TexMex Cuisine to open five more restaurants in the next two months

TexMex Cuisine India Private Ltd, one of the master franchisee for American casual dining restaurant chain Chili's Grill & Bar is investing Rs. 20 crore to expand its footprint in Southern and Western regions of India by March 2017.

The company has signed up for two more restaurant sites in Mumbai and plans to open two more in Bengaluru and one more in Chennai in the next two months. The restaurants will be set up at an investment ranging Rs. 45 crore.

Ashish Saxena, Executive Director and CEO, Chili's Grill & Bar, said, "We have taken on debt of Rs. 20 crore from banks to fund the expansion of Chili‘s in FY 2017. A city like Bengaluru, for instance, can support at least 8-10 restaurants; so we will continue to expand."

North and East India have eight Chili's across Delhi, Kolkata and Chandigarh. Saxena said the Rs. 50,000-crore casual dining market in India is growing at a healthy 15 per cent per annum.

Saxena said, "During last fiscal, same-store sales grew 14 per cent; however, we expect same-store sales this fiscal to close at 5 per cent. This is because we experienced a demand slump in the August-October, — took a hit with rivals opening restaurants near ours; and November was a total washout as a result of demonetisation. Sales picked up in December, and we expect this to continue until March. While the restaurants located in malls are doing very well, restaurants located in the high streets of Bengaluru and Hyderabad, for instance, have taken a beating due to poor infrastructure, including inadequate parking space and unfriendly pedestrian footpaths."