Panchero's Mexican Grill Manager Awarded

The Shelton owner of was named Franchisee of the Year by the Iowa-based company. This is the first year the company has given the award. Lou Kathrakis, 30, opened Panchero’s located at 704 Bridgeport Ave. in 2007.

“I feel honored to be the first recipient of the award and look forward to getting it again hopefully,” Kathrakis said. “Things are going very well and I am looking to expand in 2012.”

As for his approach to running a business in the current economy, Kathrakis said he contributes his success to organized management and pride in the food.

"[Our general manager and the employees underneath her] are always looking for ways to improve, never settling for status quo and striving to provide the best customer experience," he said.

"In terms of the product, I feel like we’ve kind of found the perfect balance between price, quickness in terms of getting the food out, and quality," Kathrakis added. "One of the things we do is make the tortillas on-site, so little things like that set us apart from the competition."

While this is the first time Panchero’s has bestowed a Franchisee of the Year honor, the company plans to make it an annual award.

“We have many great franchise owners so we thought it was time to start recognizing their achievements,” said Barry Nelson, vice president of operations for Panchero’s. “Lou was a great first choice. He’s a military veteran so he is great at following the system and his restaurant has been doing very well for more than four years. We are excited for him to continue to grow with Panchero’s and open additional locations in Connecticut.”