When Cherryh Cansler sat down with Lance Salsman at the Restaurant Franchising and Innovation Summit in San Diego, the conversation quickly revealed that Mike’s Red Tacos isn’t just another fast casual concept — it’s a carefully engineered brand built on the DNA of some of the industry’s biggest success stories. Salsman, who joined the brand in November as SVP of Operations and Training after five years at Blaze Pizza, brought both insider perspective and contagious enthusiasm to the discussion. The throughline connecting it all? Bill Phelps — co-founder of Wetzel’s Pretzels, key player in Blaze Pizza, and the force behind Dave’s Hot Chicken — whose operational playbooks and vendor relationships have quietly shaped each brand in succession. Mike’s Red Tacos, Salsman says, is the next evolution in that lineage.
The brand itself started in 2021 as a food truck in San Diego, born from founder Mike’s obsession with birria — the slow-simmered, deeply seasoned dish rooted in Jalisco, Mexico, traditionally served at family celebrations. As birria traveled north of the border, the protein shifted from goat to beef, and Mike spent upwards of 50 recipe iterations dialing in the flavor profile for the American palate. The result was a runaway hit. When the first brick-and-mortar location opened in 2022 at just 900 square feet, it earned a 4.9 on Yelp and landed on the list of the top 100 restaurants in the United States — one of the only Mexican concepts on it. That location has since expanded into a 2,400-square-foot space next door, and the brand just opened its third location in Mira Mesa.
Scaling birria without sacrificing the integrity of an 8-hour simmer is the kind of operational puzzle that keeps QSR leaders up at night — and it’s one Salsman’s team has quietly solved. Without giving away specifics, he confirmed that Mike’s has identified specialized equipment that dramatically reduces cook time while actually enhancing the flavor profile, making the process safer for kitchen teams and more consistent across locations. The brand’s quality standards extend all the way to plating: if the cilantro, onions, and radishes aren’t arranged correctly, or if the logo isn’t facing the guest, the dish goes back. No exceptions. “That’s what we’ll duplicate across the country,” Salsman said — and he means it literally.
Franchising is already in full swing, with more than 200 deals signed nationwide using Franfast to vet and manage candidates. The brand’s franchise profile mirrors Dave’s Hot Chicken’s deliberate strategy: target experienced multi-unit operators who already know how to manage real estate, scale fast, and build efficiently. Several states — including California and Arizona — are already sold out of available territories. To ensure every franchise location opens with the same standards baked in, Mike’s is implementing a two-week brand standards training program modeled closely after Dave’s, with on-site support during the opening period to make sure the experience translates.
On the technology front, Salsman brought Opus — a learning management and operations platform he used at Blaze Pizza — with him to Mike’s. The system functions as a dynamic resource hub where team members can ask questions like “How do I make birria?” and instantly surface the relevant brand standards, complete with microlearning modules built for the short attention spans of today’s workforce. Synced digital checklists mean two employees can work through an opening checklist simultaneously in real time — a small detail that reflects a broader operational philosophy of removing friction without cutting corners. For a brand scaling from three locations to potentially hundreds, getting these systems right early is everything.
What comes through most clearly in Salsman’s telling is that Mike’s Red Tacos isn’t winging it. The brand is combining the scrappy authenticity of a founder-driven concept with the operational rigor of a seasoned franchise machine — a rare and powerful combination. Mike himself remains deeply involved day-to-day, not as a micromanager but as a culture carrier who still shows up on the line during openings. With 200-plus franchise deals signed, a proven playbook borrowed and improved from Dave’s Hot Chicken, and a dish that genuinely resonates with guests on an emotional level, the question for Mike’s Red Tacos isn’t whether it will scale — it’s how fast.
