When servers at Maria Maria restaurants bring a card to the table as a “thank you” from Carlos Santana at the end of a meal, guests are often surprised to learn the rock legend is a partner in the five-unit casual-dining chain.
Created by Walnut Creek, Calif.-based DSE Sports & Entertainment Corp., the concept is named for one of Santana’s hit songs. A guitar is featured in the logo, videos of his concerts sometimes play in the bar area, and the music in the dining room comes from “Carlos’ iPod,” featuring mostly other artists, said Jeff Dudum, Maria Maria’s founder.
But other than that, Santana’s name and image are largely absent from the venue — a move, Dudum said, that is aimed at protecting the chain from the “stigma of being a celebrity restaurant,” which may lead guests to believe the food is secondary.
Maria Maria
Parent Company: Maria Maria Holdings
Headquarters: Walnut Creek, Calif.
Market Segment: casual
Menu: “Nuevo Mexican”
No. of Units: 5
Systemwide Sales: $13 million
Check Average: $21
Leadership: Jeff Dudum, founder; Carlos Santana, partner; Roberto Santibañez, chef-partner
Year founded: 2007
Method of Growth/Funding: $6 million in start-up capital from True Capital Management and internal cash flow
Notable Competitors: Rosa Mexicano; “ma-and-pa” Mexican restaurants
Target Markets: California, Arizona, Texas
Website:
www.mariamariarestaurants.com
At Maria Maria — which in three years has grown to five locations, with the fifth opening last month in San Diego — food is taken very seriously, Dudum said, because that’s how Santana wants it.
The menu was developed by Mexico City-born Roberto Santibañez, the concept’s chef-partner and former culinary director for the New York-based Rosa Mexicano restaurants. Maria Maria’s contemporary dishes are inspired by regional specialties from Mexico, Dudum said.
Among the signature items are shredded duck tacos with tomato-habanero cream sauce; guacamole studded with fresh seafood; and a chicken-and-mole tortilla casserole with roasted poblanos, crema and cheese, dried tomatoes and pickled jalapeños.
“People are intrigued to not see rice and beans on every plate,” Dudum said.
Generating an average unit volume of $3.75 million, the Maria Maria concept has become a growth vehicle that has emerged from what was DSE, which earlier this year split into separate corporations for each of its brands.
DSE once specialized in celebrity-themed restaurants, operating multiple units of high-end concepts such as Bing Crosby’s restaurant and piano lounge, Joe DiMaggio’s Italian Chophouse, and McCovey’s, the latter named for San Francisco Giants baseball great Willie McCovey.
The recession, however, took its toll on DSE’s higher-end venues, Dudum said.
Bing Crosby’s locations are open in San Diego and Walnut Creek, but a third location in Rancho Mirage, Calif., closed this year. That brand is run by Jeff Dudum’s brother, Rick.
Rick Dudum also heads the Joe DiMaggio’s brand, which he is currently reconcepting. A Joe DiMaggio’s location in Austin, Texas, closed last year, and it’s not clear yet if the remaining San Francisco location will continue under the same name.
McCovey’s, DSE’s original brand, has done better, in part because of a more approachable $16 average check, Jeff Dudum said. With one location in Walnut Creek, that brand is operated by his father Rocky Dudum.
Though casual dining has suffered in recent years, Maria Maria’s $21 per-person average check remained in reach of most. A lively atmosphere also drew customers, Dudum said, adding that 33 percent of sales come from the bar. Projected systemwide sales for 2010 are $16 million.
In addition to Walnut Creek and San Diego, units are open in Danville, Calif.; Tempe, Ariz.; and Austin, Texas.
Maria Maria has won the support of private-equity firm True Capital Management, which invested $6 million in seed money.
Dudum currently is looking for financing for growth.
After meeting with P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Inc. chief executive Rick Federico — whose company has invested in such start-up chains as True Foods Kitchen by Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Fox Restaurant Concepts — Dudum said he wants to “create the ideal formula” for Maria Maria’s operations before expanding.
“We are to Mexican food what P.F. Chang’s is to Asian,” Dudum said. “We have taken out the ma and pa and made it hip and cool.”
Dudum is looking for the right location to build a new prototype Maria Maria from the ground up.
Current units are about 5,300 square feet with an 1,000-square-foot patio.
Sales in the first week at the San Diego location were about $70,000, Dudum said, and he was pleased with the response from the city’s Latino community.
“They are really excited about the food, saying it was like at home,” he said.
Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].