Opening a restaurant after retirement isn’t always a good idea, but with smart decisions and zero debt Dennis Bratton has a success on his hands.  Dennis, owner of Monjuni’s Italian Cafe in Monroe, LA, shared his recipe for success with Marketing Iceologist, Heidi.

The Iceologist:  Thanks for taking the time to tell us about Monjuni’s Italian Cafe, Dennis. Monjuni’s has 5 locations and has been popular in Louisiana for 20 years.  Do you own all 5 restaurants.

Dennis:  No, I just own the one.  Jimmy Rosso & his mama opened the original in Monroe 20 years ago and it’s still going strong.  Monjuni’s has a long tradition here as a great Italian restaurant and after I retired 6 years ago, my son and I opened this place.  We recently moved to a bigger building — we can seat more people and we own the building — it’s been really positive.

I can’t complain… we do really well.  I have 20 employees and 80% of them have been with us since the beginning. We’re really lucky to have such good people.

The Iceologist:  The Monjuni’s website says you serve 7000 meatballs & 1000 lasagnas a week — sounds like you run a busy operation!

Dennis:  We sell a lot of meatballs! But I’d say we serve even more lasagna.  We make 4 types (beef, chicken, shrimp & vegetarian).  We do a lot of corporate catering from our restaurant and lasagna is usually what they order.

The Iceologist:  How did you end up with an ice machine subscription from us?

Dennis:  I’ll tell you, it’s a funny story.  Tim (local rep) would come into the restaurant occasionally and I would tell him I had the most temperamental ice machine in town.  Tim always said to give him a call when I’m looking for a new restaurant ice machine.

Well, the ice machine finally died and I called Tim and he did everything he said he’d do.

No other company represents the way you guys do — you made a believer out of me!  I’ll never own another commercial ice machine again.  I can’t own my own ice maker for this price!  I tell everyone about you guys.

Ice is no longer my worry & that’s a big deal — especially in Louisiana.  We go through plenty of ice down here. We make everything from scratch (pastas, sauces) and we use ice to cool food as we make it — we use a lot of ice.  Ice machine subscriptions are worry free — a good product at great price.

The Iceologist:  What was your biggest issue when you owned your ice machine?

Dennis:  The truth is, the water in Monroe comes out of a river here in town and it’s not good quality — high minerals. We were spending so much money on special chemicals and cleanings and water filters — mineral deposits were killing us!  It took too much time and money to clean the machines.  Now I always have  a maintained ice cube production and your guys handle all the cleaning.

I think one of the best parts of your service is Breakdown Ice — I don’t have worries about ice anymore.

The Iceologist:  Ok, I need to step back a moment. Earlier you said you opened Monjuni’s after retiring.  Is this your second career?

Dennis: I was an engineer with Bell South for 30 years.  I grew up in a family that owned a lot of restaurants and my son really wanted to start one, so we partnered.

I understood what it takes to run a success restaurant — there’s a lot to it!  I’m working more now than before I retired, but I adore it.

The Iceologist:  What are the best tips you can give to someone looking to open a restaurant?

Dennis:  Don’t carry debt and don’t buy an ice machine!  If you are looking for an inexpensive ice machine solution, Easy Ice is the way to go! Hands-on management is another biggie.  The owners have to be there all the time — realtime all the time, I say — to run a successful restaurant.