Meet the house owners:
Ashley & Rick Ortiz, Vintage Taco
With Vintage Taco, Ashley and Rick are bringing collectively their household, their work, and their two biggest passions. A favourite amongst Chicago’s Wicker Park and Bridgeport neighborhoods, the restaurant serves up recent tacos and margaritas.
Who higher to reply your questions on beginning and working a small enterprise than enterprise house owners who’ve carried out it themselves?
This month, we’re partnering with enterprise house owners featured in Grit & Greenlights: Small Enterprise Tales with Matthew McConaughey to reply questions from our social media viewers.
Right here, Ashley Ortiz — who owns Chicago’s celebrated Vintage Taco alongside together with her husband, Rick — shares what she’s realized about constructing profitable eating places and groups.
What are the most important challenges when working a restaurant together with your partner?
We’ve got a tough time turning off work. Hospitality is extra of a way of life, so it’s exhausting to not speak about meals!
Have you ever seen any huge adjustments within the varieties of issues job seekers are asking or on the lookout for versus earlier than COVID?
The tradition has all the time been essential at Vintage Taco nevertheless it’s much more essential lately. We do quarterly schooling courses and we attempt to gauge the crew’s objectives and pursuits.
What’s the fine quality or worth you are feeling helped you turn into profitable entrepreneurs/restaurateurs ?
I’d say getting your arms soiled, there isn’t any substitute for exhausting work. Even in the event you can’t do all the pieces effectively, be sure you strive all the pieces and perceive the challenges.
Proudly owning a restaurant throughout COVID should have been difficult. What was your secret to survival — and do you suppose you realized something that you just’ll carry with you post-pandemic?
Proudly owning a restaurant has all the time saved me on my toes, however Covid compelled me to see what it will really feel wish to lose all of it in a single day. We took it daily as a result of all the pieces modified so rapidly. My largest lesson over Covid was to take extra dangers, change one thing if it isn’t working, and don’t be scared to do what’s greatest for your corporation.
Any recommendation for a potential restaurant proprietor nearly to get began?
Ask your self why you’re doing this, the explanation may shift through the years however all the time proceed to query your self and it’ll assist information you.
