Business Plan Available
The Fuel Station Cantina and Grill
Concept Idea: Asking $5-7 Million in Funding for the purchase of the building, build-out of the restaurant, and startup costs
We are looking for a long-term partner to help build a new restaurant group in San Diego. It has never been tougher to open a successful restaurant in San Diego with high costs on everything from rent, wages, insurance, and cost of food. Through purchasing the building and different concepts, we know The Fuel Station can fit into the modern restaurant business model.
The Fuel Station Cantina and Grill is different, fun, and exciting. A new kind of Cali-Mex Cantina offering a unique craft fusion of Texas-style BBQ with the essence of Mexico and the freshness of California. The Fuel Station uses excellent open-fire cooking methods blended with the freshest of locally sourced ingredients to provide an exceptional experience. The Fuel Station is retro and yet modern, rustic, but a bit industrial. The Fuel Station will offer TVs, 2 video walls for big sporting events, and a stage for live musicians and events. The Fuel Station cantina is a full bar that offers a world-class selection of Mezcals, Tequilas, Whiskeys, and local craft beer worthy of any craft beer aficionado.
The feel at The Fuel Station is bordering on a high-end modern steak house but without the extreme price and stuffiness. The menu is flexible, affordable, and offers something for everyone. The atmosphere is exciting for groups and will still be romantic for couples. The Fuel Station is perfect for parties and events for groups with our Fajita platters and drink specials. Going to The Fuel Station will produce unforgettable memories to last a lifetime.
The BBQ PIT
The Fuel Station features a visible kitchen BBQ PIT that is rustic and modern. It features eye-popping open-fire Argentine-style BBQ grills for epic open-fire cooking and flame roasting. With a huge WOW factor, the cooking becomes the show. The BBQ Pit area will anchor a fun and delicious scene.
Outside will be two beautiful large West Texas smokers for low and slow-smoked brisket, pork butts, cheese and vegetables. The wood-fired smokers will compliment the open-fire cooking, making The Fuel Station a truly special Grill and Cantina.
The Fuel Station's open-fire cooking for southwestern cuisine is uniquely original and will shape our identity as a company. The passion, process, and care we take in our grilling will show through our food.
A Restaurant
The Fuel Station will be a new breed of restaurant with an affordable experience of open live-fire dining. Most people only experience this dining concept in the world's best and most expensive steakhouses.
Our beautiful Argentine (Santa Maria) custom grills will be an attraction to view from the entire dining room, with a group of diner seats in the front row. These seats bring a new meaning to "Chef's Table". The menu will feature our Cali take on Mexican Southwest Cuisine, featuring live-fire fajitas, fresh roasted vegetables for our sauces and salsas, and our in-house Tortilla station making fresh tortillas daily.
Our signature house dishes will be mouth-watering fire-grilled fajitas and vegetables served on sizzling party platters. Our smoked brisket and carnitas tacos and classic Tex-Mex queso will be part of our legendary happy hour-matched with margaritas, Palomas, and beer specials. Weekly chef specials featuring premium steaks and seafood will round off the elegant menu. The Fuel Station was designed to accommodate everyone with an innovative and versatile menu. The Fuel Station makes all the salsas and sauces in-house with only the freshest ingredients we smoke and fire roast on our grills. Lastly, The Fuel Station makes all our tortillas fresh in-house daily, keeping the quality of our dining experience at another level.
A Sports Bar
The Fuel Station offers a great viewing experience for significant sporting events. The Padres, World Cup, and, of course, NFL Football will always be available. When sports are not on, we will use the TVs to promote The Fuel Station events with digital signage.
Live Music
The Fuel Station will feature a stage where local live artists will perform for events. We will host weekly events like TACO TUESDAY featuring live music. We will feature talented local musicians who bring a local following. Live music is a big part of The Fuel Station and its identity.
The Fuel Station is a truly special concept and will be a fun place for everyone. Sitting around a fire and eating is comforting to most people. This concept uses that comfort to create a great dining experience. Perfect for meeting up after work and catching the game in our bar. It is an exciting place to have a birthday party or work event and create lasting memories. Romantic for date sitting at the fire at night and still amazingly fun for families and events.
Market
With our goal for a midtown location, we are well situated to serve these core groups: Mission Valley. Serra Mesa, Kearny Mesa workers, North Park, and surrounding neighborhoods. Our research suggests that those segments together represent more than 125,000 potential customers per day. Factor in the broad decline of the fast-food industry, the complementary rising popularity of eating-out options, the cool factor attached to innovative vision, and the city’s strong population growth, and we see a great opportunity here.
About Us
The Fuel Station is a concept created by a local San Diego couple with over 50 years of combined experience building and managing restaurants and bars in San Diego.
Marketing Plan
The Fuel Station plans to market the business aggressively through social networking and internet marketing. We have budgeted a monthly expense for a contracted social media professional to manage Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok's daily posts, likes, follows, and online reputation.
