Tim Condon - Angry Cactus Owner & Executive Chef

TIM CONDON, owner and executive chef of the Angry Cactus, answers 20 Rapid Fire questions about himself, Angry Cactus, and the restaurant industry, and followed by an in depth discussion about what it takes to open a second restaurant, the drive and passion, the differences between Abilene and San Angelo where his first restaurant is, his favorite dishes, the advice and tips he gives to new chefs, and much more. 

Tim Condon is a man that embodies the difference between America and other countries...our drive, our passion, and our audacity to believe we can build and accomplish things before we know how. And then we go do it. 

Angry Cactus opens late this Summer. Follow them on socials to see their soft opening dates and grand opening dates. You can also go have dinner at their downtown San Angelo location anytime. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Tim, welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. We're gonna jump right into the rapid fire questions that we're doing this season. Three seconds to answer. Are you ready? All right, I'll try. If you had to listen to only one singer in your restaurant over and over again, would it be Justin Bieber or Britney Spears? Ooh. Probably a little more range with Justin Bieber, so let's go that. Okay. One dish in your restaurant that you'd put up in a national competition. Meatloaf. How many hours a week do you work?

SPEAKER_02 0:34

Forty. Many more hours in the near future. What's your favorite dessert? Banana foster flambé. Tableside. Delicious.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

What restaurant do you look at for inspiration? Let's go with Alinea out of Chicago. How do you decompress? I like to socialize. What's your most Instagrammable dish that you serve?

SPEAKER_02 1:06

Let's definitely go with uh the Neil Guy antelope.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Colors are everything. I agree. What is the worst part about owning a restaurant? Owning a restaurant. Money's no option. What's your dream car?

SPEAKER_02 1:24

Ooh, uh, I'm definitely liking those uh Lamborghini SUVs. They're everywhere these days, and I I definitely want one of those very near future.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Worst thing a customer has done at your restaurant. Oh, there was a lady that got in a fist fight with uh bar staff, yeah. Gotta have a little bit of that. When cooking at home, what's your go-to? Uh grill. Everything grill. Beer, can, chicken, probably first. What's one thing you personally can do better than anyone else, in your opinion? Uh visionary. Creative visionary. What's the one thing you're personally weakest at? People skills. Easy. Uh what's the biggest surprise been during this expansion building your second restaurant?

SPEAKER_02 2:11

Uh probably the amount of time it took.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

Okay. Are you more chef or more businessman these days? 100% chef.

unknown 2:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:19

What's the hardest position to hire and fill for right now in Abilene? Or St. Angel?

SPEAKER_02 2:26

We're into the management phase right now, but it's probably going to be in the kitchen.

SPEAKER_00 2:31

What's one trend in the restaurant industry as a whole that you love or hate? Most people have a visceral reaction either way.

SPEAKER_02 2:38

Chasing the trends. Be yourself. Do what you want.

SPEAKER_00 2:41

That's a good answer. Which location was harder to open, the first or the second one? First one was definitely a lot more difficult. And then finally, oh, we got two more. As a chef, what's your cooking utensil that you couldn't live without? Definitely gotta be old faithful. The knife, chef's knife. And then finally, where are you opening your third restaurant? Uh we're gonna probably go Weatherford. Nice. All right. Or Lubbock. Easy peasy. Or Lubbock, yeah. Easy peasy. All right. So that's uh I like doing that because it gives people a little insight into you and kind of what you're how you think. Uh and now we can we can get into um some of the the in-depth issues. So um for those that for some reason don't know, you've got your uh Angry Cactus restaurant down in San Angelo, uh right in downtown, hugely popular. And now you're building a second um Angry Cactus here in Abilene in soda, just south of downtown Abilene. And um how's that process been?

SPEAKER_02 3:41

It it's been absolutely amazing. Uh, you know, uh there's been um it's been the city of Abilene's just been really easy to work with. Uh, I I can definitely give compliments to uh the way things are ran around here for sure. At least anecdotally from what I've seen with my own eyes so far. I've got two projects in the works right now here in Abilene, and both have been uh from the city side of things, from the planning and development side of things, very, very easy, very, very smooth. Um, nothing too crazy at all.

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Uh compare and contrast with San Angelo, anything jump out of like, oh, Abilene's doing this better. I'd love for San Angelo to do this.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

Yeah, there's been a lot of uh challenges. Like uh, you know, I I've been a chef for my whole life, but I my original business was a food truck back in 2010 in San Angelo, and we had all kinds of issues related to that and to the food truck in general and to other things related to that. And so it's kind of like a very interesting story, I guess you would say, because you know, as a chef, I'm just here to sell food, and I can sell food as out of a food truck, out of a restaurant, out of a hotel, as a caterer. You know, there's many different ways to sell food. Um, and so I've luckily been able to kind of work my way through different mediums of selling food, whether via food truck and a restaurant, and kind of get kind of the feeling of both. And I would definitely say uh there's a lot of challenges to being on the front tear on the frontier. And uh, you know, back in 2010, the food trucks were very much on the frontier as far as like permitting, as far as kind of what how do we treat these things. Uh, you know, they're kind of oddballs, they're not restaurants, but they're mobile units. And so, you know, there's been a lot of um growth from in the last 16, 17 years here in West Texas on uh, you know, just the food service industry in general and kind of how it's regulated and how it's treated. And so I've lucky, I've been very lucky to be able to see how San Angelo works and also how Abilene works. And uh I definitely am uh very happy to be here uh, you know, opening a business here in Abilene for sure.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

That's that's great to hear that the permitting, all the whole process was as smooth and easy as it can be. I mean, obviously there are safeguards in place, but and there's gonna be some difficult points, but I'm glad that it was uh as smooth as possible. I get asked this question uh quite often, why the name Angry Cactus?

SPEAKER_02 6:04

Uh well, you know, I'm kind of just like a vibe guy. So like when you're trying to brand something, yeah, you know, there's so many different things that you kind of have to consider. Um, but really what it comes down to is I I just I was gonna call it the blue cactus at one point. And I just kind of it clicked one day, Angry Cactus. And it was, there was kind of like this this sketch that I drew that kind of looks very similar to our logo now. And I just kind of started feeling the vibes. And my original, uh, the landlord um that I pay rent to in San Angelo, Texas, shout out to Leif Luger, owns the cactus hotel. And so trying to convince him to kind of like be on board with this and spend his hard earned money on me as a as as a as a uh tenant, you know, I was like, I gotta I gotta kind of play with this. And I've always, you know, I'm originally from Nebraska, so we don't have a lot of cactus. So I've always loved cactus. It's been kind of an exotic plant for me to say, you know, that's I know that's jokeable. Uh, but uh now, but um I just I felt like the vibe of just the idea and and and kind of just um you know, I just being an independent restaurant and doing your own thing. It's that's just kind of what a cactus is all about. And so that's where the vibe kind of came from.

SPEAKER_00 7:13

I had been hearing about Angry Cactus way for many years before I'd actually made it down there. Um how long have you been open down there?

