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When DRG acquired the Ontario, CA Taco Bell in 2021, frustration and fear was in the air.
“We didn’t know what to expect, but thank God, the company has given us good results,” says Angelica Sandoval, who kept her position as General Manager through the transition. The following interview has been translated from Spanish into English.
Angelica’s candidness about changing restaurant ownership is refreshing and honest. She doesn’t hesitate a minute to elaborate on what was better at DRG compared to the previous owner: receiving more comprehensive benefits. Win-win!
Employees always come first at DRG.
Angelica mentions 401(k) plans and insurance specifically, which we think are “must haves” for team members. It’s always people first at DRG. She says her managers now get vacations and bonuses, which was also not a norm before.
“The only thing they changed was [adding] more benefits,” she says. And in turn, Angelica and her peers have remained a loyal workforce. She says her teammates continue to motivate one another and work toward goals together.
Angelica is big on recognition. She uses her position to motivate and inspire, and makes a point to highlight success when she sees it. She also supports team members with constructive feedback and by providing the necessary tools for improvement.
“I let them express what they think … ” she says about her management style. “If I can help them, I help them. We are a family and we have to support each other to be authentic.”
Angelica shares a story of encouragement, remembering that she once worked with a manager who was late and unreliable, but today, she now counts him as one of her best!
“If you have the desire, you will achieve it.”
So how can you join her team? The Ontario team is like Angelica’s second family, so naturally, she has a list of ideal qualities for Taco Bell job candidates. She looks for energy, kindness, a desire to work and a lot of motivation from within.
“It’s teamwork, working with enthusiasm and working with desire,” she says. “Because if we don’t feel like working …we won’t do it.” Apply today!
When Area Coach Patty Alvarez joined Taco Bell at age 20, she didn’t know any English. She says the restaurant business became her “school.” Though the language barrier prevented her from being confident in her abilities, at DRG, we find it hard to hold back greatness!
“I was learning in the process,” Patty says, reflecting.
She began her career with tacos as a cook, working the graveyard shift. Through several promotions and pep talks from leaders around her, it didn’t take long to bounce up the ladder of opportunity at DRG.
Today, she’s definitely someone! DRG has enlisted Patty to oversee our Taco Bells in southern California.
A lot of people pushed Patty along the way, she says, helping her look past her insecurities with English as her second language. She was lucky to land a mentor within DRG who not only encouraged her to pursue the Area Coach role, but also offered to spend time with her outside of work to help prep for the next level of management. At DRG, we cultivate leaders who are equipped to develop others.
For Patty, one challenge she had to face head on to get to that next level was public speaking, but the very thought of it led to panic attacks. Believing in her, Patty’s mentor set her up with some additional training. Sometimes it just takes one special person to keep you going.
You can tell there have always been people cheering Patty on, including her mom. But make no mistake, Patty deserves credit for her success, too. At one point, she worked not one but two Taco Bell jobs at the same time, working from 6 a.m. to at least 2 a.m. the following morning!
“I think what kept me motivated in coming to work every day was … I needed to provide to [sic] my family,” she says.
Though advancement has been scary, she’s also grown to embrace a good challenge, whether it’s accepting a promotion or managing a restaurant all by herself.
So what kind of leader is Patty? According to her, she focuses on motivating her team and making sure people are having fun (one of our core values!). In fact, this is what she has to say about why someone should work for Taco Bell:
Fun is precisely what’s kept Patty around all these years; that and company culture. She’s obviously shared what she loves with her children — Patty’s oldest daughter, age 28, now works for Taco Bell, too.
“It’s about the energy, the positive attitude, the culture of the store,” she says. “Having a good culture in the store is one of the most important things to me.”
“When you get to the stores and you see those employees’ faces, the smiles on their faces,” she continues. “That’s when you know that you’re in the right place.” And with Patty as an inspiring example, Taco Bell is a great place to start a career!
We’re busy over here racing toward the finish line on event prep for our annual Leadership Summit in Las Vegas! This year’s event boasts a flashy Race Track theme, paying homage to the upcoming World Class Car Race Event, which is scheduled to close down the Strip in November 2023.
