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Tortilla Mexican Grill: Revenues surge by over a fifth after expansion

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Tortilla Mexican Grill raked in revenues of £32.7m during the first leg of the year, up 22 per cent compared to the same period last year, off the back of a string of new site openings.

The fast-casual restaurant chain was bolstered by new openings and growing demand, saying like for like revenue also grew 8.4 per cent ahead of the Peach Coffer Tracker benchmark – an industry tool which measures pub and restaurant performance. 

Tortilla, which sells Mexican inspired dishes, opened a series of new sites during the quarter in Derby and Greenwich and Manchester Piccadilly – taking its portfolio to 85. 

It will also open a new site in Northern Ireland  this week in Belfast, with another in Bracknell in coming weeks.

Tortilla said it also made its offering more appealing to evening diners through a series of new menus and ‘Happy Hour’ offers. 

“We continue to deliver on our disciplined but ambitious approach to new site openings and strategic expansion, with all of our new openings performing well and meeting our expectations,” Richard Morris, chief of Tortilla said. 

“Our franchise sites also continue to perform well with our SSP sites achieving record results and we remain hugely excited by the significant franchise growth opportunities in the UK and overseas.”

Tortilla’s share price grew 0.61 per cent when markets opened this morning, in a  rare vote of confidence for high street eateries which have suffered due to the pandemic and subsequent cost of living crisis. 

Fellow casual dining chain TRG, the owner of Wagamama, reported a sales hike of nine per cent in the first leg of the year. 

However, its chief Andy Hornby previously told The Telegraph in March, that he did not think the [casual dining] industry will never be quite as big as it was.” 

Hornby, who also heads popular eateries such as Frankie & Benny’s, told the outlet that people were still “prepared to spend money on good quality food and drink” as he argued that “good performing, well-run food and drink operators do have a good future in this country”.

He is currently looking at transforming a handful of its underperforming sites into Wagamama restaurant chains.