nick montano and his two sisters have inherited more than just a restaurant from their late father: They learned to run it his way The American landscape is littered with companies that have tried and failed to pass a family business from one generation to the next. In fact, the process can sometimes be so thorny that there are consultants who make their living doing nothing but helping these firms. Nick Montano, co-owner of the Chatsworth-based Mexican restaurant Los Toros, knows the hurdles that the next-generation owner of a family business must overcome to pass muster. Not only have he and his two sisters successfully jumped those hurdles, they’ve also managed to almost double revenues at the family-style restaurant on Devonshire Street in six years. “My dad founded the restaurant in 1967, and we worked together about five years before he passed on,” says Montano, who admitted to some old-fashioned head butting in the early years. “My dad wanted to sign checks for everything, but he also spent a lot of time traveling for the restaurant. Sometimes he might be away for weeks at a time. Then payday would come around and waiters couldn’t get paid because he was the only one to have signature authority.” Montano understood his dad’s feelings. “This was his restaurant,” recalls Montano. “He started it and he didn’t want to feel like he was losing control. That’s why I would go to him for a lot of decisions. But there were some times, as I got older, that it was easier to say, ‘I’m sorry,’ than ask for permission. With time, he would see that my decisions were good ones until finally he relinquished a lot of authority to me. But on major decisions we still worked together.” Wisdom passed on Montano’s foundation for making those good decisions came directly from his father. “We grew up in the restaurant. I used to work there on the weekends when I was going to school, and after leaving school worked every day,” remembers the 40-year-old entrepreneur. His first jobs as a small child were peeling onions and tomatillos, then cleaning gravel from the beans. Montano gradually worked his way up the ranks, moving from dishwasher to floor manager by the time he had graduated from high school. Two years of college and four in the U.S. Army interspersed with stints working for his father followed. He returned for good in 1989 and assumed control of day-to-day operations in 1994. Under the guidance of Montano and his sisters Liz and Leticia, Los Toros has grown from a staff of 30 in 1994 to 70 today. Revenues have increased from about $600,000 to $1.5 million. Montano attributes the growth to “lots of services to guests and attention to the details of the operation.” “We put in a new computer system, established more inventory and purchasing procedures, plus I’m here all the time,” says Montano. He has added a non-smoking patio; a catering division which his sisters now run; and a Web site (lostoros.com) which has registered 15,000 hits offering a discount coupon, information on the restaurant and links to other sites connected with Mexican culture such as tequila.com. Mainstream American Another ingredient in Los Toros’ recipe for success could be American taste buds. “Mexican food right now is one of the top foods Americans will eat when they dine out,” says Mike Mount of the National Restaurant Association. “While it’s still considered ethnic food, it’s eaten so often that it’s actually become mainstream American. We consider Mexican one of the big three in foods along with Italian and Chinese.” Montano also credits some of his father’s words of wisdom for the restaurant’s continued success. “One of the things my dad taught me was that you insure the success of the dining experience through the kids; by making the kids happy,” he said. “Now we’re having second generations come in. They had a good experience as a kid and now they’re bringing their families in.”
