Can you open a restaurant in the most expensive market in the US with only $12,000 and do phenomenally well?
Yes- here’s proof.
But before you race out the door to sell your car or get a cash advance from a handful of credit cards, there are a few more key points to take away from this story that show you how it is possible but it takes work and a great restaurant plan to make it happen.
- The owner was committed enough to the idea of starting a restaurant she worked a second job as a hostess, waitress, dishwasher and whatever else she could get to learn the business.
- She quit her job to work as a restaurant manager to learn even more before doing her own thing.
- She picked a type of restaurant with an easy to target demographic.
- She kept the menu simple. And she toured around the Philippines for three months to find the best recipes.
- She spent very little on interior design, instead letting the food and service make an impression.
- She started out part time with a “pop up” restaurant to hone the menu and build word of mouth and develop a following.
- She used connections to get a space that was already built to be a restaurant, allowing her to start with almost no investment except in food and staff.
- She had a vision and a plan and she persevered until it became a reality.
There are no real shortcuts in making yourself a success but there are lots of good examples to follow. You don’t need a ton of money but you do need to be committed to making it work and able to take advantage of smart advice from people who understand the business and industry.
How did you go from ad exec to restaurant entrepreneur?
The idea really started more than 10 years ago. I was working at Saatchi Saatchi and my clients wanted to try Filipino food, but there weren’t any places I thought I could take them. At the time Filipino food was still in the shadows, stuck in the cupboards of Philippine families. So I started working at restaurants, in addition to my advertising job—hostessing, waitressing, dishwashing, so I could learn the business. My bosses didn’t know because I didn’t want them to worry that I couldn’t handle the workload. In 2007, with eight years of experience under my belt, I quit my day job and started working as a GM.What did you learn that you applied to opening your own place?
I loved working at [New York City's] Mermaid Inn—I learned the most about hospitality, how to treat guests, about achieving consistency. Danny Abrams is one of the best restaurateurs out there and I don’t think he gets enough credit. Anyway, Miguel Trinidad was a Dominican line cook I knew and we became friends. I told him about my idea for a Filipino restaurant he said “Let’s do it!” I said, “What the hell do you know about Filipino food?” and he said, “Well, what does Jean Georges know about Malaysian?” In 2009 we backpacked through the Philippines for three months. And by backpacking I mean hitchhiking, motorcycles, and dirt roads from Manila traffic to the Visayan Islands to learn about the food.So how did you initially launch Maharlika?
I couldn’t find investors because they didn’t know what Filipino food was, and because no one else was doing it, they didn’t believe in the concept. I was working at [Brooklyn's] Juliette at the time and my boss had a restaurant in the East Village that was kind of failing so I asked if I could use the space on Saturdays and Sundays for brunch. It was a pop-up and we opened in January 2011. I didn’t know that pop-ups were going to be a trend—at the time they didn’t really exist except for Ludo’s Bites in L.A. It was completely accidental and dumb luck. This is how we built the brand and created a following with no money except for food costs—we initially spent $1,000 on food and that was it. We were open for five months and we were so successful we started looking for our own space.You opened your full-service version of Maharlika in November 2011 with just $12,000. How did that happen?
In our current space [also in the East Village] we’re operating as a management consulting firm. There were restaurants that have failed in that space before us, so we approached the owners of the lease to open Maharlika there. There’s a 20-year lease on the space and they had a freaking liquor license in the East Village, which was so rare! They agreed, so in essence they’re almost like our investors—the structure was already there for us to operate. They operate the business as their own LLC and we manage the space. We spent $10,000 on equipment at an auction at a restaurant that was closing and $2,000 on décor. It was all about creative décor—we purposely picked cultural icons and things that are recognizable for a Filipino. This is a business built on heart and soul.What do you think diners are responding to best?
Our menu is small, so we can use better quality ingredients and do everything really well. From the first day we opened the doors, the Filipino community came out to support—and not only do they come once, they come back three or four times and bring their friends. The restaurant is set up in a way that there is a wink and a smile to Filipinos, but a non-Filipino can enjoy the experience and not feel locked out.
