Afghan Burrito: Designing Hospitality Like a Product
I’ve always been fascinated by the intersection of business, design, and systems. My first job was at In-N-Out Burger in high school, where I learned that consistency, service, and culture were not accidents — they were engineered. That lesson stuck with me through my career as a product designer, where I built digital systems that scaled.
In 2020, at the height of COVID shutdowns, I took a contrarian leap: I traversed beyond the safety of pixels to create something physical. I launched Afghan Burrito — a brand-new fast-casual concept that combined the bold flavors of Afghan cuisine with the Mission-style burrito format.
What began as a popup experiment is now a thriving Berkeley institution, wrapped (literally) in gold.
From Concept to Reality
Building Afghan Burrito was more than a restaurant project — it was a crash course in end-to-end entrepreneurship:
Conception → I saw a gap in the market: no one had taken the soulful, spice-rich flavors of Afghan food and fused them into the California burrito form factor.
Identity → I created the entire visual system: brandmark, color palette, packaging, interior signage, and digital footprint. Our signature move — wrapping burritos in gold foil — turned an everyday product into an object of desire.
MVP Launch → We started as a small-scale popup, testing marination profiles, sauces, and menu positioning with live customers.
Iteration & Feedback → Just like in digital products, customer feedback loops guided decisions. The Golden Sauce became our hero product because people kept asking for extra cups to take home.
By 2022, we moved from proof-of-concept to permanent location, anchoring the Cal Food Garden in Berkeley with a loyal following.
The Golden Strategy
The idea was never just to sell food — it was to build a brand that stuck in people’s memory:
Brand Equity: Golden foil as a physical “logo” → every burrito posted online became free marketing.
Signature Element: Golden Sauce (spicy-forward, addictive) → a product customers crave and return for.
Product-Market Fit: Afghan marination techniques + California fast-casual experience → authentic but approachable.
This strategy created not just sales, but a cult following. Our KQED feature called the Golden Sauce “a fiery revelation.”
The Hustle
The first 18 months were the hardest. My wife and I did it all:
Work 9–5 as a designer, then cook until midnight.
Weekends meant 18-hour days of prep, service, and cleanup.
We wore every hat: chef, cashier, dishwasher, marketer.
Only after a year and a half could we hire staff and step back into growth mode. This experience taught me the unseen layer of entrepreneurship — building not just a product, but the operations, culture, and systems that sustain it.
Building a Team and Culture
Today, Afghan Burrito isn’t just food. It’s people. We’ve grown into a team of 12, and one of my proudest accomplishments has been investing in my employees’ growth.
When several of our staff members joined, they were Spanish-only speakers. We paid for English classes so they could build confidence, communicate with customers, and grow in their roles.
We promote from within, mentoring kitchen staff into leadership positions as we prepare to expand.
I maintain close relationships with each team member, ensuring they feel supported not just as workers, but as people with goals and families.
This investment has built a loyal, motivated crew — the real backbone of Afghan Burrito.
Scaling the Business
With the right people in place, we’ve been able to scale sustainably:
Profitable and growing — with 50% YoY revenue growth in 2024.
Team of 12 running front- and back-of-house.
A community anchor in Berkeley, serving students, locals, and repeat customers daily.
On the path to expansion — we’re now planning our second location, building on the proof of concept and cult-like demand.
Results
📈 50% YoY revenue growth (2024)
🏆 Featured in KQED + developed a Berkeley cult following
👥 Team of 12 with English-language upskilling and internal promotions
📍 Planning a second location
Reflection
Building Afghan Burrito blurred the line between product design and hospitality design.
Onboarding → a customer’s first order, navigating the menu.
Delight → the reveal of the golden foil.
Retention → the craving for Golden Sauce that keeps people coming back.
Feedback Loop → in-person conversations instead of app reviews.
But the deeper lesson was this: success isn’t just about product-market fit. It’s about people-market fit. Investing in employees has been just as critical as investing in food and brand.
In the end, I didn’t just build a burrito shop. I built a system, a culture, and a brand — from zero to scale. Afghan Burrito taught me that the same principles I’ve applied in tech — product thinking, iteration, human-centered design — can transform not only customer experiences, but also the lives of the team members who deliver them.
