CEO of Corona-based Miguel's
restaurants continues parents' work

Javier Vasquez, 32, says his parents did the hard part. They founded Miguel's more than three decades ago and made the Corona-based Mexican restaurant chain a success.

After college, Javier, the youngest of their four children, worked for them in construction, then in 2001 took the reins as chief executive.

Vasquez said in a recent interview he wrote Miguel's first business plan as a USC class assignment. He said he also draws on his childhood experience working weekends and vacations at Miguel's as a cook, server, cashier, busboy and dishwasher.

The rest of the Vasquez family is also in the business. Vasquez said his brother runs the seven fast-food restaurants in Corona, Norco, Riverside, Fontana and Grand Terrace and his sisters work in accounting.

The menus feature dishes his mother learned to cook as a girl in Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico, and she continues to recommend new recipes.

Q: Why did you decide to join the family business after college?

Story continues below

Terry Pierson / The Press-Enterprise

Joining the business was a "unique opportunity," said Javier Vasquez, CEO of Miguel's, a Corona-based chain of Mexican eateries.

A: It was a unique opportunity. Also my parents were at the point in life where they were comfortable with the restaurants they had. They felt they were done and that if we wanted to grow it more, it was up to us.

Q: What is your biggest challenge?

A: I think like in any industry the biggest challenge is to hire qualified people who understand and have a passion for what you do.

Q: How do you attract workers?

Story continues below

A: A lot of our recruitment comes from within the company and word of mouth. We have to compete with larger companies that have larger budgets.

We say we are a family-run business. We are open weekends, but we still close five to seven holidays of the year, and most of our competitors don't do that anymore.

Also, fortunately for us, we have three more restaurants coming on line in the next 18 months. It gives us an opportunity to recruit people who have an opportunity to grow in their careers.

Q: What do you look for when you hire?

A: Personality. If the person who walks through the door has great personality but no experience, we will take a chance. You can teach someone how to serve. You can't teach someone to be friendly.

Q: How important has it been for your business to be located in the Inland Empire?

A: Being in the Inland Empire has been great for us, because we have strong brand recognition here. We opened a restaurant in Foothill Ranch in Orange County and we are struggling there right now. Customers there don't recognize our brand.

Q: What is your plan for the next five years?

A: Our growth strategy is the 15 corridor, following home construction south toward Temecula. We want to expand in that direction and along the I-215. At the end of this year we will open a restaurant at the Dos Lagos lifestyle center.

My goal on a long-term basis is to be able to expand our restaurants and not deteriorate the quality of our food. The reason we are successful is that we are consistent with our product. We are looking to build a big cooking facility somewhere in Corona. We want to centralize production. My mom will oversee it.

BACK TO ARTICLES...