Some entrepreneurs come by it naturally and seem destined to succeed. Consider the six profiled here. They talk about goals of expansion and greater margins in the same breath as they do employee empowerment and having fun. Orion Food Systems banks on America's appetite for burgers and sports in Mean Gene's Burgers. Marketing the image of professional wrestling announcer Gene Okerlund is Orion's edge against established competitors.
Mongolian barbecue sounds exotic.
But Billy Downs is bringing it closer to home. Units dot small communities in California, Oregon and Washington. Since the mid-'80s restaurateur Pino Luongo has earned kudos in New York with restaurants such as Le Madri, Coco Pazzo and Coco Pazzo Teatro. To give diners a more casual option to the fine-dining Coco Pazzo, Luongo and partner Jack Weiss created Coco Pazzo Cafe in Chicago in 1995. Plans are to expand the cafe to cities familiar with Coco Pazzo restaurant.