About Ourselves

[oldshurst442]

@Drew Dowdell

Im always curious about these kinds of things.

As you know, I own a restaurant.

I wanna know what kind of business do your parents own?

I respect the dickens out of people who own their own businesses and Im always in awe of them especially if these businesses are multi-million dollar affairs!!! 

[Drew Dowdell]

@oldshurst442 - I split this into its own topic so as to not derail the original one too much beyond where it has already gone.

Short version: My parents own a boat propeller performance tuning business, and an avocado orchard with 90 85 trees and 4 varieties after the hurricane.

Long version:  The avocado farm is not a working farm at this point. They bought it out of foreclosure and have spent most of their time rebuilding the house on the property into something livable.  Their first night in the new house was the night I arrived to help them prep for the hurricane.

Regarding the boat business.  Imagine if you could, that you could take your tires to a shop and that shop would modify your tires to make your car a bit faster, a bit more fuel efficient, or both.  My parents do that with boat propellers... and my dad is so good at it that they do virtually zero advertising and they keep a steady business going.  They are almost entirely word of mouth and they are the go-to people when cheaper shops screw up your propellers.

They take all of the vital statistics of the boat. Weight, width, length, engine size, engine speeds, rated horsepower, torque, gearing, all of that and more.  They put all of that into a program which then designs the ideal shape of the propeller for that boat. They then scan each blade at set radii with an extremely precise scanning device and compare that to what the computer generates.  They then use hamers, hydraulics, and some proprietary machinery my dad invented to shape the propeller into the exact design that the computer spits out.  This results in ultra-balanced, very efficient propellers that will often result in a 2 mph - 5mph increase in speed and a reduction in fuel usage.   That may not sound like much, but when you're talking about a 150 ft. yacht, that is a HUGE increase.

So, if you have a big boat and you want to go faster than your friends, you go see my parents.  If you have a really fast boat and you want to make sure you go faster than the Coast Guard (it is Miami, you don't ask questions), you go see my parents.  If you hit coral with your $50,000 propellers and you need them fixed back to better than factory tolerances, but you already had a "cheap" shop do it and they still vibrate when you're out on the bay, you go see my parents. 

I come from a line of entrepreneurs. My parents, both grandfathers, two of my great grandfathers, all owned or ran their own companies.  I'll be starting a 5th company of my own in 2018. 

[Drew Dowdell]

Tell us about your restaurant @oldshurst442

[balthazar]

Yeah- I'm hungry; talk food.

[David]

DFelt = G. David Felt, Yup I go by David. Like Drew, I come from a line of Military men, generations of Marines who all on getting out, got college educated and started their own businesses.

I have done 1 CNG business on my own and sold it to a much bigger company. Been involved in a total of 7 startups and now work for the worlds largest tech company. DELL EMC

I have things in the works as I figure I will be back into my own business again or possibly with a few partners. Two areas I am looking into are the two passions of mine, EV's and AI.

Like Balthazar said, @oldshurst442 Tell us about your business as I LOVE FOOD! 

Foodie am I  

[Drew Dowdell]

33 minutes ago, dfelt said:

DFelt = G. David Felt, Yup I go by David. Like Drew, I come from a line of Military men, generations of Marines who all on getting out, got college educated and started their own businesses.

I have done 1 CNG business on my own and sold it to a much bigger company. Been involved in a total of 7 startups and now work for the worlds largest tech company. DELL EMC

I have things in the works as I figure I will be back into my own business again or possibly with a few partners. Two areas I am looking into are the two passions of mine, EV's and AI.

Like Balthazar said, @oldshurst442 Tell us about your business as I LOVE FOOD! 

Foodie am I  

Like you, my next venture has an exit goal.  Grow it big enough that someone else buys it out. 

[David]

32 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Like you, my next venture has an exit goal.  Grow it big enough that someone else buys it out. 

Exit plans and financial goals need to be in any company plan for everyone. Best of luck Drew!  

[oldshurst442]

I got goose bumps reading about your family's business endeavors, Drew!

That is how America became great! That great American ingenuity to take something and make it better and the natural entrepreneurial skills they possess which drives them to be self made!

Im the first in my family to be an entrepreneur. From my mom's side...all farmers farming their own land and using the barter system with their fellow villagers(islanders) to help feed each other.

My grand-dad had olive trees and almond trees and plenty of chickens. With that he supplied the village with olives and olive oil and eggs and he bartered that for milk and bread and feta cheese. On occasion a  chicken or two would be bartered for a fish or two. During tough times, the village would just help each other out and nobody would starve.

