I Left Apple And Now I Bring In $9 Million Selling BBQ In Mexico
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- Опубликовано: 14 июл 2023
- Dan Defossey, originally from Long Island, New York, moved to Mexico over a decade ago as an employee for Apple. It wasn't long before he pivoted and co-founded Pinche Gringo BBQ, where customers are served a uniquely American food in the heart of Mexico City. Today, he is the CEO of a group of barbecue restaurants that brought in over $9 million in 2022.
Produced and shot by: Tasia Jensen
Managing Producer: Beatriz Bajuelos
Editor: Marisa Forziati
Animator: Elham Ataeiazar
Reporter: Celia Fernandez
Additional Footage: Dan Defossey, Canal Once
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I Left Apple And Now I Bring In $9 Million Selling BBQ In Mexico
dude graduated from Columbia and was mid management in Apple and decided to sell brisket in MX city, What a beast
Brisket tasted better then apples I guess haha
A better quality of life selling brisket tbh. Working at a behemoth like Apple where you make no difference in the large company and are hamstrung by bureaucracy and bs corporate politics to get anything done is a miserable way to live.
I don't know. I think the restaurant business is the riskiest. Can you count on some local news report bringing in customers? And while this story paints a rosy picture we don't see his net profits.
CRAZY REALLY PUTS SGHIT IN PERSPECTIVE IF YOU GRADUATED AND DIDNT LIVE UP TO EXPECTATIONS
CNBC never tell us the profit on these shows. Just revenue. For all we know, he makes 9 million in revenue, but costs are 8,999,999.
Agreed…. They don’t show the reality of the situation
This case is different, though. It's Mexico and it's much, much cheaper to have a business here.
@@edyann so only revenue matters in Mexico? How awesome!
@@richyanderson8929 I own my business here in Baja California, Mexico and believe me- when you convert those dollars into pesos, your money goes so far. I'm a Mexican national, but have American friends who own their businesses in Rosarito. And they are doing very, but very well. Everything is so expensive in the U.S.!
@@edyann I just meant for the entire series. Not Mexico in particular.
"We gave a sample of our food to some dogs and they didn't eat it" 🤣🤣🤣 I died
You know your food is horrible when the dogs don’t want it they rather starve 😂😂😂😂 I’m happy they didn’t give up tho 😊💯
the dogs in mexico are really spoiled with their meat.
@@cedrickburns8097there are some cheap taco places in Mexico where the kind of meat they serve is unknown. Given the situation and as a local joke, patrons would give a taco to closest stray dog on sight just to watch its reaction: if the dog ends up eating the taco, the tacos are good enough and not made from dog meat... 😂
Can someone check his working papers ? 😂
Bro as a Mexican American and a lover of both the people & foods! I cannot stop laughing about you wanting to bring authentic American lemonade & then getting them Country time lemonade💀 😂 Bro if that isn't the most white-Texan thing I've ever heard in my life! 😂 Than idk what is. Love it keep! ❤
Bro it’s over priced 12 burger in cdmx
Yeah the English American agua fresca, wonderful. They could also add Kool Aid options. They will definitely increase their revenue
He chose the most basic lemonade. MEX grows fruits locally and could of used real lemons but now he's selling overpriced drink 😆
That's what I thought. If you wanted authentic American Lemonade wouldn't you bring lemons since they don't really grow well in Mexico. Why bring Countrytime? You're not showing off a trailer park.
No info on true start up cost and where did he get the money from. From $100 in bank account to 9Mil ….. just no meat to the story
some businessmen from Sinaloa had excess capital to invest and needed a frontman
This is AWESOME. Saw a niche, and went for it. So happy for him and proud of him.
I met this guy at one of his restaurants last year. I was in Mexico City for Thanksgiving, and I took my friend to the Thanksgiving dinner that Pinche Gringo hosts annually. Their restaurants are extremely popular in Mexico City and the BBQ is solid.
I didn't know about this. I had a torta de pavo 😅 because I couldn't find any other turkey dish in CDMX ON Thanksgiving
@@grod805 Haha. At least you were in the spirit! Most of their locations have a pre-fixe Thanksgiving dinner event. A few other restaurants/hotels have American Thanksgiving dinner as well, but Pinche had the best option/information.
