Guzman y Gomez

Guzman y Gomez (GYG; )[1] is a Mexican-themed casual fast food restaurant chain based in Australia. It serves coffee at some restaurants through the “Cafe Hola” brand which operates 24/7.

Guzman y Gomez was established in Sydney in 2006 by Steven Marks and Robert Hazan. It operates over 200 restaurants in Australia, Japan, Singapore and the United States.

As of 2025, Guzman y Gomez is the sixth-largest fast food chain in Australia by system-wide revenue.[2][3][4][5]

History

Guzman y Gomez was established by Steven Marks, a New Yorker who previously worked as a hedge fund manager. After relocating to Australia, he found the quality of Mexican food to be poor and decided to start a restaurant.[6] He has stated that "real Mexican is really urban, street and hot [...] Latin people are so full of energy and full of life, we wanted to bring that to Australia".[7] He took on his friend Robert Hazan, another New Yorker, as a partner. They named the business after two of Marks' childhood friends.[8]

The first store was opened in King Street, Newtown, Sydney, in 2006.[9][6] Store openings in Bondi Junction and Kings Cross, followed within a year.[10] By April 2012, there were 12 stores.[7] The first Guzman y Gomez in the Melbourne central business district opened in November 2012.[11] Within 12 years, they opened 100 stores in Australia.[12]

The first international Guzman y Gomez restaurant opened at the end of 2013 in Singapore,[13] followed thereafter by the opening of a restaurant in Tokyo, Japan in April 2015.[14] In January 2020, Guzman y Gomez's international expansion continued with the opening of their first restaurant in the United States in the Chicago suburb of Naperville.[15][16]

Restaurants

In Australia, Guzman y Gomez had 167 restaurants in operation as of May 2024.[17] The business operates internationally with 25 locations in Singapore, Japan, and the United States.[17]

Ownership and finance

Marks and Hazan initially supported GYG with their own money. In 2009, they sold a minority stake to Peter Ritchie, Guy Russo and Steve Jermyn, who had previously been involved with McDonald's Australia.[6] Russo was subsequently appointed chairman of the board.[8] The board also includes co-founder Robert Hazan, 3 former McDonalds executives, Tom Cowan of TDM Growth Partners,[18] and Rokt CEO Bruce Buchanan.[19]

Investment firm TDM Growth Partners bought a stake in the company for $44 million in August 2018.[6] In December 2020, the publicly listed Magellan Financial Group bought 10% of the company for $86.8 million.[20] In May 2022, Magellan sold its 11.6% stake in the company to an entity owned by investment bank Barrenjoey Capital Partners for $140 million.[21]

Marks stated in 2019 that his goal was to list GYG on the Australian Securities Exchange.[6] In 2020, he stated that he was also ambitious to expand the company's presence in the United States, citing Australia's "antiquated" labour laws, high rents, and expensive fresh produce.[8]

Marks resigned as CEO due to a health scare in May 2023,[22] but changed his mind and remained.[23] Hilton Brett was appointed co-CEO in October 2023.[24] GYG was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange on 20 June 2024.[25][26]

See also

• List of restaurants in Australia
• List of Mexican restaurants

External links

• (in Australia)