Panchero’s Mexican Grill is busy. Over the past couple weeks, the Coralville, Iowa-based company opened its premier restaurants in California and Maryland on May 26th and June 1st in San Diego and Towson, respectively.

The San Diego outpost is the first of nearly 30 Panchero’s to be developed in San Diego County and the Towson restaurant marks the first of 10 locations planned for the Baltimore region.

Spearheading the expansion in San Diego is Reagan Dahl and his son-in-law, Charles Riddle. Neither is a stranger to the restaurant business. Dahl climbed the ranks at Domino’s Pizza from a delivery driver to a franchisee owning five locations as well as three Quiznos shops, which Riddle manages.

After over 25 years with Domino’s, however, Dahl was ready for a change and sold his restaurants to pursue a new venture. He wanted to find a concept that was not only original but would provide him an opportunity to grow in a completely untapped market. When he found Panchero’s met both of those qualifications, Dahl signed on immediately. His involvement with Panchero’s will be two fold, as he will be both a franchisee that owns and operates his own restaurants and an area developer that will find other qualified franchisees to open their own locations.

Robin Kwon and Bob Lee are the men behind Panchero’s debut in Maryland. Robin, a CPA for the past 15 years, had considered opening his own business for several years but wanted to find the right business associate and concept before doing so. When he began working with Bob regarding the finances of his two Quiznos stores in Frederick, Robin knew he had found the partner he’d been looking for.

Following their June opening, Robin and Bob plan to continue exposing area residents to Panchero’s unique flavor. The pair has signed a three-unit development agreement and hope to open their second and third restaurants in the Towson and Columbia regions within the next two years.