Wait there is a thing in Mexico called Pinche Gringos? 😂😂
I am from Texas and I heard that same lie about what some call the best bbq in Mexico ( old Jimmy's Monterrey) and it was horrible
“Probably not a good idea to drive white powder in a shiny truck in Mexico.” That gave me a good laugh!😂
In a shiny truck 🤣🤣
Mexico is the new American dream!
it always has been, mexico is in america
No it’s not, it’s only america for Americans that move there and are automatically in upper middle class,
@@mikhacoffman4522 are you one of them? You might want to check the inflation on the US dollar, gonna be broke in Mexico soon.
@@mikhacoffman4522no, is really THE MEXICAN DREAM 🇲🇽💓theres italians and even moroccans or Spaniards People or Argentinos. YOU can make it there because Mexicans are very open to foreing People rather than United states citizens.
@@DA-wg5cz US is more open to foreign then Mexico is lmfao, there’s class racism there as well as a good amount of racism against blacks,
I’m from Mexico, grew up there, it’s not a dream country to move to unless it’s specific circumstances,
Why do you think they all move elsewhere?
I love that they showed & talked about how at the beginning the food wasn’t good and they were making like $30/day. It gives a realistic look into entrepreneurship!
but how do you open the restaurant before you've refined the food?
I'm sorry but they're lying. I live in Mexico City and the restaurant is always very empty. You can see it for yourself in the Google reviews, most pics show empty tables.
@@Emirates1598
Their menu prices after conversion are more expensive than what we pay here in Texas. How are they charging that much?
so, we are going to believe you my friend and no restaurant remains full all the time. Google reviews aren't accurate to judge the popularity and second we don't know where you live.@@Emirates1598
@Emirates1598 why would they lie about their revenue and say they make more than they do? Then they'll owe taxes on money they didn't even make, that makes no sense. If anything, when businesses lie about their revenue they'll say they made less than they actually did.
Ive been to multiple cities in mexico, never seen a BBQ place. Im regards to his mac n cheese, yeah could be the best in MX, cause nobody else really makes it. Smart man.
What else does Mexico not have?
gap in the market
Monterrey has some legit spots
@@Mrim86No
We don’t do “BBQ” we do Barbacoa y carne asada.
calling Country Time Lemonade authentic lemonade is crazy lol
I was waiting on someone. anyone to say this
Being from New York and calling it tx bbq is wild
@@lakersboy132
Not really lol it is Texas styled
@@calidawg510 wtf is tx styled? That doesn’t even make sense
@@lakersboy132 It makes perfect sense but ok
Never be afraid to remix your gifts and skills. You never know where it will take you. ❤
So cool that this guy created a market and is thriving in it
I'm a Texan and I ate here a year-or-so ago and it was actually pretty good. Originally, we only came here because of the name, but we were surprised at how good it was 🤣
were there a lot of people there?
@@GizmoMaltese There were not, but we went between lunch and dinner, so it's probably slow for many restaurants during that time
Yeah man, the place is really good!
Even the dogs wouldn’t eat the first batch 😂
gotta wonder what gave him the confidence to start the business lol
The story is good. The edit of this video is awesome too. Congrats to the ones who put this together.
This is much fancier than many BBQ restaurants Ive ever been.. did he really start small back in 2013??
Well, the lower costs surely help with that
The place in wich he Started was an abandone building, but with a great location, and maybe not that small but in the mexican taste it really was a kind of risky Bet, that uktimately payed off well... But not without a lot of work... We are a restaurant not far from the original PG and we can testify the food is good, and the ambiace is the nearest to a Gringo place, in the best of sences... Its like a little American Embassy, but with deliscious food and good vibes... 👌👍
Awesome series. Thank you. Subscribed.
As a native NY Long Islander myself, I can say this is a wildly interesting story because Texas barbecue is not our thing. This guy nailed it! \m/
And his barbecue probably isn’t as good as the real deal in Texas. Also, the potato salad looks terrible.
