Abstracts

Considering ethnic cuisines popularity and the fast-casual restaurant concept gaining ground in todays culinary world, it is the perfect time to explore the feasibility of opening up an authentic, fast-casual Mexican restaurant in Gilroy, California. The restaurant industry is labor intensive and requires dedication. Many restaurants fail for a variety of reasons including bad location, poor management, bad customer service, and poor marketing. For this reason, it is extremely important that thorough research be conducted prior to opening a restaurant in order to be successful. The chosen location for the restaurant is on a retail strip near the US-101/Leavesley Rd. exit in Gilroy, California. The location is ideal due to its proximity to the Gilroy Premium Outlets and a lack of Mexican restaurants within a walking distance of the 145 outlet stores. The restaurant, El Fieston, which means the big party, will serve authentic Mexican food in a friendly, festive, fast-casual setting. After thorough operational, market, and financial analysis, El Fieston can achieve profits of over 350,000 per year with great customer service, authentic quality food, a start-up cost of 227,700, and 17,441 fixed operating costs per month.Advisors/Committee Members: Edwards, Ann (advisor).