Owners of Cafe Mexicali have big plans to multiply

GREELEY — Get ready to see more from Cafe Mexicali Inc. 

After opening its fifth location in Windsor in May, the Greeley-based company is moving on to franchising.

Co-owner Rick Krammer said he and business partner David Hoffman are now spreading some wings, with plans to target Colorado, Utah, Arizona and Texas. 

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“While we’re still going to do a company store here and there, franchising offers you more opportunity to grow,” Krammer said.

Krammer and business partners opened their first Cafe Mexicali in Fort Collins in 2004, followed by their Greeley location in 2008. Through the years, they added restaurants in Boulder and Johnstown. 

Cafe Mexicali-Windsor LLC opened May 14 at 475 E. Main St.

“Windsor is really growing, and it’s within our geographical area where we feel we can serve the stores well with our management,” Krammer said. “It just seemed to be a natural fit. There’s a little more natural light and a little more space than Greeley, that combined is just a great experience for the customer.

“It’s a ground-up, brand new space, and it’s actually my favorite layout,” Krammer said of the 2,850-square-foot store. “My business partner, David Hoffman, does the layout and did a remarkable job. It just has such a nice feel.”

Krammer said the Cafe Mexicali concept is “as fresh as it gets,” meaning all the food is made from scratch. Even the tortillas are pressed and cooked to order. 

“You start your experience with a fresh cooked tortilla, pressed out and cooked for that order, and add to it with our sauces. We don’t even have a freezer on the location. Everything is fresh and you taste that.

“I’m a real stickler for quality ingredients, and we buy the best. Our portions almost always (are enough for) leftovers,” Krammer said.

The business partners pulled the trigger on franchising last year, joining the more than 195,000 quick-service restaurant franchise concepts throughout the country, according to Statista.

Franchising had always been in the plan, but there was a lot of work to do in terms of branding, legal and building store procedures in a curriculum-like manner. 

“We’ve spent extensive time writing down everything we do from the time we get there until we lock the doors, and having it in a formal (manual),” Krammer said. 

Immediately out of the chute, Krammer said, they got 12 budding restaurateurs interested in franchising. The initial hurdle of getting past revealing the secrets of Mexicali success was not hard, he said.

“I’ll be ecstatic when we get the first one signed, but having 12 interested out of the gate is pretty exciting,” Krammer said. “The whole point of franchising is to offer them what they can’t get on their own. I travel a lot, and honestly, Cafe Mexicali needs to be everywhere because it’s hard to find really good food. I want to give that experience to everybody.”