Hospitality
Multi-Location Opeations
San Diego, Ca.
2002 – 2020
Eighteen years building a founder-led hospitality brand from a single table to a regional institution — and the operating philosophy forged in the process.
In 2002, Hacienda de Vega opened in San Diego with one location, a small team, and a very clear vision of what it could become. What followed was nearly two decades of end-to-end ownership — every decision, every hire, every lease negotiation, every P&L, every service standard, every expansion, every crisis.
The brand grew from a single dining room to four locations, a regional reputation, and a cult following that sustained 80%+ repeat guest rates for years. It was named a Top-50 Hispanic Restaurant in the United States and maintained a 4.7+ star average across platforms for over a decade.
In 2020, the pandemic ended the business. Not slowly — overnight. The enterprise closed. What it built did not.
The patterns learned across those eighteen years — the gap between ambition and structure, the strain of growth outpacing systems, the human complexity of scaling a team, the discipline required to sustain financial performance through volatility — are the same patterns that surface in every organization the up*Craft Advisory practice works with today. This is where they were learned.
"It wasn't just about food — it was about clarity, consistency, and delivering excellence at scale. Across four locations, 200 people, and nearly two decades."
→ Created the entire brand identity from scratch — naming, logo, voice, visual language, and experiential design
→ Developed brand extensions including private events, retail product line, and live entertainment programming
→ Positioned the brand for regional media exposure — over a dozen featured press pieces over the lifespan
→ Named Top-50 Hispanic Restaurant in the United States
→ Maintained 4.7+ star average across Yelp, Google, and OpenTable for over 10 consecutive years
→ Built and documented full operational systems for hiring, training, inventory, and compliance across all locations
→ Maintained 95%+ average health inspection score across all locations over the lifespan
→ Reduced labor waste by 12% through lean scheduling and workflow optimization
→ Designed immersive dining environments — architecture, lighting, and sound engineered around the brand story
→ Built a touchpoint audit system to ensure consistent service quality across all four locations
→ Managed all P&L operations across 4 units — sustained double-digit revenue growth for over a decade
→ Maintained 22% average EBITDA margin at peak — significantly above industry benchmarks
→ Negotiated vendor contracts and lease terms with net annual savings exceeding $175K
→ Grew annual gross revenue to $12M+ at peak through multi-unit expansion and operational discipline
→ Implemented forecasts, tracked variances, and course-corrected with agility through multiple economic cycles
→ Hired, trained, and developed 200+ employees across four locations over 18 years
→ Designed a leadership development pipeline with internal promotion as a core cultural value
→ Maintained under 5% turnover among senior staff for 5 consecutive years
→ Built a service culture rooted in warmth, consistency, and hospitality — achieving 80%+ repeat guest rate
→ Best Outdoor Dining recognition in multiple regional publications across multiple years
The pandemic ended the enterprise. It could not touch what the enterprise built — the operational instincts, the financial discipline, the understanding of how teams perform under pressure, the ability to build culture from nothing and sustain it at scale. Those things survived and sharpened.
Every founder-led company that engages up*Craft Advisory benefits from what was learned here. Not as a concept. As lived experience.
Top-50 Hispanic Restaurant in the U.S.
80%+ repeat guest rate across all locations
4.7+ stars across platforms for 10+ years
The foundation of everything that followed
45 minutes. No pitch. An honest discussion about where you are and whether there’s a fit.