Gracias Come Again, a podcast by Honey German. All right, let's get it today. I am sitting down with Cesar Alvarez, hospitality entrepreneur. Would you consider yourself from Jersey, New York. Where are you hailing from?
I'm from Jersey, You're from Jersey.
Yes, welcome to Grazias Come Again.
Thank you for having me today.
We're going to get to know you the core of you, not just what you do that makes you cool, fun, amazing and popping. We're going to get to know how you became the person that you are today. Your parents, where are they from? What countries do they wrap?
My mother? My father Colombian?
Colombianos, Yeah, from So when did they migrate to America.
My father came over here in his early thirties and arrived in Hackensack. That's where he first found himself in the United States, and my mother stayed at home. They were married, Yeah, yeah, they were. They were already together. They already married. But my father came to the United States first by himself to look to create a home for her and what is now my brother and I. So that's what they were working on.
So Mami Si, Yeah, Pappy beIN a key and he was building for her. And then what happened? He said, I'm ready for you. Were you and your brother born already or no.
We weren't born yet. We were actually were actually born here. I was born in Hoboken, same Maryag's hospital.
So you were not even thought of. Mom was just like Sime. Also he's in Jersey, he's set and everything up. And then what happened? He brought her here? Yes, exactly what did mom do for a living when she got here?
She was just a caring housewife. She just took care of my father.
Were old school, you know, okay, traditional housewife, traditional housewife. Yeah, and then you and your brother came, and.
Then I came. Obviously I'm the old well I'm the oldest by four years, so I came first, and my brother came, and then my mother just raised us, you know, took us to the park and always made sure that we had lunch and dinner. She always cooked clean, took care of the home.
So Poppy was the provider. I saw that your father worked in construction thirty years. Yes, how amazing is that? And how much did you look up to your father as a provider.
I always call my father my hero because you know, he showed me what it was to be a man and take care of a family. You know, he kept my mother, you know, my brother, the four of us together through and through and he would wake up every morning and just he showed me what it was to be you know, marnment. You know, yeah, like a man's man, you know. So I got that from him, that that was forever instilled in me to be a provider.
And is dad what you practice now? Do you see yourself as you have to be the provider or do you also require that the woman that you're with provide for the home also?
No, I am I'm still very you know, I'm I'm an old soul. So I get that from my father, the people that I grew up around, around within the neighborhood and the community. But I feel that, you know, the man should always be the protector of the family and the provider. I mean, I know obviously now times have changed where you know, women you know, are great at what a lot of things.
Don't play with me, don't with me, don't play with me.
I mean I'm here because of you right now again to the bag too, Okaye.
Being my guess no Soulso your dad one daughter?
Yes?
How old is she?
She is going to be nine next week on the twenty eighth.
You're gonna blink and you're gonna be doing this for sixteen, aren't you.
Yeah? This is a that's a that my daughter is kind of like, that's like my guardian angel. You know, she she's she's a very special girl. You know, I'm actually surprising her and taking the Disney World. So I hope that this is gonna be.
This is gonna be the first time do you take me?
No? No, this is gonna be the No. Well, I took her when she was much younger, but she doesn't really remember it. She knows that she was there.
I need you to I need you to record this. You surprising her videos? We're parents, you know. Have you seen the videos of parents like we're going to Disney and they're like when and they're like right now and the luggage is in the car and the kids go crazy. You got to record that.
Now.
You say your daughter is your guardian angel. Why do you reference her that way because you're supposed to be her guardian angel.
Yeah, I'm I am her guardian, but I feel like you know, my daughter always said that she's like she's a time travel I feel like she's been here already. She's the old soo, yeah, she's an old soul. So she was already here. And I feel like, you know, I feel like God sent her like back to this universe, like you know, guy me and make me a better man. You know. That's that's how I see my daughter.
How how can a young you're a guide and adult man?
She just makes me a better version of myself every day. She reminds me. I think that in being an entrepreneur, you know, being in that field, it comes with a lot of it comes with a lot of obstacles, and you find yourself more than more than a few times, just plenty of times questioning everything that you've done. You know, where you are, where you could have been, you know, and then you find yourself, you know, looking at this beautiful person in the soul, and she just reminds you,
like every reason why you're blessed, you know. So that's that's just she's different from me.
