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Story Is Off The Chain

Tampa Tribune staff photo/Greg Fight

Anthony Mundi, left, one of the owners of the soon-to-open Tres Amigos Cantina, jokes with his son Bobby, 11.

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By LAURA FRAZIER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 30, 2008

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BRANDON - The day after Christmas, as Joe Morales, Anthony Mundi and Andrew Purdy prepared to close Don Pablo's restaurant for the night, a phone call set them on a rollercoaster ride to rock bottom with news of sudden unemployment, then to an entrepreneurial high as new business owners - all within 24 hours.

Morales, the restaurant's general manager, took the call from an executive with Avado Brands, which owns the Don Pablo's and Hops restaurant chains. Then he pulled assistant managers Mundi and Purdy aside to break the grim news.

He told his colleagues, "They're closing us down."

The news stung but didn't come as a complete surprise. Avado had announced in September its intent to file for bankruptcy and warned employees that some locations could be sold or shut down. The Brandon team was hopeful their consistently profitable restaurant off West Brandon Boulevard would be spared, but theirs was one of five Tampa area Don Pablo's that Avado shut down Dec. 26.

Mundi, assistant manager since 2000, said employees suffered more than an economic shock.

"We built more than just a business here; we built relationships," Mundi said. "We've seen babies born and family members die. I hated to see people get put out of work. We were all just devastated."

The next morning, the managers and some employees gathered at Don Pablo's to clean up and say goodbye. Avado representatives met them at the door and asked the managers for their keys and removal of all personal items and paperwork, Mundi said.

Meanwhile, a half-dozen workers from a liquidation company gutted the building, rolling equipment, furniture and supplies to the parking lot. Within two hours, Mundi said, the building was empty.

Then the phone rang again. It was Larry Fraioli, the New York real estate investor who bought the property in 2005 and leased it to Don Pablo's.

"Mr. Fraioli said he was trying to strike a deal to buy all the stuff that by then was sitting out in the parking lot," Mundi said. "He told us they gave him two hours to reach an agreement to buy it. He asked us to sit tight and said he'd call us back."

After a tense couple of hours, shortly before noon, Fraioli called to tell the three managers he had arranged to buy the restaurant equipment. And one more thing - he also wanted them to be his partners in a restaurant of their own at the same location, effective immediately.

Mundi said the three men's heads were spinning.

"So we show up unemployed at 8 a.m., and they're taking things out of the building and collecting our keys. A couple hours later, the landlord calls and says he's trying to buy the stuff and reverse the process. Next, they're rolling everything back in the building, and now it belongs to us. It was insane," Mundi said.

Fraioli flew to Tampa the next day to meet with Morales, Mundi and Purdy. He told the men he would provide the initial capital to incorporate a new restaurant and handle business operations as the group's managing partner. Their role would be to continue running the restaurant.

Before they agreed, the soon-to-be business owners huddled in the parking lot to mull over the opportunity.

Purdy, who started bartending at the restaurant five years ago and was promoted to assistant manager in 2005, said, "We decided it was a no-lose situation. We had just lost our jobs, so even if it didn't work out, we'd still be in the same boat. We pretty much all decided 'Why the hell not?'"

Fraioli said he was confident about partnering with the former Don Pablo's managers because their profits improved each year since Morales took over as general manager in 2004.

"They were at a very good sales clip, to where if this chain was not going through a bankruptcy procedure, this would not be a restaurant that would normally be closed," Fraioli said. "These are rock-solid guys, and they know this restaurant very well. That means a lot."

Fraioli spent a week in town setting business plans in motion for the new Mexican eatery, which the group decided to call Tres Amigos Cantina. Tres amigos is Spanish for "three friends." During that time, he got to see firsthand the rapport the managers share with their customers.

When people walked up to the front door, unaware the place was closed, one of the managers stopped what he was doing and walked outside to explain, Fraioli said.

"The clientele know these guys personally. They didn't care what the name of the restaurant was, they were just glad they were going to reopen," he said.

The managers-turned-owners estimate the restaurant should reopen the second or third week of February. In the meantime, former employees and a few volunteers and family members are helping clean and revamp the interior.

Bartender Eric Roberts, who plans to return to work when the restaurant reopens, helped paint and move equipment there last week.

"Joe and Anthony and Andrew are like a family to me. I couldn't imagine working for anybody else," Roberts said.

Anthony Mundi's son Bobby, a fourth-grader at Forest Hills Elementary School in Tampa, cleaned grease pans and helped paint.

"It was lots messier than I expected," Bobby said.

Morales said he hopes to bring at least 70 percent of his old staff back to work.

"We all work really well together," he said.

As managing partner, Fraioli will return to Brandon next month to coordinate the dry run while the managers focus solely on the food and service.

"I'm delighted that three families of three really good guys get something positive out of this mess," he said.

TRES AMIGOS CANTINA

WHAT: Full service restaurant and bar featuring Mexican cuisine and homemade salsas. Don Pablo's rewards cards will be accepted.

WHERE: 2025 W. Brandon Blvd.

WHEN: Re-opening date in February to be announced.

INFO: (813) 689-6476

Reporter Laura Frazier can be reached at (813) 657-4523 or lfrazier@tampatrib.com.

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