Richard Sandoval learned the business from his restaurateur father. “He knew everything about what the restaurants used—how many pieces of bread, how many napkins, how many pieces of toilet paper,” Sandoval told The Denver Post in 2015. “I knew that to be successful, I was going to have to run a business, not a kitchen.” With that attention to detail, Sandoval’s company has grown to more than 20 concepts in six countries. In recent years, he also launched a food hall in Chicago, Latinicity, that he’s working on expanding to Mexico City.
He cites having fun as his driver of innovation. Each year, Sandoval sends his chefs to a different international city and asks them to riff on new dishes based off these trips. “You always have to keep up with your competition and have to stay on your toes with new trends and ideas in the industry,” he says. “My chefs and I are always collaborating in the kitchen—it’s fun thinking of new and different dishes to keep our guests coming back.”
Concepts: Aqimero, Baptiste & Bottle, Bayou & Bottle, El Centro DF La Hacienda, La Biblioteca, La Guera, La Sandia, Latinicity, Masa 14, Maya, Pampano, Pata Negra, Raya, Tamayo, Toro Latin Restaurant & Rum Bar, Toro Toro, T&T, Venga Venga, Zengo, Zocalo