She gives you purpose.
Yeah, she gives me a lot of purse. My son also, but you have a son also, I have a twenty one year old.
Yeah, okay, because I only saw your daughter, like I was talking to your social media his daughter, my.
Son doesn't like pictures.
No, listen, Oh you gotta tell me, is your son's twenty one years old?
You don't even like me no more? You know, you don't even follow me on social media like this, Like they become adults and then it's like he's just be like yo, and I'm like, what's up? Yo? Yeah, but he's a great kid. He's a great kid.
They become adults, you know, and then it's no longer cool. But I feel like kids have that because then it's like then they get a little older, like maybe when they start reaching thirty, and then they're like, oh, it's cool to be your kid again.
Yeah. Yeah. And you know what's funny that my mother everything that I put my parents through when I was young because I was I guess, you know, I started a little bit of trouble when I was young.
And but you mean a little bit of trouble if you're bringing it up, you started a lot of fathers.
Is But yeah, she told me, she said, listen with this boy, you're going to you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, you're gonna put with this one, and he ended up being just great. Like even his friends, like they're good kids, Like I met them, and you know when you're you know, when you're around genuine kids, you know, like they come from good family.
Means, you know, like they would get me to said to my mom, Yeah.
No, she's a hater. She she's just like you got lucky. I mean, what do you means lucky? I was like, I raised him to be a good boy, you know, so what.
Did you want him to do differently from what you did that brought your parents sleepless nights or you know, grief in some way?
I guess the beautiful thing about, you know, being a parent is that, you know, I told him, I tell him, I told him one time. I'm like, look, man, you know you know I'm I'm forty one. You're twenty one. You're a cool dad.
You're so young.
I've been twenty one before, but you've never been forty one. So I could tell you something about life, you know, like like I've been down this road over here. This road was no good, this one was a dead end. You know. So the great thing about fatherhood is being able to you know, give them like just life lessons on which ways to go and which ways not to go, you know, and try to bet themselves like that so they're a better versions. I told him, I'm like, you
got to be better than me. You know. If you're not better than me as a man at my age, you know, then you know, I feel like you feel as a father, you know, in my opinion.
And how is he doing right now?
He's great. He actually called me. He actually called me like two weeks ago, and he mentioned to me that he was ready to purchase his first home. And I told you about that at twenty one.
I'm proud of him and I don't even know him.
Yeah, man, I'm very proud of him. Just but I had a serious kind you know. It wasn't it wasn't that moment that made me proud. It was it was it was that at that moment, I realized that a conversation that I had with him a long time ago before, when I first found out he got his first job,
he was he started working at a fast food franchise, russ. Yeah, And so I decided, Well, what I'm saying is that I realized that that message that I had for him resonated with him, you know, because I finally saw it flourished in that in that way.
And what was the message? You just can't tell me the message. You got to tell me what you said.
I took him. I took him one day to a supermarket, you know, during the fall. It was like January February, so you know, you already know that tri state. Whether it was like trees out fitting, degrees out, you know, and there was this little boy pushing these shopping carts, you know, and I parked the car and I told him, I'm like, look, you know, I want to talk to you about something. You know, I want you to look at this boy, you know, pushing these shopping carts right now.
And he's like, all right, he's like, what are we doing. I'm just like, well, what do you think he's going to do? What do you think he should do? You know? I was like, because he's working, you just got a job, and you're starting at the bottom. I'm like, do you consider this the bottom? And you know, we fast forward and I told him, Mike, this is a lesson of the spoke of the wheel. That was never the spoke,
you know. And you know, I told him I Mike, everything happens with guidance, you know, and also you know, being able to absorb the information. You know. I tell him that, you know, you have two eyes and two ears and one month for a reason that's supposed to be observing and listening more than talking, you know, so
with true students of the earth. So I told him, I'm like, you know what if this boy his father told him, you know, after three months of pushing those shopping cards, make sure that in those three months you push those shopping cars the best that you can. You greet everybody, You show everybody love, compassion as they're showing up to just a supermarket, you know, make them feel special,
you know. And then three months later, ask your boss and say that you want to learn the register, you know, and then from the register you want to learn to see food department. And I can just copy and repeat that process, you know, where you be the best that you can in every position. I'm like, who's going to be the regional district manager of that supermarket one day? You know?
