The young Latina woman manning the front counter shouts an enthusiastic “Hola! Welcome!” as the door opens. Reggaeton is playing. It is lunchtime, but the three month-old restaurant, Guzman y Gomez’s foray into Chicago’s rapidly gentrifying suburb of Bucktown, is otherwise silent. There are two customers. In the next half-hour, nine more will come through the door. It is barely enough to keep half a dozen staff occupied.
Guzman y Gomez might be a household name in Australia – a rapidly expanding chain of Mexican-themed restaurants with a market capitalisation of almost $2 billion – but it is its plan to take on the United States that is occupying the imagination of investors, who are seriously worried, and executives, who insist there are big opportunities.
