{"id":26084,"date":"2026-10-30T13:45:56","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T13:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.restroworks.com\/blog\/?p=26084"},"modified":"2026-10-30T13:54:01","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T13:54:01","slug":"sharing-the-love-one-taco-at-a-time-eric-knott-on-scaling-tikitaco-the-right-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.restroworks.com\/blog\/sharing-the-love-one-taco-at-a-time-eric-knott-on-scaling-tikitaco-the-right-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharing the Love, One Taco at a Time: Eric Knott on Scaling TikiTaco the Right Way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ask Eric Knott, CEO of TikiTaco, what business restaurants are really in, and you\u2019ll get an answer that has evolved right along with the industry. Restaurants started out serving food, then became a people business that happened to serve food. Today, he says, they are a people and technology business that still happens to serve food. Eric has lived through every stage of that shift, from helping out at his grandfather\u2019s social club in Buffalo, New York, as a kid to 13 years at Outback Steakhouse and 14 years helping build PDQ from its very first restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eric joined Ashish Tulsian, Co-Founder and CEO of Restroworks, on Restrocast to talk about his journey with TikiTaco, the scratch-made, Southern California-inspired taqueria he has helped grow from three stores and two pieces of technology to seven Kansas City locations and 22 carefully chosen tools. Here are the highlights of their conversation, from the hard lessons of growing too fast to building a tech stack that gives operators the right ammunition, and the people-first leadership that ties it all together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Eric Knott, CEO, TikiTaco: Scaling a Taqueria the Right Way | Restroworks\" width=\"1140\" height=\"641\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VSgFEKRqI1A?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>How did your journey in restaurants begin?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I think you\u2019re born with it. We had big family dinners every week growing up, and my grandfather ran a social club in Buffalo, New York. From the age of nine, I spent weekends there cleaning up after weddings, setting up breakfasts, washing dishes, and refilling ice. At nine, I was even being taught how to balance a general ledger by hand, and those basics have stayed with me my entire career. When we moved to the Carolinas, I needed money, so I went back to what I knew. I joined Outback Steakhouse in 1997 as a busser at 15, moved into the kitchen at 16, became a kitchen manager at 18, and by 20 I was responsible for kitchen operations across 17 restaurants. At around 21, I became a managing partner, which meant buying into my own restaurant. The hard part was putting together $25,000 at that age. I pulled it off with loans from family and by maxing out my first credit card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>You spent 14 years at PDQ. What kept you there for so long?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Honestly, the culture. I joined before the first restaurant opened, opened the second one as GM, took over the Tampa region, and spent my last five or six years there as COO. What kept me was feeling like I was part of something. It was almost like a family, where getting up for work felt like going to practice with your team as a kid. We still held people accountable, but tough conversations were about the standard, not the person. We also had people from very different walks of life, and that perspective mattered. I\u2019m trying to carry the same thing into TikiTaco, where inclusivity is one of our core values. We want to build something everyone wants to be a part of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What did growing PDQ teach you about scaling a restaurant brand?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That fast growth looks exciting from the outside, but it is far harder than it seems, and slow, steady growth delivers much better results. Between year three and year seven, we built 25 to 30 restaurants across New Jersey, New York, the Carolinas, South Florida, Texas, and Las Vegas, and managing that from one corporate office was just too difficult. The moment we spread to six states, you needed to invest in leadership in every market, and when finance and operational excellence are pulling against each other, finance usually wins. At TikiTaco, we\u2019ve agreed not to look at another market until we have 15 restaurants in Kansas City. After that, we\u2019ll only grow within three hours of home, one market at a time, opening two to four restaurants in the first year so we build real brand recognition. I also feel a responsibility to everyone who works for us. I\u2019m not going to gamble with their livelihoods for the slim chance of selling for a billion dollars in five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What drew you to TikiTaco, and how has the journey been so far?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After 14 years at PDQ, as the company began moving in a new direction, I knew my next step had to be with a founder-led brand in its early stages of growth, because helping a strong concept scale is where I do my best work. TikiTaco was exactly that. It\u2019s a Southern California-themed local taqueria, and what sets it apart is that everything is made from scratch, from the proteins to the salsas, at a price that keeps it accessible, with tacos starting at around four dollars. The founders have built a brand with real personality, and together with our chef, operations, and development partners, everyone in our ownership group brings a different strength to the table. When I joined in July 2024, we began by standardizing every recipe and operating procedure, then introduced technology in phases and put proper pre-opening processes in place. Workplace pop-ups soon became an important part of our growth. Our first one, at a large hospital, drew 150 to 200 people on its opening Taco Tuesday, and within eight months we were serving guests at around 25 hospitals, corporate offices, and other workplaces every week, building brand awareness and revenue at the same time. Our restaurants have performed well across very different neighborhoods, including one location that real estate data would never have recommended and that is now one of our best performers. We call it the melting pot because guests from every walk of life come together there, and it captures what TikiTaco is all about: sharing the love, one taco at a time. Today, we have seven restaurants, with more on the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What role does technology play at TikiTaco, and where do you see restaurant tech heading?