Three Americans are planning to bring a slice of California to Bangalore. Well, not quite a slice.
Three U.S.-based entrepreneurs on Wednesday are launching the first of a series of burrito restaurants in India. They picked India’s software hub as the location of their first-ever outlet, called “California Burrito.”
Among their offerings is a “Mission style” burrito, which originates from San Francisco’s Mission District and is bigger than the regular burrito, a Mexican staple.
Rice, beans, salsa and meat or, in the desi version, paneer (Indian cottage cheese) are wrapped into a tortilla and served hot.
Customers get to choose their fillings – barbeque chicken, beans, cilantro lime rice and hot salsa, just to name a few – and the burritos are priced accordingly, from around 99 rupees ($1.87) for a vegetarian burrito to 130 rupees ($2.46) for a non-vegetarian version. The restaurant will also offer guacamole, nachos, salads and tacos.
The menu, which has been tailored to Indian tastes, offers dishes that are spicier than U.S. equivalents and offers a wide choice of vegetarian fillings. They will not be serving any beef or pork, which are taboo for the country’s Hindus and Muslims, respectively.
Drinks include Pink Nimbu Paani, an Indian take on the pink lemonade, which here includes chaat masala, a spice mix.
So what made them come to India and Bangalore, specifically?
A trip to India in 2010 had convinced Bert Mueller, one of the founders, of the growth potential for fast-casual dining in India. This is a segment that places itself a step above fast food chains.
“I thought this would be an interesting place to start a company, especially with the economy slowing down in America,” said Mr. Mueller, who worked for Moe’s Southwest Grill in the U.S. before deciding to put his entrepreneurial skills to test in India.
“To be frank, we’d not have been able to do this at this moment in time back home. The market is much more saturated there,” said Gaelan Connell, who is also behind California Burrito.
Initially, the location of the burrito chain was a toss-up between the Delhi suburb of Gurgaon and Bangalore, both of which are fairly cosmopolitan.
But what tipped the scale in favor of the southern Indian city is the fact that Bangalore has several firsts to its name, including the very first Kentucky Fried Chicken in India in the mid-1990s and also the first Taco Bell in 2010. Both are owned by Yum! Brands Inc.
The first California Burrito outlet will be located in the food court of a business park that houses information technology majors like Microsoft Corp., International Business Machines Corp. and Yahoo! Inc.
“This business park is the perfect setting for a launch as many of the people who work here have traveled abroad and are open to experimenting with food. A lot of people are also used to our food (having worked in tech companies in California),” said Mr. Connell.
These three budding entrepreneurs have gone to great lengths to make their burritos authentic. Not only have they flown in the chef from the Mission district of California, they have also tied up with a local bakery to come up with a recipe to ensure that the tortillas they serve come as close as possible to what’s available in the U.S.
Figuring out the paperwork has been a bigger headache than working out their tortilla recipe.
Compared to the U.S., “things take much longer here,” said Dharam Khalsa, the third business partner. For instance, while it can take as little as an hour to open a bank account in the U.S., it has taken them more than 40 days to do so in India, he said. It took them four months to register their company here, he added.
But these delays did not deter them. “Those things are headaches, but they don’t distract from the fact that business is happening here,” Mr. Mueller said.
In fact, they already have plans to set up one more California Burrito store by the end of this year and five more by the end of 2013. With the first seven stores planned for Bangalore, the southern Indian city of Chennai is next on their radar.
“To be able to create a restaurant chain with two of your best friends, in an emerging market that’s 8,000 miles away from home is an exciting prospect. Not many people are doing this,” said Mr. Connell.