Is it going to be the boy that's coming out a college, whether a diploma or something like that, or is it going to be this boy that decided to hop off the spoke on that wheel and become the driver of his destiny. You know. So, I think that that resonated with him very deeply. And he went from one restaurant to a more high end restaurant to a much more high end restaurant in New York, and now he not only works there, but he also works the sweets in Madison Square Garden, and so at twenty one,
at twenty one, yeah, and he's just I'm proud of him. Yeah, I'm proud of him, you know so. I just feel like that resonated very well with him. And you don't necessarily always get like a twenty year old that's going to absorb that kind of information, you know, like it's it's you.
Don't get a thirty year old that that information sometimes.
Right, Yeah, that's true, that's true. That's true. So yeah, so I'm very proud of him.
Were you ever at any moment thinking of like different careers than the career you hold now?
Yes?
What did you want to be when you were twelve, when you were fifteen?
When I was twelve fifteen, I have no idea what I wanted to be.
You didn't have that, like, well, I want to be a lawyer. I want to be a firefighter. I want to know you.
I knew, I just I knew I was I was going to have to work hard, because that's what I saw through my old man. You know.
I guess it's all you already knew you had to bust your ass.
Yeah, yeah, I know I had to work hard, you know. So you know, obviously, if my father was maybe a lawyer, let's say, then I would have probably been in his office, you know, and I would have had my head in different books. You know. Maybe I would have wanted to learn the law. Maybe I would have wanted to be, you know, a police officer who knows, you know, a
worker for the community. You know, I don't know what would have happened, right, but my father just woke up early and put in those hours and then came home and then he just wanted to watch the Yankees. You know, it's just relaxed.
Did you ever work with your dad or no?
I did? I did? I got fired?
How did that go?
I got smoked? In a month? I got fired?
What had you do it that you that didn't work?
I'm gonna I was working in this office in Roselle and they had this company. It was a staffing company and they were on the first floor, so it was like a corporate buildings, like a five story building. There was this receptions there that was like a little older than me. But we kind of like had like this thing.
You clicked with the with the I.
Clicked with the cougar, you know. And then they caught us like in the in the they caught us in the closet with I know, I messed up, So that was one strike. They called my father, you know, so that's the corporate office of the company.
How was your father's like, that's my boy?
Oh man, you know he was embarrassed by that because again my father is very old school, so like he was a kind of they told.
Them what happened.
Yeah, they told them. The guy's name was Tommy Lynch, I remember, and Vinni Lynch. I'm sorry. He's the one that called my father and told him, Hey, listen, man, we caught we caught your son, and you know, the office supply closet with the receptionist of another company on the first floor. I have no idea, you know, I know, I got taken out of the corporate overs and I had to start, like, you know, keeping inventory of like boat parts in like.
Some kind of like a punishment of sorts.
Yeah, yeah, they're downgraded my position. I went from a cubicle and they put me in a warehouse with this guy named Derek. I remember, and I'm.
Pretty sure that that changed the course of your life in one way or another.
Yeah. No, I realized that. I realized that, you know, I think that sometimes you realize that you're you have a different purpose, you know, and maybe you don't do good.
With cubicle wasn't for you.
The cubicle was not for me. I tried to cubicle many times and it didn't work out, you know. I actually the second time that I actually really got that's when I got fired. Fired was you know, I had got into an accident with my vehicle and uh, the hood came open in the middle of one and nine.
That's Jersey got out.
I took out my shoelace out my air forces, tied the hood to the car, drove it. It popped open, broke my son roof, and I showed up to the office where like the engine was smoking. It was bad, you know, And I got fired that day. And this time it wasn't my fault.
But what I was just gonna say, what did you do to different?
Yeah? No, its just it was, you know, one strike too many, you know. I think the receptionist was my downhill.
That was the receptionist. Your image tarnished?
Yeah, yeah, I was over after that.
When did you begin your career as an entrepreneur? Like, what was your first business venture? You were like, I'm going to launch this right here.
