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The restaurant industry is as difficult as any; the long hours and daily grind are tough. So why is the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners considering a new ordinance on third-party platforms that would make it even harder for restaurant owners like me to be successful?
I opened Taco Rico in 1992 with the vision for a fresh-focused restaurant serving Tex-Mex cuisine from our small kitchen in Coral Gables. With great support from the University of Miami community, we quickly became a neighborhood favorite, and we’re proud to have now expanded to Miami Beach, Bird Road, Doral, Pinecrest, West Kendall, and additional locations across South Florida.
We strive to be quick, convenient, and above all, delicious. As demand for our fresh Tex-Mex menu items grew, so did the need to make sure our business could keep up. That’s why we’ve been partnering with third-party platforms like DoorDash and Uber Eats since 2014 to help introduce our award-winning burritos, chicken baja bowls, and now Birria Tacos to even more new customers.
In the more than 30 years that we’ve been in business, we’ve worked hard to build loyalty and trust with Taco Rico customers. Customers can rightly expect that we wouldn’t give away information about them, which is why we feel that private information between customers and our partners like DoorDash and Uber Eats should be just that — private. But this ordinance would require these platforms to give away sensitive information about customers every time they place an order.
If customers are concerned about giving away their data or how it’s being used, they’re less likely to place orders at all. It’s important for us to maintain a healthy balance of in-person and online sales. We pride ourselves in making customers feel welcome and part of our family — we want to be there for the birthday celebrations, catch-ups with old friends, and everything in between. At the same time, takeout and delivery allow us to meet our customers where they are and bring in crucial revenue. If customers suddenly stop ordering online altogether, it would be devastating to us.
If this ordinance passes, suddenly we’re handling more customer data than we could ever need, or want. Our focus should be on serving great food, not having to worry about data breaches or customer data being exposed.
Meanwhile, this ordinance may also expose information about our own business. Anyone who has run a restaurant business can tell you that with such razor-thin margins, every dollar counts. If we have to worry about competitors gaining insights into how we successfully use third-party platforms, there’s nothing stopping them from using that information to their advantage. Simply put: it could be devastating to our plans for growth.
Florida is home to us, and has been for more than three decades. Much of that is because Miami-Dade County has been such a welcoming place to start and grow a business — and I hope it stays that way.
Restaurant owners in Miami-Dade County deserve better than this ordinance. I hope our Board of County Commissioners will find a better path forward when it comes to partnering with third-party platforms that lets us continue serving up the best of what Miami has to offer.
Leland Neal is the CEO of Taco Rico Franchising a Tex-Mex favorite with multiple locations across South Florida.
