Mexican restaurant in Abu Dhabi has an appetite for expansion

The owner and manager behind Barbacoa, a Mexican restaurant in Masdar City, have ambitions to take the home-grown brand serving home-style food to the streets of Abu Dhabi and eventually to other cities around the Arabian Gulf region.

A corn taco, made from scratch and filled with chicken, fresh salsa, and lettuce, at the Barbacoa restaurant, which makes authentic Mexican food fair such as tacos, quesadillas and burritos, in Masdar City. Silvia Razgova / The NationalShow less

Barbacoa, a small Mexican restaurant tucked away in Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City, is promising to transform from a home-style outlet into a chain that spreads across the Arabian Gulf region.

At least that’s the vision of JJ Vidal, the restaurant’s 51-year-old Venezuelan general manager.

“It’s a mushroom concept that begins in Abu Dhabi then it will expand into the other emirates and then into the GCC area,” said Mr Vidal.

“I have a fascination for Mexican food. I was born in Venezuela and there is nothing closer to home to me than Mexican food, since you don’t have the typical Latin American restaurant scenario around.

“To me I close my eyes and I am eating my grandmother’s meals.”

The Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development has provided financial support to the eatery, and its owner has enough resources to fund the expansion.

Mr Vidal and the owner have ambitions to open about 20 outlets over the next three to five years and bring food trucks to Abu Dhabi.

They are hoping to enter the wider Gulf region in five years’ time. Each outlet is expected to cost between Dh2 million to Dh2.5m to launch.

The first food truck could be in operation as soon as this year, alongside at least one other outlet in Abu Dhabi. Mr Vidal is aiming to operate at least three food trucks in Abu Dhabi, in locations such as Saadiyat Island, the Corniche and near Khalifa Park.

He has yet to choose between building the trucks locally or importing from North America.

He is also working to acquire the necessary permits to operate the trucks and will be coordinating with the Khalifa Fund, the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development and the Food Control Authority.

Mr Vidal hopes to tap the growing market for the mobile eateries in the Emirates, where they are an increasingly popular presence at markets and food festivals.

The Food Truck company officially launched in November, becoming the UAE’s first licensed operator. Its first customised vehicle, Jake’s, hawks three kinds of gourmet bagel burgers.

There are other food trucks operating in the Emirates. One in Dubai, called Salt, sells burgers on Kite Beach.

There is also Ghaf Kitchen, which pops up at concerts, parties and other special events; and Meylas Emirati Food Truck debuted at Abu Dhabi Art, giving people a taste of local cuisine.

The concept of the food truck is in demand and Mr Vidal was recently able to gauge the popularity of his small food kitchen at two markets – the Ripe Food and Craft Market in Mushrif Park and Saadiyat Island.

“This is the size of a 16 foot truck where we produce our meals,” said Mr Vidal, pointing to the size of his open kitchen. “The food truck is a concept that has been much in demand from our clients who do not have access to our restaurants.”

Mr Vidal’s menu is easily adapted to a mobile kitchen as it is restricted to five items: tacos, quesadillas, burritos, salad bowls and rice bowls. The menu includes a choice fillings and sauces, with a selection of sides.

Mr Vidal prefers to keep it simple to preserve the home-style concept of food.

”The idea behind the homemade, grandmother kitchen-style layout needs to continue and the only way to continue that is to maintain the same size and dimension,” said Mr Vidal. “Expanding the menu will lose the concept and become a commercial kitchen.”

Mr Vidal, a former operations manager at Nando’s in the UAE, likes to be involved in menu creation.

As a former general manager of hotels in Canada and the Caribbean, Mr. Vidal always paid special attention to food concepts and was involved in setting up Spanish and Mediterranean-style restaurants.

But the challenge remains to get more customers on board to expand his outlets.

“I think the challenge right now is to achieve maximum exposure to all our guests,” said Mr Vidal. “We don’t have a centrally located outlet that would serve most of the patrons.”

“Now that we have reached a level of preparedness to allow us to go out and reach the masses like we did at the Mushrif Park, we are prepared to go into locations that are more accessible and easily reachable by our guests.”