Podcast episode (Tacos and Tech) hosted by Neal Bloom interviewing Alex Adler, co-founder of Puesto. Conversation covers Puesto’s origins as a family-run restaurant group (14 years), family and real-estate background, evolving use of technology and marketing (SEO, AI) in hospitality, COVID’s disruption and recovery, and live events at the Mission Valley Puesto location. Tone is conversational, anecdotal, and entrepreneurially reflective.
Startups get the party. Startups get the party started. Startups get the party. Startups get the party started. You want tech and tacos, Tacos and tech, you know we got it.
Hey.
Startups get the party. Startups get the party started. Startups get the party. Startups get the party started. Startups get the party. Startups get the party started. You want tech and tacos, Tacos and tech. You know we got it. Hey.
And welcome back to the Tacos and Tech podcast. I'm your host, Neal Bloom, and I am thrilled to have on one of the taco kings of San Diego. We're going to flip this episode on its head, Alex Adler, co founder of Puesto. Hey, Alex, thanks for being on the pod.
Well, thanks for having me. Yeah, it's. This seems like a natural podcast for us. We may. May not be as much tech as usual, but definitely, I think the taco part, we're probably, probably a perfect fit. So I'm excited to be here.
We've been talking about this for a bit. I feel like, I feel like we met pre Covid. Maybe it was only three locations of questo and we actually talked a little bit like what tech was going into questo. But man, I feel like you really come to your own as a business. Really grown up in a. To a certain regard, right? Had like a second or third generation as a business sound, right?
Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's. It's funny because we talked pre Covid and then, you know, it's like everything was going in the right direction. You were starting to think about how SEO and everything affects restaurants, which, you know, it's usually a little dated for restaurants. We're. We're laggers when it comes to technology. But we were, you know, trying to be ahead of it. Then co hit since like pop pause on everything because all our doors are closed. We can't serve anybody in California. And then we come out of it and now we're just picking up everything that's going on, you know, getting back into the marketing, getting back into how we present ourselves with our guests. And then now we get hit with AI and we're like, oh, wow, how's that going to affect our business? So it's exciting times.
Oh, all right. We got a lot to talk about. And we've been doing events here at. We are live at the Mission Valley Cuesta. We've been doing. For whatever reason, we've done a bunch of fintech founder gatherings here, both at the outside patio and one of the private rooms. It's been awesome. I think we have another one coming up that we're booking here. This seems to be a good spot because FinTech, apparently there's north county and there's downtown, so it's a good meeting spot in between. But let's take it all the way back. Like, where does this all begin? Do you have restaurants in your family? Like, how did you, how did you come into this part of the world of business?
No, so I, I think it was probably the last, the last sort of industry that our family was thinking we would get into. Our family was in real estate. Prior to that they were in, in Mexico, they, they worked in consumer products, more on the electronic side, radios, things like that, alarms. That business ends. They moved to San Diego talking 40 plus years ago and created, you know, something that's a little more, you know, stable with the real estate and go from one unit, build it up and get, you know, get to where they, they got. And I think for us, we loved it and we were passionate about it, but we also had this other calling of, you know, working with people doing something that, that can, you know, create memories and create something that's lasting and, and to us the vision came through hospitality. I think it was again something that we, we never imagined. Zero restaurant background getting into it. But now we're almost on year 14, so it's been a journey and it.
Sounds like it's a family, family affair, family business.
It is family, 100%, myself, brothers, cousins. So it really is strictly a family business. And we joke. A lot of people that work with us, they're, you know, they're part, I guess not a joke. They are part of the family. And sometimes we're in meetings, they're like, oh, you guys brothers? And we're like, yeah. And he's also our, our long lost brother as well because, yeah, it's just a lot of family.
Yeah, well, there's a lot learned in business with doing business with people and if you already have a relationship with them, goes a long way too circuit, that's for sure. I like feel.
