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Editor’s Note: Welcome to a new regular column on www.elrestaurante.com. Pepe Stepensky, a long-time member of the el Restaurante Advisory Panel, is offering his advice to any el Restaurante reader with a question. Not only does Pepe have 35 years of experience as a restaurant owner, he also is a published author and a three-time Emmy winner as a documentary producer and director. He and his wife Deborah own five fast casual restaurants in San Diego, CA. Click here to email him a question.
Pepe Stepensky
Open a restaurant? Everyone thinks it's easy. They all have the magic recipe, the one from the grandmother that has been passed down from generation to generation. All their friends encourage them to open a restaurant: “It would surely do well for you,” they all say.
But opening a restaurant is much more than having a good idea, or something new, or the secret recipe. Opening a restaurant involves a lot of sacrifice, long hours, weekends and sacrificing many family and personal events. There are countless elements that determine the success or failure of a new restaurant, and all must be considered before making a significant financial commitment or signing a long-term lease.
The reason for this editorial column that I offered to write for el Restaurante is not to discourage those who have the desire or the dream of opening their own restaurant. On the contrary, it is to try to resolve doubts and guide them on the straightest and firmest path I can suggest, so they don't make the same mistakes I made, and continue to make even after almost 40 years in the industry.
So I hope you’ll allow me to be your mentor, with no other motivation than to be able to help you as others did me. The industry is going through many changes and we must be informed and involved to try to understand the risk of failing as much as possible.
I invite you, colleagues and applicants, to send me your questions and doubts and I promise to answer them in the clearest, most truthful and conscious way. In the meantime, I'll start by writing the column with the topic linked directly to everything related to starting a fast casual restaurant, which is my forte.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to help with my advice. Click here to email me a question.
Pepe Stepensky has 35 years of experience as a restaurant owner, and he is a published author and a three-time Emmy winner as a documentary producer and director. He and his wife Deborah own five fast casual restaurants in San Diego, CA. Click here to email him a question.