14: Building a Scalable Brand Through Passion & Culture | Leo Kremer, Dos Toros Taqueria

“The guest experience will never rise above the level of the team experience”

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Leo Kremer is the Co-Founder of Dos Toros Taqueria.

As a Berkeley, CA native, Leo and his brother Oliver grew up eating Mission-style burritos from local taquerias throughout the Bay Area. After spending time as a professional musician, including with Third Eye Blind, and working briefly in management consulting, Leo and his brother opened Dos Toros in New York City in 2009.

Leo and Oliver steadily grew the business to 21 locations over the next 11 years, eventually joining forces via acquisition with the salad chain Chopt to form Founders Table, a restaurant holding company.

In this interview we discuss:

- How Dos Toros approached building their team

- The importance of passion in authentically expanding a brand

- The marketing tactics that worked and didn’t work when launching in their second major market

and much more. 

Please enjoy my conversation with Leo Kremer!

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Where to find Dos Toros:

• Website: https://www.dostoros.com/
• Instagram: @dostoros
• Facebook: @dostorostaqueria
• Twitter: @DosToros

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Where to find Leo:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leo-kremer-bb75a22/

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Where to find Bryan:

• Website: https://www.myfirstrestaurant.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-tublin-03548910/
• Twitter: @btublin 

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Where to find Kitava:

• Website: https://www.kitava.com/
• Instagram: @kitavakitchen

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Referenced:

• Nick Marsh and Founders Table
• Setting the Table
• Unreasonable Hospitality

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In this episode, we cover:

• (01:24) The genesis of the concept
• (04:08) Leo’s endgame for Dos Toros when starting out
• (06:09) The decisions they made differently knowing they wanted to grow
• (10:24) Solving for innovation vs. convenience
• (13:19) The importance of generating passion from guests and team members
• (15:24) How Dos Toros financed the business early on
• (20:09) Leo’s approach to staffing the restaurants, and the initial Dos Toros team
• (23:42) “The simplicity of the concept was an advantage”
• (25:36) How Leo’s role changed from location 1 to 5
• (28:06) Dos Toros’ first non-store level hires
• (41:07) How growing slowly initially helped them open 11 locations in 5 years
• (32:44) The advantages of expanding within your home market
• (36:38) Tactics they used to create awareness in their 2nd city
• (38:58) The main catalyst for growth is all about “team and talent”
• (43:02) What they could have done better to prepare for growth
• (46:21) On The Fly Segment