Since day one, GYG has been obsessed with making delicious Mexican food using only the best quality ingredients. 

Guzman y Gomez was founded in Sydney in 2006 by New Yorkers and childhood best friends Steven Marks and Robert Hazan. Steven, a former hedge fund manager and Robert, who had a background in fashion wholesale and retail, both missed the authentic fresh flavors of Mexican cuisine that they had growing up in the US. 

After realizing that there was a genuine gap in the Australian market for fresh, clean Mexican food, they decided to create their own restaurant named Guzman y Gomez to honor their childhood friends. Steven and Robert had a vision to build a restaurant business that had the speed and convenience of fast food but to re-invent the fast food category by serving high quality food.

 

They then set about ensuring the brand was authentic to its core and established GYG’s values which remain today. Every detail in establishing the brand was thought out. With the help of creative director Tony Ibbetson, the brand’s main colors were developed as well as the bespoke GYG font in the logo (look carefully and you will see the GYG font is made of sticky tape to represent the amazing street art of Mexico).

Steven and Robert then set about designing the bespoke operating platform & sticker system which remains one of the fastest fresh fast food operating platforms in the world; ensuring GYG could prepare and make high quality fresh burritos, nachos & tacos at speed.

The first Guzman y Gomez restaurant opened in Newtown, Sydney (Australia) in 2006. From the outset, Steven was adamant that GYG would never compromise on the quality of the food or its people. Steven hired chefs from Mexico to bring the authentic taste and flavors to life and started to develop his team into the best restaurant operators in the country, many of whom are franchisees in the business today.

GYG Newtown was followed by Bondi Junction and Kings Cross (all in Sydney), and by April 2012 there were 12 Guzman y Gomez restaurants. Over the next ten years, the brand expanded to other states across Australia and then went global, opening at the end of 2013 in Singapore followed by Japan in 2015 and then to the US, Steven and Robert’s homeland, in 2020.

GYG’s commitment to reinvent fast food continued to inspire new ways to serve fresh, clean food to everyone. From the first drive thru in Nerang in Queensland In 2015, to menu innovations like Breakfast, the Minis range and fries to a market leading app for guests to pay & order ahead and earn loyalty points, the GYG love just kept spreading! 

Today GYG operates over 170 restaurants in Australia, Singapore, Japan and the United States. Steven Marks remains the Founder and CEO of the business globally and Robert Hazan sits on the Board of Directors as a Non-Executive Director, supported by a team of over 7,000 employees in restaurants and 200 people in our ‘Hola Central’ head offices.

With a goal to open over 40 restaurants a year and more expansion plans globally, Steven and Robert’s dream is only just getting started…not bad for a couple of kids from New York. 

Check them out at their Crystal Lake location!

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