SPEAKER_02 7:21

Uh we start we opened in 2016 in San Angelo.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

Okay, so you're 10 years in, just on that location. Um so I went down there, it's probably two, three years ago. Went down there. Uh the it's rare that a restaurant will hit on all like all categories, but uh going in there, it hit obviously most importantly on the food. The food was delicious. I mean, it was it was next level, and then the the ambience was your the whole decor, the feel, the lighting, everything, the mood, whatever you want to call it, was right on point. You're like, oh, this is cool. And then, you know, just as importantly, the service. I mean, it was top-notch, boom, boom, boom. Um, you know, the waiters were were on point, the the the food came out hot and well prepared, like everything was right on point. Um, how do you how do you maintain that currently? Just doing one restaurant, that's hard enough. A lot of people can't do that even just with one. And then moving forward, how do you does that worry you about bringing that same level across all three uh categories to the second location?

SPEAKER_02 8:26

Yeah, well, um, so it's kind of funny because I'm not really, I don't feel like I'm in the restaurant industry, you know. I'm a chef and I'm an artist. And so um really what makes us different and what makes me different um is is I'm just trying to do art. And that's edible art, that's ambiance, that's feel, that's all the vibes, all the senses. So you got your smell, you got your taste, you got your, you know, everything you see, everything you touch. So whether, you know, your seats feel a certain way, or the heights of the tables, the color of the tables, like all of those things have everything to do with the experience. And what I'm trying to do is literally create a cathedral of food for my food to be plated. You know, I refer to my plates as my canvas, right? And so you're putting food on a on on a on your canvas and and you're serving that to people. Um, you know, and this isn't a fine dining type of concept. This is just a very casual dining, but you can do food at such an elevated level. And so um, you know, it takes a staff to buy into that idea, and then it's easy after that. And so, you know, with a lot of repetition, of course. And so um, when you have people in the kitchen that buy into the idea, you know, I have it plastered on every every uh door in my kitchen. Mediocre can go to any other restaurant in town. We do perfection. There's this idea. I was raised in this culinary culture. Uh, you know, I'm born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, but I spent five years in Honolulu and I worked for some of the greatest chefs, and I've done some really cool things throughout my career. But the one thing it always comes back to is this culinary culture, the brigade. And so we really develop this this, it's almost a military-style brigade where you've got the executive chef, you've got the sous chefs, you got the chef de parties, you got the commie chefs, you got all these different people who are all in different positions that are it's just like conducting an orchestra. And so um, it doesn't worry me at all because we just got to get in tune, and I'm just the conductor of the orchestra. But really, what it is is it's the conductor of my own art. And so the design work, all the architecture, everything 100% um, you know, in my head. And so it's my job to work with all the contractors and everyone that's in the world of construction to create what's in my head in real life. And so that's why I refer to myself as an artist because we're here to sell art as chefs. And so that's not just edible art, that's the experience, that's the smell, that's the vibe, the you know, the chandelier that's gonna be in there. I mean, my uh chandelier guy out of Dallas, who's been doing this for 30-something years, said it's the craziest chandelier he's ever constructed. And so I love hearing people just roll their eyes at my ideas.

SPEAKER_00 11:00

It inspires me to do something crazy to prove them wrong or prove that it can be done. So I'm I'm interested kind of just on just on what we were talking about, though. So we've got the the three categories, let's you know, call out the actual food and then the ambiance and then the service. I feel like a lot of chefs, they can get the food right or the the the look and the taste of the food. Uh, and then they can maybe hire a designer to do the the the the look, or maybe they've got a look and they're able to pull it off. But I think what makes um you and Angry Cactus so unique is that you're able to also bring in a well-run um house. You know, your staff is is on point. And that third one I think is elusive. Some some will be able to do one, but not all three. And so you you mentioned earlier in the episode that uh you know you're weakest at I think managing people or weakest at people skills. Um so how do you how do you approach that third category? Because you know, you you kind of just hit on one and two and you and you're crushing those, but how do you go, all right, I know that I'm weakest at managing people, but that's the that's that's the third leg of the stool. I gotta have it. Um, do you just hire your your um manager and go, all right, you go fill in from you down, or or how do you approach that?

SPEAKER_02 12:17

Yeah, so my hundred percent secret is I hire my weaknesses. I think every uh quality or successful entrepreneur is always gonna be aware of their weaknesses and hire their weaknesses. So I've got the best management team in the front of the house that that money can buy, basically. You know, I've got the uh my general manager's been with us, I think, seven years now. Uh, you know, we've already got three guys that have been uh hired here in Abilene for our store. They're all down training right now. Three girls, guys, you know. Uh we've got management team already in place. Um, and we've got luckily, you know, at the top of my business, we've got people who have been there on average probably five, six, seven years. So, you know, stability is everything, you know, there's not a lot of angry cactuses around. So um, you know, the a lot of our management team will, you know, they they stick around. But really, the idea is is the pursuit of perfection. And so um, you know, when you have a team that that wants to wake up every day and have a great restaurant and run a great restaurant and they have the skills to do that. I mean, there's no greater job in the world than, you know, we basically throw parties for people, whether they're there for a birthday, whether they're there for an anniversary, they're celebrating Mother's Day, Father's Day, Easter, whatever the case may be. You know, we're we're we're party throwers and we're there to throw a party quite literally. And so what a great way to serve. Um, you know, uh the you know, as a as a chef, you're a certain you're in the service industry, right? You're you're in the hospitality industry. So I'm I'm there to be hospitable. Right. Um, but you hire those people who are just eat, sleep, and breathe being hospitable and in the service industry. And so that's what we're doing. We're hiring, we're shouting, we're we're giving that shout out. You know, I know there's a lot of people who are great at what they do, and if they're a professional wanting to really kind of, you know, get on the higher end of a really polished uh restaurant concept, you know, that's what we're here to do.

SPEAKER_00 14:04

And really, so for those out there listening who let's say they've got uh chef background, maybe they've got a vision, but they're the same way. Hey, I don't have the people skills or I'm that's where I'm weakest at. What is the first or most important hire in your mind?

SPEAKER_02 14:18

Um, it's always going to be in the kitchen for me because I'm a chef. And of course, my mind is skewed toward the food. Uh, you know, but quite frankly, you know, um we've we're we're hiring the front of the house first just because I think you know it's almost the same level of importance. It's just two completely different skills. So I don't really see it as uh, you know, one's more important than the other, but I always um, you know, as a chef, you're just that's just what my passion is. I wake up every day wanting to cook something, you know. You can you can ask my girlfriend every day. I'm like, what are we cooking tonight? You know, like I don't ever get tired of cooking.

SPEAKER_00 14:52

So uh we touched on a little bit. Expanding to a second location is is um some say the most difficult normally because you're having to have put in place systems at your first restaurant or your first office, whatever type of business you have, you have to have the systems in place to then apply to your second location. And some will say the third or the fourth is is easier than the second. And then you kind of hit a a little bit of a hurdle around five, because then you got to change up your systems to go to six through ten. But that second location is often where people will stumble because it's now dividing their personal time. You're still, you know, you still got San Angelo running. Um you kind of mentioned the process of building this out has been easier. Um how do you approach that once this is open, managing both of those and going, let me keep the same quality, let me not go insane, let me not burn out after the first year. How do you approach managing two now?

