Guzman y Gomez (Holdings) Ltd (GYG; ) is an Australian multinational casual-dining and fast food restaurant chain. It specialises in Mexican cuisine with dishes such as burritos,

nachos Nachos are a Mexican culinary dish consisting of fried tortilla chips or ''totopos'' covered with melted cheese or cheese sauce, as well as a variety of other toppings and garnishes, often including meats (such as ground beef or grilled chicken ...

taco A taco (, , ) is a traditional Mexican food consisting of a small hand-sized corn- or wheat-based tortilla topped with a filling. The tortilla is then folded around the filling and eaten by hand. A taco can be made with a variety of fillin ...

quesadillas A quesadilla (; ; Mexican diminutive of ''quesada'') is a Mexican dish consisting of a tortilla that is filled primarily with cheese, and sometimes meats, spices, and other fillings, and then cooked on a griddle or stove. Traditionally, a corn ...

and other Mexican-inspired items, including drinks. Guzman y Gomez was established in Sydney in 2006 by New York City duo Steven Marks and Robert Hazan, and locally operates over 160 restaurants. It has expanded internationally with locales in Japan, Singapore and the United States.

Restaurants

In Australia, the franchise had 160 restaurants in operation as of March 2023. The franchise operates internationally with 19 locations in Singapore, Japan, and the United States. The company continues to expand with new stores around Australia.

History

Cannington Carousel - Guzman Y Gomez night

Guzman y Gomez was established by Steven Marks, a New Yorker who previously worked as a

hedge fund A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as s ...

manager. After relocating to Australia, he found the quality of Mexican food to be poor and decided to start a restaurant. He has stated that "real Mexican is really urban, street and hot ..Latin people are so full of energy and full of life, we wanted to bring that to Australia". He took on his friend Robert Hazan, another New Yorker, as a partner. They named the business after two of Marks' childhood friends. The first store was opened in Newtown, Sydney in 2006. Store openings in Bondi Junction and Kings Cross followed within a year. By April 2012, there were 12 stores. The first Guzman y Gomez in the Melbourne CBD opened in November 2012. Within 12 years, they opened 100 stores in Australia. The first international Guzman y Gomez restaurant opened at the end of 2013 in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, followed thereafter by the opening of a restaurant in Tokyo, Japan in April 2015. In January 2020, Guzman y Gomez's international expansion continued with the opening of their first restaurant in the United States in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

suburb of

Naperville Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is in the Chicago metro area, west of the city. Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. The city was ...

Ownership and finance

Marks and Hazan initially supported GYG with their own money. In 2009 they sold a minority stake to Peter Ritchie, Guy Russo and Steve Jermyn, who had previously been involved with McDonald's Australia. Russo was subsequently appointed chairman of the board. The board also includes co-founder Robert Hazan, 3 former McDonalds executives, Tom Cowan of TDM Growth Partners, and Rokt CEO Bruce Buchanan. Investment firm TDM Growth Partners bought a stake in the company for $44 million in August 2018. In December 2020, the publicly listed

Magellan Financial Group Magellan Financial Group is an Australian investment manager focusing on global equities and global listed infrastructure. MFG funds are available to retail and institutional clients in both Australian Securities Exchange-listed and unlisted for ...

bought 10% of the company for $86.8 million. In May 2022, Magellan sold its 11.6% stake in the company to an entity owned by investment bank Barrenjoey Capital Partners for $140 million. Marks stated in 2019 that his goal was to list GYG on the

Australian Stock Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd or ASX, is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as ...

(ASX). In 2020 he stated that he was also ambitious to expand the company's presence in the United States, citing Australia's "antiquated" labour laws, high rents, and expensive fresh produce. In April 2023, Marks resigned as CEO.

References

External links

* (in Australia) {{Food chains in Australia Fast-food chains of Australia Fast-food Mexican restaurants Food and drink companies based in Sydney Theme restaurants Restaurants established in 2006 2006 establishments in Australia Mexican restaurants in Australia

Restaurants

History

Ownership and finance

See also

References

External links