California Burrito CEO Bert Mueller on his love for Indian cuisine and setting up a Mexican food chain in the country

On most days in Bengaluru, Bert Mueller could pass unnoticed, except for the auto, which is bright red and unmistakable. Mueller, an American who moved to India in his early 20s, often drives the three-wheeler around Indiranagar, where he lives.

Gifted by co-founder Gaelan Draper when he exited the company, it is the only vehicle Mueller owns.More than a decade after he first arrived in India as a student, Mueller, 36, is the co-founder and CEO of California Burrito, a quick-service restaurant chain set up in 2012 that serves burritos, tacos, burrito bowls and quesadillas in a build-your-meal format (choose your base, your protein and toppings). One of the country’s largest Mexican-inspired food chains, it has 130 outlets across Bengaluru, Chennai, the National Capital Region, Hyderabad and Pune, with plans to set foot in Mumbai this year.For much of its first decade, California Burrito grew steadily on the back of a model the founders had decided on early in their journey: opening outlets in Bengaluru’s tech parks and serving office-goers looking for quick, cheap lunch options that were not too unfamiliar to the Indian palate.

The format worked, and burrito bowls in particular became a hit—they resembled rice-based Indian meals, but with different flavours. By early 2020, the company had around 37 outlets.Then came covid.

“In March 2020, we were doing about ₹4 crore in sales a month,” Mueller says. “Then it dropped to about ₹25 lakh.” With offices shutting down, the very locations that had powered the business—tech parks and corporate hubs—became liabilities.