SPEAKER_02 15:50

Yeah, so like my whole focus in in regard to that is scalability. So we set up the systems and the procedures and the software. I think that's kind of uh the thing that I've really invested the most amount of money in in the last three years or so has been uh completely going digital with all of everything. So every workstation in my kitchen, everything has an iPad, you know. So when you come in, you clock in, you get your list, it's all you know, beautiful AI nowadays. You know, we're I I've always been uh really kind of, even though my personal technical skills are lacking, I've always been in on the forefront of thought uh when it comes to how can we maximize the efficiency and how can we make uh our business as scalable as possible. And so you're absolutely right. In the in the in the restaurant industry, you know, that jump from one to two is is is oftentimes very painful. And then once you get two, three, four, five, no problem. And then it kind of gets around the five to six mark where it becomes another challenge. Um, that's absolutely true. And so uh knowing that we focus on all of the software aspects, you know, all my recipes are all standardized, all my um, you know, everything's just copy and paste. And so whether it be my inventory systems, whether it be uh all the checklists that we use, we do we have different software that we use for every different task. And so I have I can pull every metric you could ever think of. I, you know, what's funny is we were talking about artistry before, but where I really get uh lucky is I have a good math brain, and that helps. And all of that, all of this is mathematical in nature. And so talking about product cost and how to calculate that and how to look at what your PPA is, your per person average, you know, all of those what I call KPIs, key performance indicators as as a as an executive chef is which would is my title. I'm also the owner, but I've always put executive chef first because uh, you know, that's my pride and that's my identity as being a chef, right? And so uh being a chef, you have to know about, you know, what's your ticket average, you know, what's your ticket time average? What what is your uh cost of goods sold? What is it theoretical and what is it actual? And knowing how to take inventory and and really kind of manage the kitchen from a fiscal perspective, you know, a lot of chefs really lack that skill. And so when I talk to uh people in the culinary industry, one of the first things I ask in every interview, if you're a chef, so if you hear this, you might know the answer. What is the product cost formula? I tell all of my managers that if you're ever gonna hire anybody that's a chef day party or above, they need to know what the product cost formula is. And just anybody out there, if you're running a restaurant, opening inventory plus purchase purchases minus closing inventory divided by sales. And so if you use that formula, you can calculate your product cost. And um, that's the most important metric you'll ever need to learn other than labor cost.

SPEAKER_00 18:39

And so how many applicants actually know that or can answer that? Uh I haven't found one yet.

SPEAKER_02 18:45

Okay. In fact, what was funny is when uh back when I first moved to Honolulu, I was 19 years old and they asked me that question, and I knew it right off the top of my head. And I was told by the chef, I was like, that was the only reason I hired you is because you knew that. I went, thank you so much. And it went on to be one of the best jobs I ever had in my life. And so, uh, you know, of course, before until I started my own business. So uh, you know, it it's really important to know the basics first before you get into all these other things. And I preach that to every young chef out there. It's like you've got to know the financial stuff, you gotta know the the the calculations, you've got to know how to calculate product cost, labor cost. You know, you need to know how to price things properly, you need to know how to take inventory accurately and and follow that those those line items in your kitchen. And so uh those are kind of the things that we teach in my kitchen, and that's what really leads to um such a successful financial model in the restaurant space. Because, you know, like they say, 90% of restaurants fail within the first, you know, two to three years. And the only way that you're gonna really increase your odds is if you really truly understand the fiscal aspects, the financial aspects of how to run a kitchen and how to maintain money that is literally spoiling out from under you. Because you know, you can only have meat on a shelf for X amount of time, right? And so all of your liquid assets are basically wasting away if you don't really pay attention and understand how to spend money properly.

SPEAKER_00 20:13

We don't have to go down this rabbit hole, but since you brought it up, um AI, I think when we when we envision local restaurants, most of those I don't see as as really at the forefront of AI. Uh, you know, kind of the mom and pop ones. Um you think, oh, maybe the larger chains uh out there, you know, restaurants national change, yeah, they're using AI maybe on the back end or or uh maybe a little bit on the order system. But for you, for those out there listening, what what uh kind of applicable AI program have you implemented that went, oh man, we applied it to our order system or our our you know, whatever system on the back end that went this streamlined uh was a game changer for us.

SPEAKER_02 20:56

Um well, so on the actual AI, um we're not really incorporating too much into the actual day-to-day operation. We use a little bit of it uh in regard to um like the seating and the reservation type stuff. We can and we do a lot of it uh with the demographic, uh trying to uncover our demographics, like you know, what's the age, where's the zip code, where are they coming from? So we use it that in a very limited way um in that aspect. Um, but what's funny is uh I have all of my managers from every department it plugging in what I call into my master, and it's an Excel spreadsheet that I've been using since 2006. Uh and um, and so uh really that's my AI is you know, I can look at that one spreadsheet and know everything that's going on in my business, and I could be a million miles away. Um, and so really that's kind of what um is my secret is I've been kind of being able to perfect this model of running this business for so long that um, you know. Over the years, it's just been able, I've been able to put different line items and different kinds of calculations that I want to look at, different key performance indicators that I'm tracking that can really give me a tangible look at the um really the the mathematical aspects of every different thing I'm looking at, whether it be ticket times, whether it be cost of service, whether it be the labor dollars per hour, when they're cutting, when they're not cutting. So I mean, I think that's um it's kind of built in. It's AI just over time, you know. Yeah. And so that's kind of how I see that in particular.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

You said two things that um really resonate with me because I tell my clients, you know, across the board, doesn't it doesn't matter what type of business you have, I end up telling uh my clients this one, know your customer, know who your ideal customer is. And if they respond, well, anyone can use this service or anyone could use this product or the or would eat here, I say, that's not the question. Know your key demographic of who's going to um provide the biggest return and get the most value out of that product or that service. Others may use the product or come to your restaurant, but there's still a ideal best customer out there. And it could be man, woman, could be a certain age, could be a certain um um uh income bracket, whatever it is, or right after shopping or right before shopping, whatever it is, but know the metrics of your ideal customer. And and so that's very important. But then you also mentioned earlier, um, hire to your weaknesses. And I think a lot of people don't one, take the time to figure out what their weakness is or they won't admit it to themselves. And then two, if they do know that their weakness, they view it more as a frustrating bottleneck thing that they just have to throw more time and frustration into, and then they'll just they can't admit that it's a weakness and that they need to hire someone else to do it, which in turn will free them up to run the business better. And so knowing your weakness, but also knowing your your key ideal customer, I think are two really important things that you've already mentioned. So I'm I'm liking this. This is this is good stuff. Um so you you're opening um not just a second restaurant, but in a second city about an hour and 20 minutes away. Um so you're here in Abilene full-time now? Uh I go back and forth. Uh-huh. I have a condo right downtown here, beautiful part of downtown soda district. And um, so how how tough was it to kind of um jump into another city where you're gonna be building from the ground up? You're learning different, you know, city culture, different people, different, okay. What are what are people like here? And San Angelo and Abilene mirror a lot, I think. Um, but how difficult was it to not just open up a second restaurant, but open up a second r restaurant in a brand new city?

