When you're caught with a Bible in North Korea, they kill you.

Those are the words of David Kim, a Korean immigrant and devout Christian who, here in the

faithful nation of America, ascended to CEO of a mid-sized Mexican restaurant chain.

In a 2011 episode of Undercover Boss, Kim proved to hit with heartland viewers by taking

a moment to pray with one of his kitchen workers, himself and immigrant from the Philippines.

Kim is no longer with the company, nor are the restaurant's original founders, Jim and

Linda Maglos, who took out a third mortgage on their home to open the first location

in 1990.

Nor is fast food juggernaut Wendy's, which purchased the chain in 2002, only to oversee

a massive contraction in its per-store business before cutting its losses in 2006.

It's unclear whether the turnover in tumult is a symptom or a cause of the south of the

border chain's shifting fortunes, at one point in the rise in the Mexican-American sector,

and now perceived as a second rate chipotle.

But with 265 locations across 29 states, Singapore, and Dubai, the chain endures and is

credited with popularizing the fish taco and familiarizing Americans with a more upscale

version of Southwest cuisine.

This week on Doe Boys, Baja Fresh.

Welcome to Doe Boys, the podcast about chain restaurants.

We're a part of ferralaudio.com.

If you'd like to support us, go ahead and go to ferralaudio.com and click support.

Sounded very redundant, but this is my first time saying this.

So I'm sure I'll tighten up the copy in future episodes.

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