Restaurateur Joe Hargrave thought he had what it takes to be successful in his industry: a stylish 1,500-square-foot restaurant in a busy neighborhood, the Marina, with three-star food that had been favorably written up by local food critics and national publications like the Wall Street Journal. Yet, Laïola, Hargrave’s restaurant, was losing money by its first birthday, despite all that critical acclaim. The recession only made a bad situation worse. Revenue at Laïola fell 35 percent when the economy tanked, Hargrave said.
“I was tired of running my head into a wall every day. (Laïola) wasn’t making money. I constantly had vendors calling my cell phone. Especially as the economy turned soft, seemingly overnight … I remember looking at my figures and saying if this doesn’t stop, I am going out of business and I am going to owe money to every single one of my friends,” Hargrave said. “Instead of battening down the hatch, I decided it’s best to keep moving.”
For Hargrave, that meant moving south of the border.