We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sara Wood. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sara below.
Hi Sara, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
I’ve worked in the restaurant industry since I was 14 and I’ve been a vegetarian my entire life. girlsgirlsgirls Burritos came out of my love of bicycling and good food with friends. It was 2016 and I was 29 working as a server and bartender in some local joints here in Lexington, Kentucky. I was bored with the limited vegetarian options for late-night and delivery food. And I LOVED riding my bike.
I never intended to start my own restaurant. But I always show up, I enjoy taking risks, and I believe in taking advantage of opportunities when they arise. I love working with food and enjoy cooking. So when I heard through some friends in the industry that a local bar down by the University of Kentucky was struggling to get its kitchen operating, I jumped on the conversation with the bar owners around the idea of renting it out instead of removing it. They loved the idea.
Me and some friends made burritos at my house for supper one night – they were so delicious, and it was so fun for us all to build our own burritos! A burrito also makes for a super tasty and filling vegetarian meal. So with the specific kitchen space and location in mind, I thought of doing a burrito menu since no one else in the neighborhood was offering burritos, especially late night. I also immediately thought of the ease and efficiency in delivering burritos via bicycle to the campus community and the nearby neighborhoods. I was also eager to merge my love of riding into my work life.
For delivery, I knew we’d need online ordering and spent a couple months working with the Louisville-based company, MenuPunks, building our site and ordering system. I did lots of test prep cooking at home and got the menu and specs set. I got setup with our local food distributor and got all the permit and insurance needs. I created my LLC in January 2016 and we did our first night of service in May. The menu was a bigger hit then I could have ever imagined. Just before our second birthday, we moved into our own location at the iconic corner of S. Limestone and Avenue of Champions. We now have a full bar – with excellent margaritas – and a stage for live music and events. We love working with local non-profits and businesses, and I’m very proud of the safe space we keep here for our community.
Our original five burritos and three quesadillas that was our very first menu are still each big sellers today. We’re known for our chips and queso and our crispy tofu, and that every one of our menu items has a vegetarian version. Our original veg burrito – the Moosewood – is my nod to the Moosewood Restaurant and how their decades-long food work inspires me. Over the years we’ve expanded our vegan items and the WakeyBakey Burrito is now one of our most popular. The BFF Burrito has been the longtime favorite from day one, and now the Fat $tack Crunchrap and TrashDog Burrito are just as popular as the BFF. The BabyBull Burrito is my personal fave. I’m really proud of each menu item, and we’re currently working on a breakfast crunchrap to add to the menu in 2023. Coming up with new items and specials is one of my favorite parts of the job!
Restaurant work is extremely challenging so I’m unbelievably grateful to our customers for the continued support over the years. Lexington is so good at supporting local, I absolutely love this city. And I’m so grateful to our bike delivery program; it got us through the toughest Covid times and has served my mental and physical health beyond measure. All roads lead to happiness on a bicycle! Especially with a burrito.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I moved to Lexington from Murray, Kentucky to attend graduate school at UK. I have a degree in Sociology and Creative Writing and a masters in Library and Information Science. I began working as a dishwasher at 14 and have worked in restaurants ever since to support myself while going through school. I really love working with food and serving people. It’s so enjoyable to see people celebrate and enjoy one another over food and drink in a cool space! In founding and operating girlsgirlsgirls Burritos, I’ve got to use skills from literally every job and schooling I’ve had – it’s an exciting challenge. I’ve always been very active in sports, running and biking and I’m also a big eater. So especially as a vegetarian, I’m so proud of our menu at girls. I crave our food all the time!
The business and brand has become more than I ever could have imagined. And along with the menu, I’m so proud of our team and the safe space we keep for our customers and community. It’s more than just food. We love getting to know our customers, and it’s such a pleasure to see so many of the sweet faces week after week, and then year after year – community is so important and I’m so proud to provide food and a space for us all to come together. We’ve fed and hosted people on first dates that turned into weddings. We are a great service and space for our student and campus friends. We love feeding artists and musicians. We have three hospitals in our delivery zone and I’m honored to feed healthcare workers. We’ve delivered burritos to new moms just after they went through labor. I’m so proud of our delicious and good-for-you food. We cook with love and that makes all the difference – you’re literally eating love when you eat girls.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Our customer service and our focus on being pro-womxn and pro-bicycle has really helped us build and keep our reputation within the restaurant industry. I’ve had a lot of tough experiences in my 22 years in the industry. It’s very important to me to overcome those previous restaurant standards that typically disregard and endanger womxn, on both the worker and customer sides. We’re happy to feed womxn and children and accommodate dietary concerns and preferences. When we moved into our current location, we immediately changed the “mens” room to an all-gender room. Our “uniform” policy is no hate speech on the clothes or body – other than that just feel your best. It’s important for me for our team to feel authentic and comfortable. We are here to provide a safe space, help one another, and share the love. We all work to take care of each other and respect everyone’s preferred name and pronoun. We don’t tolerate transphobia, racism, or sexism, including in the live music performances we welcome here. We support Black farmers and proactively host fundraising events for local LGBTQA+ groups and causes. It’s important to me to continue learning and stay connected with the local community so we can adjust any of our practices and policies to better our employee experience, and to give our business to Black, queer & womxn owned businesses any chance we get.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
So much of running a restaurant is constant pivoting and overcoming challenges. I can’t help but now think about 2020 when it comes to a time we pivoted. In March 2020, businesses and restaurants were shut down for in-person business here in Kentucky. We immediately pivoted to all the delivery and online takeout work we could. We added groceries, dried goods and spices, paper products and toilet paper to our online menu. We also added drink kits, like Margarita drink packs and Mimosa kits. We added our Family Meals to the menu which are still a hit today – Family Taco Night, Nacho Night, and Mexican Pizza Night. We created a Go Fund Me for our staff. And we kept open. It was the toughest of the tough times and we still have plenty of recovery ahead of us, but I am just so proud we were able to stand on the foundation we built as a business with our online order and bicycle delivery and make it through.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.girlsgirlsgirlsburritos.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/girlsgirlsgirlsburritos/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eatgggirls
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/girlsBurritos
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/girlsgirlsgirls-burritos-lexington
- Other: [email protected]