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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowWelcome back to IBJ’s video feature “Inside Dish: The Business of Running Restaurants.”
Our subject this time is Iozzo's Garden of Italy, in part an homage to a 1930s downtown Indianapolis eatery of the same
name owned by Italian immigrant Fred Iozzo. His great-granddaughter Katie Harris resurrected the Iozzo's moniker in August
2009 for the white-tablecloth restaurant she developed in partnership with her husband, Greg.
Just after Iozzo's one-year anniversary, Katie sat down with IBJ to take stock of the restaurant's first
12 months. The husband and wife launched the project in April 2009 with all the forethought of a summer cloudburst. While
scouting real estate on South Meridian Street for Greg's logistics firm, Backhaul Direct (he's the owner, president
and CEO), they ran across an unoccupied space in a 1860s brick building that had recently housed a pizza joint.
"We always had it in the back of our minds that we would do something like a restaurant or a bar," said Katie.
"I looked at my husband and said, 'Do you think this could really work as a restaurant?' He said, 'Yeah,
let's do it.'"
Using their own capital to bankroll the project, the couple started with a modest plan that soon ballooned into a fine-dining
establishment with a completely refurbished interior. Their original budget for start-up costs was $100,000; when the restaurant
opened in early August 2009, they had invested between $350,000 and $370,000.
The fledgling restaurateurs enlisted local dining consultants Steve Graham and Karl Benko to help guide development of the
project and ensure a smooth start. In a bit of serendipity, they opened their doors at the beginning of the Indianapolis Colts'
season, and foot traffic for nearby Lucas Oil Stadium helped fill the restaurant on Sundays. Gross sales grew steadily through
the fall until hitting a peak of $110,000 in December, typically a strong month for fancy establishments due to the holidays
(see graphic above). Sales dipped early in early 2010—again, typical for eateries—and then shot back up in the
spring once Iozzo's was able to take advantage of its outdoor courtyard, which seats about 50.
The owners invested more than $100,000, in addition to start-up funds, over the first year of operation to cover food costs,
payroll and other expenses while Iozzo's got off the ground. Although the restaurant has recouped little of their $480,000
investment to date, it now is operating day-to-day near the break-even point, Katie said.
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