Guzman y Gomez Mexican Kitchen

GYG’s journey began in 2006 with our first restaurant in Newtown, Sydney. After realising that there was a genuine gap in the Australian market for fresh, clean Mexican food, our founders Steven Marks and Robert Hazan decided to create their own restaurant, Guzman y Gomez, named to honour their childhood friends. Steven and Robert had a vision to to re-invent the fast food category by building a restaurant business that served high-quality, nutritious food at the speed and convenience of traditional fast food.

The Journey

After embracing the franchise business model, GYG now spans over 200+ restaurants in 4 countries across Australia, Singapore, Japan and the USA. 

Hola GYG!

Founded by Steven Marks & Robert Hazan, our first restaurant opens in Sydney's vibrant Newtown area. Affectionately nicknamed "The Baby", the restaurant continues to thrive to this day!

2006

Welcome Investors

With the love for Guzman y Gomez quickly growing, GYG's first group of investors come on board, including our current Chairman Guy Russo.

2009

First GYG Franchise

Our first franchised restaurant opens in Fortitude Valley, QLD.

Dec 2010

GYG opens in Singapore

Our first restaurant outside of Australia opens, with GYG launching at Asia Square, Singapore.

Nov 2013

GYG opens in Japan

Hello Tokyo! GYG opens our first Japanese restaurant in the famous Harajuku district.

Apr 2015

First drive thru opens

The first of our famous drive thrus opens in Nerang, QLD.

Jul 2015

100% Fresh Free Range Chicken

Launched Lilydale free range chicken in all restaurants.

Sept 2016

100th Restaurant

Our landmark 100th restaurant opens in Burleigh, QLD.

Nov 2017

Welcome TDM!

TDM Growth Partners take a minority stake in GYG.

Aug 2018

That's clean!

GYG's menu goes 100% clean. Our "Clean is the new healthy" campaign lets the world know that there's no added preservatives, no artificial flavours, no added colours and no unacceptable additives in our food.

Sept 2019

GYG opens in USA

Party in the USA! Our first US restaurant opens in Naperville, IL. Many more to come!

Jan 2020

Fast Food by GYG

Our ‘Fast Food by GYG’ brand campaign launches, sending "Fast food your mum says yes to" into the Aussie family vernacular!

Feb 2021

150th restaurant

Our 150th restaurant opens in Malvern East, VIC.

Nov 2021

Hola Central Expansion

Our newly-renovated ‘Hola Central’ head office reopens in Sydney, expanding over a second floor to house our rapidly growing teams across legal, finance, marketing, digital & technology, operations, supply chain, real estate, people & culture, culinary and more.

Feb 2022

New App Launch

The new GYG App includes a fresh look, streamlined ordering process and heaps of exciting features!

Apr 2022

Introducing the Soft Serve Range

With real cream, real vanilla flavour and no added preservatives our Soft Serve range is deliciously good!

Dec 2022

GYG Welcomes 3rd US Restaurant

Our 3rd US restaurant opens in Crystal Lake, Illinios joining GYG Naperville and GYG Schaumburg.

May 2023

200th Restaurant

Our most anticipated restaurant, GYG Cairns QLD, was also GYG's 200th restaurant!

Aug 2023