After remodeling our Restaurant Support Center (RSC) in Las Vegas last year, we’re delighted to use this designated space to host our welcome reception the first night!
We don’t want to reveal TOO much about the agenda — after all, half the fun is in our big reveals at the live event! But we’ve secured an impressive lineup of female Taco Bell leaders as keynotes:
New Initiative: Promoting Female Leadership
Why all women? At DRG, we’re stepping up our commitment to the development of female leaders within our company. This initiative originated with our all male Executive Team. It’s time to empower more women to sit at our head table!
At DRG, we like to have fun and innovate (remember, we brought you EV charging at our south San Francisco location) — it’s part of company culture and our core values. But we’re also serious about growth!
We think this latest figure gives us bragging rights — that’s 10 times our founding acquisition of 29 restaurants in 2014!
Truthfully, DRG doesn’t plan to stop here. Company leadership continues to look to the future with “a goal of doubling revenue and store count in five years through acquisitions, new-builds and, potentially, a new brand,” as eloquently reported by writer Alicia Kelso of Nation’s Restaurant News. Read her full article about DRG’s exciting growth plans.
According to CEO SG Ellison, there continues to be ample opportunity in southern California for the cantina concept. Doubling as social experiences and event venues (our Vegas cantina is great for weddings), they’ve been a hit!
Alicia’s article highlights another essential point made by SG — no matter what, people will continue to be a focus. We don’t grow without remembering employees come first (check out our benefits for proof).
DRG’s own SG Ellison recently interviewed with leading industry publication Restaurant Dive, as part of an update on the challenges and opportunities franchisees face in today’s market of “high development and operating costs.”
Senior reporter Julie Littman mentions several known restaurant brands in the article; SG represents the innovative, forward-thinking Taco Bell brand with comments on technological advancement, digital traffic and experimentation.
In the article, Littman reports on DRG’s use of the Taco Bell Go Mobile store format and shares SG’s expert insights on leveraging digital traffic: “I think there’s still a lot of room for growth in our order-ahead mobile apps as well as delivery,” she quotes him saying.
SG also discusses development and financing challenges in the current market, and says there will still be opportunity for those “with decent cash positions and the ability to grow their balance sheets, or finance their development on their own.”
Read the full article to gain a better understanding of the latest activity in the franchising industry.
GM Estefania Ortiz started as a Food Champion with Taco Bell in 2011, when she first arrived in California from Argentina. Taco Bell became her first employer in the U.S. It was a short stint of eight months — she stayed just long enough to get a taste for the action.
Then three years ago, Estefania was given an opportunity to come back to the Taco Bell family as a general manager and that’s when she realized she could make a career out of this. Working at Taco Bell doesn’t have to be a hard stop on the career ladder, it can be a stepping stone to so much more.
Estefania has now been with DRG for eight months; she’s still relatively new to management at her current location in Yorba Linda, CA. She says the transition was challenging, but she’s really happy with her position.
“It’s a big change, but it’s good,” she says. “With DRG, I feel like we have a lot of support … all day, every day, any time.”
How does company leadership support managers like Estefania? With training, plenty of coaching and access to other development tools that help build great teams (pssssssst, great teams also need great benefits).
“It doesn’t matter what, they are there for us,” she says. It turns out, Estefania had to test out this theory a few weeks ago!
“I had a little problem in the store and I didn’t know what to do,” she says. “I called my Director of Operations and he answered right away.”
Together, they resolved the issue at hand and were able to move on quickly. Naturally, this rising star tries to show up in the same manner for her team. This positive work environment is only enhanced by the fact that our team members also enjoy themselves. In fact, one of our core values is that at DRG, we have FUN.
“If you’re looking for a job, this will be awesome,” she says. “You will have so much fun!”
Taco Bell took weddings to a whole new level by hosting the brand’s first ever metaverse wedding in February, featuring real groom and bride Sheel Mohnot and Amruta Godbole in an amazingly colorful virtual world. The live streamed event was inspired by the wedding chapel inside DRG’s flagship Las Vegas Cantina!
Taco Bell’s Metaverse Wedding featured:
According to People.com, following their metaverse “I dos,” San Franciscans Sheel and Amruta also enjoyed a live reception at our Pacifica, CA cantina. Read People’s exclusive interview with the lucky couple!
