Food & Beverage

Roll Em Up seeking multi-unit franchisees

Image courtesy of Roll Em Up

March 16, 2021

Roll Em Up, a Chino Hills, California-based fast casual restaurant, is launching a franchise program in April and is opening two locations by year's end.

The first opens in April in Brea, and the other will open later this year in San Clemente. The restaurant, which began as a family joke, is positioned for major growth, CEO and founder Ryan Usrey said in a company press release.

"Growing up in Southern California, our family always loved eating all kinds of Mexican food, and especially taquitos," he said. "My mom would make taquitos every weekend for me and my dad."

After consuming their share of taquitos, Usrey's family casually talked about how they should open a taquitos-only eatery. In 2019, the talking gave way to a successful reality.

Roll Em Up's menu is simple but focused: there are five kinds of taquitos, braised shredded beef, shredded chicken, potato, cheese and avocado. The restaurant sells an average of 3,500 taquitos a day, and all taquitos are hand-rolled and fried daily in custom cast iron skillets. Traditional toppings, including cheese and sour cream, are available in addition to an array of house-made dipping sauces, queso sauces and guacamole.

Since it first opened, the restaurant has added other street fare such as Mexican Street Corn, beans and rice and churro donuts, but Usrey assures Roll Em Up patrons, taquitos will always be the star of the show.

"While other guys continue to fight the burger, chicken and pizza wars, we say: peace, love & eat taquitos!"

Launching a franchise in April

According to an interview with Usrey, for franchisees, there will be a three-unit minimum and a $20,000 "territory fee" per location, plus an additional $20,000 per location franchise fee. There is also a 5% royalty fee and a 1.5% general marketing fee. The total investment range is $278,000-$795,000, but it's contingent on construction and location.

It's Usrey's hope that franchisees will expand Roll Em Up throughout Southern California first, then followed up by franchises in the Western U.S, and then across the country.

"We believe that our concept will be successful regardless of the market, and we are already receiving inquiries from several qualified multi -nit restaurant operators," said Usrey.

Roll Em Up has more than 40,000 followers on Instagram along with TikTok videos that have amassed over 1 million views.