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Two local businessmen are set to open a string
of fast-food eateries with an improbable concept: Mexican food
... from Hawaii.
The first Maui Tacos outlet is to open later
this year in Roseville, at the southeast corner of Galleria Boulevard
and East Roseville Parkway. A second is slated in Town Center
Plaza in El Dorado Hills. Negotiations are under way for several
more sites.
Behind the effort are former tech exec Bryon
Axt and venture capital manager Roy Mall. The two had been looking
to do some kind of business deal together. Then Axt heard a colleague
raving about a restaurant he'd discovered while vacationing in
Hawaii.
Axt got on the phone with the company's business development manager.
Mall got on a plane to Maui.
What impressed them is the chain's unusual
niche: traditional Mexican food with a Hawaiian accent. Or, as
the company puts it, a "Mauitude."
They also were wowed by the food preparation
(all meats are marinated for 24 hours) and the availability of
low-fat and vegetarian items.
"Eventually there will be a need for a
fast-food health food restaurant," says Mall, who will continue
to manage Deep River Ventures while helping roll out the taco
chain. "This is a way to push a little in that direction."
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