Today we’d like to introduce you to Lui Monforte and Angie Monforte.
Lui and Angie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
It was always a pipe dream of ours to be able to move to the United States to live and own a business and with the closing of our last shop in Brisbane “Honour Espresso”, this became a reality for us. We had visited on my occasions and had always struggled to be able to have a fresh breakfast or lunch along with a specialty espresso coffee and thought to ourselves, “let us give this a try.” Texans are so friendly and we love the culture, so it really was a no brainer for us.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The biggest obstacle/challenge from us was doing this from Australia! The 17 hour time difference meant waking up at three or four in the morning Brisbane time to make calls to our builders and suppliers in the early afternoon Dallas time. I would not recommend doing this! We could write a book on “what not to do’s” when moving overseas to start a business!
As far as everyday restaurant challenges, I think we’re not too dissimilar to every other small business owner – massive hours, staffing issues, making sure your product is served consistently and amazingly, new menu and special items, branding, marketing and all your social media, the list go on. We try and be as ethical and transparent as we can with all our staff and guests – and we love building those relationships.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are an Aussie style café. We specialize in fresh breakfast, lunch, brunch, craft coffee, juices and smoothies. Each meal is made freshly so we can be sure we’re serving our guests the best food possible. We also make all our pastries in the house. One of the biggest things that set us apart is that you can get it all in the one location, which is the norm for the café dining scene in Australia.
We are so proud to be #30 of the 100 of Yelp’s top places to eat in the United States for 2020 and we think our company culture and values that we share with our staff and guests have helped us to achieve this. We still have so much to learn and make, but we love Dallas and all it has to offer and are so happy to be here.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Our future plans would be to open another store or two. We have a few different dining concepts, too that we are excited to try out in the Dallas market.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3930 Preston Rd
Suite 120
Frisco, 75035 - Website: www.theaussiegrind.com
- Phone: 4694280966
- Email: gday@theaussiegrind.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theaussiegrind/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theaussiegrind/
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-aussie-grind-frisco
Image Credit:
Kristina Wild
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