I Love Palm Beach
I Love Palm Beach
From Food Truck to a Flourishing Chain: The Founding of Burrito Social with Jacqueline Guzman
Have you ever wondered how a humble food truck in Puerto Rico could transform into a blossoming restaurant chain with five locations worldwide? Meet Jacqueline Guzman, the dynamic General Manager of Burrito Social, a buzzing new restaurant in Jupiter, FL, who shares her captivating journey of how she navigated from the Tequesta Country Club to Burrito Social, all while being 8 and a half months pregnant! Don't miss her riveting tale of passion, resilience, and her vision that helped transform Burrito Social in Jupiter, Fl into a thriving restaurant.
But the juicy bits don't end there. Gear up as Jacqueline invites us to the much-awaited 'Sunday Fun Day' event at Burrito Social. A fund raiser for our beloved Place of Hope, a local charity helping foster kids and trafficing victums. Are you ready to experience the restaurant's unique atmosphere, underpinned by their sweet and kind employees? This isn't just another eatery; it's a place where coastal vibes meet live music events, creating an unparalleled dining experience. So, buckle up and join us on this culinary journey, where you'll not only get an insider's view of the restaurant industry but also the secret ingredient to Burrito Social's success - a place where every day feels like a Sunday Fun Day!
Hi, this is Rebecca Giacobo with I Love Palm Beach, have my co-host here, stephanie Co, and we have an amazing woman with us today. Her name is Jacqueline Guzman and she's amazing because she runs a brand new restaurant. She is general manager of Burrito Social and they just opened on 318. And they've had some amazing events and they're going to do an event for us in the near future. But she is an interesting story, jacqueline, tell us about your originally well before this year with DeQuesta Country Club, and I think you had a little one on the way, but go ahead and share your story.
Speaker 2:Yes, so previous to being employed with Burrito Social, I actually was the coordinator of events for the DeQuesta Country Club and one of my colleagues there actually presented me with the opportunity to join the team at Burrito in December as the marketing coordinator, and I was eight and a half months pregnant, so I started with the company just doing the marketing and I was working kind of like a hybrid from home and also coming in a few days a week. And then my daughter was born on March 6th and our grand opening was actually March 18th, so she was two weeks old when we first opened and yeah, it's just been kind of a roller coaster since then, but it's been a wonderful opportunity for myself and my family and we I just we love it there. So now I am officially the general manager and we do lots of events all the time. We support autism awareness and a bunch of other foundations and things for the community, so we're very happy to be a part of the Jupiter restaurant scene.
Speaker 1:So tell us a little bit about Burrito Social. I kind of looked it up online and it looks like it's a chain. Does your owner own all of them, or where did it stem from?
Speaker 2:So we actually it is privately owned, it is not a franchise, but we do have five locations worldwide. So the company actually started as a food truck in Puerto Rico and one of our main angel investors went to go eat at this food truck and said this has to be a restaurant, because they loved the flavors and they loved the concept. So they ended up taking it and they opened two restaurants in two different locations in Puerto Rico. That took off and then they brought it to the mainland. So now we have a location in Deerfield Beach, we have one in North Reddington Beach and this is the newest location in Jupiter.
Speaker 3:Okay, Well, because how long has it been around for overall? I mean, I knew you said that this one opened in March of 2023, but what about, like, when was that food truck encounter? When did that happen?
Speaker 2:So food truck encounter happened approximately six years ago. Oh wow, yeah, so it's definitely taken up and they're looking at opening some other locations in other parts of the world as well. They're very multicultural. The owners are Puerto Rican and Venezuelan and they are interested in opening another location in Venezuela as well.
Speaker 3:So I got to ask, though, that first dish, or whatever they ate at the food truck, is that featured on the menu, the item that got it all started.
Speaker 2:So I wasn't there for that part of it. So that's a really good question, though, and I am sure that I know that they're very true to their brand and that was something that they kind of brought me in on being the marketing coordinator to start off with and they're very. It's something that's very close to their heart that they stick with who they are, so I am sure that whatever item that was is probably still featured on the menu today.
Speaker 3:You should talk to them. That would be a great little blurb on the back of the menu the story of how it all got started. Every single person would try that item first time. Yeah, I agree. 100 percent.
Speaker 1:Thank you. I love that story. So just to cut in really quick so how did you end up in Palm Beach County? I mean, this podcast is all about Palm Beach County, so we want to know how you got here.
