In Australia, Guzman y Gomez is known for their authentic Mexican dishes and with over a 100 businesses in Australia, Singapore and Japan, Guzman y Gomez Mexican Taqueria gives Japanese another way to try Mexican food such as burritos, nachos, taco and quesadillas.
Created in 2006 in Newton, Sydney by co-founders Steven Marks and Mark Hazan, former Wall Street employee Steven Marks moved to Australia and founded Guzman y Gomez to fill a hole in the market. The name of the restaurants named after his old friends that he grew up with and the men’s faces are fictitious of what their fathers looked like.
The first three years weren’t easy and he had his doubts but he prides the company’s focus on quality and authenticity and even brought chefs from Mexico to work and teach others to create the flavors that he believed were lacking in Australia.
In fact, those earlier years was a lot of struggle and hard work for Marks who worked 100 hour work weeks but it paid off. Guzman y Gomez started opening new restaurants across Australia and would receive backing from food executives which include McDonald’s Australia chairman Peter Ritchie.
I personally have wanted to try Mexican food in Japan. As a matter of fact, I can remember pop stars PUFFY telling me how they wished there were Mexican restaurants in Japan and would love to see fast food places like Taco Bell in Tokyo.
Well, Taco Bell is in Tokyo, but Taco Bell is more of a western spin on traditional Mexican food, Guzman y Gomez is authentic Mexican food in Australia and now they are bringing that concept to other countries that are in need of authentic Mexican food.
I think it’s great that the restaurant focuses on quality and brings the flavors of Mexico to their restaurant.
But being from California and traveling to many Mexican restaurants in the city and also small towns, I had to give Guzman y Gomez in Harajuku’s Laforet a chance.
When I was at Guzman y Gomez Mexican Taqueria they were promoting their mild or spicy GYG fries.
Looking at the menu, they sold burritos, burrito bowls, nachos, quesadillas, enchiladas, fajitas, soft/hard tacos and also a kids menu.
You choose your meats, may it be grilled chicken, beef, pan seared fish, sauteed vegetables, spicy grilled chicken, pulled pork chipotle or grilled steak. You can add extras and then you just add your beverage.
The price ranges from Y1270-Y1470. Being from California where a huge burrito with a large drink can cost me $7-$8, you are paying double in Japan, primarily because ingredients are hard to come by. So, I understand that. According to Steven Marks, the steaks come from Australia, the chili peppers and black beans come from Mexico.
So, I got a chicken burrito and a large drink which came out to almost $15(US).
I was quickly reminded by seeing the meal of how Japanese sizes are much smaller than what we are accustomed to America.
Japan’s large drink is what I would call America’s small drink. It’s a good-sized packed burrito I suppose, slightly smaller than what I have gotten at a California Mexican taqueria but looking at what was inside the burrito, the flavor was very good, tasty and delicious.
And I was done. Not full at all. I wanted to get another burrito and a drink but I asked myself, do I really want to spend nearly $30?
But I noticed four Australians sitting next to me… because Guzman y Gomez originated in Australia, I had to ask.
I learned that in Australia, Guzman y Gomez is much more expensive in Australia than it was in Tokyo? That was a shocker to me. In fact, they were explaining how fast food and drinks in general are more expensive in Australia.
At first I thought maybe this was a correlation of high wages in Australia.
I had to look this up and sure enough, an article of why food is more expensive in Australia.
According to the article:
When it comes to food prices, news.com.au analysis of the EIU’s data found that Sydney was more expensive than London, New York and Hong Kong if you calculated the price of a basket of food including bread, butter, apples, tomatoes, eggs, mince, fresh chicken, cheese, spaghetti and milk.
The price of cheese bumped up Sydney’s result considerably, if this is removed from the basket of goods, then New York is the most expensive city out of the four. However, Sydney boasted the highest prices for apples, tomatoes and mince, all foods that are produced in the country.
“Australian people think that price equates quality. It is often true, but what if price is driven by what the consumer is ready to pay rather than what it actually costs?”
Ms Busicchia said she thought shoppers had also been influenced by shows such as MasterChef or My Kitchen Rules, which encouraged food cults and an acceptance of premium prices.
In some way, Japan is like that especially when it comes to anything inspired by France or even New York, prices are quite expensive. But it’s not just food, it also extends to fashion.
Now is Guzman y Gomez worth spending a lot of money on? Considering that “good” Mexican restaurants in Australia are very limited and Guzman y Gomez are bringing the concept of high quality, authentic Mexican food to Australians. It was the exact thing that these four Australian teens said. They love it!
And the same can be said in Japan, there are Mexican restaurants, but similar to Australia, it’s also limited. And while Taco Bell is starting to slowly grow in Japan, I don’t think anyone in California would consider it as a place for authentic Mexican food but I can probably see some people who have never tried Mexican food, thinking Taco Bell is “authentic”.
And I know Mexican ingredients are probably not as cheap and are as readily available in Japan. And vice versa, as I feel when I make Japanese dishes and ingredients are hard to come by and even our local Japanese grocery store doesn’t have much when compared to Los Angeles, San Francisco or Seattle.
Spending $15 for a smaller burrito and drink, is not my thing but hey, I tried Guzman y Gomez and can say I enjoyed it, it tasted delicious… I was just not digging the overall price. For me, being a California guy, I’m already spoiled on $7 huge burritos with an American large (as in a Jumbo XL) drink.
But considering many in Japan will never ever experience a huge burrito and drink for that low of a price, then Guzman y Gomez’ pricing is appropriate. And the fact that there are now four locations, goes to show that Japanese are wanting some of that high quality, authentic Mexican food from Guzman y Gomez even more!
