Marmalade
Posted by estiator at 6 February, at 18 : 45 PM Print
Marmalade, a breakfast and lunch only restaurant, located at 1969 West Montrose Avenue in Chicago, IL and the owner is Gus Katsafaros. When we visited with Gus, two things became immediately apparent: one, he understands the restaurant business and two, he is a man of integrity and possesses incredible interpersonal skills; no doubt, both have contributed greatly in the success of his business. Marmalade is at the same location where Le Sabre Restaurant used to be and run by Gus’ relative. When Gus’ relative decided to retire, mid 2011, Gus did not simply take over the old restaurant but he performed two tasks: First, he remodeled the place and second and most important he studied the demographics of the area, identified his market target, and changed the menu. The selection of the correct items and pricing for his menu caused the place to really take off!
What is interesting is that Gus’ management skills and easy to approach personality made him very likeable to employees and customers. However, we discovered that Gus is doing something else as well: He and his Chef, in well-defined and short time intervals, survey the market, watch the competition, insist on buying only the best, and constantly improve the operation. It seems that his continuous improvement efforts are the main reasons his business is great and keeps getting better. Gus was born here but his roots are from the island of Chios. In the picture we see Gus inside his restaurant.
