Laurie and Robert Lozano met at a Dairy Queen in what would be the beginning of a personal relationship and one that led to the world of business.

They were fellow DQ employees in Premont, a little town along U.S. Highway 281, heading north to Alice from Falfurrias. At the time, Laurie was one of the younger DQ managers in the venerable ice cream-and-hamburger restaurant chain. Years later, and now married, Laurie and Robert purchased a Dairy Queen in Pharr. It would be a springboard acquisition that sparked the founding of a company which today owns 28 DQs across South Texas.

Twenty of those DQ restaurants are located in the Rio Grande Valley and Lynn Lee Inc. is based in Pharr. The company’s name is a combination of Laurie and Robert’s middle names. Lynn Lee’s success inspired their two grown children – and a son-in-law attorney – to join the business and then branch out to start a new restaurant chain venture. The family formed a management company, F&P Brands, to oversee Lynn Lee and a new company – Lotzapan LLC. The latter is overseen by siblings Bob and Lensda Lozano, and her husband David.

Lotzapan has diversified from DQ Blizzards and BeltBuster hamburgers to take on the sourdough rich-sandwiches of the Austin-born Schlotzsky’s. The fast casual restaurant chain that started in 1971 isn’t entirely new to the Valley. A different owner has long had one in McAllen on 10th Street. The brand, however, has been unable to establish itself across the region. The Lozano’s Lotzapan is out to change that with four restaurants in Hidalgo County. Two that recently opened in McAllen and Mission, joining two others in Edinburg and Weslaco.

“We decided to look into a different brand,” Lensda Lozano said of Schlotzsky’s. “We thought this was a good opportunity for us. It’s a strong brand with a following.”

Different Experience

Schlotzsky’s original sandwich is a quirky and delicious creation that includes ham, salami, mozzarella, black olives, tomatoes and mustard. It’s tangy, thick and moist and the company’s own version of Louisiana hot sauce can add a further punch. 

The chain has long since gone beyond its signature sandwich to include specialty pizzas, flatbreads and salads. Aficionados may enjoy the variety of selections, but usually go back to the sandwich that made them Schlotzsky’s devotees in the first place.

“It’s a little bit different,” Lensda Lozano said of Schlotzsky’s thick sandwich experience with its meats, vegetables and sourdough buns holding the whole thing in place. “We’ve found that longtime customers have a strong loyalty to the original.”

Lozano family members were already Schlotzsky’s fans before opening their new restaurants in the Valley. The family’s patriarch, Robert Lozano, who is F&P’s president, especially enjoyed the sandwiches. He encouraged his children, Bob and Lensda, along with son-in-law, David Lozano, to utilize the family’s restaurant background to bring Schlotzsky’s to multiple Valley locations.

An Edinburg location near the UTRGV campus came first in 2020. That was followed in 2021 with a Weslaco location along Expressway 83. In recent months, Lotzapan has opened a Schlotzsky’s in McAllen on North 23rd Street and a new restaurant in Mission on North Shary Road.

Family Role Models

Establishing the Schlotzsky’s brand in the Valley is a continuation of what the younger Lozano family members were already doing in helping their parents operate over 20 Dairy Queens across South Texas from the Valley to the Coastal Bend region.

Bob Lozano is F&P’s chief development officer and vice president. David Lozano is the company’s corporate advisor and director of real estate. Lensda Lozano is F&P’s chief people officer. It is an appropriate job title for a company whose acronym stands for food and people. Lensda Lozano said her parents never pushed their children into the restaurant business. She said her brother, Bob, gravitated toward the business at a young age. She decided to do the same after completing college.

Lensda would eventually meet her husband David, whose last name also happens to be Lozano, and as an attorney his legal expertise has become vital to the family business. She said the younger generation of Lozanos have taken their elders’ sense of community and service to others as benchmarks as to how they do business.

“My parents have always been passionate about creating job opportunities,” Lensda Lozano said. “They truly value people and communities. We want to give back and build genuine relationships and promote economic growth.”