www.negociosnow.com
47 October 2022
WORDS OF WISDOM:
"Y
esterday is history.
Tomorrow is a mystery.
Today is a gift. That's why we call
it the present".
Age: 33
Title: CEO
Name of Organization: Mama
Elena's Restaurant
Born in New York City to Do-
minican parents who came
to the United States around
the age of 16, Abel Rodriguez
was raised in northern New
Jersey. His mother is a social
worker for the New York City
Administration for Children's
Services and his father is an
entrepreneur. He started off
with small bodegas, and con-
tinued to grow as a business
owner. He later owned various
supermarkets, laundromats,
and finally opened a family
restaurant in 2008.
Abel graduated from Mont-
clair State University in 2015
as a sociology major. He star-
ted working at the family res-
taurant in 2008 and by 2015
was officially running the fa-
mily business. The family ow-
ned a traditional Dominican
family style restaurant that ca-
tered to our community. The
restaurant's name is Mama
Elena's, after Abel's grand-
mother.
For his first venture as
being the official head of the
company I opened a 2nd res-
taurant in Union city. This
restaurant failed within the
first six months. This was a big
lesson learned for future en-
deavors.
When he closed the Union
City location, he returned to
our flagship with more energy
and motivation to implement
changes. I revamped the entire
restaurant, from uniforms to
construction. No rock was left
unturned. From how our staff
answered the phone to how
they greeted all our customers
— everything was fine tuned.
He systemized the entire res
-
taurant and took the lessons
he learned from my recent fai-
lure and turned it into positive
energy.
A few years later, in late
2017, Abel and his family
opened a second restaurant
location in Paterson, N.J..
This location was a success
within three years of ope-
ning. He is currently working
on third and fourth locations.
Rather than a continuation
of the Mama Elena franchi-
se, one of these locations is
a speakeasy fast casual res-
taurant, located in Garfield
N.J. The fourth is a club/res-
taurant theme due to open in
2023 in Passaic N.J.
Abel Rodríguez
Family
Restaurant
Owner