My dad's parents...I really dont know what they did in Greece, but they did come to Canada when they were fairly young...which was the late 1890s. My grand-dad was in the Greek Navy and when his tour of duty ended (all Greek boys have to serve in the military) he had the chance to immigrate to North America. He chose Canada with his soon to be bride (my grand-ma and grand-pa were married in Montreal).

I guess there is a strong military background in my dad's side of the family.

My dad and his other 2 brothers fought for Canada during WW2 and my dad additionally joined the USAAF in 1950 and fought in the Korean War.

Before WW2, at the age of 14 or 15, my dad worked at Canadair (Bombardier Aerospace ...yes..THAT 220% trade duty penalty Bombardier Aerospace) as a riveter to help the war cause and when he turned 17, he joined the army to fight Hitler. After the war, he stayed 1 year in the occupation of Germany and then came back to work at Canadair again only to join the USAAF. After Korea, before finally settling in Montreal, he would go back and forth from Canadair helping his brother-n-law in Boston. He would do Montreal-Boston and Boston-Montreal for about 8 years when he finally chose Montreal as his home. Something about Boston he did not like.

 

OK...my restaurant.

Its just a regular Quebec style hot dog joint. Steamed hot dogs is our specialty.

Steamé (steamay) en Français. Il y aussi (there is also) des hot dogs toasté (toastay)  or toasted...

Steamed would be when the hot dog is cooked using steam and the bread is warmed up with steam too while toasted being when the hot dog is cooked on the grill and the bread is toasted...

An all dressed hot dog in Quebec is mustard, relish onions and coleslaw (no carrots and more vinegary and bittery rather than sugary...but not so much vinegar and salt that your mouth caves in unto itself...the customer customizes his toppings.

Along those hot dogs...we serve french fries. Freshly peeled and cut every day. Thick cut. Blanched onced before the final deep fry. We sell a boat load of fries in the summer as people in the neighbourhood love to BBQ but want our french fries to compliment their BBQ parties.

We have a peeler and a cutter for that job. Tough work it is!!!

 

We have hamburgers. They are small and thin...about .25 of an inch and 4 inches in diameter. But they are delivered fresh each morning except for Sundays. And each item so far is priced low so we could sell on volume. Because we want (and we have) all the workers in the neighborhood to come to us and not McDonald's or Burger King(long since closed down) who are or were right next to us. The customer dresses his burger the way he wants and likes. Same as the hotdogs.

We have poutines. Gravy style sauce, cheddar style cheese curds and french fries.

Very similar to this:

 

We also have Italian poutine which is spaghetti meat sauce instead of the gravy style sauce.

We have hot submarine sandwiches.  Steak and pepperoni and fried onions, mushrooms and green peppers, topped with salad and tomatoes and special sauce on a toasted 12 inch baguette bread.  The customer picks and chooses what he wants on it. One standard price. Makes it easy to order and speeding up the pay process.  (No pepperoni...we put extra steak. No steak...we put extra pepperoni. No green peppers means no green peppers)

We have smoked meat sandwiches. We buy from Lesters deli packers. The best smoked meat that isnt made in-house...like a Schwartz's deli for instance. For an extra you could add smoked meat on any thing you want to add it on. On a poutine or submarine sandwich for instance.

We also do chicken burgers. And Chicken souvlaki pitas.

We marinate our own chicken breast...Greek style...no secret there as Greek marinade for pork and chicken is simple and no big deal. Oil, garlic, salt, pepper,  lemon juice and oregano.

The chicken burger is dressed with mayo or tzatziki, salad and tomato. The pita is dressed the same although we add onions to a pita...Customer could customize it as he/she wishes...we use the same breast for both. The chicken tenders goes for the pita and when we run out of those we use the breasts. (I must say...a REAL GREEK PITA OR GYRO...THERE IS NO SALAD...STUPID QUEBECKERS WANT SALAD IN THEIR MOTHERPHOQUING PITA!!! I HATE THAT!!!)  OK...I feel good now!

There is no "feel good" dietary  trendy shyte on the menu. No salads, no veggie burgers, no tofu crap. Its a classic greasy spoon fast food joint. Other than the french fries and the smoked meat...there really isnt any real unhealthy stuff on our menu anyway. A hot dog or two aint bad. A hamburger is not really fattening either, considering it is a smallish portioned burger. Lay off the mayo and the calories stay pretty reasonable...

