"Even Dogs Don't Eat Our Food" The Secret to Success After Leaving Apple to Run a Restaurant

Working as an Apple Education Manager, Then Starting a Restaurant
7 Stores in 10 Years... Annual Sales of 12 Billion Won

The story of an American man who worked as an education officer at the global company Apple and then opened a successful American-style barbecue restaurant in Mexico has become a hot topic.

The U.S. economic media outlet CNBC introduced the success story of Dan Difosi (44), originally from Long Island, New York, who currently operates a Texas-style barbecue restaurant in Mexico City.

The appearance of the restaurant opened in Mexico City by Dan DeFoce, who was in charge of education at Apple [Image source=Instagram 'pinchegringobbq' capture]

Difosi, who once dreamed of becoming a politician, started his first career in politics before becoming a member of the Teach For America Corps (TFA), a group of teachers working with low-income children. Later, he worked as an education officer at Apple in New York, and in 2009, three years later, he was promoted to head of education marketing for the South America region and moved to Mexico City.

In 2013, while hiking in Mexico City with his friend Roberto Luna, a native of Mexico City, Difosi suddenly decided he wanted to try something different in life. Despite having no experience running a restaurant, they concluded that opening one would be a good idea.

Difosi and Luna purchased restaurant equipment in Texas, USA, then returned to Mexico City to open the city’s first Texas-style barbecue restaurant.

Difosi told CNBC, "We believed we had something unique, so we put everything into it," adding, "There were no barbecue restaurants in Mexico City, and Mexicans love meat." He also said, "It was a perfect opportunity to pioneer a new food category, and if such an opportunity comes, you have to seize it."

However, Difosi’s challenge was not successful from the start. At first, he spent hours handing out sample meat to local residents and explaining it. Despite the effort, daily income was only $30, and the food did not taste good.

Difosi said, "We even gave food to neighborhood dogs, but even the dogs wouldn’t eat it. That’s when we realized, 'Ah, this is the problem,' and we kept improving the taste."

One day, a local media reporter visited Difosi’s restaurant, tasted the food, and wrote a positive article. Since then, customers steadily increased. Difosi’s restaurant menu does not include tortillas, lime, or other items traditionally preferred by Mexicans. Regarding this, Difosi said, "I wanted to offer a unique menu that no one had seen before."

Difosi gradually expanded his business and now operates seven restaurants, including barbecue restaurants, sandwich shops, and bars. The largest among them can accommodate up to 2,000 people at once. There are a total of 105 employees, and 15 to 20 tons of meat are sold monthly. The restaurants’ sales last year exceeded 9 million U.S. dollars (approximately 12.2 billion KRW).

Difosi said, "We opened this restaurant to unite the United States and Mexico as one and to share a genuine part of Mexican and American cultures," adding, "This is also my way of giving back to the country that embraced me."

Difosi’s goal is to continue expanding the restaurants while maintaining a positive company culture. He said, "I believe the soul of our restaurants is the employees," adding, "I am truly happy to go to work every day. I love my people and enjoy being in my restaurants. I am living my dream."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.