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Technology is there to help our people, not replace them. Every one of our 22 tools is there on purpose, and the goal is to automate as much as possible so our teams get the information they need to act quickly. Along the way, I\u2019ve set a few rules for how we buy technology. I won\u2019t sign anything longer than 36 months, and only for our major systems. Everything else can be month-to-month, because partners should prove their value regularly. I also only buy after a pilot. If a product claims to do something, show me. For smaller tools, I like partners who are quick to respond, ask what problem I\u2019m trying to solve, and come back with a solution rather than a spot on a long product roadmap. Looking ahead, I expect consolidation, as operators move away from paying for many single-purpose tools toward platforms that solve more problems. I also see a huge opportunity among smaller restaurant groups that are just beginning their technology journey. And AI is already helping. The AI assistants built into our tools save us time, and personally, I use AI as a thought-provoking friend that sparks new ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>How has your leadership changed from Outback to PDQ to TikiTaco?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The biggest change is how I treat people. I came up in restaurants in the 1990s and 2000s, which gave me a hard-nosed edge, and I\u2019ve worked on softening it over time. What motivates the workforce today couldn\u2019t be further from what motivated it 20 years ago. Leadership used to be \u201cdo this because you work here.\u201d Then it became explaining what to do, and today it\u2019s about explaining why. The top-down approach is easy. Getting people to understand the why and genuinely buy in takes a lot more leadership. I\u2019m also far more approachable now. I show up to work in a T-shirt, jeans, and a hat, and I think that makes the team more comfortable sharing their ideas with me. I\u2019ve always believed that the people working in our restaurants every day understand the business better than anyone. In the last two years, around a hundred of our operational improvements have come directly from team members who asked, \u201cWhy do we do it this way?\u201d or suggested a better way to do it. I also spend the first 30 days in every new restaurant myself, because I\u2019d rather lead by example than take calls from an office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What keeps you balanced, and how do you keep learning?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Someone once told me that life is like cooking on a stove with four burners. Each pot is something important to you, whether that\u2019s family, work, health, or faith, and if you focus too much on one, the others start to burn. So I try to keep things balanced. I work out every morning; I love a cold plunge and a sauna, and on Sundays you\u2019ll find me either on a golf course or watching football. Staying informed is a big part of how I learn. I read around a hundred restaurant publications every week to understand what others are trying, which brands are performing well, and where the industry is heading. I also try to read a book a month and listen to audiobooks and podcasts while I\u2019m on the treadmill or mowing the lawn. I\u2019ve taken several executive courses at Harvard Business School and the University of Texas, and I attend about ten industry conferences a year, where I listen for ideas I can bring back to TikiTaco, compare notes with peers, and make new connections. At the end of the day, it\u2019s all about the journey, and you have to learn to appreciate it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If there\u2019s one thing Eric Knott\u2019s journey shows, it\u2019s that great restaurant brands are built with patience. Start with scratch-made food, add a team that feels heard, season generously with technology that actually helps, and let it all simmer one neighborhood at a time. From weekend shifts at his grandfather\u2019s social club to building TikiTaco across Kansas City, Eric is proof that slow growth can deliver big results. Whether you\u2019re an operator mapping out your next opening or a leader looking to bring your team along, his story serves up plenty of food for thought, one taco at a time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ask Eric Knott, CEO of TikiTaco, what business restaurants are really in, and you\u2019ll get an answer that has evolved right along with the industry. Restaurants started out serving food, then became a people business that happened to serve food. Today, he says, they are a people and technology business that still happens to serve [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":26082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-restrocast-podcast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.restroworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.restroworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.restroworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.restroworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.restroworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26084"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.restroworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26095,"href":"https:\/\/www.restroworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26084\/revisions\/26095"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.restroworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26082"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.restroworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.restroworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.restroworks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}