The PLOMO Story
An Overnight Restaurant Success That took 6 years
Sometimes not getting what you want can be a wonderful stroke of luck..
When founder Omar Kasim opened his first restaurant, Con Quesos, he knew it would be a difficult journey. Still, he didn’t expect that over the next 6 years, he would endure a hostile takeover by a former investor, a global pandemic, and unprecedented inflation with wages and food, a restaurant’s two largest expenses. Had it not been for these catastrophic events, there may not be a Plomo Quesadillas. Let us explain.
Originally a school project, Omar worked on a business plan for a fusion taco restaurant. Set on attending law school upon graduation, Omar did not ever plan on getting into the restaurant industry. As he began to work more and more on the business plan, his affinity for the world of hospitality grew. Finally, in 2015 he decided to forego law school and pursue a career in hospitality. In January of 2016, through the help of his family and a Dallas-based investor, Con Quesos opened its doors. After a year of business, the restaurant outperformed in virtually every benchmark. Unfortunately, in April 2017 Omar’s investor performed a hostile takeover. His time away from Con Quesos was short-lived; in less than a year the restaurant plunged and became insolvent. A year after being ousted, Omar returned to Con Quesos as the sole owner.
In the time that he had been away from Con Quesos, Omar had opened a small Juice Bar. Starting a new restaurant itself is enough of a financial strain—doing that while also turning around a failing restaurant is next level.
“I basically woke up every day at 6 am, worked at the juice bar from 7 am until 4 pm, would take a nap, then would work at Con Quesos from 6 pm until 11 pm. I did that every day for over a year so I could get both stores profitable.”
— Omar Kasim
PLOMO Quesadilla’s First Prototype
From tacos to quesadillas: The Launch of Plomo Quesadillas and Its Unexpected Twist
In 2019 Kasim was reviewing his sales and noticed that a simple item, a chicken quesadilla, was consistently on their list of top 5 selling items. Interested by this, he began to put together a restaurant concept focused on Quesadillas instead of tacos.
“My original plan was to do delivery only out of the juice bar, says Kasim.” We had a vent hood in the back of our Dickson location from a former tenant that we weren’t using. I thought if I could do a late night quesadilla concept out the backside door, we could make some extra side money.
We eventually decided that if we were going to open it we might as well offer a pick-up window. Kasim’s theory was that if he could do about $300 in sales every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night he could make enough money to pay his mortgage.
In August of 2019, out the side of the juice bar Plomo Quesadillas opened its doors. And no one showed up.
Early customers ordering at the original Plomo storefront
“We had a lot of things working against us at the beginning. First of all, our storefront was not a real storefront—it was a menu stuck to an exterior door that went to our kitchen. Second, we were tucked away from the bars, so getting people to walk to us was difficult,
Every night I would slap cards on the corner of West Ave and Dickson St trying to get anyone to come try us out. I offered half off their first order and still had little success. It wasn’t until I started targeting a different group that we began to see some traction.“”
— Omar Kasim
How Omar Tapped into Fraternity Life for Quesadilla Gold
I remembered in my college days that every fraternity house had a back area where people would go in and out to smoke. As a result, the back doors were always open. Likewise, I knew every fraternity house had a mailroom”
So one by one, Omar snuck into the fraternity houses on Arkansas Ave and slipped menus and coupons into the mailboxes of the fraternity house residents. Sure enough, the following week Plomo began to see an influx of college students trickling in to get their quesadillas. Eventually, their friends started to come in and a trickle turned into a waterfall.
Omar Kasim
“In August of 2019, it was a win to sell 300 quesadillas a weekend. By 2021, we were selling 1,200 quesadillas a night.”
Guests enjoying a late night at the original Plomo Quesadilla Dickson St. location
Reflecting on the Ride: What’s Shaped Plomo Quesadillas as a Restaurant
Reflecting on our story so far, it’s important that we keep in mind what has gotten us this far so we can continue to do those things. Here are a couple of takeaways we think have contributed to our success
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Our late night hours and edgy branding isn’t for everyone. And that’s okay. The ones that love us really love us, and will support us.
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Whether guests know it or not, they’re always comparing the price they paid versus the value they received. From the food quality to the speed to even the vibe, it’s all about giving guests value that is far more than they expected relative to the price they paid. And every little detail and experience adds to that value sum.
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Whether it’s after a concert or after a fun night at the bars, our guests love having an after-party spot where they can recap the night over some great food. Our job is to provide an environment that caters to that and provides guests an awesome way to end the night.