Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue IV, 2012 | Page 50

R E C O N N E C T : Frank Bonanno
Florida (where he was living), also had
been traveling to Las Vegas for vacations
and the potential opportunities there were
evident. His inaugural foray into Vegas
was a restaurant in the food court of the
then-new MGM Grand in 1993. “Once in
the hotel, we found we were doing three
times the volume we’d projected for these
units. We weren’t used to those kinds of
numbers,” he says.
So naturally if one unit worked this
way, they thought, why not two, three,
or more? In 1998, they opened their first
original concept, Rosie’s Pizzeria, in two
small casinos. The next year they opened
another new restaurant, San Gennaro Grill,
as well as another Häagen-Dazs in The
Venetian. Next came New York Pretzel,
and the hits just kept on coming.
Following the 9/11 tragedy, his one remaining partner retired. Bonanno bought
out his share of the company and moved to
Las Vegas to manage his growing company
full-time. He added Johnny Rockets to his
portfolio in 2007, then opened his first fullservice restaurant, Trattoria Reggiano, in
The Venetian. By 2009, he was developing and managing entire food courts at
large hotel/casinos. Part of his secret was

his formula of mixing franchised brands
with his original concepts.
Since we last spoke with Bonanno in
2010, his Fifth Avenue Restaurant Group
has taken on a new partner of sorts—his
wife, Betty. Their children are now older
and more independent, which has freed up
Betty to be a “goodwill ambassador” for
the company. “Betty is active in a number
of Las Vegas-based charity organizations,
including serving on the board of the Las
Vegas Animal Foundation, and also works
closely with the Las Vegas chapter of JDRF
(Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation),”
he says. “Las Vegas is a very charitable city,
and the hotel and casino industry is an
important part of charitable giving there,
which makes her involvement a major asset to our business relationships.”
Their eldest son, Robb, 36, is expanding his role within the company. “Now,
in addition to managing a team of six
executives who oversee the day-to-day
restaurant operations, he is also heavily
involved in real estate selection as well as
planning, design, and construction of new
restaurants,” says Bonanno.
Busy? That’s an understatement. Since
2010, Fifth Avenue Restaurant Group has

developed and currently operates food
courts at the Flamingo and Palace Station; has remodeled the food courts at the
MGM Grand and Luxor; and is developing
a new food court at Bally’s and remodeling the food court at Mandalay Bay (both
expected to open in the first half of 2013).
They’ve also launched a new proprietary concept called Original Chicken
Tender with a location at the Luxor and
one at the Monte Carlo. And two more
new concepts are on the way: a pizza-bythe-slice concept and a full-service Italian
restaurant, streetside on the Las Vegas strip
directly adjacent to CityCenter, a mixed
use 10,000-room complex featuring the
Aria Resort & Casino, Vdara Hotel & Spa,
Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Veer Towers,
and the 500,000-s.f. Crystals shopping,
dining, and entertainment center. He says
it’s a great location, and also adjacent to
Planet Hollywood and the Cosmopolitan.
Hard to believe with all of this going
on, but Bonanno says he may begin to slow
down a bit and work fewer days and hours.
However, he also recognizes that he has a
business to take care of and pass on to his
children—and he obviously still loves working,
growing, and building his organization.

BOTTOM LINE
Annual revenue: Not disclosed.
2013 goals: 20 percent growth in number of operating units.
Growth meter: How do you measure your growth? Volume.
Vision meter: Where do you want to be in 5 years? 10 years?
We would be satisfied with a 10 percent growth in volume each year.
How has the most recent economic cycle affected you, your
employees, your customers? The effect has been minimal. Hotel/casino guests are able to get great deals on hotel rooms compared with 2004,
2005, 2006, and 2007. These guests are also looking for deals on restaurants as well, and our quick-serve restaurants offer the most reasonably priced
food offerings in the hotels.
Are you experiencing economic growth/recovery in your market? Our particular niche has remained steady.
What did you change or do differently in this economy that you
plan to continue doing? Nothing.
How do you forecast for your business in this economy? We forecast level traffic patterns.
Where do you find capital for expansion? Private equity and local
bank financing.

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Multi-Unit Franchisee Is s ue IV, 2012

Is capital getting easier to access? Why/why not? Yes. Our balance sheet is improving each year.
Have you used private equity, local banks, national banks,
other institutions? Why/why not? Private equity and local banks;
great returns for private investors and the local banks understand our business
model.
What kind of exit strategy do you have in place? To some time in
the future (I hope not too soon) pass the company on to my children.
What are you doing to take care of your employees? We offer
company-sponsored medical plans, a liberal vacation policy, and bonus based
on profits for all members of our management team. All employees enjoy a
5-day work week with two consecutive days off. Hourly team members also
have the option to purchase health insurance through a company-offered
program. Hourly employees’ starting compensation is 50 percent higher than
minimum wage.
How are you handling rising employee costs (payroll, healthcare, etc.)? We face the same issues as the industry.
How do you reward/recognize top-performing employees?
Whenever possible we promote from within.