Location Matters’ Lease Deal, Avila’s El Ranchito, Opens 12th Location in Seal Beach

Avila’s El Ranchito now has 12 restaurants under its banner after opening a Seal Beach location in late August, though it lacks one thing: a headquarters.

Each location is individually owned – most by the children of Salvador and Margarita Avila, who moved to Los Angeles in 1958 from Mexico and in 1966 opened the first Avila’s in Huntington Park in L.A. County, a location they still own. Salvador is now 92, Margarita 93.

El Ranchito translates to “little ranch”. Now the next generation is getting into the act.

“I want this. I’m doing this”, said Elyse Avila Smith, a granddaughter of Salvador and Margarita who owns the Seal Beach restaurant.

The chain migrated south to Orange County in the early 1970s because several of the children wanted to be closer to the beach for surfing.

It has added just 11 restaurants in 50 years: The one just before Seal Beach, in downtown Orange, opened five years ago.

The chain has occasionally closed or sold locations.

“Slower growth means we can maintain quality and consistency,” said Elyse’s cousin, Maribel Avila, who runs several restaurants in the chain.

The chain’s average unit volume is about $2.5 million.

Salvador and Margarita’s five children — Salvador, Victor, Sergio, Margarita, and Maria Elena—own or run eight of the 12 Avila’s, and three grandchildren, including Elyse, own and operate the other four (see re-lated graphic, this page).

Family-Loved

Locations are linked by proximity and family.

Each Avila’s is owned by a separate limited liability company, and while there is no corporate parent, 11 of the 12 are in Orange County, and there are rules for how—and by whom — a new location can launch.

At more than half of the locations, the LLC that owns the restaurant also owns the land. There are no outside investors. Family members who want to own a location have to work in one for at least five years.

Elyse ran the San Clemente location for her father, Victor, before opening the Seal Beach restaurant. Maribel is in charge of three locations owned by her father, Sergio.

“It’s family-owned and family-loved,” she said.

Maribel and Elyse, both in their late 20s,have worked in the restaurants since their teens.

Some family members pursue other interests: For instance, Maribel’s sister Bianca Small is a real estate agent with Surterre Properties Inc. in Newport Beach

Consistency

The cousins said the informal structure among the locations integrates benefits of larger, conventionally run chains — volume pricing from suppliers, for example—with the quality control and agility that come with a small group of family restaurants.

Restaurants commonly retain the same employees and food suppliers — F & L Produce in Huntington Park and Del Mar MeatCo. in San Gabriel, to name just two — for decades.

“They’re family friends,” Maribel said. Corona del Mar Avilaʼs: attracts upscale clientele The menu is largely similar across locations. Customers note that the made-from-scratch guacamole is a signature item.

“We work from our grandmother’s recipes,” Maribel said. “The food will taste the same — that’s our goal.”

Individual locations can adapt to their communities, though.

The Santa Ana location is “more of a Mexican hacienda” with a largely Latino customer base, and the Corona del Mar restaurant taps “a higher-end” clientele that skews Caucasian, the cousins said.

The Avila’s in Orange is within walking distance of Chapman University and attracts a younger crowd.

And the San Clemente restaurant sports a beach-culture vibe with “surfboards hanging from the ceiling,” Elyse said.

Seal Beach is the smallest of the 12 at 2,300 square feet. The largest location is the one inSanta Ana at 7,000 square feet.

Corona del Mar has the only taco bar in the chain. Lake Forest offers 100 different kinds of tequila. And Seal Beach has to close at 11p.m. on weekends due to city regulations.

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Original article written in Orange County Business Journal