Roll-Em-Up Taquitos is rolling out yet another development deal, partnering with experienced restaurant operators David Weaver and Blake Terry to bring a total of 315 units collectively to Texas and Oklahoma. This master development deal closes the brand out in 2021 with a total of 420 units placed under development agreement, all in just six months of officially franchising.
“This partnership with David and Blake marks another major milestone in achieving Roll-Em-Up’s growth potential and reflects the quality of the franchisees that are investing in our future,” says chief development officer Chris Wyland. “It solidifies Roll-Em-Up as a leader in the fast-casual restaurant space. We are not the next big thing; we have arrived.”
Franchise partners David Weaver and Blake Terry bring a wealth of knowledge in the franchising category, looking to utilize their experience to make Roll-Em-Up Taquito’s entry into Texas and Oklahoma seamless. The duo has a combined 46 years of experience in the [quick-service] segment, working with many brands including Wingstop, The Catch, Burger House, Subway, Smashburger, and Rusty Taco.
“Having great food is no longer enough in today’s fast casual space and this is what made us thrilled about Roll-Em-Up,” Weaver says. “The food, ambiance, and operations of Roll-Em-Up are outstanding, not to mention the reggae music playing in the background. It’s a vibrant, fun, and delicious place to be and we had to be a part.”
In addition to building and operating a percentage of stores, the group will also act as a layer of operational support and training for additional future franchise partners in the region.
“We plan on strategically growing these markets in order to give franchisees the ability to build a strong and healthy business in one of the best restaurants markets in the nation,” Terry says. “The Roll-Em-Up Taquitos operational system is so simple that we can take on mom-and-pop operators, in addition to large, well-funded groups in order to meet our objectives over the next five years.”
The story of Roll-Em-Up Taquitos’ is simple and began in the home of the Usrey family, where father (Ron) and son (Ryan) fell in love with Mama Karen’s famous beef taquitos. The Usrey family, including patriarch Ron, always talked about opening their taquitos-only eatery, but unfortunately, Mama Karen passed before that dream became a reality. Fast-forward to today, they are “Blastin Reggae” and opened the first Roll-Em-Up Taquitos in Chino Hills, California, in 2019, where they sold an average of 3,500 taquitos a day. Now the brand has three locations open across Southern California in Chino Hills, Brea, and Victorville.
Roll-Em-Up Taquitos offers a focused yet straightforward menu of five different taquitos, including braised shredded beef, shredded chicken, potato, cheese, and avocado. To stay true to who they are, each taquito is rolled up daily—only using fresh, never-frozen ingredients—and pan-fried fresh to order. Taquitos can be topped with cheese and sour cream, in addition to the brand’s handmade mild or spicy house sauce, guac sauce, queso sauce, and famous “lit” sauce.
Other menu items include house-made bacon beans, rice, bomb AF chips, churro donuts drizzled with caramel sauce, and famous Street Corn loaded with butter, mayo, and cotija cheese, with an optional dusting of Hot Cheetos and Tajin or coated in queso.
“Texas is a core market for our expansion and is traditionally hard to penetrate,” says Ryan Usrey, CEO and founder of Roll-Em-Up Taquitos. “By partnering with David and Blake, we are able to tackle the area with an experienced group who between them have operated hundreds of restaurants. We like to say our core demographic is flip-flops to cowboy boots and everything in between, so we couldn’t be more excited that we are heading to Texas.”
To share Mama Karen’s famous taquitos with families nationwide, Roll-Em-Up Taquitos is actively seeking franchise partners with previous restaurant ownership experience and passion for the brand. With a territory fee of $20,000 and franchise fee of $20,000, the initial investment to own and operate a Roll-Em-Up Taquitos restaurant rages from $278,000 to $585,000.