Speaker 2:So I was actually born and raised in Miami and I came up to West Palm when I was in second grade and we moved out to the Western communities. I lived in Loxahatchee for 10 years and then we moved to Wellington. I went to the Dreyfus School of the Arts for high school and when I graduated from there I went to FAU in Boca and then I ended up graduating from the Honors College in Jupiter. So that's how I kind of landed in Jupiter, and that was in 2013, and then I left, I moved to New York City, I did an internship in New York, in Manhattan, and then I came home, so, and I've been here ever since.
Speaker 1:So you missed Palm Beach County enough that you had to come back from New York City, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, you know this is, this will always be home. My family is here. I'm very family oriented, so and we love it. You know we live in paradise here, so it was too hard.
Speaker 1:We agree. So how's it?
Speaker 3:I'm sorry, stephanie, you go ahead I was gonna say what kind of things do you like to do around in Palm Beach on your days off?
Speaker 2:Oh well, so I have two girls. My first daughter, her name is Delilah. She is seven years old, so we love to do the zoo and the beach Our two big ones that she loves and then my other daughter obviously it's four months now, so she loves anything that we do. You know, in the summer months we look for splash pads and different things around. Hold on one second.
Speaker 3:Perfect, okay, so I have medication for you, sorry, yeah.
Speaker 2:So sorry about that. So, yeah, we look for things to do that are wet and we have a lot of fun doing stuff like that.
Speaker 1:So how did Merida Social make Palm Beach, or Jupiter in particular, the next destination?
Speaker 2:So I think that they were looking for a location that went with the brand, and that was something that you know. They all of their locations are kind of in beach towns and they found Jupiter. And we have a raw bar and you know, we featured a lot of fresh seafood and it's kind of like a beach kind of a theme, and our whole brand is based around this coastal vibes and that's our hashtag and that's kind of who we are. So it kind of just went along perfectly with Jupiter, florida. So I think that's why they picked Jupiter.
Speaker 1:Well, when I first saw the sign, I have to admit I said another taco place, we have enough taco places. And then somebody said do you know? They have live music there. And that's really what brought me in the door and it really is quite different and delicious.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's wonderful. That's one of another one of the things that was one of my main focuses when I first started with the company. I did the marketing and I also was the booker of the talent, so I know a lot of musicians in the area like local musicians that you know tour around the different venues around here. I was actually the operations manager of the Kelsey Theater previous to my appointment at the Burrito Social, so I had a lot of contacts and I, you know, I reached out to some of my people and we just started getting a calendar together and we've had live music four days a week ever since.
Speaker 1:So tell us about what days you have music, so people know.
Speaker 2:So we do live music on Thursday, friday, saturdays and Sundays and then, starting when season comes back, we're going to also implement Taco Tuesday, so we'll have live live music on Tuesdays as well.
Speaker 1:Okay, wonderful. I feel like that little area in Jupiter is becoming like a little music cave and you've got double roads around the corner and then the food shack at Maxi's has live music. So I think it's a cool little area to go to and you can kind of bounce around and listen to different stuff, any particular types of music you guys like to feature.
Speaker 2:So we do acoustic a lot because it's, you know, comfortable dining music. We kind of also try to keep it in brand with who we are with, the coastal, so maybe like some light reggae influence and you know we do like some folk music on Sundays for brunch and then we'll also implement some live DJs on some of the nights where we have a later crowd Younger crowd also likes the house music. So we do have a couple of house music DJs that come through and we also just do local bands, so it's going to be some of your more popular ones. We feature spread the dub. We have stony vibes, which is another one that people love. They come from Hope Sound and, yeah, people just they love to come in and hear the music and it definitely enhances the dining experience. So they enjoyed it.
Speaker 3:Do you guys do anything special for your brunch, or what's that about?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so brunch is going to be 11 to 3 every Sunday and we have our set brunch menu. We also offer lunch at that time for people who don't want brunch, but we do offer it. We have bottomless mimosas, bloody Mary's, maria's and Marie's, so that's a great special that we offer. And actually other weekend specials that are extremely popular is the Oyster Specials. So we do have a raw bar with fresh seafood and we run Oyster Specials on Fridays and Saturdays and they include $1 blue points, $2 East Coast Oysters and $3 West Coast and it's all daily. That's a lot of supply.
Speaker 3:Before this conversation, I didn't even know that you guys had a raw bar. That would be a huge yeah, and we have a raw bar with a bunch of fresh seafood items.
