Tijuana Flats Kicks Off New Tampa Location

When O.A. Morales tried the blackened chicken megajuana at Tijuana Flats, it was love at first bite. Now, New Tampa residents can share in his joy.

Tex-Mex chain Tijuana Flats opened a new restaurant in New Tampa, its 73rd location, last week. Morales, himself a former Tijuana Flats employee, used to travel to the restaurant on Fowler Avenue to satisfy his megajuana cravings and says he’s thrilled the new location is closer to his home in Tampa Palms.

“I fell in love with it even before I started working for them,” said Morales.

General Manager Mike Brooks said the store’s opening week has gone over smoothly, with a warm welcome from customers. Around 1,500 people visited the new location as of Thursday afternoon, including local students, couples out for the night and business folks on their lunch breaks.

“Everybody has been outstanding,” Brooks said. “It’s been a warm reception.”

The restaurant carries the same laid-back vibe as other locations, with bright painted walls, a signature hot sauce bar and autographed photos of stars like Derrick Brooks and Jerry Springer on the walls. The restaurant is complete with a huge mural of a Viking warrior on one wall – a prominent mural is a well-known part of each Tijuana Flats eatery.

The menu is identical to one you’d find at any other Tijuana Flats, boasting the same famous Tex-Mex cuisine that helped earn the still-growing restaurant its reputation. The chain has its brand down to a science, Brooks explained. The Tijuana Flats experience is tested, tried and true, from the food to the restaurant atmosphere.

But what sets the chain apart from other restaurants? It’s more than the menu.

“Ninety percent of the time when I get called to a table, the customer is blown away by the service,” Brooks said. “That’s our edge on the competition. We offer a higher quality of service than our competitors.”

Tijuana Flats employees are taught by certified trainers to interact with customers in a way that exceeds average standards of customer service, Brooks said. The restaurant is also selective in its hiring.

“What makes the service great is we hire great people,” said John Lombardo, training coordinator for all Tijuana Flats restaurants in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Orlando. “You can train anybody to cook, but you can’t train a personality.”

Alycia Spann, a University of South Florida student and Tijuana Flats employee, said the restaurant is the ideal environment for an employee in this industry.

Spann worked at another Tijuana Flats three years ago but left the company in 2009 to work elsewhere. Now she’s working happily at the New Tampa location. The new restaurant is just as she remembers the other Tijuana Flats eateries – a fun work atmosphere, friendly customers and respectful, caring coworkers.

“I can work 12 hours and be completely drained and still leave happy,” Spann said. “Everything that you see as a guest is really how it is.”

Brooks said employees who stay with Tijuana Flats often find opportunities for promotion within the company. He said one of his proudest moments was recently meeting a higher-up coordinator for the chain whom he remembered as a high school waitress at another Tijuana Flats restaurant years ago. This is the seventh Tijuana Flats where he’s worked, and he says he’ll stick around for a long time.

“I don’t mind getting up early for work, I don’t mind staying late,” he said. “I do love the company.”

Morales can relate.

“I came here yesterday,” Morales said with a laugh, “and I’ll probably come back tomorrow.”

Tijuana Flats in New Tampa is located at 17501 Preserve Walk Lane.