CBRE FAMECO Secures 1st Location for Criminals and Tacos Restaurant in New Brunswick

On Dec 2, 2015

CBRE FAMECO, the retail division of CBRE Group Inc. in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey, announced that it has secured a location for the first Criminals and Tacos restaurant, at 103 Easton Ave. in New Brunswick.  Steven Winters of CBRE FAMECO represented the business founder and owner, renowned chef Andrew Schiff, in the lease transaction.

Operating under the ownership of Schiff & Wesson, LLC, Criminals and Tacos’ mission is to become the premier destination for tacos in the nation, utilizing fresh, organic and local ingredients while being dedicated to providing excellent service in a fun, friendly and hip environment. With its prodigious food, ambiance and value-based prices, the business is marketed toward college students and young professionals, but is family-friendly and community-friendly.

The Criminals and Tacos concept pays homage to an underground – literally and figuratively — taco shop that operated for more than 40 years within a hidden passage underneath the kitchens of Alcatraz. The taco shop had no known name, but was filled with the country’s most dangerous incarcerated individuals and served only tacos. Playing into this theme, Criminals and Tacos restaurants will feature celebrity mug shots as wall décor, menu items named after judicial sentences and a “banned items” menu for its loyal customers. Customers will have the opportunity to take and socialize their own “mug shots.”

“Criminals and Tacos was designed to revolutionize the fast-casual food industry and capitalize on what Madison Avenue already knows: Mexican food is the future of the food industry, and the dominant food in Mexican cuisine is, and always will be, the taco,” said Schiff. “We’re thrilled to be opening our first restaurant on Easton Avenue in New Brunswick – a location that provides us with immediate and central access to our target customer base.”

Criminals and Tacos’ first location at 103 Easton Ave. offers the business an ideal location within the heart of the Rutgers University student community. Schiff & Wesson, LLC plans to expand the franchise-able taco shop throughout college cities and towns across the country, beginning with those in New Jersey. The business requires 1,500 to 2,500 square feet of restaurant space and prefers a consumption liquor license..

“Andrew Schiff and his team came to me with a clear vision and a set of criteria for where the first Criminals and Tacos restaurant would need to be located,” said Winters. “This location in the heart of New Brunswick meets all of the outlined requirements, with ideal access to the business’ target demographic in the immediate proximity to Rutgers, New Jersey’s largest university.”

Chef Andrew Schiff is an imaginative trendsetter in the hospitality and culinary industry. He is known worldwide for creating both SPREAD (the product line) and SPREAD (the restaurant). His unique ability to reimagine food has made him the recipient of such accolades as the winner of “Best Bite of Food Anywhere in America,” “Best Thing I Ever Ate,” Oprah’s Favorite Thing for Christmas, The Silver Fork and a Mayoral Proclamation.

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