HANOVER — The owner of the fast casual Mexican food establishment, Boloco, is rebranding to give the business a more global menu and give back further to the community.
Boloco’s owner Conicia “CJ” Jackson, of Lyme, plans to soft launch the reimagined and renamed restaurant as Boca Soca on Sept. 26, with an official opening in October.
“I’ve dreamed of this for years,” she said of operating a community-oriented business, in a Thursday afternoon interview in a booth in the restaurant, located at 35 South Main St., in Hanover.
Boca means mouth in Spanish, while Soca is a music genre originating from Trinidad and Tobago. Boca Soca will be “Mexican at the heart,” but incorporate flavors from all over the world, including from the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, Jackson said.
“We’re thinking about how we can introduce people to places they dream about traveling to, but may not be able to in this economy,” Jackson said.
Although the new menu is not finalized, customers can expect to still get burritos, bowls and quesadillas, just with new fillings and sauces, and tacos will be added to the menu, Jackson said.
To pay homage to her hometown of East St. Louis, Illinois, Jackson, 41, plans to have a St. Louis barbecue-inspired dish as well.
Boloco’s burritos, bowls and salads cost $9.25 before tax. The quesadillas range from $6 to $10.75. The prices will remain the same through the rebrand, Jackson said. “Affordability is so important, especially during these times.”
In 2024, Jackson and her silent business partner Shamar Shand bought the Hanover location of Boloco from John Pepper, a Dartmouth College and Tuck School of Business graduate.
“The lease was ending then and I was actually prepared to let it go at that point,” Pepper, a Hanover resident, said in a phone interview Friday. But instead, Jackson and Shand approached Pepper and asked if they could take over. “It was a win-win for everybody,” Pepper said.
Pepper retained 25% of the Hanover business’ stakes at the time of the sale, but planned to slowly diminish his holding over time. In June, Jackson bought out Pepper’s remaining shares. She declined to disclose how much she paid for the shares.
“He served as a mentor for me,” Jackson said of Pepper. “This is really him passing the baton.”
Pepper co-founded the business in 1997 with partners Adam Liebman, Gregg Harris and Jason Hutchinson. They opened their first location at Berklee College of Music in Boston. The Hanover location opened in 2004.
Pepper and his partners sold the company almost two decades ago. By 2014, the chain had 22 locations in the northeast and the Washington, D.C., area.
In 2015, Pepper repurchased the company as the chain started closing underperforming locations in an effort to make the company profitable again.
In 2020, Boloco had 10 restaurants, but only five survived the COVID-19 pandemic. By 2024, three remained: one at the Boston Children’s Hospital, one at 50 Congress St. in Boston and the Hanover location.
While the Hanover restaurant failed to turn a profit in 2021 and 2022, it recovered in 2023. “Sales have never been stronger,” Pepper said. “It’s a very successful business.”
As of this week, the Boloco at 50 Congress St. in Boston will be the restaurant’s only location, according to Pepper.
“I’ve been in this process of winding down for a decade,” Pepper said. “In many ways it’s been a relief.”
Pepper owns the remaining Boston Boloco and works for the restaurant point of sales company Toast. He’s also writing a book about how his business philosophy evolved over the course of owning Boloco from trying to maximize profits, to prioritizing taking care of employees.
In the face of a challenging landscape of high rents and a tough labor market, Pepper said Jackson has done a great job running the business. She’ll “put her heart and soul” into her new vision, he said.
While the restaurant’s interior will change slightly to match the rebrand, it will maintain the fast casual model. Jackson does not anticipate closing for renovations.
“We’re going to stay open,” Jackson said. “We’re crazy.”
The business, which currently has 20 employees, plans to hire at least four more in anticipation of the revamp.
In line with her commitment to the community, Jackson tries to keep wages competitive, with employees starting at $20 per hour, not including tips, she said.
Having grown up poor, giving back to the community is vital to Jackson.
She plans to have a portion of each purchase go to causes such as feeding homeless people in the area, building parks, funding after-school snack programs or a fund for first generation home ownership.
“A lot of people are struggling in terms of coming together,” Jackson said. “Having a business that reinvests in the community is important to me.”