SPEAKER_02 24:44

Yeah, so um, you know, there were a lot of different options on kind of the growth of kind of the brand of Angry Cactus. You know, originally I was never gonna uh open a second location of Angry Cactus. I just kind of wanted to have my own thing, kind of keep it an independent thing, a place where I could kind of cook and kind of show my style. And I was gonna open uh a business called Lone Star Cheeseburger, and we were gonna do the biggest, the largest drive-thru in the world. It was gonna be like a seven-lane drive-thru and all this kind of stuff. Um, but uh, you know, uh, we decided to come here to Abilene. And so the the reason why I really um was attracted to Abilene. At first, I I I kind of bypassed Abilene a little bit. I kind of stuck my nose up to Abilino. I'm gonna be honest with you. You know, for many years when I was living in St. Angelo, I thought Abilene was such a boring place. I'm being 100% honest. Uh, you know, and and the data center and some of the growth started happening, and your downtown started getting invested in. And um, you know, and I started seeing some opportunity there. And really what I was after is where's the next geographical piece that makes sense? You know, a lot of people knew about Angry Cactus, you know, a lot of our customers are coming from these zip codes up here, and so uh you can really kind of track and see where everybody's coming from, right? And so I was like, well, we've got some brand identity, right? Um, and then I started looking around and coming up to Abilene more often. And, you know, we were looking at Midland and Odessa and we were thinking, oh, maybe that's a good move, but the cost of entry is a little higher, you know, you're gonna have to hire a little higher, so you're gonna have higher ticket prices. I was like, well, where can I have something that's like I can kind of run the same model and not have to tweak it or adjust it? Because every time you do something novel, it takes a lot of time in the restaurant industry to get it right. You don't just open up a novel concept and it just work overnight. And so that's why I really like the idea of copying and pasting. And so when I started looking for locations, it was like Lubbock, Midland, Odessa, Abilene, maybe Fredericksburg, Weatherford. Um, you know, these are kind of the markets where, you know, we're the kind we're the size of a restaurant where we only want to really have one uh low one location in a city, you know, unless it's a larger city. And so I really like to focus on what I call the B and C markets. So I don't like to get into the A markets too often because you just get lost in the, you don't have as much influence on the cultural aspects of what you're selling, you know. But where you when you're in these B and C markets, you're really um able to kind of like uh kind of help move the needle a little bit on what culinary culture is all about. And so as a chef, that's really where I'm looking for my opportunities. And so as I started looking around Lubbock, Midland, Odessa, Weatherford, you know, maybe Fredericksburg or anything, I I started zeroing into Abilene and started to see the growth here. And I started looking at the restaurant market and kind of, you know, I felt it was a little underserved. And so I felt like Angry Cactus would be an absolute amazing opportunity. Um, and we started looking at property, and I I was originally gonna build over there on Fifth and Oak. And then when this place came available was always my number one spot. Uh, I just was like, oh, this is it. And I looked around the walls. The wall, you know, that place was originally built in 1902. I think down in uh in San Angelo, my building was built in 1902. So the characteristics are very similar in the style. Um, you know, I'm a big believer and I want to be in the city square. So I want to be in the centralized area of downtown. I want to be um a restaurant that's really a landmark, uh a destination landmark location. And so what better way to do it than right here in the downtown part of Abilene? And I saw all the growth and I saw the opportunity, you know, right across the street here. Um and I was just like, you know, the, you know, I'll say it. I think, I think the downtown Abilene is is there. It's you know, I think it's finally arrived and I I just wanted to be a part of it. And so that's kind of what all went into that decision. And it's funny because literally less than five, six years ago, I kind of would have stuck my nose up and said, no, never Abilene. Right, you know, and so um I'm really proud to have made that commit financial commitment and and you know, and now I'm a resident and you know, I go back and forth, I I, you know, uh split my time, but uh what a great opportunity, and I'm really excited.

SPEAKER_00 28:56

What was the um and and you kind of touched on this just now, but the process of not just site selection, sounds like you you kind of had two in mind and you went, okay, this is where I want to be next to where things are happening, the center of things. But I feel like a lot of restaurant owners will say, well, we just need to get open, right? We'll take a um a strip mall location, we'll take an already existing building and you know, change the aesthetics a little bit, but we'll just go in our uh into an existing building. You kind of and knowing knowing you and your personality doesn't surprise me, but for the listeners, um you know the the location that you're building on, it was uh an open pit where a um uh paper uh paper mill factory uh building burned down many years ago, and then um a brewery was kind of built over a little bit, little bit part of the the pit, let's call it, and then um you got it, and now you're I think what have you doubled or tripled the size, you've added massively to it, and it was a it's a huge undertaking. Um what's you know, for those for those restaurant listeners out there that are what are wanting to get into the restaurant world, how how do you give them insight into I'm willing to take on this huge challenge of not just getting a strip ball or an existing building, I'm gonna take on this iconic spot, and it's gonna be a massive project, and I'm gonna make it work. How how do you how'd you how'd you jump into that?

SPEAKER_02 30:25

Well, this particular uh location has a couple challenges. You know, a lot of people talk about the parking, and we can get into that in a second, which I'm not even worried about one bit. Um, but uh the really the second thing is like, okay, how you know you got something and I'm looking for a blank canvas. So, you know, as an artist, you're just looking for that blank canvas. And I I see what's happening in the soda district, you know, Tim Smith and everybody who's kind of done work down there in the soda district. Oh yeah. He, you know, like what's really going on down there is is this beautiful little pocket of downtown that is connected directly to the north side. And, you know, I walked to lunch today and it's like a one-minute walk from one side to from Cypress Street to Angry Cactus, you know, it's really cool and a beautiful walk down there. And so, um, you know, I think what it is is you you look for that right opportunity, that right feel, and everything that has. So even though there's challenges, because you know, the biggest thing is you never one of the big rules of building a restaurant is you never want to build a restaurant like a snake bit location, a place where it's had other failed location locations before it, or I mean uh businesses before it. Um a lot, there's a lot of reasons for that. One of the most common things is people associate the failures of the previous tenants with um um, you know, with your current business, right? And so one way to just blow that out of the water is just do it way bigger and way better than anybody before, you know. And so that's basically the approach that we took. You know, I am a big thinker, I love to think big, you know. And so what we did is we just we tripled the size of it. And, you know, I don't know if you've been in recently, but I'll give you a tour here right after this. But it's just coming along amazing. I mean, like the just the amount of detail and you know, one of the wood walls, it looks like data going across and like, you know, the chandelier and the orange and the purple and the different textures, and we're using Roman clay in the bathrooms, and just there's a million different things that have and and thoughts that have gone into like how do you create that amazing experience, right?

