Hola, Dos Mas Tacos
How running a kitchen gave two founders the courage to be bold
In conversation with Rupert Avery and Charlie Avery
Before Starting Dos Mas Tacos, we both worked in the luxury superyacht industry. When working abroad, we came up with the idea of building our dream of owning a successful street food brand that truly stands out above the rest. From travelling and eating around the world, especially in Mexico, the idea of Dos Mas was born. We wanted to bring our twist of Mexican flavours to London and our dream was to always open our own place.
Inspiration
Dos Mas Tacos is an independent street food brand that operates in London. We have two restaurants that cater to the fast pace casual dining experience that London has come so accustomed to. We operate out of Fairgame and Spitalfields Market, which are eat-in and takeaway establishments.
Dos Mas Tacos’ seasonal menus take inspiration from traditional Mexican cuisine, paying respect to the authentic ingredients, flavours and cooking styles of the incredible Latin American culture, combined with modern street-eating, tailored around a busy London lifestyle. We love simple and traditional Mexican cooking with bold colours, even bolder flavours and a truly idiosyncratic experience.
We wanted the freedom of running a kitchen how we wanted to run it. We always liked working hard, but thought why do it for someone else when we can do it for ourselves? Hospitality is a hard industry and our passion was always towards creating a healthy culture, a business making great food and having a really great working environment.
The journey
Like any business, the journey is no plain sailing. It's stressful, margins are tight, especially in our sector. But the journey is the fun part, never the destination.
We continue to look forward and adapt to change where we can. Having started in 2019, our business has always been put to the test, but we've always managed to keep on top with a healthy attitude. We are extremely grateful to be in the position we’re in, with two restaurants running successfully.
The growth curve
We started from humble beginnings, operating out of a street food gazebo on the streets of London doing anything from markets, weddings, events and festivals, to now having two permanent establishments. We now have two restaurants. We have remained consistent and very persistent. We love a challenge and have always put ourselves to the test, to see how far we can push it.
Challenges
Working in hospitality is always highly stressful, especially serving on a large scale. We would say managing people, which is the same for any business, is a real challenge. Your employees are the heart and soul of any company, and keeping on top of that to create a positive balance is always a real challenge.
Highlights
We love being able to serve and provide an experience to all our customers. Having the chance to make someone's evening is always an enjoyable experience to be a part of. We also love being creative, whether that’s brand development or uplifting our team. Watching their growth is always exciting.
The future
We started this business with scaling it in mind. We would like to continue building the brand to become bigger and better in every way, with more venues to make it more easily accessible. We are always on the lookout for a new site that is the right fit for us and the brand.
Advice
It's not what we do occasionally, but what we do consistently over time that makes big results. Your only limit is your mind. Don't do it for the result. but for what you learn along the way, which is invaluable. Always seek advice from a professional if you don't quite know the answer. Have an open mind as you are going to mess up, buts that's ok. It’s not a failure, only a lesson learned. Don't be hard on yourself and always celebrate the small wins.
Using 1st Formations
We found 1st Formations online. They had great reviews, and I was also recommended by another business owner. They provide so many services which are affordable, so it was a no brainer for us.
The company formation process
It’s so easy and user friendly to use. They take care of everything.
1st Formations today
We use 1st Formations for their Dormant Company Accounts Service, Confirmation Statement Service, Registered Office Address Service and general business advice.
