California Tortilla

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

California Tortilla is a fast casual Fresh Mex restaurant chain that originated on Long Island. Two individuals (who are now part of the California Tortilla franchising entity), bought the rights to open in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. They eventually bought the naming rights from the original owner as well. The original California Tortilla has since closed. Its menu is similar to competitors, such as Baja Fresh and Chipotle Mexican Grill. The chain is looking to expand into other geographical areas through franchising.[1]

The chain was named best "Cheap Eats" in the 2006 Washington Post Best Bets Reader's Choice feature; the paper wrote, "this friendly local chain aims to please." [2]


Contents

[edit] Locations

Currently, California Tortilla has 29 restaurant locations. The majority of the stores reside in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. The world headquarters is located in Rockville, Maryland.

DELAWARE
Newark

FLORIDA
Wellington
Coral Springs

MARYLAND
Annapolis
Bethesda
Bowie
Burnt Mills (Silver Spring)
BWI Airport
College Park
Columbia
Frederick
Germantown
Laurel
Olney
Potomac
Baltimore
Rockville
Waldorf

PENNSYLVANIA
Doylestown
Royersford

VIRGINIA
Arlington
Ashburn Village
Brambleton
Dulles Airport
Dulles 28 Town Center
Fair Lakes
Fairfax
Lansdowne
Manassas
National Airport
Reston
Richmond
Williamsburg

WASHINGTON, DC
Chinatown
Cleveland Park

WEST VIRGINIA
Ranson

[edit] Atmosphere

Image:CTInterior.jpg
The atmosphere in California Tortilla restaurants is "spunky" according the company itself. The restaurant is decorated in bright, bold colors and patterns. Simple things such as pens to sign credit card slips are held to the counter by a large heavy chain to add a fun edge. Signs are also worded in a more humorous way. The staff members are unique and fun, varied by location. For example: You can meet "Hello Kitty" the spunky general manager and "her good-looking" crew at Annapolis and Bowie. You can meet Eric the owner or his cardboard cut-out standee in Richmond. You can meet owner/general managers Meg & Mike at the College Park location - they are diehard Terps/University of Maryland fans. There is a fun, perky newsletter that gets published online & in print monthly called Taco Talk, written by Pam Felix, who purchased the original franchising rights and name to California Tortilla, and whose picture appears (with her partner, Alan Cohen) on all the paper goods and signature sauce bottles in every restaurant. If it's your birthday or you win/redeem a free burrito coupon, you will most certainly get a crazy, loud "YEE-HA!" from the staff and management. It's all part of the fun.

[edit] Menu

The menu consists of a variety of Mexican food. The following are some of the items offered at all California Tortilla locations.

The biggest focus of the menu at California Tortilla is on the specialty burritos. The most popular burrito is the Blackened Chicken Caesar Burrito, while the Honey Lime and Crunchy BBQ Ranch are also big favorites. The restaurant also features a quarterly special and/or "Burrito of The Month".

[edit] Promotions

Patrons of California Tortilla experience a wide variety of promotions that offer free food or coupons. Some of the promotions are typical restaurant promotions, such as buy 7 burritos and get the 8th free. Other promotions are very unusual, such as Free Pop-tart Day. If you are a member of the email (non-spam) list, there are "secret" promotions that appear from time to time as well.

Year-round promotions include:

  • Monday Night Mystery Prize Burrito Wheel - Every Monday night after 5 pm, anyone who purchases a burrito can spin the wheel and win a prize. The prizes range from a free cookie or brownie to a dollar amount off your purchase or a signature salad.

[edit] Grand Openings

At all new California Tortilla Grand Openings, patrons who stop by between 11am-1:30pm and 5pm-8pm receive any free burrito of choice and a soda (the store is not open for any other regular business on Grand Opening Day). The first ten people in line at 11am will receive one free burrito every week for a year, while the next 20 in line will receive one free burrito every week for a month. It is common for yearly burrito winners to start camping out in front of the store the night before, so if you want to win, be sure to get there early. Image:StoreOpening.jpg

[edit] References

  1. ^ California Tortilla Franchising Opportunities
  2. ^ 2006 Cheap Eats Winners, The Washington Post. Retrieved January 1, 2007

[edit] External links