About Mil Gustos Hospitality Group
Mil Gustos Hospitality Group runs four profitable New York area restaurants, an amazing achievement in a field where most eateries fail during their first year. Yet while co-owners Farid Ali Lancheros and George Constantinou had inspiring ideas for their cuisine – first Latin foods, and later Greek – it was the hard work, research and preparation they did before making the first empanada that became the scaffold for their success.
The pair met in 2001, and spent four years crafting the concept and refining ideas for the first restaurant, Bogotá Latin Bistro, focused on Colombian cuisine plus other Latin dishes. They wanted to provide a friendly neighborhood place, especially welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community, and to the Black and Hispanic residents of the area.
To prepare, Constantinou and Ali first attended how-to classes sponsored by The Workshop in Business Opportunities, or WIBG, a non-profit boot camp dedicated to helping emerging entrepreneurs. After completing the 16-week course, which included creating a business plan, the duo attended the Brooklyn Business Library's entrepreneurial fair and learned about its inaugural business plan competition, PowerUP!, sponsored by Citigroup Foundation. They entered the contest with a refined and improved business plan and won the top prize: $10,000 in cash, and $10,000 in business-related services.
Yet that high point was followed by a low, when they could not secure a bank loan. Meanwhile, they created a blog documenting their journey, and where they posted all their rejection letters. A banker in Tribeca, who was also active in the gay community, decided the venture was worth backing to the tune of $100,000. Other money followed and the rest is history, with the opening of Bogotá Latin Bistro in 2005 in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Dishes include empanadas, arepas, arroz con pollo, and more, all crafted with attention to detail and use of the finest ingredients. Drinks and cocktails complement the cuisine.
It was an immediate hit. Grand opening attendees included Marty Markowitz, the then Brooklyn Borough President, and Letitia James, who was then a borough council member and is now attorney general of New York. The partners say that living in the neighborhood, they knew what was missing, and figured out how to supply it. The company was also singled out for its ethical treatment of employees. In 2014, the partners were invited to The White House to witness President Obama sign a memorandum on overtime pay. Ali and Constantinou did not rest on their success, but continued exploring and refining their conception of Latin cuisine, opening Miti Miti Modern Mexican restaurant, a block away from Bogotá Latin Bistro in Park Slope in 2015.
Miti Miti is short for “Mitad y Mitad,” which means “sharing,” or “going half-and-half,” in Spanish. Meanwhile, they took their winning formula to yet another location, Miti Miti Latin Street Food, located in South Orange, New Jersey, which opened in 2018. And completing the quartet and paying homage to Constantinou Greek heritage, Mil Gustos opened Medusa the Greek in 2019, which features Greek fusion dishes.
While hard work, research, networking and getting to know the right people were key to Mil Gustos' success. Close to the co-owners' hearts is providing a warm, welcoming space in neighborhoods they know with the food and atmosphere that they love.