Gordo Taqueria: Through the Generations

The 1970s Cultural Shift

Serving the Bay Area since 1977, Gordo Taqueria is one of the oldest and most established taquerias in San Francisco.

It all began on Clement St. The Gordo brothers saw a cultural shift in the 1970s, a shift away from families eating at home and an increase in dining out. Seizing the opportunity, they decided to try their luck in the restaurant business.

There wasn’t the rich culture of Mexican food in the Mission yet, and in the beginning, the Gordo brothers often had to to explain the differences between burritos and tacos and quesadillas to diners. As Gordo Taqueria’s popularity blossomed, people quickly became familiarized and embraced the traditional flavors and dishes. Soon, the Bay Area’s appetite for Mexican food grew incredibly, and in response, Gordo Taqueria opened new locations throughout the Bay Area.

Now, when you walk through the doors, Jeff Chu, Chief Operations Officer says “You think authentic, San Francisco taqueria style food and experience.”

Their classic recipes boast fresh, made daily ingredients. Fernando Guzman, the Director of Operations of Gordo Taqueria says that it’s all in the kitchen design. “The kitchen is designed to make food in small batches.” This enables them to make small batches of guacamole, salsa, and grilled meats multiple times a day to keep up with the high quality of ingredients.

The Neighborhood Taqueria

Gordo Taqueria is very proud of their customer base. Jeff says “Pretty much all of our units have regulars.” He thinks of one customer in particular, “We have someone that comes in twice a day, every single day for 20 years. He would bring exact change, know all the cashiers and burrito guys. And when we see that, it’s inspiring to us.”

Customer retention means so much more than just numbers to Gordo Taqueria. Their ‘regulars’ reflect the community that they have created in the forty years of their business. Jeff commented, “People who grew up eating Gordo's as a kid in the '90s, went off to college, moved to New York, moved to wherever in the world, they literally have their parents come in here, buy a burrito, freeze it, and then they ship it to them wherever they are in the world, regularly. It's pretty phenomenal.”

Growing the Business

When they were looking to expand their operations, maintaining their excellent customer service was their number one concern. Gordo Taqueria teamed up with Revel Systems to ensure consistency and excellent service across their now, six locations across the Bay Area.

Within a given week Gordo Taqueria services anywhere between 15,000 and 20,000 customers, and some of these customers have been coming here since they opened in 1977. When opening new locations, Elias wanted to always feel comfortable that each location could maintain the same level of quality and customer service. He said, "One of the best decisions that we've made here at Gordo Taqueria is to include technology into the taqueria. Revel has helped us not base decisions off of subjective ideas but be able to see real results."