Want to see what all the hype is about? Visit the virtual venue on Decentraland until March 31, 2023, or read about how this cool, custom event came together. Better yet, book your own live event or wedding at a hip cantina today! From a sports bar to weddings on the Strip, a patio party to Xbox gaming, we can help you create a fun vibe for all.
We’ve been marrying couples at our Las Vegas Cantina on the Strip since the debut of our wedding packages in 2017. To date, nearly 800 lucky couples have been legally married in our chapel! Book your wedding today.
Our very own SG Ellison was keynote speaker at #QSRNext, an all virtual industry event created to give those in quick service/fast food a convenient way to exchange ideas and learn from industry veterans like SG.
#QSRNext kicked off with a splashy promo video about DRG featuring COO Tom Douglas and James Amon followed by SG’s speaking engagement, where he called in live, from his office.
The innovation and popularity of our Taco Bell cantina concept which “pairs craveable Mexican-inspired food with this amazing social dining experience,” continues to be buzzworthy. SG offers his perspective on how a Taco Bell cantina“elevates the brand” and also elevates the experience for involved team members and management. Watch carefully, there’s also a special nod to our private label Taco Bell wine from CEO David Grieve’s winery!
DRG operates six Taco Bell cantinas, all designed with their own unique themes (beachside, patio, sports, VIP lounge, X-Box gaming, urban chic). As far as how these restaurants have come to be, SG says that DRG “chooses the location based on what’s best for the trade area.”
Hear more of what SG and other industry leaders had to say during the conference by watching the full #QSRNext event on YouTube.
Jesus Vargas is a Senior Area Coach, responsible for all of our Taco Bells in Simi Valley, CA. He’s been with DRG for a year now and the brand for 25 years.
When Jesus first started working in the quick service restaurant (QSR) industry, there was no such thing as social media. Well, technically, he started the year that the very first social media site was born, according to this article. Today, as we actively invest in boosting our company’s presence on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, people like Jesus are seeing the impact of social media on recruiting and the next generation.
“I really enjoy that social media helps so much in this process of getting people [on] board and getting them excited about growing in the company,” he says.
One of Jesus’ primary passions is pushing others toward growth that provides them with a better life.
“I really enjoy doing that,” he says. “That’s a reason why I am still here.”
In 20-plus years of management with Taco Bell, Jesus has come to recognize the importance of inspiring those around him. He says people are often afraid of growing, but he’s found a way to motivate with a can-do attitude and bursts of encouraging words. Most recently, Jesus played an integral role in developing several other Area Coaches for DRG, something he’s very proud of. To him, he’s helping turn dreams into reality, jobs into careers.
“You need to really focus on gathering yourself the right people … And helping them become successful,” he says.“Because opportunities are always going to be there for us.”
Success in our Taco Bells — speed of service, exceeding sales goals — benefits everyone, including our hungry, faithful guests.
But it starts with doing the right thing, which is one of DRG’s core values. Growth doesn’t happen by cutting corners, Jesus is quick to point out.
“I feel like doing the right thing in DRG or any other place means taking care of people and helping people to achieve their dreams,” he continues. DRG supports its own with scholarships and tuition assistance, opportunities to climb higher on the career ladder, and so much more.
Jesus reminds us DRG also places emphasis on having fun (another one of our core values).
“When my director said, ‘We have to have fun,’ I said, ‘Oh wow!’” he recalls. Jesus didn’t have the “fun factor” before arriving at DRG. But there’s power in having fun — “people really need to love being in that place, working with everybody that’s there.”
Jesus has definitely been a part of improving culture in our restaurants. He believes that that responsibility rests with leadership. It’s part of showing that leadership really cares about its people. And we do — DRG cares. So here’s to more fun in 2023!
DRG President and franchisee SG Ellison participated in an industry panel discussion at Restaurant Finance Monitor’s Restaurant Finance & Development Conference. The topic was scale and large multi-unit franchisees; SG participated with representatives from Flynn Restaurant Group, Beshay Enterprises and Bank of America. View the panel here.
Special highlights of SG’s comments on stage include: