Fastest 50: High 5 Hospitality

High 5 Hospitality
Location: Bear
H5h.us 

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We are a multi-brand restaurant company with eight franchised sports bars, Buffalo Wild Wings (BWW), including six in Delaware. We resurrected the Stone Balloon; opened Limestone BBQ and Bourbon last year; and just opened Eggspectation. 

What have been the biggest obstacles your company has faced over the past three years?

Inaccurate reporting by the News Journal and social media posts about an event in one of our businesses that was portrayed as if they had a disease. The last I checked, businesses can’t spread germs, businesses can’t fail, businesses can’t suck. It’s people who do those things. However, once the fear was spread there was little we could do to combat it. All we can do is stay true to who we are and be generous to our loyal guests.

Looking back, what’s the biggest mistake you made and what would you do differently if you could?
We could have done a better job at educating the public about the local ownership of a national brand. You assume sometimes that people just know, but they don’t. 

What is the most valuable lesson you’ve learned over the past three years?
Everything rises and falls on leadership. When I hear that a restaurant is struggling, or the team is not very good I’ve learned to immediately look at the leader. Why can’t we just help someone and make our organization stronger and build a bond that is more like family and less like business?