Success in San Diego
EMBARGO GRILL 3960 W. Point Loma Blvd. San Diego, CA 92110 embargogrill.com Hudi Eshel, co-owner (full disclosure, the Journal’s Assistant Editor Tina B. Eshel is the other co-owner here, as the two are husbandand-wife.) Cuisine: Latin/Caribbean with some Cuban staples When did you open? Fall 2013 Do you feel like you’re safe now that you’re approaching the two-year mark with Embargo Grill? “It used to be that if you survived your first year in the restaurant business you basically made it,” Eshel says. “Then two years was necessary. And now, you have to get to five years.” As
he looks toward that landmark, business has continued to grow month by month. It helped tremendously when Embargo Grill made it to number 70 on Yelp’s second-annual, national “Best Restaurants” list back in January. If you’re skeptical, check out their page, they’ve got fivestar reviews for days.
Eshel’s immersion into Latin American cuisine started back in the ’90s when he was working on cruise ships and living in Miami Beach. What’s your favorite menu item? “Probably the Churrasco steak, it’s an Argentinian style steak served with a chimichurri sauce.” A
You’re Israeli – how come you opened a restaurant featuring Latin American cuisine? “I was involved in a couple restaurants [where] we served this food, and it was very successful at the time. It’s very different from the run-of-the-mill Mexican that we have here, and Italian and Chinese. When it’s prepared right like we do here, it’s very successful.”
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