Speaker 2:We have a delicious fresh ceviche, and our executive chef, gustavo Lopez, is a magician in the kitchen, so he's always coming out with weekly specials that he runs for both the raw bar and the grill.
Speaker 1:Perfect, I'm happy Can we come over for lunch right now.
Speaker 2:Anytime, you guys are always welcome, that's awesome, perfect, perfect taste of Palm Beach.
Speaker 3:Perfect day. Go out on the weekend, go to the beach, come back, chill out a little bit, have some oysters, have some ceviches and tacos.
Speaker 1:Good music Sounds like a great idea. I love to feature the new restaurants and I'm so excited what you guys did with it. For those of you that haven't been in there, it is super cute. It's nice and bright. A lot of turquoise, if I remember correctly.
Speaker 2:Yeah it was with our whole coastal theme. And then we pride ourselves on having a very friendly staff and we just were good time people. So everybody likes to have a good time and we have smiling faces all around, that's what I like.
Speaker 1:So we are doing something very unique and special. Stephanie and I are working with Place of Hope. We love Place of Hope and we do several events a year and we wanted to do something exciting with Jacqueline. So on next Sunday and I think that dates to the 24th will you check me, stephanie? I think 23rd, 23rd.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:I can't even keep the date straight. This summer has been a whiz. We are going to have a big party at Burrito Social and we're going to kind of cut into their brunch. So their brunch ends at three, but we're going to show up at two and shake things up a little bit. We have 150 tickets for sale and sales are starting to pick up this week and we are going to have drinks and tacos included for that Silent auction music. We have a palm reader just for fun. We've got a guy that's going to be doing some rum tastings. He makes a local rum and he's going to be walking around doing that. Jacqueline, what can you tell me about how the atmosphere is going to be?
Speaker 2:So we do have live music as well that coming Sunday. So we'll have an acoustic performer Perry Strait will be performing live and we'll have a whole setup for you guys. So we're going to have tent setup with your different vendors and we'll have our section for our ticket in Ticketed participants and we're going to have a great time. We're very much looking forward to it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we are super excited. I hope we have a nice cool day. This heat has been a lot, but we're going to be half inside, half outside, so if you're thinking of coming and you think it's going to be too hot, we've got some indoor space for you.
Speaker 2:Yes, we're very much looking forward to it, and the AC is kicking, so you're inside.
Speaker 1:You should be able to avoid the heat, and if people want to order other items off the menu, that's going to be absolutely fine, correct?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. The ticket does include food and beverage, but if they will have menus all over the place. So if people want you know either whether it's vegetarian option or something from the raw bar we're happy to accommodate.
Speaker 1:Well, I know if it's our group, they tend to linger and stay, so you might get a lot of people staying longer and ordering off the menu.
Speaker 2:Yeah we're happy to have them as long as they'd like.
Speaker 1:Okay, stephanie. Anything to add please?
Speaker 3:I think it's lovely on it all. I do have a question about what you said earlier. With the brunch, you mentioned Bloody Mary's, maria's I've never heard of a Marie. What?
Speaker 2:is that it's going to be Bloody Mary with tequila.
Speaker 1:So the one for Maria.
Speaker 2:Maria, let me double-check that before I answer. I think one of them has soda water and the other one does not.
Speaker 1:I got it.
Speaker 2:So one of them is carbonated and it also has tahini, which is going to be a little bit on the spicy side.
Speaker 3:I like it Sounds delicious, All right. Well, we hope to see you guys all on our Sunday Fun Day In a couple of weeks. Here, it's coming up fast. By the time that we have this published it'll be almost a week out, so we're very excited to see all of you guys there. And Rebecca, do you want to close this out?
Speaker 1:Yeah, jackie, again thank you for letting us talk with you today and taking your precious time. But I just want to urge everybody to come and check out this restaurant. It really is super cute. You're going to love it. And what she said about the staff the staff is amazing, sweet, kind and sometimes that's hard to find. So everybody head to Burrito Social. Thanks Stephanie, thanks Jackie, and we'll see you on Sunday the 23rd for Sunday Fun Day.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much, guys. It was a pleasure All right.
Speaker 1:Have a good day everybody.
Speaker 2:Have a good one, bye-bye.
Speaker 1:Are you still there? I just turned the recording off, Okay it says that it's still going, though.
Speaker 3:Oh damn it.