Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 10

63 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 10 most restaurants who survived the pandemic, maintaining and hiring staff has been a huge hurdle. According to Neal, “At our worst store right now, as far as employment, we normally have 15 to 18 people on the schedule and I believe now we are down to seven. We can’t find anybody. We are talking about possibly closing some shifts because we don’t have enough manpower for it.” He attributes the lack of viable employees directly to the pandemic – from the ability for employees to receive pandemic pay, to the fact that many restaurant workers were forced to find new jobs when restaurants had to close down. So what’s the answer? “That’s a good question,” says Neal. “That’s actually what’s stopping us from expanding right now. We have a couple of landlords that are begging us to sign a lease with them. They are bending over backwards for us to be there – from a year’s worth of free rent to helping us pay for build out. I don’t know what the answer is and believe me, I think about it every day.” Founded in 1992, Taco Rico was on the path for national expansion before the pandemic hit. But now, they’ve found new clarity and a new drive that will take the restaurant chain into the future. As Neal shares, “We wanted to be this national brand but now I see if we just focus on the South Florida area, which is a huge area with a huge population (upwards of nine million people), if we focus on that and get to the 20 to 25 unit mark, that would be a huge accomplishment. At that level, I could retire. So we’re focused on staying strong in South Florida until I can get some help to take us to the next level.” TACO R I CO TEX-MEX CAFÉ Leland Neal and partner Marcelo Ortiz making chicken Taco salads for our new Catering individual packed meals. Leland Neal and partner Marcelo Ortiz, making an order of 122 Ultra Big Burritos.