SPEAKER_00 32:24

Sound like John Hammond from uh Jurassic Park, spared no expense. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 32:29

And and and and and that's really how you can just you know change everyone's mind. Is the moment you walk in, you're not gonna feel like you're in Abilene, Texas. You're gonna feel like you're in this unique place called the Angry Cactus, and that's what you get when you go through the front doors in San Angelo, and you're gonna get that times 10 here in Abilene. And so uh that's one of the easy ways to um really just uh be able to take advantage of such a location is just have something that people want to come to. Right, you know, and then as far as the parking goes, you know, what's funny is San Angelo, Texas had the exact same issue 10 years ago. Uh, you know, most people are used to walking about a block to get somewhere. You know, I was just in Walmart yesterday and I was kind of I did my foot, uh, you know, was watching how my footsteps were going and everything. And like I probably walked like a quarter mile or so in a five-minute trip uh just to get milk or whatever, you know, like in the back of the store. So, like when you're going through Walmart, you don't realize it. When you go through urban areas, you don't realize it. But a lot of people are so used to just pulling up and walking right in the front door. Um, it's just gonna be a matter of time before people realize. But there's so much parking in downtown Abilene that uh it's not really an issue. And it's all street parking over there, the courthouse is public parking. Uh, you know, there's like 70 stalls within like 150 to 200 feet of the front door. And so all of those businesses down there, it's basically like a mall. You know, it's an outdoor mall. And I think I'm really excited to see kind of the progression of that south part of downtown because over time I really see that kind of filling in and becoming a really cool entertainment district. And so we're really looking forward to kind of uh cultivating that culture down there, and and there's a lot of opportunity on that side of the tracks.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

I I think you guys are gonna be the the linchpin or whatever terminology you want to use, but uh you're you're gonna be that that spoke, I think, in the wheel that's that's probably not the analogy that I want to use. You're gonna be the key for soda to really take it to the next level because you're gonna people are going to go to the restaurant, you know, 536, 630, they're gonna get a great dinner, they're gonna get a drink or two, and then they're going to maybe go to another bar or they're gonna go to axe throwing or or they go to an event at the mill and then they roll over to you guys. It brings a lot of um good synergy and and making soda a realistic uh destination that I think it's gonna be it's gonna be awesome for soda, it's gonna be good for downtown as well. I would still love to see uh more improvement. We've done a little bit of improvement and and some of that was thanks to uh Tim Smith, but improvement on the underpass of uh under on Pine under the railroad tracks to make that a little nicer, just so you don't feel like uh something's gonna happen. Uh I think that would be the next kind of focus, but um I think it's gonna be a nice, huge step-up addition to what you're bringing. Not not just to soda, but to downtown.

SPEAKER_02 35:28

And all those underpasses, from what I understand, I've been down there a couple of times, they're all lit now. Yes. So they're all lit, they're all cleaned up, they look really nice. Um, yeah, we could always use a little more improvement on that. Um, but I I really see kind of like the next phase of the growth of downtown kind of shifting a little south, you know, uh, hopefully. And so uh that connection be, you know, there's three or four different underpasses right there on the train tracks that allow you to get literally within a minute, minute and a half walk from one side of the tracks to the other.

SPEAKER_00 35:58

And North First is pretty nice there after they've they repaved it well, I don't know, eight, nine years ago. You know, redstone that put the lampposts up and everything. So the actual south uh South First is actually pretty nice once you come up under the underpass. So it is it is um it's not a bad little walk. Uh and I think as more things come into soda with you guys, I think it'll just kind of increase the focus. Um, real quick on the um so you were talking about going big. And for those listeners out there, when they go to Angry Cactus in a couple of months and they go, Oh, this is awesome, clearly this is as it should be. This was the intent. Absolutely, he should have done this. You know, it's a no-brainer. Well done. But kind of pulling the curtain back a little bit early on, let's say even just this second location, did anyone in in your say inner circle of people that you trust go, man, Tim, maybe maybe go a little smaller this time or ease in or do do this location that's not going to be as risky. Did anyone kind of kind of push back on you and go, tone it down just a little bit? Let's let's get our our footing, or what how did that how did that happen?

SPEAKER_02 37:10

So it's funny the dynamics within our management team and especially in the executive management team, because uh I think they've learned that I just kind of do my own thing and their their only role is to kind of support. And uh, you know, it's just funny because you know, I do get talked off the ledge a lot about some crazy ideas. Uh, but that is a very fine line because like almost all of my ideas are crazy. Right. So it's almost like they have to battle which one they're gonna save their energy.

SPEAKER_00 37:37

So how do you how do you is it a is it okay, I'm gonna take some time. Okay, you staff, you've made a really good point. Maybe that is a crazy idea. What's your process? Then do you step back and go, okay, I'm gonna take a couple of days and think on this, and I'm gonna come back. And if I really still like it, we're doing it, or yeah, you're right, that was crazy.

SPEAKER_02 37:52

Well, so it's funny. So I've had uh this will probably be number three or four uh businesses that uh the third or fourth business that uh I've created since uh Angry Cactus, and this is only the first one that's actually come to fruition. Like I was talking to you about the world's largest drive-thru. You know, I went through that whole process. We bought the land, we went through everything, we had some hiccups. Uh, you know, there's gonna be a 40-foot-tall Alamo with seven lanes, you know, all this kind of stuff. And you know, you start to get the math, and you start like, well, what do we want to do that? Do we not want to do that? You know, uh, the first angry cactus here in Abilene was gonna be made out of a whole bunch of shipping containers up there on Fifth and Hickory. And I started putting that kind of idea together. I was like, well, this might not be the most efficient way to do this. So, like, you know, you kind of just weed out the crazy ideas, but like I'm always trying to push the limits. I think that's kind of just my my identity, you know, is I really want to uh see progress in the culinary community. And I think uh when you're a chef that really focuses on all the aspects of running the restaurant, you know, from the decor to the service and to the to the to the plating and all of that, um, you know, it's all about pushing the limits on all of those different things. And so, you know, we're you know, training, our training regimen is top of the line, you know, from the front of the house and you know, just all the different things that kind of go into making something unique, uh, you want to err on the side of bigger than smaller. And that's just the way we think, you know.

SPEAKER_00 39:23

How do you uh so it sounds like you're a guy that you know you're you're you're focused on angry cactus, but it sounds like you have a bunch of different ideas, and whether you move on them or not, you're always your wheels are always kind of kind of spinning, right? How do you just on a on a personal weed out process, how do you go through those ideas and say, that's worth pursuing, or I'll file that in a maybe in five years, or I'm really passionate about it right now. Next day you're not gonna be. Is that your process of hey, let me just see if I'm passionate about it two or six weeks down the road? Or do you sit down on most of your projects and do the math on them and weed them out logically that way? What's your process?

