Ahhh Mexican food… I always sit and wonder why there are no good Mexican restaurants in Egypt when their food is so similar to ours. Why am I so restricted with going to either Friday’s or Chilies as my only options? Well that has changed (sort of..) I sat down with Dave, the founder of Gringo’s Burrito Grill located in the back streets of Maadi to ask about his venture in too the cuisine and to give us a little education on the brand itself with all its what’s and why’s.
What is Gringos, tell us a little about the brand, the name and how it all came together?
Gringo’s is the first burrito restaurant in Egypt. While there are several Mexican or Tex-Mex restaurants in the greater Cairo area, none of them specializes in the fresh, massive wraps that have become so popular elsewhere. A friend and I decided to offer just that; I threw together the recipes, he threw together the kitchen, and voila!
As far as the brand goes, Gringo’s is committed to health, sustainability and freshness. Gringo’s uses local ingredients whenever possible (at the moment the only things we import are the black beans and the cheese); our kitchen is kept to the highest standards of hygiene (feel free to stop by and see for yourself); and we prepare most of our burrito ingredients on an hourly basis!
The name always turns heads. It was actually my mother’s suggestion; according to her, “an American white dude in Egypt cooking Mexican food, what better name for the restaurant than a word that means white guy in Mexico?”
Do you find it strange that you are the only one in Egypt to have come up with the concept?
The burgeoning international food scene in Egypt is rapidly expanding to include new cuisines. I must say I’m surprised none of the burrito franchises have made it over here yet. Aside from the fact that every American I know here routinely craves burritos, the similarities between Egyptian and Mexican foods are abundant. While convincing Egyptians that beans in a sandwich can be edible after breakfast is an uphill battle, once they try a burrito they always come back for more!
Who are your partners in this project?
Ahmad Nada, a close friend of mine, co-founded Gringo’s with me. He and a couple other friends used to cause trouble around Cairo back when I studied at AUC four years ago. We stayed in close touch while I was back in the States and have been together on this project from the start.
What was the inspiration behind the brand, or was it because you just were craving a burrito one day and there was no Chipotle round the corner?
As an amateur chef in college, I was passionate about food and hoped to one day open a restaurant. When I came to Egypt as a teacher, the one thing I absolutely could not find was a Chipotle-style burrito. As it turned out, two of my closest friends (Nada and another friend who left Egypt, Mohamad Ali) were also aspiring restaurateurs. The stars aligned during a fateful car ride home from the Siag hotel, the Gringo’s idea hatched, and we got to work.
How many different burritos do you serve? And what is your favorite?
The beauty of Gringo’s is that rarely do any two customers order the same burrito. If you look at our new online ordering website (see the last question), you’ll notice an abundance of options so you can customize your burrito to your taste. There’s even a comments box in case you’d like to make a special request. If you want to get technical and crunch the numbers, there are approximately 10,080 possible burrito concoctions excluding special orders.
My favorite burrito changes from month to month, but today I’d have a grande nacho shredded chicken with guacamole and jalapeno sauce, spicy and blended (we mix up the ingredients before rolling the burrito). Also, don’t forget we have quesadillas too. My favorite is the quesa de mayo (shredded beef, grilled chicken, and pico de gallo) with added jalapeno sauce.
It may help to know what Ahmad, an Egyptian, prefers as well. He’s has been on a low-carb cardio program so he’s been ordering the grilled chicken burrito bowl with no rice, extra veggies, and guacamole. However, he does break the regimen from time to time and I must say I’ve never seen someone eat as many of our machaca flautas as he can…
Do you intend to expand? Making this in to a franchise, or keep it a local outlet, something like Lucille’s?
We do plan on expanding and hope to open a second branch in the next couple of months. In terms of franchising, we are looking into that idea at the moment, especially as a means of expanding to other countries in the region.
You are an American living in Egypt; do you find it difficult in times like these? Do you feel threatened in any way?
Only when crossing the street. Seriously, I haven’t noticed any increase in animosity towards foreigners. Petty crime is certainly on the rise, but I still feel safer traversing the streets of Cairo at 4 AM than I would in my hometown of New York City.
Other than Mexican if you could open one more outlet serving any other cuisine what would it be?
Sloppy Joes.
How do we get our hands on one of your burritos? Do you deliver?
At the moment we only deliver. The nice thing is we’ll send food as far as Heliopolis! We have minimum orders outside Maadi; feel free to check out our online ordering website or give us a call to find out what your zone’s minimum is.
We also do catering for parties small and large. We offer a number of items ideal for finger food or we’ll even send you your own burrito rolling ingredients complete with a trained rolling staff! Email us at gringosburritogrill@gmail.com for catering information. For delivery, you can reach us by phone at 01020466887 or…….see below
We hear you’re launching something new soon for Gringo’s, what would that be?
Gringo’s is proud to announce the launch of Egypt’s first restaurant-specific ordering website: visit www.getgringos.com and get Gringo’s today! The site works great on any touch-screen mobile phone and you don’t have to worry about receiving any confirmation calls. The best part: order from the website during the month of September and receive an automatic 10% off!
