It’s rare that we cover franchises at CityMag.

Hencho En Mexico was established in Melbourne in 2013, and now has 20 stores around Australia.

But it was the methods co-founders Menak Grover and Parveen Bajar took to create a name in South Australia that took us by surprise.

Menak says when he came to Adelaide he thought “[it] really needs a good Mexican joint”.

“When we came to Adelaide a few months ago, we saw there were a few restaurants here and there, but it wasn’t that great,” he says.

“There’s a few fast food [places] like Guzman and a few other stores and there’s a few restaurants as well, and we saw again that the craze is there. I have some friends here, they say they love Mexican food, people want to try the food, but there wasn’t a proper casual dining restaurant here.

“We thought we could cater to Adelaide and show them what we’ve been doing in Melbourne. We can replicate that and make it better.”

Menak Grover

With franchises, Menak says there still needs to be local elements involved throughout the process.

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“Everything is made in-house,” he says.

“So for Adelaide, we are sourcing everything from farm to table. We’re getting all the veggies sourced from Adelaide, all the meat is sourced from Adelaide and a lot of wines are coming from Adelaide as well.”

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Menak says this is their way to do their part to support local businesses.

“[It] brings the freshness, and we want to support [the locals] as well,” he says.

“And we want them to come and try food as well because here, we want them to be part of us. It’s more like a partnership, rather than getting everything from the same supplier.”

Birria tacos

Hecho En Mexico uses producers like Ekam Indian Groceries, Ronik’s Farmers Market, OG MEAT Market and Jagger Fine Foods. Where they can’t find the produce available in Adelaide they source it from Mexico, including specific chillies like habanero and guajillo.

Menak says that keeping things fresh and made in-house is an important part of franchising.

“That’s what we are proud of,” he says. “If you go to other stores, say any other brand which has a lot of franchises, everything is commercialised right now.

“They are not making everything in-house, they are just getting it from a commercial kitchen.

“But for us, every franchise still makes their own fresh salsas and fresh meats, because that’s what we are proud of. We do the prep the same day – the boys are doing prep right now for dinner – and the same with the guacamole. Same with the freshly diced onions, and tomatoes, with some lime and chili.

“That makes a huge difference.”

Menak says this has built up the reputation for Hecho En Mexico and is why they’ve been able to build this business into a success.

“People said the reason why we grew so fast was because it takes them back to the streets of Mexico.

“We don’t have that in Australia, that culture, and that’s our plan, and that’s what we’ve been doing for years. So we just do everything and we sell it the same day because it keeps it fresh. And that’s why when you try it, and you can tell the difference between us and other stores and other restaurants”

A Hecho En Mexico spread

As the menu is traditional Mexican street food, Menak says the food is spicier than what most may expect.

The long and detailed menu features Mexican favourites like birria tacos, nachos and Mexican gems that most are unaware of.

“We do chilaquiles,” Menak says and CityMag explains how we’d never heard of that dish before. “Yeah exactly, it’s a traditional Mexican dish which hardly anyone does, and if they do, they don’t do it properly.

“Then we’ve got birria Tacos, which are very popular right now. We do we do it really well.

“And then we’ve got traditional dishes like enchiladas – but I would say our biggest sellers are tacos.”

As for the alcohol offering, there will be quality tequila, margaritas and Paloma. But it’s the Mezcal range that Menak is most excited for.

“It’s still new in Australia, but it’s really big back in Mexico. So Mezcal, we call it a cooler, older brother of tequila. It’s a purer version of tequila,” he says.

“It’s a smoky flavour, so we started doing cocktails with it.”

Hecho En Mexico is located at 12 Peel Street, Adelaide and is open every day at various times.

Connect with the business on Instagram for more.