Internet marketing and another brand reputation management solution will be a large monthly expense. This will make sure our brand is marketed and attended to online with websites and reviews such as Google, Yelp!, and other directory listings.
Events with famous local musicians will keep us networking and bringing amazing new people to The Fuel Station.
Will participate in networks of guest bartenders and chefs promoting special events.
We will sponsor and support local channels like Little League and the Padres.
Location
The first Fuel Station will be a destination location. We are focusing on finding a location with a minimum of 5,500 sq. ft. in the Mission Valley area of central San Diego.
Many restaurants do well in Mission Valley, with significant shopping and tourism.
Technology Behind The Fuel Station
The Fuel Station will have its share of the latest technology to help make our customer's visits extra unique with high-quality audio/video, live music events, and detailed climate control solutions for lighting and temperature to help create the perfect ambiance. All of this will create a better customer experience and be more accessible for the staff to manage. The result will allow the focus to be on the food service. Our in-house technology expert provides an added opportunity and advantage in design and cost for all the technology for the Fuel Station. We want to create a better experience for our guests with everything elevated, including the quality of the video screens and the sound from the speakers. Perfect ambiance with lighting and shade control that changes with the time throughout the day and, finally, a simple payment experience for our customers with a leading POS provider, Toast. Toast offers valuable tools to help manage the day-to-day functions of a full-service IP solution. Tracking everything for employee time management and food and beverage cost control. Advanced analytics allow for detailed information on business accounting.
Kitchen Build-Out
We will require a full Kitchen build-out, cold storage, an entire bar area, and multiple BBQ Pit areas.
Detailed list is available.
The kitchen will require a full commercial-grade build-out and must be fireproof, as our open live-fire concept boasts the 98" Argentine Grill as a key tool and feature attraction.
Two huge 500-gallon Texas-style wood smokers will also be required outside.
Toast Point of Sale solution for all sales.
Two company vans will be used for catering and events.
Expansion / Franchise
Our goal is to build a successful business model and then repeat it. We want to achieve a small chain of fuel stations and build an amazing, loved, and desired brand. Each cantina would use the number in the order it was built in the name, for instance, "The Fuel Station # 9." This will help build independent reputations and identities for each location, creating niche followings.
In the future, we would like to convert old gas stations into our chain of Fuel Station Cantinas throughout California. With the rise in demand for electric vehicles, we believe more gas station real estate will become available, creating an opportunity to repurpose those spaces.
Franchise opportunities will be something to explore shortly.
Key Planned Hires
Head Chef
A head chef with passion and experience in open-fire cooking will be hired to help develop the menu. The head chef will be responsible for hiring the Pitmasters for our grills.
Accountant
An account or firm will be hired to manage our books and payroll. These services will be subcontracted out.
Managers
2 Managers will be hired to start in the beginning and assist Alicia in the day-to-day operations. There are a lot of moving pieces, and it will be critical to have a highly motivated and competent staff.
Use of Funds
A 5-7 Million dollar investment is needed to build and start The Fuel Station.
The funds will cover all costs, including:
Professional Services $135,000.00
Architect & Engineering $100,000.00
Legal (Lease & Incorporation) $20,000.00
Project Consultant $10,000.00
Graphic & Brand Design $5000.00
Construction $400,000.00 -$800,000
Remodeling / Building Improvements $350,000.00
Site Work Accessibility $50,000.00
Organizational & Development $185,000.00
Insurance Deposits $25,000.00
Licenses & Permits $150,000.00
Utility Deposits (Gas, Electric, Water) $10,000.00
Technology & Software $51,350.00
POS Hardware $30,000.00
POS Software (Recurring Cost) $500.00
Payroll & Team Management Software $500.00
Music, Sports, Signage Subscriptions (2K Recurring Cost) $20,000.00
Online Ordering Software (Recurring Cost) $350.00
Interior Finishes & Equipment $813,500.00
Kitchen Small wares $75,000.00
Security System $15,000.00
Music/AV System $225,000.00
Phone System $2,500.00
Office Equipment & Supplies $10,000.00
Interior Signage $10,000.00
Janitorial Supplies $1,000.00
Kitchen Build Out With Grills $350,000.00
Furniture & Fixtures $125,000.00
Exterior Finishes $145,000.00
Outdoor Signage $25,000.00
Landscaping $20,000.00
Patio Construction & Furniture $100,000.00
Pre-Opening Expenses $220,000.00
Construction Period Utilities $10,000.00
Uniforms $10,000.00
Staff Hiring & Training $25,000.00
Soft Opening $25,000.00
Opening Inventory $150,000.00
Marketing $35,000.00
Advertising $25,000.00
PR $10,000.00
Capital & Contingency $275,000.00
6 Months Capital $250,000.00
10% Contingency $250,000.00
The Fuel Station Budget
$4,500,000
Total Startup Costs
$2,484,850
An additional $2,000,000 should be reserved for our purchase of the building.
The Fuel Station Cantina and Grill is going to be something truly special.
Please get in touch with us for more information.