I’ve learned that every state has their own thing & won’t taste the same elsewhere. California does Mexican & Japanese, Chicago also great Mexican food. Texas has the best BBQ but the worse Mexican food. NY & NJ have the best Italian food
I wasn't financial free until my 40’s and I’m still in my 40’s, bought my third house already, earn on a monthly through passive income, and got 4 out of 5 goals, just hope it encourages someone's that it doesn’t matter if you don’t have any of them right now, you can start TODAY regardless your age INVEST and change your future! Investing in the financial market is a grand choice I made.
yeah investment is the key to sustaining your financial longevity but venturing into any legitimate Investment without a proper guidance of an expert can lead to a great loss too
Hello, I’m 37 and I am not worth much yet , please help me out. Bought my first house last month and I can't seem to make any other smart investment..,-
wanted to trade, but I got discouraged with the market price fluctuations
Can you recommend a guide for me?
Haven't you heard of Expert Chrissy Barymoer ?He gives excellent guide on the right stock with high dividend
As a Mexican American I love Texas style bbq 🔥🔥
Honestly I don't know why he is getting so much hate in the comment section. Dude took a risk most people would not take and it payed off and now doing extremely well.
They prolly hate his dad for not lending him a $1.000 when he so desperately needed it. Lousy father I would say!
Because how tf can a person living in New York talk about Texas style bbq? He would get laughed out of tx
@@lakersboy132The video is also lying. I live in Mexico City and his restaurants are know to be from bad to ok. There's no way he's doing 9 million USD, for that he must do 180,000,000 pesos which doesn't make sense bc his place is always almost empty. Why lying to the audience? I'm sure there's other real success stories out there. No need to lie.
@@Emirates1598bro there are literally many Mexicans from Mexico City in these threads saying the opposite of what you’re saying. They’re saying his restaurants are always packed and the food is delicious. And why would he open up more restaurants if the first one failed? You sound like a hater! 😂
@@Emirates1598maybe they keep bringing lemonade driving a shiny truck. 😅😅
Imma support whole heartedly!💙
I love these guys. He made Mexico the land of opportunity.
Always a land of opportunity when you have the capital to start in a cheaper country.
@@kenS87 In Mexico you don´t need much capital, just start with the basic and you grow.
Mexico has been the land of opportunity since the early 2000.
@pablerry it's cheap to start but it requires great funds to weather the ups and downs.
Not really. There are MANYYYYYY countries I would not go to. In some countries there is just money to be made.@@kenS87
Judging by the comments, there seems to be alot of salt out here in the peanut gallery.🤣🤣🤣💯
A restaurant in mexico from a new yorker who claims he knows texas bbq. Thats wild
Word to yo mutha
He never claimed he knew about it, he actually admitted that it was pretty bad at the beginning that not even dogs would eat it. But practice makes the master and his brisket is awesome. I’ve been there about two times for events we made for our offices in México City.
This is inspirational!
We are already in the big crash , inflation is a catastrophe. This CPI report is a colossal failure. To bring the housing market to a halt,the FED will have to pull all the stops . The unfortunate issues is that the other market are being decimated. If you want to stay green ,you have to rely on a lot of diversification.
Currently up 15% and being carful. Still a better deal than leaving it in a savings or checking account yielding 0-1 percent interest.
People believe their currency has the worth it does because they have no other options. Even in a hyper-inflationary environment , individuals must continue to use their hyper-inflationary currency since they likely have minimal access to other currencies or gold /silver coins.
Inflation is going to gradually going to become part of us and due to the fact any money you keep in cash or in a low-interest decline in value each year. Investing is the only way to make your money grow and unless you have an exceptionally high income,investing is the only way most people ever enough money to retire.
You’re right I diversified my $350k portfolio across various market with the aid of an investment coach Jessica Katherine Ellis I have been able to generate a little bit above 1.2m in net profits across high dividend yield stocks, ETF and bonds during this red season.
*JESSICA KATHERINE ELLIS* is easily searchable on Google. She has extensive knowledge of the financial market.reach out to her through her Google page
I've traded with a lot of individuals I've never come across anyone as good as *JESSICA KATHERINE ELLIS* she's so good when it's comes to investment
Pinche Gringo is one of my favorite restaurants !!!
I had the same idea 35 years ago when I was traveling within MX setting up automation businesses...Great job Congratulations!
😮
You had the idea but failed to executed
@@razielmadrigal2688 lucky for him he doesn't get executed by the cartel
@@tuckerbugeater maybe he'll be executed by a teenager at his local Walmart back home
@@tuckerbugeaterbro STOP, AND then your People ask why EVERYONE in the World hates People from United states.
