Meet Mani Bhushan | Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mani Bhushan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mani, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
For starters, I was laid off from my corporate job in 2006 and honestly was unsure if I wanted to find another gig in corporate America. I always had the itch to open my own restaurant so I went ahead and started figuring that out. I wanted to open something that was my creation, and that honestly was really hard for me. Though I had worked in the restaurant industry for decades, it’s a daunting task when you have a blank slate for menu creation, recipes, naming, restaurant design, etc.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
The restaurant industry is a GRIND. And I didn’t join it by choice. I moved to the US from India in the 1970s, and honestly, there weren’t many options for immigrants in professional careers, so I started in the restaurant industry and worked my way up. I worked at all kinds of restaurants, from McDonalds to Jack in the Box, and eventually moved up to VP of Operations for Taco Bell, where I oversaw company stores in half the country.

The lessons I have learned along the way – hard work is good, but it really helps to have a mentor in your corner to help you advance your career in corporate America, and I had a few that helped me along the way.

For Taco Ocho, I hope my customers appreciate that we try to do our best every day. We welcome them, provide them with good service, and serve real food made from scratch.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live in Flower Mound, but I have to visit my restaurants quite a bit, and I have become quite familiar with Richardson, Frisco, and McKinney. Here are my suggestions

Flower Mound Area: For restaurants, check out Hillside it’s always a great meal, Lake Grapevine is always a nice place to take in a little nature; just have to watch out for those mountain bikers. If you are looking for live music the best spot for that is usually Marty B’s

Richardson: Honestly, Richardson has lots of great restaurants so you can’t go wrong, but if you want something “fun” to do Free Play, which has vintage video games, is always a fun time.

Frisco: You know, Frisco has a ton of stuff to do, and one area that I think is pretty cool if you have kids is the Frisco Discovery Center, which houses a Train Museum, a STEM museum for kids, a Video game Museum and a massive Library under one roof.

McKinney: The downtown area is nice and walkable. If you want to get outside for a quick hike, Erwin Park is great, too.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
If you are familiar with the restaurant industry, you know keeping people for a long time is very hard. The industry has very high employee turnover, especially since after COVID. Taco Ocho has some cooks and management members on the team who have been with us for several years. I really appreciate their dedication, specifically Edna, who has managed the Richardson location for several years.

Website: https://www.tacoocho.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tacoocho/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tacoocho/

Image Credits
Teresa Rafidi Leele Girma Owen Cole