Manny Flores

National Director of Operations

Manny Flores' love of the restaurant business began with his first restaurant position out of college with the famed Chef Jose Andres' ThinkFoodGroup. Manny started as a food runner working his way to General Manager of the Jose Andres restaurant Jaleo Tapas in Washington DC. During his time as General Manager, he helped open two additional Jaleo locations, as well as the Zaytina and Oyamel concepts. He also had the pleasure to travel to Spain several times with Chef Andres to study the culture, cuisine and wine and brought that knowledge back into the restaurants.

After an eleven year tenure with Chef Andres, Manny was drawn to yet another celebrity chef when Chef Richard Sandoval brought his Zengo concept to Washington, D.C. Enticed by Chef Sandoval's creative concepts, Manny initially came on board as the opening General Manager of La Sandia Tysons Corner, Virginia. After a promotion to Regional Director, Manny helped grow the business by opening 10 more Richard Sandoval units across the country.

Currently, Manny oversees all national US operations as National Director of Operations, including research and development. He continues his culinary travels with Chef Sandoval and draws heavily from these experiences in Mexican culture, cuisine, hospitality and tequila.

Manny has a depth of formal training and education including a Bridged Bachelors of Science in Architecture from Montgomery College & University of Maryland College, a Computer Aided Drafting Certificate (CAD), a Construction Management Certificate, and is 2-3 courses away from adding a culinary degree to his career portfolio. Manny was raised in Intipuca City, El Salvador, grew up in Washington, D.C. and currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina where he spends his free time enjoying the outdoors and exploring new restaurants with his wife Paola, two sons Matteo (4) and Manny Jr. (6).