Today we’d like to introduce you to Juan Gonzalez.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Wholly Frijoles was established 12 years ago. Tired of working the corporate service industry, I decided that I wanted to be my own boss and introduce Northeast Ohio to the different flavors of Mexican cuisine. I spent every Sunday building the food truck and started doing research on the growing community of food trucks in Cleveland. I then bought and refurbished a second truck to keep up with all the weddings, birthdays, graduations, and festivals we were booking. The success of these food trucks has allowed me to open up brick-and-mortar restaurants in Cuyahoga Falls and Macedonia, serving our authentic Mexican all year round, especially while the food trucks get winterized.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We opened our Falls location around the time of the coronavirus pandemic, so there were definitely some struggles associated with that. However, by our second year of being open, our sales had nearly doubled, and we found more ways to get our food out to the community via doordash, ubereats, and more. There have definitely been some struggles affiliated with finding enough staff to keep up with the busy pace of the restaurants and food truck schedule during the summer.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Wholly Frijoles has been working to bring the authentic flavors of Mexican cuisine to Northeast Ohio by way of food trucks and brick-and-mortar restaurants. After working tirelessly on a menu, experimenting with different flavors, and using the freshest ingredients, we compiled a few staple dishes that can be found at the restaurants and food trucks: burritos, bowls, nachos, tacos. Opening the restaurants has allowed us to experiment with specialty dishes that require more preparation. These include items like our popular street corn fries, quesabirria, and California burrito. We slice our own meats, make all of our marinades and salsas from scratch, and only use the freshest ingredients available to us.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk-taking.
Being part of the restaurant business, we are definitely not working in a risk-free environment. Every time I open a new location, I am taking a risk. Yes, we do extensive research on available spaces, but there are so many factors that go into maintaining a restaurant. It is one thing to renovate the space and turn on that open sign; it is an entirely different story when it comes time to bringing people in through the doors and evaluating food costs and sales. I am ambitious and definitely a risk-taker, and when something does not work out, I use that as a learning opportunity of how I can improve the business for the future.
Contact Info:
- Website: eatwhollyfrijoles.com
- Instagram: www.Instagram.com/whollyfrijoles
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/whollyfrijoles