I actually I never started this. I I got brought into it. I was at a at a venue. The venue still exists, but it's under a different name and different ownership. But it was called Konga Lounge. It was located in New Jersey and no I'm sorry, North Bergen, New Jersey, across the street on Kennedy Boulevard, and I used to go there every Thursday with my friends. Back then, bottles are seventy five dollars before eleven, you know, Like, so this is a club, Yeah, this is like a lounge. You know.
So is this the beginning of you working hospitality and nightlife?
Yeah, for the first time ever. But again, I'm there as a guest though, Okay, right, I'm there as a guest every week. And then there's this group of like seven girls leaving the venue, and you know, I was outside, I was smoking a cigarette and I'm like, where are you guys going. They're like, oh, we're going to go into the city. I'm like, well, why don't you guys, why don't you want to just stick around and hang
out here. It's going to be a good party. Back then, in north Bergen, they used to close the bars and lounges at three o'clock in the morning, so they were leaving at like one o'clock, you know, And I told them, listen, like around one thirty one forty five is when the cool kids arrive. Yeah, you just just just hang out. Trust me, you don't want to go into the city right now. You're going to pay tolls. There's gonna be parking signs, they're going to tell you to park in
one section of the street. But you really can't.
I'm surprised you sell them the club?
Yeah, right, So I convinced him to come back inside. All set. It was like seven or eight of them. They walked back inside, they checked their coats in again, and the promoter was outside. My brother Duncan so shout out to him real quick because he was basically my mentor. He's the one that brought me into the business. He saw me and says, how did you convince those girls to come back in after they were leaving? You know the venue? You know. He's like start asking me questions.
You know your name? Do you do you do promotions? Do you do parties? And I'm like, I was like, I don't know what promotions mean. I'm like, I come here every Thursday, bro, we come here like at like ten forty five for that seventy five dollars, seventy five dollars above with your special that you have whatever it was that was bottle. Yeah, And he's like, well, would you be able to do this again? What if I paid you, you know, and you could do this. I'm
like yeah, I'm like so much. And I guess when I mentioned the seventy five dollar bottle, He's like, seventy five dollars and I was like, let me get that absolutely. So I went inside and told my boys, yo, we got hooked up. Your boy got a job. The bottles come from now on there. So we were celebrating that day. We bought the we got the girl shots from the bottle because we were like, we were all good, come
see us next week. And that's how it all started, you know, like that's where everything began.
Really fast forward today this is where we presently are, and that's how I came to know of you more personally, because you know, I knew about you through brunch Exchange and everything else. But this space that you have now is something so different, something so unique and just special. How did you open these doors?
Well? I was. I started there when it was twenty thirteen when I first started there. Really, yeah, I sold I sold hooka pens there, one for fifteen, two for twenty. That's how I really started.
There, really, yeah, such humble beginning.
Yes, I started there selling hookah pans one fifteen two for twenty to patrons. Yeah, to patrons, so that they wouldn't have to smoke cigarettes outside of the cold. And this is before vapes started. So I had a hookah business and we were we had hookahs all over New York because I remember Kings of Hookah, Yeah, Kings of Hookah. So we were in the Griffin Greenhouse, all Opus, the Raven, all these pass parties that mattered, you know, in the
meatpacking District, downtown Manhattan and all that good stuff. Sutra you know, Sutra was great. So so yeah, that's really how it all started. And I started doing a brunch party there in twenty fourteen. Last Sunday was our season eleven premiere, because that event is obviously still going. And I got, I got. I was very fortunate to have people that leave to me and gave me an opportunity to you know, showcase my talent. And now that same place where I started is the place that we own.
Congratulations. You know it brings us back to the boy pushing the cards.
Yeah, the spoke on the wheel that was never look.
At that the story you know, translates straight to you. Yeah, now why the Lobo the wolf? It just feels like a running theme in your life. And it's like I always check people's Instagram, no matter how many years they've had it, and you've been posting on the animal for a very very long time. Is it special to you? Like, do you feel a connection to it or is just the brand?
