Jefes Mexican Restaurant
Realizing
a limited ceiling at Dell as a salesman, Rogelio Lozano, along with
his brother, and mom, who had long worked as a cook with other
restaurants, decided to start their own restaurant with a food truck.
It's been 14 years since, and they are serving and catering hearty
Mexican dishes that many love.
Lessons:
1. Clearly understand the terms of the leasing space agreement and other business contracts
Read the fine print. The terms of leasing your restaurant space may not be clearly spelt out for you to understand, and to go ahead and sign it only ties you to very limiting terms, which may defeat the whole purpose of opening up shop.
So always
have a lawyer read over your contracts and terms of agreement for
leases and others. Rogelio almost made the mistake of signing a
terms of lease which would have, from the way the terms were written, left him no power as to what his business could do, and even if he
was successful the business could have been taken away from him, legally.
But for having a friend pass on the contract to a lawyer, who completely kicked against it, he would probably have gone ahead to sign it.
2. Be authentic
Jefes Mexican restaurant has food trucks in addition to their main brick and mortar restaurant, and are still loyal to their original Mexican roots. It's not a tex-mex fare, as he made clear during our interview, and going by 14 years of being in business, and seeing their business grow, it's clear they chose a good approach.
Noteworthy quotes, paraphrased:
"Follow the law, and never try to outsmart the law."
"Don't be afraid of taking on a challenge."
Photos:
Note: Rogelio invites enquiries about how he runs his business, and on all things Mexican cuisine. And he is also currently hiring cooks and bar attendants. Feel free to reach out to him through email to learn more about the opportunity.
Contact Info:
www.jefesmex.com
taqueria_jefex@yahoo.com
