But he found the process “pretty tricky.” After messing around in his own kitchen, he enlisted the help of a man in Edgewater to come up with a recipe and produce a batch of hot sauce. Wheeler attempted to formulate a signature hot sauce on his own - he was born in New Orleans, after all. Wheeler says that when he opened the first restaurant on University Boulevard “I wanted to add a little spice to it, so I came up with the hot bar.” “That works to a point.” Fitch came in and implemented financial and training systems.Įach Tijuana Flats has a salsa bar with various hot sauces for diners to add as they like. “He was doing it on emotion and excitement and energy,” Fitch says of Wheeler. “We had a culture that he really wanted to be part of - his escape from corporate America.” (If joining the restaurant as its president and CEO to build it into a successful franchise can be seen as an escape from corporate America.) “I could see that I had what he wanted,” Wheeler says of Fitch. Fitch saw the potential - as well as a need for his help. “I just felt it had a special feeling,” says Fitch, 56.įitch had been regional vice president of Bennigan’s and president of the S&A (Steak & Ale) Corporation, as well as a partner and owner of several Hops Grill & Brewing restaurants. Afterward the friend said he wanted to take Fitch to a new Mexican restaurant in town. Jacksonville resident Camp Fitch was in town playing golf with a friend. “That’s when my partner came into my life,” says Wheeler. “You can do that at one restaurant, but what happens when you have two or three and can’t be there?” “I thought I had to be there all the time and muscle my way through to make things happen,” he says. But things got out of hand when he tried to open a third restaurant in Apopka.
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