SPEAKER_02 40:02

Yeah, I I do a little bit of both. Um I I like to say I marinade on an idea. And so, like, I got six or seven ideas right now in my head, um, you know, that I'm marinating on for to pull the trigger on in two years, three years, four years. And so um, you know, that's just how my brain works. You know, I'm I have ever I've had my whole life planned out since I was like eight. You know, I started uh throwing papers when I was eight years old and I had these dreams of like doing all these different things, you know. And so that's just how my brain's always been. I'm just lucky to, you know, be one of those people that think that way. Um, but yeah, so I just like to marinade on the idea, and then I just kind of I'm actually a procrastinator, believe it or not. So I marinate on an idea forever, and then I try to pull the trigger as late as possible, uh, without, of course, leading into uh, you know, a long period of time where I'm stagnant. So, you know, the you know, Angry Cactus was opened 10 years ago in Sid Angela. So it's I've been working on basically my next business for 10 years. It's just been a long process, you know. Um, you know, when we were talking about the whole world's largest drive-thru thing, I started thinking, oh man, that's a novel concept that's gonna take forever, you know, and so and then it was way over budget, and you know, I was like, well, none, it just didn't line up and I you just gotta make those gut calls sometimes. Yeah, and so that's kind of the way I just uh that's my entrepreneurial style is I just marinate on things for a while and just kind of like have as many pieces of uh uh chess pieces on the board as possible, uh, and that'll hopefully lead to the best opportunities. You know, one of my favorite analogies I was telling somebody else just last week, but you know, I and I'm gonna tangent here a little bit, but uh, you know, I've been asked what is the definition of success, right? And I love this answer, and this is my favorite. It's the inner it's uh the intersection between being prepared street and getting an opportunity street. Uh so many people in life are not prepared and they get a hundred opportunities, right? And they never really hit success. Or some people are prepared their whole life and never get an opportunity and they never get become successful, right? And so, like, you know, I think about um, you know, all the different uh business decisions and everything is just focus on being prepared because then you can pull the trigger and get your opportunities when you start matching up these chess pieces that you've lined up in your life with some of the opportunities that might be there. And so um that's kind of the way that I've always approached business in general. And so when I'm trying to make decisions and when I'm trying to grow my business and kind of like develop the way I the operate, right? I I think about it in that way. I think about it, I marinate on the decisions and I get prepared and then I can pull the trigger, however. Right, you just keep that in the chamber and then the opportunity goes.

SPEAKER_00 42:50

And I use that a lot.

SPEAKER_02 42:51

Bullets in the gun. I do it a lot with marketing. You know, I have four or five bullets in the gun when it comes to marketing right now. You know, what are they gonna be? And then how am I gonna use them? You know, you know, is the city of Abilene gonna cause me a problem with my sign? Right, you know, something like that. Uh, you know, San Angelo, we went through six months of litigation to try to figure out how tall this cactus should be, right? Abilene hasn't had a single problem. So, you know, um you take when life gives you lemons, make lemonade, you know. When uh, you know, so I think that's kind of just the way that's also kind of uh a little bit metaphorical when it comes to the angry cactus. Because you know, I'm a big, I'm a big libertarian politically and a conservative financially. And so um, you know, a lot of people ask, how do you do that? What do you think? I was like, just get the government out of the way. Like us as entrepreneurs, we're gonna make the best decisions possible. You know, it's on us, you know. And so we are the people that move the culture, we are the people that move and pull uh you know everything forward into the new um, you know, frontier of what things are gonna be in five and ten years. And I want to do that in the culinary space here in Abilene. And so that's really what. What angry cactus is really built for.

SPEAKER_00 44:02

You were talking about going big. Um for those out there listening, going, Yeah, I'd love to go big, but uh one, that's that's a big jump, two, that's scary, and three, well, I'm just a uh regular employee chef at at so and so restaurant, I don't have the financial resources to go big, right? So how do you approach and and you've got a track record now with you know you with your restaurant in San Angelo, but but you probably still dealt with those issues leading into the the the first uh location, and and this is still ramping things up, so it's still a a jump for you, you know, it's it's still a a challenge every step along the way is, but for those listening going, yeah, I'd love to start my own restaurant, but I don't have those kind of resources, or no bank's gonna give me, you know, a million, two million dollars to do X, Y, Z. I can't go big. How do you approach the financial uh risk taking and just like that's yeah, that's a lot of the line in in my my vision that isn't isn't in fruition yet. There's nothing tangible, right? You're looking at a pit in a in an empty lot going, my vision will fill that, but it's not there yet. I got to take a huge risk on me, you know, millions of dollars. How do you what would you say to those?

SPEAKER_02 45:20

Oh, that this is actually the topic I love talking about the most because I'm a hundred percent self-made person. I've told the story millions of times. I moved to San Angelo with three thousand dollars in my pocket. I borrowed ten thousand dollars from a family friend, and then I borrowed thirty thousand dollars from the bank. Um, and I I built a food truck right in the my front yard at down in the same house I live in today in my driveway. And um, that was Lone Star Cheeseburger back in 2010. And so um, you know, paid that off, started doing lots of sales, and you know, we had 128 or 288 square feet. Uh, and I did almost a million dollars in sales out of 288 square feet per year. And so, you know, you just chase that passion and you hustle and you start small and then it grows. And then, you know, the second location, Angry Cactus, you know, I uh only had to borrow $400,000. Uh, you know, and my landlord took up the rest. And so that was for fixtures, furnishings, equipment, and stuff. So it's awesome that, you know, every single time there's a couple three more zeros that you're adding to the project, right? But it just you grow with your uh ability, right? And you grow with your what you learn over time. And so now we're borrowing, you know, multiple mil, you know, millions of dollars for this thing. And so like over a period of time, you just you just start dealing with bigger and bigger numbers, but the facts still remain. You have to be prepared. And so, you know, early in my career, I went through, I was a sous chef and I was a I started as a dishwasher, you know, work my way up. I've had every job in the restaurant industry, every single job from server to dishwasher to cook to executive chef. Um, you know, and then in Hawaii, I was the executive chef at Paradise Cove. So I was the executive chef for two Pro Bowls and for weddings that were budgeted at like $500,000 weddings, just amazing things like that. And I was doing that all for someone else, right? And so when I moved to San Angelo in 2010, I felt like I was prepared. And so I just started from the beginning and I borrowed $30,000 on my first loan and built that food truck right in my front yard. And, you know, and and that's where it started. And so over time, and you know, I love the saying, fake it till you make it because, you know, I didn't really know what I was doing. I can't, I can tell you millions of mistakes I made along the way. Uh, you know, I didn't know how to do payroll correctly, I didn't know how to do this, I didn't know how to do that. You just kind of go through the process, you just kind of, you know, bulldog your way through. And so when you're determined and when you're driven, that's all that it takes. And so you just kind of work through that process. Um, but back to that analogy, success is being prepared and getting an opportunity. So I felt like I was prepared and I felt like the bank gave me an opportunity. And so when those two things hit, you know, back in 2010 with a very small budget, then I could, you know, my next project could be a little larger, this project a little larger, this project a little larger. And so that's kind of the progression of that. And so any entrepreneur out there, coming back to your original question, um, you know, fear is always there. I'm I'm every decision I make, I feel like I'm going bankrupt. I mean, I literally have fear, but I'm not afraid of the fear. I just I have to work through it mentally. And so, um, you know, yeah, there's always risk, but if you can go back to having the fundamental foundation of knowing what you're doing and being good at it, then your success level changes and the odds increase. And so over time, you know, start small. I, you know, I believe food trucks are the incubators of the restaurant industry. And so I think that we should allow food trucks to park anywhere we want, not regulate them, just let them go. That's my libertarian view, right? I understand that's not you know necessarily a realistic look at it. But um, yeah, so I I I think going back to the beginning is just start small and and do something that you love and you'll never work a day in your life. And and I feel that every single day I put on the chef coat is I never worked a day in my life.

