Lessons from Maple Street: How they shape Calico Cactus founder's strategy

Scott Moore applies more than a decade of experience to his new fast-casual concept.


Calico Cactus, A Modern Taco Shop, focuses on tacos, queso and coffee. It is launching at 833 S. Ponce de Leon Blvd. in St. Augustine.
Calico Cactus, A Modern Taco Shop, focuses on tacos, queso and coffee. It is launching at 833 S. Ponce de Leon Blvd. in St. Augustine.
Calico Cactus
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Creating and growing Maple Street Biscuit Co., now with 69 locations in 10 states, trained co-founder and former CEO Scott Moore to determine what works, and what doesn’t.

Moore and his investment group founded Maple Street in 2012 and sold it in 2019 to Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. for $36 million. 

His noncompete ran out in November 2023, leading him to his next concept.

“I have the benefit of the experience at Maple Street,” Moore said.

Calico Cactus founder Scott Moore.

“I have the benefit of knowing which (sites) did very well and which did just OK.”

Looking at which did very well led him to St. Augustine for the launch of Calico Cactus, A Modern Taco Shop, focused on tacos, queso and coffee.

He chose a former Tijuana Flats at 833 S. Ponce de Leon Blvd. for the first site.

“This model, again, we get to leverage a lot of what did very well and fix some of the things that were challenges,” Moore said.

Among the lessons learned:

Location

Moore calls the St. Augustine site a trifecta for customers: locals; students from Flagler College; and tourists.

Calico Cactus, A Modern Taco Shop, is taking the former Tijuana Flats at 833 S. Ponce de Leon Blvd. in St. Augustine.
St. Johns County Property Appraiser

Locals can drive there easily and college students are a good customer base.

Given that most breakfast-lunch restaurants are busy on weekends, the access by tourists means a solid weekday business.

That balances the customer base and spreads out sales over a full seven days.

Parking

Parking for the Maple Street store in the historic district of St. Augustine can be a challenge for locals.

While close to Flagler College students and tourists who walked the area, the location wasn’t convenient for those driving.

That is resolved at Calico Cactus with shopping center parking.

Ticket times

On weekends, Maple Street was “packed out,” creating longer waits for food.

“We struggled keeping ticket times below 30 minutes. In this concept, no matter how busy it gets, we can keep a five-minute ticket time,” he said.

“We have kept the menu very simple,” he said – one page for food and one for drinks.

Talking points

At Maple Street, upon ordering, a customer was asked a question of the day, such as “Who is your favorite band?”

When the order was ready, staff called out the response – such as “the Grateful Dead” – and the customer picked up the food from the counter.

It created a buzz among customers to catch a look at the Deadhead.

While not a major change, at Calico Cactus, customers will place their orders and take a card with a number and a question to their table, which Moore said is meant to start a conversation.

“Our store leaders will talk to their guests about their thoughts on the question,” he said.

 Indulgence

Maple Street was an indulgent experience with its menu of items such as The Squawking Goat, a Food Network-featured sandwich of fried chicken, a goat cheese medallion and pepper jelly on a biscuit.

“We could never be seen as healthy with biscuits and gravy,” Moore said.

While Calico Cactus offers eggs, cheese and meat tacos, it also has vegetarian tacos and other lighter fare.

Portability

“At Maple Street, it wasn’t portable,” he said, meaning customers “couldn’t eat it in the car on the way to work.”

At least, not without some agility.

The six-inch Calico Cactus tortillas, he said “are perfectly portable items. You pick up and take them with you.”

“This model, again, we get to leverage a lot of what did very well and fix some of the things that were challenges,” Moore said.

 

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