Homies on Donkeys had quickly become one of East London’s most talked-about taco brands, with a loyal following and national recognition, including BBC’s Best British Takeaway.


In early 2023, Chef Smokey and Co-Founder Sandra prepared to open their first brick-and-mortar site in Leytonstone.


The challenge was clear.


Take a cult food brand and build the operational foundations of a real restaurant.


Auden had been working with Homies on Donkeys since December 2022, supporting the move from idea to opening, and later became an ongoing operational advisory partner.

The opportunity was to help Homies grow up without growing boring.

The brand already had edge. It had character. It had food people travelled for. What it needed was the structure behind the scenes to make the first permanent site work properly.

That meant more than helping with an opening checklist.


It meant building a plan that could protect the brand, support the founders and give the restaurant the operational backbone it needed.


Feasibility. Business planning. Financial processes. Restaurant technology. Opening structure. Team guidance. Commercial reviews. Ongoing operational support.


Not the glamorous stuff.


The stuff that keeps the doors open.

Homies already had the magic. The tacos, the music, the following, the attitude. What the first site needed was structure.

Auden helped turn the Leytonstone opening into a proper plan, building the feasibility, business strategy and practical decisions needed to take Homies from cult food brand to permanent restaurant.

Opening a restaurant is never calm. Opening your first proper site brings even more pressure. Scot coached the founders through Auden’s pre-opening checklist, keeping the focus on the things that had to be ready before the doors opened. Budgets, systems, suppliers, timelines, team set-up and operational detail.

The point was simple. Less firefighting. More control.

The food had the personality. The business needed the backbone.

Auden supported the set-up of the tech stack, financial processes and operating systems that would help the team manage the restaurant properly from day one.

Not glamorous. Essential.

Auden was on hand through the opening period, giving the Homies management team practical support as the restaurant moved from plan to live service.

Because the pressure changes when the shutters go up.

The questions get real. The decisions get faster. The operation has to work.

The relationship did not stop once the restaurant opened.

Auden continued to support Homies through financial reviews, management coaching, strategic conversations and operational advisory work.

That long-term support matters.

It helped the founders keep building the business without losing the spirit that made Homies special in the first place.

Homies on Donkeys opened its first permanent restaurant and kept the energy that made the brand special.

Now in its third year of trading, the restaurant has gone from strength to strength. Revenues and profit remain consistent, and the brand continues to build its reputation as one of London’s most loved Mexican restaurants.

Homies has been recognised by Harden’s, The Infatuation and Time Out, featured in The Guardian following a review by Grace Dent, and appeared on TopJaw in January 2026.

In 2027, Homies will celebrate 10 years of the brand. That says a lot.

This is not a restaurant built on hype. It is a restaurant with staying power.

A true neighbourhood icon.


And a brand that keeps on giving.

We dive into the story behind the brand, highlight their best dishes, and show we helped them earn praise from The Infatuation, Time Out, Hardens, and The Good Food Guide.