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Damián Otero is the Owner/Operator of Rreal Tacos, Sabores del Plata, and Cafe At Pharr in Atlanta, Georgia. Damián Otero is a serial entrepreneur. Prior to entering the restaurant industry, he was a business owner and salesman. In August of 2014, he purchased an existing restaurant called Sabores del Plata in Atlanta, GA that he was personally a fan of. He purchased the restaurant for $75,000, and reopened it as the owner/operator after spending only $105,000. At that time, he was only 21 years old. His mother was, and still is, the manager of Sabores del Plata. Later, in 2021, he purchased Rreal Tacos, also in Atlanta, which he has grown to multiple locations, quadrupled sales, and gained over 36,000 Instagram followers in under 2 years.

Show notes… Calls to ACTION!!!

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Favor success quote/mantra:

"You have to create a vision large enough that other people's dreams can fit into it, where you can bring A-players into it with you, and everyone comes out better in the end."

In this episode with Damián Otero we will discuss:

The differences between the industry 10 years ago vs. today
Branding
Sales
Instagram marketing
The benefits of Toast POS
Growing too fast
Menu engineering
Digital menu engineering
Restaurant marketing

Today's sponsor:

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Knowledge bombs

Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?
- Uncorruptable character
What is your biggest weakness?
- Opening up
What's one thing you ask or look for when interviewing/growing your team?
- Does this person fit into the position 10 years from now?
What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it?
- Not growing too fast
Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.
- Be happy, uncorupatble character
What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff?
- Integrating technologies in a natural way in the restaurant
What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your restaurant walls and how has it influence operations?
- Toast
- Ovation
- 7shifts
- MarginEdge
What is one thing you feel restaurateurs don't do well enough or often enough?
- Marketing
If you got the news that you'd be leaving this world tomorrow and all memories of you, your work, and your restaurants would be lost with your departure with the exception of 3 pieces of wisdom you could leave behind for the good of humanity, what would they be?
- Be a good person
- Uncorruptable character
- Go above and beyond

Contact:

Instagram:

Personal: @damianceo
Cafe At Pharr: @cafeatpharr_vinings
Sabores del Plata: @saboresdelplata
Rreal Tacos: @rrealtacos

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining today! Have some feedback you'd like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

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Huge thanks to Damián Otero for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time!

Restaurant Unstoppable is a free podcast. One of the ways I'm able to make it free is by earning a commission when sharing certain products with you. I've made it a core value to only share tools, resources, and services my guest mentors have recommend, first. If you're finding value in my podcast, please use my links!

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