No, it's actually a wild story how I got that. That's they started calling me that because I was doing an event. It was during December. I had my brother Mantes. He lives. He lives in la and he was living in Jersey obviously at the time. And we were doing an event and we had him. He was just up as saying. And then we had like a little helper. So we had a little person that we hired to walk around.
I love how you say a little person. He's so politically.
Correct and give shots out to like the guests and stuff like that. But then he was standing on the bar and you know, he was dancing, and he had like little elf pants on and a true story, I cannot make this up. His little thing was going back and forth inside the pants, inside the pants. But my boy was standing at the bar, and so the thing is going in front of his face too closer. No, this is this is I get. You can't make My
life is a story man for real. They he's looking at my boy, my boy is you know, he's from the streets. You don't play that this is the little elf. But no, guest, my boy in Jersey City. You know, like he's looking at him, and the little guy is buying his lips down, looking at doing too much. You know, I come to find out that you know, that's what he likes. And okay, no problem, Okay, that's exactly what he did. So my boy took him and threw him off the bar because he took it as.
Disrespect you swinging at too close to my mouth.
It was so his manager that went to high school with Maggie comes up to me like, sees, they just threw such and such off the ball.
The delf had a manager.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, there was a magic. So I'm just like, I was like, I'm so sorry about that, my boy. My other boys are coming in and they're like, yo, sees, you know what was that? Like I just seen he felt related get thrown off the bar, you know, And I'm just like, yeah, he's like, yo, see you like the you like the Wolf of Wall Street, but like the Wolf of Brunt Street. And I'm like, oh, that sounds crazy. And right there. That was in two thousand
and fifteen when that name came about. So since then they've been calling me the wolf, you know. So like we called, they called us now the Wolves of Brunch Street. So everybody on my phone is saved with like a wolf, our own wolf logo. You know. We called each other wolves, you know, and said we just take care of one another, you know, and when this place came about the way,
that's a lobe. What really happened was is that the owner at the time, which is still my partner today, his name is Joe, he called me up and told me that he had had a lucid dream that I was the owner of the place and that I was walking around talking to everybody.
Which is what you do now.
He like, sees, I saw you in my dream. He's like, you were literally walking around greeting people. He's like, and it was your name. Your name was on the place. He's like, I don't I don't know what it was called, but you named it. He's like, I think that you should. I think that you should buy this place. This is right before COVID hit. So that's when we started having
those conversations. Obviously COVID came the deal when when down When obviously post COVID and everything calmed down, things became normal again for the most part, I guess is when we started exercising the conversations, and you know, I was able to find an investor to come in with me, and he stayed on board. You know, he said, I want to stick around for the ride, and he gave me an opportunity to uh to, to be uh an owner there, you know, and that's how it all came about.
Really, how proud are you of just it's just such a dope place. The space just feels good, the service, the music. I don't know, and maybe I'm just biased, Like I don't really go out at night much. It's just not my thing anymore. But I will go out at it.
I think that. At first, I want to I want to thank you, you know, because you know, it's it's individuals like yourself that come and remind me every day of you know, the journey that I'm on, you know, because again you know, like back to my daughter and the times that you question yourself as an entrepreneur, you know, because there is no set schedule and there is no set hours, Like I'm I'm sending emails at eight o'clock in the morning and I'm looking at things I have
to catch up to at four o'clock in the morning, when I'm way to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
You know, how hard is that? How hard is that on your personal life?
Yeah, it's a lot. It takes a toll on you.
You know, it's a special kind of person to even be able to be in your space and allow you to always be on.
Yeah, and but you know, you hear about, you know, certain businesses that you know, people burn out. They get burnt out, you know, because it's a lot, it's it's it's it's physically and mentally, you know, exhausting. It takes a toll on your body. But you got to just you know, you gotta if you have will and you have a little purpose, you know, meaning like my daughter, you know, like there's nothing really that can stop you.
You know, I did see that you take your breaks. You do like to travel. Yeah, where have you been? I felt like I was on your Gramm and I'm like, he's with camels. Now, he's on the beach, now he's in Colombia.
Yeah. I love to travel. I love to. I call it given my passport tattoos, you know, I love to. I think that we we are, you know, a specimen of people that are just very caught up right now in tech, you know, and we're we're always very concerned on you know, charging our phones, our laptops, and we
forget to charge ourselves, you know. So I feel like, you know, sometimes it's good just to really get away and just like unplug and really just kind of like you know, feed your soul again, just so that you could go back into the machine that you came from.
