Tom Kartel began working at Taco Bill as a kitchen hand and ended up with an equal share in the franchise.
Arriving in Australia in 1987 without speaking a word of English, Iranian native Tom Kartel has managed to climb the ranks at Taco Bill, the longest established Mexican franchise in Australia, to become a joint Director and assist in growing the business to 30 restaurants nationally.
Kartel began work as a kitchen hand at Taco Bill’s South Melbourne restaurant in 1987, before progressing to Head Chef and then Restaurant Manager while learning English with the help of his co-workers- all within the space of two years.
Then, in 1994 Kartel opened his own Taco Bill restaurant in Springvale. Over the next four years Tom secured another two locations in Clifton Hill and Camberwell and completed a degree of Applied Business at Swinburne University in Melbourne.
In 2002, after completing his degree, Kartel purchased a 50 percent share of the Taco Bill business from its owner Stan Teschke. He went on to complete a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) at Swinburne University to help identify and address business problems and manage franchisees and employees with a more structured approach.
The franchise has recently opened a new restaurant in Pakenham, while Kartel claiming that Pakenham was the perfect area to open a Taco Bill restaurant that can offer fun, fresh and affordable Mexican food seven days a week in a casual, relaxed environment.
Kartel and Teschke plan to expand Taco Bill with the opening of restaurants in metro and regional areas where there are limited Mexican restaurants that also offer takeaway.
