Mike's Red Tacos, a San Diego-born beef birria brand named as a Yelp Top 100 US Restaurant (2023), is fueling national growth with the launch of a franchising initiative.

An team of restaurant industry leaders is spurring expansion through a strategic investment in the brand. Together with the original Mike's Red Tacos founder, they have created momentum for the brand, securing development agreements with experienced franchisees from Dave's Hot Chicken, Jersey Mike's, Blaze Pizza, Dunkin', Little Caesars, Carl's Jr, Wetzel's Pretzels and more, that total more than 200 planned locations.

Leading the concept into the growth phase is newly named company president Vincent Montanelli, a longtime restaurant industry executive. He most recently was at the helm of Wetzel's Pretzels, where he served in various leadership roles for nearly 20 years. Bill Phelps and Andrew Feghali are backing the concept as an early-stage investors and advisors. Phelps led Dave's Hot Chicken's growth as CEO, following his role as co-founder and longtime leader of Wetzel's Pretzels, bringing decades of experience scaling high-performing franchise brands. Feghali holds the honor of being the first Dave's Hot Chicken franchisee and has a series of successes in multi-unit franchising with a portfolio of concepts including Jersey Mike's and Little Caesars.

"The strength of Mike's Red Tacos is a combination of its authentic and craveable birria, a strong business model, incredible partners and positioning to capitalize on a market demand that birria is experiencing," said Montanelli. "With a team that has a proven track record in multi-unit franchising and restaurant leadership, we are set up to scale Mike's Red Tacos and share The Birria Experience with communities throughout the country."

Mike's Red Tacos is also announcing multiunit deals in markets including California, Michigan, Minnesota, New England, Nevada, Texas, Virginia, Arizona, Indiana and Illinois. Construction will begin in the coming months on the initial set of franchise restaurants, with the first to open by year end 2026.

Mike's Red Tacos is investing in a new Pasadena, Calif., corporate-run location, set to open spring 2026, which will serve as a prototype for stores in the development pipeline, as well as its Brand Training Center. Likewise, company founder and namesake, Mike Touma, who serves as a company leader, is opening his third location March 2026 in San Diego.

"There is tremendous energy enveloping the brand right now, and we're embracing it to provide a restaurant franchise investment unlike anything else," said Kayla Edidin, vice president of franchise development for Mike's Red Tacos. "We are extremely excited about growing the brand nationally with highly qualified multi-unit franchisees that will champion The Birria Experience at Mike's Red Tacos."

The brand, first popularized in 2021 as a food truck, carries a creative "the dip is worth the drip" tagline. It is best known for its birria, signature consome dip and bold visual restaurant identity. As a result of two restaurants open within the past four years, Mike's Red Tacos has attracted a social media following, especially with millennial and Gen Z customers who value authenticity but also want an approachable and shareable experience.

Given its differentiators and consumer appeal, the brand has a robust growth map planned out. The strategy initially will focus on US markets including Southern California, Seattle, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Austin, Dallas, Chicago, Miami and Boston.

As the company scales nationwide, Mike's Red Tacos is seeking experienced and growth-minded, multiunit operators with the infrastructure to help share the brand's unique birria experience. With birria expected to appear on more than 5% of US menus by 2028, according to Datassential (up from 0.5% in 2020), and demand continuing to rise, franchise partners have the opportunity to tap into the fastest-growing segment of the Mexican food category. The brand has strong AUVs, a small-footprint model and a leadership team committed to preserving quality while enabling scalable growth.

Source: Mike's Red Tacos