FranchiseBA: La Pasiva Chivitos Cross The River to Buenos Aires

Uruguay's most famous chivito comes to BA in May. Future expansion plans include Cordoba and Mardel.

The chivito is the sandwich-style national dish of Uruguay, and La Pasiva is one of the country’s most beloved makers of the multi-layered meat-fest.

The chain was founded over 40 years ago by entrepreneur Diego Kechichian who built the brand into a franchise along with investors from Spain and Germany. La Pasiva, which now operates franchises in Brazil and Spain, will finally cross the river to Buenos Aires in May.

The Argentina expansion announcement was made in March through a joint venture between the Uruguay franchisors and the owners of the brand in Argentina who will open three more La Pasivas in Buenos Aires, one in Cordoba and one in Mar del Plata before moving into other major cities in the interior like Rosario. The first Buenos Aires restaurant at Corrientes and Callao, formerly the Gandhi bookstore, is scheduled to open May 8.

While La Paisva is most famous for chivitos and hot dogs, cold beer has factored prominently on the menu for decades thanks to an exclusive contract with Cerveza Pilsen. Coincidentally, Anheuser-Busch InBev owns both Pilsen and Argentina’s national beer, Cerveza Quilmes. While several ingredients for the Argentina restaurants will be of local origin, the company plans to import bread and its signature mustard from Uruguay.

El Pai­s says the first La Pasiva is being opened at a cost of approximately US$2 million. Project Manager Joaquin Walker says the next BA location will be somewhere in Palermo SoHo or Palermo Hollywood. (Full Story in Spanish)

For more information about Argentina and Uruguay franchise opportunities, download the new issue of InvestBA Privada.