It is a smallish restaurant on the inside. I have seating for 55 people. Booths and stool seating areas. About 3-4 years ago we renovated and made a drive-thru window for (duh) drive-thru ordering.

Like I said. This is purely a fast food restaurant so the time it takes you to order your food at the cash and by the time you pay, you food is literally ready for you to go...(if you order any hotdog, fries and hamburgers. Hence why we chose the burgers to be thin. But we also chose a bread that is not too thick so there is a perfect blend of condiments (we just dont slather up on the ketchup or any other sauce either just to say we sauced up your burger good!!!), bread and meat in every bite)The rest of the stuff on the menu does take more time but not that much more time...add another 2-4 minutes...and literally its ready.)

Because we are fast and we serve fresh food daily and our prices are fairly low, we get the Mon-Fri workers for lunch and we get the big family orders for supper and the week-ends.  McDonald's is McDonald's but we do give the former clown (Ronald was killed off, non?) a run for his money. Hey...we managed to close down Burger King even before we invested in a drive-thru!!!

The only thing we dont offer is any kind of dessert. We have been thinking about this a long time now, but we dont know what to offer. We want something cheap in price, but good quality, easy and fast to make that will represent and compliment our food service. We havent found that product yet. My partner is quite good in that. He is always testing new stuff and he brings it to the store. He goes to these conventions often. But there is always something a-miss...

Edited September 30, 2017 by oldshurst442

[oldshurst442]

I forgot to mention.

The food is cooked right in front of the customer.

It is an open kitchen. Actually, their is a small counter dividing the customer and the line- cook. On the one side of that counter...on the kitchen side... is where we have the condiment tables where the customer sees his food and talks to the cook and tells him what he wants and the sink where we dump our fries and another sink where we wash our hands...and on the wall on the opposite side is where the fryers are and grill and steamers are...so the customer actually sees his own food being  cooked...live and direct! The line-cook's back is facing the  customer but he is face to face when he is dressing his food. And everybody hears everyone's conversations. Its intimate. But its cool!

Edited September 30, 2017 by oldshurst442

[Drew Dowdell]

I'm going to have to stop in if/when we get to Montreal. My partner has been wanting to take a trip there for a few years now, but we couldn't make it work for whatever reason. 

We have a lot more freedom now as of Friday at 4pm.. so maybe in the spring.

[oldshurst442]

4 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I'm going to have to stop in if/when we get to Montreal. My partner has been wanting to take a trip there for a few years now, but we couldn't make it work for whatever reason. 

We have a lot more freedom now as of Friday at 4pm.. so maybe in the spring.

Just PM me!

[A Horse With No Name]

On 9/30/2017 at 7:09 AM, oldshurst442 said:

Just PM me!

I think I may be dropping in at some point also.

[David]

Now I have a reason to go to Montreal, nothing like a good road trip when you know at the end is some yummy food.  

[Robert Hall]

Montreal is on my to-visit list..looks like a beautiful city.    Now that I'm back in Ohio, it's not so far away.. 

[Drew Dowdell]

48 minutes ago, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

Montreal is on my to-visit list..looks like a beautiful city.    Now that I'm back in Ohio, it's not so far away.. 

One of our friends/neighbors has family in Montreal and says the drive isn't bad.  I'd probably still fly... or maybe do something like take the train out of NYC. 

[Robert Hall]

3 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

One of our friends/neighbors has family in Montreal and says the drive isn't bad.  I'd probably still fly... or maybe do something like take the train out of NYC. 

No nonstop flight from CLE... I want to go some June and explore the city, go the Canadian Grand Prix, and go to Berthiersville to visit the Musee Gilles Villeneuve.

[ykX]

38 minutes ago, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

No nonstop flight from CLE... I want to go some June and explore the city, go the Canadian Grand Prix, and go to Berthiersville to visit the Musee Gilles Villeneuve.

It seems it is about nine hour drive from Cleveland to Montreal.

That's about the same from us in NJ, not a difficult drive.  We have been about four times in Montreal, love it.  I would recommend going around end of June beginning of July when they have Jazz Festival (4th of July long weekend falls on it).  A lot of stages with free concerts and street music.  However, it is more then usually crowded.

Edited October 2, 2017 by ykX

[David]

Come on, what so bad with a nice drive? Just 50hrs and 2900 miles for me from Seattle! Talk about seeing America or Canada if I go across Highway 1!