SPEAKER_00 49:15

Uh social media or whatnot out there will like to say, oh, people these days don't like to work. And kind of listening to you talk, um, you know, you started out washing dishes and then went through every role, and now you're opening your your second uh restaurant in a second city. What do you think is the big if you were to compare your, you know, kind of step out of your step out of your body for a second, compare you and your path and the decisions and and what all that brought you to now versus um the vast majority of people that, you know, let's say they they are still just washing dishes or still um, you know, waiting tables, or still, you know, they they they stopped at a certain point, at a certain rung along there. What was the deciding trait or factor that has kept you going? Is it I had the vision since I was eight and it has driven me through everything and everything's just a little step there, but I've always known the goal, or has it been the opposite? It's just been let me grind through all of this because I want something better and I don't know what it is, or is it just I'm an energetic, passionate guy and it I'm just gonna just gonna blaze through no matter what? What what do you think separates you from from others that have um yeah?

SPEAKER_02 50:29

So I think I think a lot of it has to do with just the drive, you know. I I think just some people just have drive, and that's me. You know, I know a lot of people um that have drive and I know a lot of people that don't have drive and and things are good and you know, I think it's just the value structure of what you put on your life, right? Like what what what do I want to do? Uh how do I want to do it? And what am I gonna accomplish? Um, you know, and and those are I think are just personality traits. And I think, you know, some people are born to be leaders and some people are born to be followers, you know, and that's okay. Um, but as an entrepreneur, um, you know, what drives me is I I just love to do things. Like I love to wake up every day and do cool stuff, you know, and you know, oftentimes I have to remind myself, like when I get stressed out or when I'm having a bad day, because I oftentimes have a bad day, right? I sometimes have to stop and just look around at my restaurant and the things and be like, this is literally my job. Like, this is cool. So uh when you kind of humble yourself in that way and and and be grateful uh for living and and doing things that you love and waking up every day and like, you know, building something and creating something and and and and continuing to see the progression of the food industry um and being on the frontier of that. Uh, you know, I it's inspiring. Um, you know, that's one of the reasons why in my company I really encourage travel amongst the management team, is because we've got to get out, we've got to understand what other people are doing. You know, I I take my management team on trips every year uh all over the country, uh, just for that reason alone. It's like, you know, we were just in Miami and, you know, we were in Hawaii a couple years ago. Um, you know, and the whole idea is just we've got to understand what the world's doing and we have to stay inspired uh for our craft. And so I think that's really what gives us the edge is inspiration. And so if you can stay inspired, you can stay humble, and you really have a passion for doing something, then the drive is just natural. You don't even have to like, it's not even work at that point. And so I think that's kind of like the secret sauce, right? You know, that's kind of like the thing that that that creates the culinary culture that I all oftentimes talk about. It's like, what is that culinary? You know, food is fashion, right? It's constantly changing, you know, like uh, you know, there's all these different trends going on uh with consumption. And are people doing this now? What are they doing that now? Uh, you know, what's the style of food that's popular now? You know, is it BDA tacos everywhere? Or, you know, like there's all these different trends, right? And so like keeping up with that and understanding what's going on and being relevant, all of those things are key because we're a very public industry, you know. Like what happens at the Angry Cactus doesn't stay at the angry cactus, right? Like, like we want to have it go beyond our four walls. We want to have that meatloaf be, we want to be known for that meatloaf and shape what West Texas cuisine is all about. And so that's all in the title of Angry Cactus. Angry Cactus is a West Texas bar and grill. And what I mean by that is we want to take West Texas cuisine and redefine it through my eyes as a chef. And that's a hundred percent what the concept is. And so um, that takes a lot of inspiration, that takes a lot of understanding what we have, how to cook it. You know, lamb is a popular thing, new guy, antelope, wild game, things of that nature, steaks, of course, right? Beef. But then we all have a lot of Tex Mex influence. So we've got those things, and we've got a lot of unique stuff like old school favorites like meatloaf, chicken fried steak, all done in such a different style, right? And I know we could go on a tangent all the way down this path, and we can do that if you want, but but really that's what Angry Cactus is all about is defining what West Texas cuisine is all about. You know, you've got the Tim Loves and the Steven Piles in Dallas, you've got all the Houston chefs down that kind of get a little Creole and a little Cajun influence, you know. But what does West Texas have? You know, we're on the other side of Switzerland over here, you know. I mean, Texas is huge. And so we could be 10 other countries, you know, if we really wanted to be. So as a chef, my my task is to define what West Texas cuisine is all about. And so that's 100% what the mission is of Angry Cactus. That's why we have the retail lines, the jams, the jellies, all those things. Uh, that's what the cookbook is based around. Um, that's what our brand is based around, is we are a West Texas bar and grill.

SPEAKER_00 54:53

Very good, very good. One last question, and then we'll wrap it up. Um, what would you say to um someone out there who's maybe wanting to get in the restaurant world, start their own restaurant, um, where you were, let's say, 10, 12 years ago? Um we always hear, oh, restaurants, you know, well, they they fail too often, right? Don't don't get into that world. And I feel like a lot of good people are talked out of it. You seem to be the the exception to the rule. Um, and we've kind of talked about why, you know, the drive and the and just the the the math and all that. But what would you tell to someone 10, 12 years ago in you in roughly in your footsteps then, now what you know?

