canada. These decades of experience as a restaurant operator and franchisor enable us to offer our single-unit and multi-unit franchisees the highest level of support.
Products & Services
Today, there are close to a hundred El Chico restaurants in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and throughout the South. Twenty-seven El Chico Restaurants are owned and operated by franchisees.
Our restaurants reflect sixty years of changing tastes and styles and our guests' preferences. We have taken care to preserve the heritage while updating the decor and adding exciting new tastes to our menu. The strength of El Chico comes from the simple fact that we have been in this business so long, that we know how to improve traditional favorites and introduce our guests to the next level of great Mexican food with our new items.
The Top Shelf™ line of products is our signature, which covers everything from enchiladas to quesadillas to margaritas. This is our way of delivering quality food and large portions at a value that is unsurpassed. Our menu items are prepared fresh daily and made by hand. We even feature daily blackboard specials to ensure that we provide our guests with a wide variety of choices for every palate. You can even select from a selection of premium imported tequilas to make your margarita just right.
Our restaurants reflect sixty years of changing tastes and styles and our guests' preferences. We have taken care to preserve the heritage while updating the decor and adding exciting new tastes to our menu. The strength of El Chico comes from the simple fact that we have been in this business so long, that we know how to improve traditional favorites and introduce our guests to the next level of great Mexican food with our new items.
The Top Shelf™ line of products is our signature, which covers everything from enchiladas to quesadillas to margaritas. This is our way of delivering quality food and large portions at a value that is unsurpassed. Our menu items are prepared fresh daily and made by hand. We even feature daily blackboard specials to ensure that we provide our guests with a wide variety of choices for every palate. You can even select from a selection of premium imported tequilas to make your margarita just right.
Training & Support
Site SelectionWe are ready to assist you in locating a site for your El Chico Cafe. Over the years we have developed site selection criteria you can use as a guideline in locating your new restaurant. While we do not select your site for you, we will be available to consult with you based on our experience in selecting sites for our own units. We will review your site choices and help you make an evaluation based on building criteria, market area, site characteristics and access.
Construction
We provide a set of restaurant plans and will work with you to develop a layout to fit the particular characteristics of your site. Our construction personnel can visit your site and offer recommendations for necessary modifications. We can also assist you with remodeling enhancement programs, equipment specifications, source lists, document/permit review and design review.
Training
We understand the value of consistent and comprehensive training standards. Our Training Department has developed a detailed and extensive program to prepare your management team to run the restaurant.
At our management training facility in Dallas, Texas, we will provide your management team with training on how to run your El Chico Cafe. In addition to classroom instruction, there is hands-on front and back of the house training in a corporate restaurant. We have also developed training programs for your employees that cover all aspects of operating your restaurant from food preparation techniques to service standards.
El Chico Restaurants, Inc. will send a team of experienced trainers prior to your opening to train all new crew members. They will provide hands-on training during the opening for both the front and back of the house. The training team will remain on-site after the restaurant opens as a support unit for the management team.
As part of our ongoing commitment to quality service, we continue to upgrade and refine our training program as new training methods become available to us. As part of the El Chico system, you will have all these materials available to you. Our philosophy is that proper training is one of the key ingredients to your success as an El Chico franchisee.
Operational Support
The El Chico Operations Manual provides operating procedures and policies to help you run your restaurant. We will provide you with recipes, manuals and materials covering food preparation, portioning and service.
Our Operations Department gives you help where you need it - in your restaurant. A Franchise Operations Consultant with years of restaurant management experience will be on-hand to help you with your opening. Your consultant will continue to support you and your management team with periodic in-store visits to help you analyze your operations, provide new product training and update your management team on new procedures to maximize your operations.
Why El Chico Cafe?
Purchasing
The Purchasing Department negotiates services and price agreements with approved suppliers and distributors. You will be provided the systems and products that are identified as the approved core menu to create brand alignment and to leverage the purchasing power of our company.
Information Technology/POS Support
The IT Department offers comprehensive POS support starting with setup and installation. On an ongoing basis, we can provide POS Hotline support, software database changes and hardware depot services.
Marketing and Advertising
The El Chico Marketing Department's mission is to create top-of-mind awareness while building the brand image in each of the communities we serve. Marketing campaigns are developed to support the overall positioning of the El Chico brand. Marketing supports these objectives by developing and executing electronic media advertising, local store marketing programs, print programs, promotions and point of purchase merchandising. These marketing tools are made available to our franchisees as they are developed.
The Purchasing Department negotiates services and price agreements with approved suppliers and distributors. You will be provided the systems and products that are identified as the approved core menu to create brand alignment and to leverage the purchasing power of our company.
Information Technology/POS Support
The IT Department offers comprehensive POS support starting with setup and installation. On an ongoing basis, we can provide POS Hotline support, software database changes and hardware depot services.
Marketing and Advertising
The El Chico Marketing Department's mission is to create top-of-mind awareness while building the brand image in each of the communities we serve. Marketing campaigns are developed to support the overall positioning of the El Chico brand. Marketing supports these objectives by developing and executing electronic media advertising, local store marketing programs, print programs, promotions and point of purchase merchandising. These marketing tools are made available to our franchisees as they are developed.
Are You a Good Fit for El Chico Cafe?
Initial Franchise Fee
The initial franchise fee is $35,000 per restaurant.
Development Fee (if you choose to develop multiple units in an exclusive geographic area)
The development fee is individually negotiated for each geographic area based on a variety of factors, including the number and location of Franchised Restaurants to be developed, an evaluation of market conditions such as market penetration of Franchised Restaurants and Company-Owned Restaurants, the area's size, population, and per capita income, and other demographic and psychographic data.
The initial franchise fee is $35,000 per restaurant.
Development Fee (if you choose to develop multiple units in an exclusive geographic area)
The development fee is individually negotiated for each geographic area based on a variety of factors, including the number and location of Franchised Restaurants to be developed, an evaluation of market conditions such as market penetration of Franchised Restaurants and Company-Owned Restaurants, the area's size, population, and per capita income, and other demographic and psychographic data.