So it's like a hard recess and you all controlled the leite.
Yeah.
Really, when you go to Columbia, I wanta do us.
I just go to my family where Somoso. So you go home home, I go home.
How good.
I don't go to the beaches. Yeah. I don't go to clubs. Like it's it's funny because like people think when I go out there, I see so you know what was like, I'm like I was playing Parcheesi bro at like one o'clock in the morning with my cousins. Then we took out the karaoke thing on a Saturday night. Then we made a barbecue and we were saying we were playing, you know, beating Nola, And you know, I just spent time with my family because I don't have
them here like other folks too. You know, like my entire family is in Columbia.
Who else is Are your parents here there or they're in Columbia?
No, my mother, my father or my cousins. No, my parents been left.
Oh, Columbia, They like, we're out here.
Yeah, yeah, so you have a house to go to.
I love that for you because you know a lot of Latinos, you know, especially like second or third generation Latinos were here, Our parents are here, our grandparents are here. I love that for you that you can actually go back to Colombia and be so in tune with like your roots, where you come from, your food, your parents. That's amazing. Do they want you to move there eventually?
They like, oh, absolutely absolutely, I want to. I want to go there eventually. You know, at some point, you know, like you know, a lot of us, what do we do? We move down south to North Carolina, Miami. We go to Miami, we go to Georgia, we go to Texas. Why don't you just go a little bit more south, you know.
Straight to your day country.
Go back to your country. I've learned. Look in Colombia, a dollar is four dollars, you know, the Columbia. When you go and eat your steak, that chicken, that chicken was killed down the block, in somebody's backyard or in farm, you know, like everything is fresh, the air is clean.
You know, and when you travel it's it's so different. Even the food tastes differently.
Everything.
It just tastes organic. Like you're like, why does food taste so organic?
It's not labeled organic, it is. That's the difference, you know, sitting in a supermarket, you know, it's just like it's real food, straight from the land.
Do you feel like if you move to Columbia, we will get a Columbia.
Maybe maybe no, no, no, no no no. It's funny because a lot of people have actually talked to me about, you know, putting a Castle Lobo. They want to put one in Dubai, they want to put.
Columbia. He's like, Yui, okay, yes, these guys that what would that be like kind of like a franchise.
Maybe it could be something like that. Just I think that right now, I want to definitely make sure that the original brick and mortar is exactly the blueprint to lead to more successful things, you know, and it doesn't necessarily have to be another Castle Lobo. It could just be like a sister venue of.
That brand, kind of like the Tower Group. How they have all the difference.
Exactly exactly like that where you like, you know, it's the same quality, it's the same hospitality group. But it's a different product, it's a different service.
I see where you're going. It will take it. Yeah, you know, as long as you're involved, because I feel like you're such a pivotal part of the establishment because we see you. You walk around, you stop by tables, you what do you need is everything?
Okay?
You need something to drink? Like you're the one that makes the place even more special because you know, it's New York City. We have a million places Jersey, but when you go to Casa Luloo, you just feel like you're safe, you're home and kind of like you're like the pops. It's like he got this on the control. He's gonna make sure everybody is taken care of.
I appreciate that.
And you're you're what makes it. You know, the place is beautiful, the food is amazing, the drinks are great. But I feel like you're the icing on the cake. And I'm not gassing it because you're sitting in front of me. Because I always say it. I just love that, like there he is there. He's like when I see you, I'm like, I know everything is gonna be okay because he's here tonight. Thank you and you know, what you've
done there is absolutely, appolutely amazing. I gotta shout out my girl, Erica Man.
Yeah, shot out to her.
She introduced me to and she wants me to go every week. When hit she hit me, what was it Friday? Come to us. I'm like, I'm not dressed, let's plan a little bit better. But she loves it there, and just like me, she feels safe because there's a unique twist to which is.
