Rebecca Gonzalez began with one restaurant.
She now has six with two extra within the works.
1928 Cuban Bistro is constructed round her mom’s recipes from Cuba and her personal perception that staff ought to be handled like household.
“We simply deal with everyone like household they usually understand it,” she mentioned. “We now have lots of long-tenured workers. I’ve people who find themselves nonetheless with me. And that’s fairly unbelievable for a restaurant.”
Gonzalez, 41, launched her first restaurant at age 24 as a franchisee for a Giardino Connoisseur Salads location in her native Miami.
She offered the enterprise in 2015 after virtually eight years of operation.
Gonzalez does her homework earlier than any determination.
She and her husband, Adrian, noticed a necessity for dwelling well being care in Jacksonville and got here to the world in 2015 to start out the At all times Caring Residence Well being company.
“I helped him launch that, after which after doing that for a few yr, I used to be like this isn’t me. I’m not an workplace individual. I must be round folks and form of doing what I like and that is what I like,” Gonzalez mentioned.
Throughout that point, she noticed that the world didn’t have many eating places providing Cuban delicacies.
In 2019 she opened the primary 1928 Cuban Bistro, selecting a web site on Baymeadows Street close to San Jose Boulevard.
There are actually six 1928 Cuban Bistro eating places open in Northeast Florida with two extra on the way in which. The eating places shut at 4 p.m. Sunday and Monday to permit workers to spend time with their households.
She now has six eating places in Duval, Clay, St. Johns and Nassau counties comprising places in Baymeadows, Jacksonville Seashore, Ortega, Saint Johns, Fernandina Seashore and Fleming Island.
She is including a location on Emerson Avenue close to Philips Freeway that additionally will function her catering kitchen, and in Riverside, which shall be her eighth restaurant.
Gonzalez mentioned her clients come for the expertise as a lot because the meals.
“We now have lots of regulars that are available in each day and in each location, not simply in a single particular location,” she mentioned.
“I feel that the group actually loves that, that really feel of household.”
1928 Cuban Bistro is usually a daytime enterprise. Regardless of clients’ requests to remain open later, she purposely closes about 4 p.m. Sundays and Mondays and isn’t open previous 8 p.m. the rest of the week.
Even with six eating places and two extra on the way in which, Rebecca Gonzalez nonetheless finds time to take pleasure in a espresso at her eating places.
“We’re in a position to give our workers and ourselves work-life stability. You understand, Sundays, we shut at 4. Although I do know I might simply keep open until six, eight o’clock at night time, I select to shut each location at 4 as a result of that provides them time to go to that household barbecue at night time or go to the films or no matter they need to do.”
Enlargement has labored as a result of Gonzalez mentioned she has discovered to delegate and she or he promotes from inside.
Grooming formidable employees for administration positions supplies belief and permits her to take extra of a background function within the day-to-day operations.
Nevertheless, when there’s a household emergency or sickness, she’s going to step in and work within the kitchen getting ready meals, like within the previous days.
“We now have that open communication. We perceive the household life,” Gonzalez mentioned.
She mentioned her managers regulate the numbers.
“That’s actually what helps the enterprise maintain itself proper now, particularly with meals prices being so excessive, payroll being so excessive. So actually engaged on budgets weekly is essential for a enterprise to succeed.”
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