Meet Desiree Gomez | Boss Lady

We had the good fortune of connecting with Desiree Gomez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Desiree, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Oh man…in a restaurant, there isn’t just one important factor that leads to success. I guess it also depends on your perspective of what success means. If I had to choose just one, it would be relationships.

I don’t solely hire staff on their capabilities, I also hire for their personalities. Will they jive well with the rest of the crew? Will they be a team player and be a people pleaser? Are they capable of holding a conversation? Is this someone I’d want to talk to and see several days a week? Do they exude happiness and fun? If they have these qualities, it makes for a fun work environment which in turn keeps my turn over low. There’s less funds spent on training. My regulars will be remembered by long term staff and vice versa. It creates a relationship. This translates to clientele that will return and spread the good word. Everyone wants to have a good time and be around people that are fun. No one wants to spend their time and resources at a place that feels drab.

I base my business on relationships. If I’m honest and upfront with my staff and make sure that their best interests are taken care of, they bring their friends and family either to visit or to come work. Again, I retain these great personalities and hard workers.

I’m also direct and respectful with my sales reps and brand ambassadors. They appreciate this and again, will spread good word. They’ll look out for me when I have needs.

I try to remember my regulars’ names, orders, and preferences. My family and I will make sure to say hello when we can just to make sure that they are recognized. Everyone wants to be acknowledged. In the restaurant business, we are here through the ups and downs with our customers. We are here to celebrate their engagements, weddings, birthdays, births, baby showers but also here when they need a drink because of a loss, family troubles, work troubles and too many times, deaths. People remember how we made them feel and I hope that my staff and I can be there to support, cheers and raise a tequila shot for whatever is going on.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Coyote Grill is a small family run business in South Laguna Beach. We are easily missed when people are driving down the Coast Hwy. We are open 7-days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We’ve got ocean views, a covered patio and a tasty Happy Hour.

We’ve gone through 4 different renovations which were all a little painful. Juggling finances, trying to stay open during construction and making sure that customers are comfortable and willing to come back were such a challenge. One renovation in 1998, the roof was being worked on. We got a tarp strapped down to protect us from the incoming storm but it wasn’t enough. There were customers eating with a bucket sitting next to them to catch the rain. Thankfully, they still came back.

We also made it through a recession. That was a lesson at controlling my pride. I was confident that because we are in Laguna Beach and we have such a large regular clientele base, we would be less effected. Nope. We had to create ways to get people out to eat and drink. Our rewards program was created out of that recession in 2008.

Although I base my business on relationships, I’ve learned that not everyone feels the same. I’ve really had to harden myself which I struggle with. I have learned that although I work side by side with my staff and work up to 70 hours a week at times, I am still just an employer. I try to treat my staff the same as I would anyone else. I am not above them and I don’t believe in barking orders. If I ask a staff member to clean the bathrooms, I should be able to train them myself on how it should be done. I care about my staff. How can you not when you get to know them, their family and friends, etc. Some of them I hang out with outside of work, our kids hang out, we’ll have a drink, etc. But there’s a few that left on bad terms and filed fraudulent claims that cost us years of legal expenses.

We also worked our way through Covid. I felt like every week we were relearning how to do our jobs and how to become more efficient. We had created a little grocery shop out of our bar providing groceries and essentials to anyone that were interested. I wanted to make sure that we had minimal food waste so we were selling groceries for a little over cost to entice shoppers and move products that we needed. We had also started online ordering, outdoor doggy dining, and staff had to learn how to multitask more.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Laguna Beach has some of the most beautiful beaches. I would definitely do a low tide scavenge at Heisler Park, a walk at Montage Resort and a sunset bbq at Aliso Creek Beach.

I don’t eat out often but I do enjoy Reunion Kitchen for their comfort food, The Glasspar in Dana Point for oysters and martinis and The Drake for their everything.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The list is very long. My family and my staff have been the face of Coyote Grill. They’ve been so loyal to me and I’ve learned so much from them. 33 years of business and I’m continuously learning. A restaurant doesn’t stay in business because I did all of the work single handedly. Almost half of my staff have been with me for over 5 years. Of those, 20% have been with me for 10+ years. Many that have left to start new careers/businesses were long term employees. Family and staff is everything!!

Website: www.CoyoteGrill.tv

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