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ested individual persistently came in three times a week for six months, so Sarber nally agreed to a conversation. “After our meeting, we understood he wasn’t interested in operations, but in being a silent nancial partner to help us grow. We’re transparent about this—he bought into Agave & Rye with $300,000 for half, and he says it’s the best invest ment he ever had,” Sarber recalls. e investment also gave Sarber $1 million per year in revolving credit with a high interest rate, and the clock began ticking. From upgraded equipment and POS systems to ensuring awless books and documentation, Sarber began prepar ing to open a second location in Lexing

says. “If you put more emphasis on tak ing care of your people, it’s crazy how quickly your restaurant becomes a better restaurant, because people understand they’re valued—which seems like com mon sense, but it’s not common practice.” She also prioritizes providing health care to salaried managers and supervi sors at a ordable rates, which has always been a looming issue in the restaurant world. “ at’s a bigger hot topic I want to make a change in,” Sarber says. Another source of pride for her is launching a 401k retirement plan and health and wellness programs for employees, which she hopes will become the norm in restaurants. “Our dream and promise is to give opportunities to our team members to better their lives and better the commu nities we set up shop in,” she says. “Our stance is, it doesn’t matter if we’re a step ping stone for employees, or if you want to continue growth with us; we’re priv ileged to have so many wonderful peo ple who have chosen to get on this bus.” With 16 locations, Agave & Rye sold 2.3 million tacos last year, equating to about 6,400 sold per business day, to a total of 1.7 million guests. Add nearly a million margaritas to the mix, and it’s no surprise the concept also saw a 48 percent year-over-year increase in total sales from 2021 to 2022. Three more locations are slated to open by the end of the year. “People say you’re an overnight suc cess, but it took 30 years to be an over night success,” Sarber says. “So many entrepreneurs view things as failures, and they’re not. e only way that it’s failure is if you keep recreating the same mistake.” SON OF A BUTCHER STEAKHOUSE, TRASHY DAWG, AND MORE CONCEPTS IN THE WORKS e idea for Son of a Butcher Steakhouse ( ) was sparked by Sarber and her hus band’s love for the ne dining world and steak—“But we wanted to drop the pre tension,” she says. “We wanted people to come in a polo shirt and jeans if they

MAKING FOOD A PLAYFUL ADVENTURE IS A CORE GOAL FOR EPIC BRANDS.

ton, Kentucky, in July 2019, then a third in October that year in Liberty Center, Ohio. e third location, to date, is still the concept’s best-performing location. By location four, Sarber had paid back the financial investor and began self funding every location. And by the time the pandemic rolled around in 2020, there were seven Agave & Rye locations—but Sarber is most proud of how she never dipped below 93 percent sta ed. “Is it that there’s not enough people to work, or is there not enough people who want to work for you? You really have to ask yourself that question,” Sarber

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