To member of space, to member space to speak easy, which everybody knows of speakeasy is where they come from and whatnot. And but the members only space. I wanted to create a community within one, you know. I wanted to create a space where there could be organic growth, organic conversation between perfect strangers that have great things going
on that they want great things for themselves. They're trying to be the best versions of themselves and you know, their spirit forward individuals, like minded individuals, career driven entrepreneurs, visionaries, you know, bringing them into a space and them knowing that not just anybody could come into this space. And it's not really about you know, what you spend in there, It's about how you spend it, you know, and who
you spend it with. So we do have a screening process of course, you know, and but it's really mostly based on referrals, you know, on accountability. That's what really the place is about.
Now, if someone wants to see the place and see understand what we're talking about, website, Instagram, where can they go right now?
So there's a website www dot costolobojc dot com, there's Instagram, Costa Lobo JC, and they can reach out and there will be a concierge that will respond and set you up with a reservation and anywhere between five six thirty, which is more kind of like for non members to come in and check the space out, you know. So it's more about like it's like an Uber and Lyft business model. You know, if you know, the five of us go somewhere to see a show tonight in the
city and we grab uber. You know, as soon as we get out of that man or that woman's vessel, you know, the first thing that happens is that we get an opportunity to go ahead and judge that person and judge his vehicle, Judge the way he had a conversation,
Judge the cleanliness of his vehicle. You know. But because these companies don't own those vessels, don't own the insurance plans, don't own the maintenance that's required on those vehicles, you know, the policies and whatnot, it's the driver that gets the opportunity to also judge us as passengers, you know. So I wanted to adapt that at Costa Lobo, where you can come check us out, you know, but we're also going to judge you whether you could come back or not, you know.
And you know what, that's what keeps it such a you know, dope space. Yeah, because you're curating you know, the clientele in a way, and it's like as you should. And that's what makes me feel safe. And when I go there, I'm like, I'm good, and I trust the people that are to my left and I trust the people that's to my right because I know that you've handpicked these people.
Yeah. Yeah, And they know also that they've went through a process. They know that when they arrive that they see individuals that also went through that process, that these are members. So that nice organic sequence where everybody knows that they're safe gives it for that nice open, you know feeling like you just you just feel very welcomed.
You know, and it feels like one big party. And it's like every time I go, somebody's having a birthday and it's like we're all saying happy birthday, and yeah, somebody gets up and dance and I don't care you're dancing on top of me. I could care less because I know that we're kind of like connected in a way. So I encourage you if you're listening, go to the Instagram, go to the website, and you know, try to get
you you know, your reservation. Go check it out. Order everything all the small place, like every single one of them. But my favorite is the cauliflower. Every time I go, you know, the lollipop chicken is amazing, right, what else? What else?
I feel like I've ordered that Myersco Trasco is amazing, not because it's mine, but it's just amazing. It's really really good.
I gotta try it. But it's just like I always feel like so like cool and bougie when I'm there that I'm like, I can't order a big right, right, I'm gonna order every single small place I wanted to be cute me and my plates or I gotta order. I still have not ordered one of the entrees. But you come to the table, you're going to see everything is there.
Next time you come to Cherasco, be on me. How about that? All right?
Find that like you're doing.
Don't play with me? Definitely playing around, But yeah, that's what that's what that place is now.
Switching gears from the lobo to the dogs. Your dog lover like me.
Yes me?
Why the bullies?
The bully? I was that's when I was working at a furniture store.
Particular breed, like it's a certain type of man that loves that dog.
I had a friend of mine, Well he's still my friends, my brother. He's he's actually a professional boxer, you know. He he works at boxing very very hard. You know. I didn't want his name I know him because I'm not sure if he wants me to mention his name. So he he had a dog named Peanut and she was a bully and she was beautiful. And I remember coming home from the furnit store now and I saw him on the corner. I'm like, wow, I'm like that dog is beautiful, Like it was just very It was
a fawn color with a white chest. She was smiling. Is hot, So I was like, listen, man. I'm like, I'm like, whenever you puppies say listen, you know what, whenever she has a letter, I promise you I will give you a puppy. I was like, I had no problem. Two years later, I'm like, you know, you know, surfing the well, I'm on Facebook stalking. Yeah, not that stalk. I'm just like checking out, you know, doing promoter things.