SPEAKER_02 55:37

Yeah, so man, it's been quite a journey. So 1998, I was in eighth grade when I got my first job at Burger King. Uh before that, I was a paper boy, and we had a little company that my brother and I started uh, you know, mowing yards, you know. Oh, yeah. Uh back in Nebraska, right? In Omaha. Um, and so uh, you know, you know, I'm going on almost 30 years of being in this industry. And I would say I was way behind. Like I probably shouldn't have, I'm probably just now becoming qualified to open a restaurant. I mean, I'll be 100% honest. Like when Angry Cactus first opened, I mean, I did not know what I was doing. I mean, it took us two years to finally get the right staff in place and kind of like work through, you know, because personalities are a lot to deal with, right? You know, when you're dealing with a staff of our size, you know, we've got nearly 50 to 60 people on our staff at any time. So putting personalities together, understanding who's good at what, um, you know, understanding where your aces and places are, you know, I didn't even know what I was doing back then. And I was, you know, 20 years into my career at that point. And so that goes back to if you want to be successful in the restaurant industry, it is not something you just pick up and start. You got to start out as a dishwasher, you got to be in the thick of things for I would assume at least 10 years to give yourself a shot at doing it on your own in a profitable way, and then understanding all the financial things, you know. But the one cool thing that Angry Cactus really offers is that education. I know we haven't got onto it yet, and I don't want to extend this any longer, but education is a hundred percent the key. So at Angry Cactus, we have a culinary program. And so everyone can go through the culinary program, they get a hundred percent uh funded through us. Um, it's an amazing thing. You get an accredited culinary degree going through our program. And so we're one of only five or six businesses in the whole country. Hilton's one of them, Disney's one of them, Angry Cactus is one of them. You can go on the website and look. They're they're companies of that size, and I think we have a huge advantage because you're working for me, but it's called the work and learn program for us through a Scoffier. And so, really, the whole key is education, right? Right. And so everyone that works for me, I'm just a teacher. That's my my job as a chef is just being a teacher. And so I teach the financial aspects of cooking, I teach the operational aspects of cooking, and then I also teach the management side and kind of like how to do all of those things. And so uh that all takes a formal education to understand. It's not something you uh I mean can really kind of pick up unless you really get out there and you'd probably have to work for 20, 30 restaurants to kind of get all the different styles and get understand all the different nuance to running a quick service versus a fine dining versus a casual dining versus a fast food, right? And so all of the different skills are completely different and they don't necessarily line up. And so going back to the original point, you know, if you want to open a restaurant, get in there and if you want to be successful, be prepared first. You know, don't look for your opportunity until you're prepared. Right. And so I think that would be the biggest advice, and that takes years. And so if you want to do it right, yeah, and so I think um, you know, that's kind of one of the the like for me, one of the legacy projects of Angry Cactus is to be able to incubate that culinary culture through education. And so teaming up with the Scoffier and and having that curriculum and having that culinary program uh really increases not only my kitchen's uh ability to perform at a high level, but the city, because uh, you know, we've had about seven, I think, in students go through the program in San Angelo, and uh most of those seven people are running other restaurants in the city of San Angelo. And so it's really cool to kind of see that that that that culinary tree grow um all from my kitchen. And so I think I I really want to focus on that here in Abilene as well. And so our culinary program is something that we're starting to talk about, and it's really cool because you work at Angry Cactus for a year, then you qualify, and it's a two-year program. So you'll be working there for three years, but you get it all paid for, and with the help of uh from restaurant associations, fast focal grants, all the all the works, and and and hopefully we can really formally educate our staff and really be able to perform at a higher level for it. And so that's really kind of the key. And I know I kind of went on the educational tangent, but that's really kind of what makes uh our business a little bit um more successful is our students going through the program and our workers and our staff, you know, we focus on that education aspect because not a lot of people are born and raised with understanding wine. Not a lot of people are born and raised understanding the French cuts, you know, batonet and Brunois and all these things, right? Um, but but that's what that French culinary structure provides. And so that's really what we focus on. We're a French-based culinary kitchen. And so we do everything in the French style. I'm a French trained chef, and so it's all formatted in that um in that context and kind of with that framework in mind. And that's really kind of what separates Angry Cactus from any other restaurant in the area, is that that's kind of what we focus on. Those are the fundamentals that are important to me as a chef, and so that's what I apply in my kitchen.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:45

That's great. I mean, that's that's amazing. It's got a, you know, obviously there's a huge benefit to the people going through the program. Um, and the city, like you said, is gonna benefit by having hopefully, you know, more future uh uh chefs stay here and do their own thing, but it's also got to benefit you somewhat. I whenever I taught a business law class at one of the universities, I had to learn how to explain things in a very simple way. You know, what do they say? Something like a a genius knows the complex but can explain it in simple terms. You have to understand a complex um idea or system enough to be able to break it down into simple parts and to teach it. And so t by teaching, you learn so much more. And and that was true of me. I learned, you know, a lot just teaching the law and how to go, well, let me go research. Wait, why is this? Why is this? And that's got to help you a little bit too in um one, not just putting in the procedures and the systems because you're kind of a school now. Well, we we do it this way and we're gonna do it again and we're gonna do it again. Each class needs to be um have the same type of type of base and foundation, but also for you, you've got to learn and stay on top of like we're talking about stay on top of trends, stay on top of what's new, to always be teaching the foundation, but also the next um kind of uh uh trends or ways to do things. So that's that's that's really cool. Um I didn't I didn't know that, so that's very impressive. It part of part of the reason um that I continue to do this show is uh years ago, I think it was second season, I interviewed a um bar owner over in Rome, Italy, and she and her husband run the largest beer festival in Europe. And I can't remember the name of it. But we were talking about the differences between business owners in Italy slash Europe and America. And she said you're as Europeans, we look to America for safety, security, and for innovation. She said, There's we just all work for typically big companies that give us the the the benefits and the health care, and then we go, you know, drink or or uh you know live our little lives or whatever, but we don't we don't have the desire or the drive to go build things. Whereas Americans are out there going, you know, you're launching rockets or you're you're building a business before you even know how to build it or what you're doing, and you're you know, your your whole mentality is is I'm just gonna figure it out. Just the audacity to believe that we can do something when no one else has done it, or or you don't even know how yet, but you'll figure it out. That confidence, the bravado, the audacity to do it is something that in in how she described it sets America apart. And not everyone has it, but I feel like listening to you talk today was very encouraging because uh the way that you talk about one, not just going big, that's a big, you know, being audacious, going, going big, but also the way that you are building it in a in a very intentional and thoughtful way, and you're bringing up others with you, I think is kind of the whole um picture of what a good, well-run business pick your pick your industry. It doesn't matter whether it's restaurant or anything else. This is how um a business should be uh run and and fostered and and grown. And so I'm I'm really impressed with what you're doing. I'm really excited to see your your second location open. Um, but just on a personal uh level, I'm very impressed with you and kind of the the passion energy drive and just the caring that you're bringing to your whole staff and everything about it. Very impressive. It's the American dream. I love it, I love it, I love it. Thanks so much for being on. Um uh so give people a sense of uh when they can expect the grand opening ballpark.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:21

Yeah, so we we have a whole process of how we do our grand opening. Um as far as the soft opening goes, we're gonna have about a four-week soft opening. It's gonna be reservation only, it'll be all through social media, so just pay attention. Like our channel, subscribe, do all the fun stuff. Um, we're on TikTok, we're on uh all the socials, yeah. Um, Instagram, Facebook, all that stuff. Um but but this year, uh it'll be in a couple months. Okay, yeah, yeah. We're uh we're actually finishing the floors up. We're doing uh a couple more cosmetic things. Chandelier is getting installed on Monday, which is gonna be a big centerpiece of our of our interior. Um, and so yeah, all the finish work is done. I'm guessing 60 days, and then we're gonna have some butts and seats, is what I like to say.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:04

Nice. Okay. So late summer, maybe early fall is when people can start planning. That'd be perfect.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:09

For sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:09

All right, I'm excited. Well, Tim, thanks for being on the show. This has been awesome. Absolutely. Thanks for having me.