How this 35-year-old American built one of India's most famous restaurant chains

India, with its futuristic vision and fervent adaptability, is a growing hub for start-ups that has been attracting not only the Indian youth but also dreamers from outside the country who are determined to realise their vision. One such remarkable story is that of a 35-year-old American from Southern California who came to India on a study trip but stayed to pursue a dream that has now become one of the most famous food chains in the country with a value of $23 million.

It was in 2010 when Bert Mueller , an American student came to India on a study abroad trip. He along with some of his other classmates lived in Jaipur, with some host families. “I wanted to go somewhere that was radically different than the U.S. and so I decided that India was the place to be given that, first off, I loved Indian food and second, people spoke English,” said Mueller to CNBC.

He shared that all of his classmates had bought the families food from their home countries, but "they didn't like it very much." The only exception was one of his friends, whose experience was entirely different.

“One of my friends was of Mexican origin and she would make chips and salsa and beans and tortillas,” he said. “One day I came over to her house and I saw she’d made this food for her family she was living with and they were loving the food.”

This was where the idea of planting a Mexican seed in the Indian hearts came to Mueller. “Something clicked in my head that maybe this was something I could do — I could bring Mexican-inspired cuisine to India,” he explained.

The California Burrito
Mueller who was 22 at the time, was majoring in music and public policy at the College of William & Mary. The venture of starting a business was not one he had ever considered. But after seeing the reaction of the Indian family to the famous Mexican cuisine, the idea became a dream he had to fulfil. After completing his degree, Mueller returned to India and opened the famous California Burrito, a fast-casual Southern California-style burrito restaurant.

Why India for California Burrito?
India is a country rich in its own cuisine which is so vast that making a place for a burrito in it, would seem difficult for some. But for Mueller, India was the "perfect place to be" “Nothing is predictable. Every day is different and so if you find monotony dull, if you find comfort boring, then India is a perfect place to be," he said.

He began California Burrito in 2011 with two of his childhood friends who have since left the company and returned to the USA. The group of three picked Bangalore as the first location for their restaurant as the city is the leading IT hub in the country which meant that the people had travelled abroad and tried Mexican or similar food.

According to his estimate, the cost of opening the restaurant would have cost $100,000 but "to be careful" he raised $250,000 with the help of friends and family. It seems Mueller's insights were correct and luck seemed to be on his side as his first store alone was able to earn the profits of $500,000 which allowed him to open two more stores with his initial investment money.

The struggle for success
Venturing into an unknown country at 22, with a dream to open a business seems very difficult and for Mueller it was. “The biggest challenge was that the person we had hired at the beginning to run our entire operation and help us out was a very crooked individual,” he shared.

He had hired an area manager with prior experience working at chain restaurants, however, soon he got to know that the man was charging suppliers double the cost of the products and had plans of replicating Mueller's idea. “He would call government officials to the store and say, we weren’t doing X, Y, and Z. He would collude with vendors to do things. And then later he went off and started his own burrito restaurant, which failed.”

But Mueller was not deterred. “My mom is a marathon runner, and I have that trait in me,” he said. “You have to keep going until you’ve reached the finish line. And I never felt like quitting.”

While his initial plan was a five-year stay in the country, he has since taken the initiative to grow the company's ingredients himself. Now California Burrito sources from five different chicken suppliers and planted 500 avocado trees, some of which were trampled by elephants. The company grew tomatillos in Karnataka, but “a huge amount of rain came and wiped out all of them,” he added.

For now, India is home for Mueller and as he said, "India feels like home to me and being home, you don’t think so much about leaving.”

A country-wide fast-food chain


Since 2012, Mueller has continued opening up stores in Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi. California Burrito's annual revenue in 2024 was $23 million. For Indians who are lovers of all things food, California Burrito is actually a go-to.
"It's the best healthy food out there.. Even better than subway! I've got one in my office.... All the gym Folks throng the California burrito staff by lunch time!" commented a person on X. "Without a doubt, my fav restaurant today. I order more than once a week. Cult following among friends and family too. Clean locations, healthy fresh food and very surprising for a Mexican place (personally not a fan), absolutely banger food. I would invest in this company" added another.