I'm looking at flyers all that stuff, right, and I come across I come across a post of his where he's just like, you know, oh, Peanut is about to have her puppies. So I hit him up. I'm like, yo, you remember this conversation we had. She's like yeah, I was. I was like, cool, so I got second pick my dog. Yeah.
I went to go see the puppies when they were when they were feeding for the first time, and I saw this one little gray puppy just climbing over all the other siblings, trying like you know, attaching itself to his mother. And I'm like, that's my dog right there. I'm like, and I'm gonna call him mega, you know, because he like he overcame everything, you know.
He said, listen, I'm gonna get to this city.
Yeah at all us.
So you felt connected immediately?
Yeah, like that was my guy. Yeah, I call him Mega. Yeah, the most loyal dog ever. He's still alive, thank god. But he's thirteen. Are you kidding me? Yeah, he's very old right now, we were just talking about him.
I know you had multiple dogs. It's just Mega throughout his life. I'm like, he got a puppy, he got older one, he got it.
No, it's Mega, man, It's always been Mega, you know, he always man's best friend. Yeah. Dogs are Dogs are amazing creatures. Man, They're just amazing, Like you could you know. I heard somebody tell me one time. They made an analogy about how if you ever put a dog inside of a trunk, right, not that you I would ever do that or that wouldever on. That just sounds crazy already, But if you ever put a dog in a trunk, right and you let him out ten minutes later, he's
going to be waggon. He's just going to be so happy to see you. He's not going to be like, why'd you put me in that trunk for it? Kind of walk away like they just like we don't deserve dogs. It's just they're just great, you know.
So they are very forgiving. I have a dog myself, My husband and my dog fight all day. Help put them in the crate about you punished? And the dog when he lets about the crate, the dog is look at his face. I'm like, so you forgot what you happened.
They definitely have personalities, you know. But but yeah, they're very forgiving, you know.
And you know, I say all the time, you know, we don't deserve dogs, but we should also take from them also because sometimes we tend to harbor resentment and you know, it don't even be that serious, and sometimes we lose core relationships and family members because we don't have the ability to forgive them and we could take from them.
Yeah, no, I I remember a neighbor. One of the neighbor's daughters threw like a rubber ball at him and he chewed it and ate it and it got stuck in testing and and I almost lost him. I had to take them to get like emergency surgery. And you know, the vets, they know they got you ten thousand dollars. It was ten thousand dollars with no problem.
These bets are crazy, like it's.
Ten k I'm like, you know that we're going through omicron right now, whatever is going on? Right, yeah, this is after COVID. I'm like, this is the other strand I'm like, why are we here right now? What do you mean ten thousands? Oh, they don't care, and ten thousand cash is what I have to pay, you know, like, and they found a rubber ball and stuck in his testing, so he was he started first throwing up because he
couldn't digestic food. So he started throwing up. We thought that he ate weeds, and then he started bleeding, you know, out of his backside, and that's when it was a problem. So thankfully, and you know, they were like listen, you know, we could just see what happens too if you don't have the ten thousand. And I'm like, I'm like, that's crazy.
We haven't let Mega die. Yeah, we don't get to this money. He went in the sash.
So yeah, I went into the stash, the Project Change staff slash.
And Mega is here with us. I want to really thank you, you know for sitting down with me, opening up you know about your your journey, your parents, your daughter, your son, Mega, and you know, most importantly you the core of who you are as a man.
Thank you, and I appreciate you. You know, I told you that evening that you know, I was very excited and I was very blessed, and I just you know, I uh, I felt like this, this wave of gratitude, you know, when you guys approached me about this and and give me an opportunity on this amazing platform of yours to come here and speak about my humble beginnings and you know, my humble journey right now, you know, so thank you, Thank you very much. Honestly, I appreciate you.
And listen, you guys, we're all going to meet up ata, We're going to celebrate together, not gonna say on Caesus.
Time just.
Right now is amazing, your dope, your energy is amazing. Keep up the work, the great work that you're doing, you know, and you know, make sure you follow.
Thank you, Thank you very much. I appreciate you.
Come again, all Hi, Grassiers.
Come Again is a production of Honey German Productions in partnership with Iheart's Microtura podcast network