Hard work beats talent!
9 to 15 dollars a sandwhich?sandwich?? Thats the price of them here in LA while paying employees pesos. Ofcourse you are making 9M+ a year...
so you want them to be paid in dollars? by your logic, every employee and every country in the world should just be paid in dollars instead. lmfao.
My thoughts exactly. This man is exploiting cheap labor to the max.
@@heyhihello9677don’t they pay like 3 dollars an hour to waitresses in America also ? And how can you exploit someone who would make the same at other restaurants in the country ?
@@teenytinytoons No…He was just making sense of it.
Don’t put words that people never said
@@mayanaztec6440not in California. Minimum wage is $16 an hr plus tips
I live in Mexico City and Pinche Gringo is one of my favorite restaurants. I became a huge BBQ fan. Way to go amigos!!
No mames esta bien caro y yo vivo en tejas
I live in México city and didnt know this gringo, pinche gringo, ill be there, dude. ( I Will bring my tortillas 😂)
As an American i am so proud of our BBQ. It's the greatest culinary achievement of this country. Anytime i am speaking with foreigners about food, BBQ is going to get discussed.
I love this story 💕🌻🙏
Hahahaha!!
Love the story behind the lemonade 🤣
It’s also Mexico City guys!! There’s over 20 million living in that city so there’s plenty of patrons in that huge mega city.
he is only 44 YO and running a successful multimillion dollar business amazing love his confidence in himself
Congratulations!!
This is great. I will try it next time I go to CDMX.
I live in Queretaro. I said the same thing. There aren't any real BBQ places there. I was also thinking about opening up one. If anyone wants to partnership with me contact me. Great video! Great job and stay blessed!
Hey I’m interested in making something happen I was born and raised in Chicago now living in Michoacán and love bbq
@@aaronarroyo9409 ok, let's do a video call. How can I contact you?
Good luck to you two! Hope y’all can work out a beautiful partnership! 🤗🥳 @aaronarroyo9409
@@BrittsLilAdvice thank you! Stay blessed!
Bro your from Vallejo, CALIFORNIA? 😲
Love this place! Best in the city to have great memories of my Texas time!
Very inspirational! Pinche gracias 😜
Pure Genius, I got hand it to you 👍👏
Great for you
Ah yes, Mexico, the land of freedom and opportunity. ❤🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽❤
Since when
@@aradhyamishra5590Sincé we dont have 357 k homeless, gang culture, fentanyl cities.
@@DA-wg5cz am I confusing you with a country whose army personnel were held captive in exchange for El Chapo’s son?
so just because USA is the land of serial killers and mass shooters its also not a land of ''freedom"? and opportunity
USA solely doesnt own that label buddy, you need some traveling in your life. @@aradhyamishra5590
@@DA-wg5czSure, that’s why so many Mexicans are fleeing to the US. Please be real.
A lot of details left out like how much is net revenue, how'd he qcquire the loan, pemits, etc
mayeb he applied? just a thought.
What I'm getting the impression on in the comments to somewhat judge how this works is most Americans who never traveled or know how things work outside of the country immediately judge the guy as being the worst human being ever for wanting to do business in Mexico purely because it was about profits for him, not because of the idea or how it's bringing jobs to Mexico that pay well according to the locals who are chiming in. The other observation is this aside, poor-minded people or people that hate successful people always try to look for the worst rather than the best, it's pretty sad.
Calm down. People just have questions. That’s all
it's just woke white lefties and usually those are the worst they never helped anybody in their lives all they do is complain.
Most people dont take it that deep
@@calidawg510 the comments section disagrees there which is why this was said
I been wanting to go there so badly since I love Brisket and I live near the restaurant, but as you all know MXN are worth much less than USD, so I have to work a little bit more just to give myself a little luxury and a good meal 😅not complaining, it is what it is.
Seen how this dude made it here in Mexico, afar from his country and his comfort zone is quite the inspiration many need.
I congratulate this man on accomplishing his dreams!!!
Super, me voy a echar una vuelta en mi próxima visita a CDMX
I hope his dad is now proud of him
***Mexican Cartels have entered the chat***
Beautiful ❤
Haters gonna hate. $9mm Rev is impressive
Awesome story!
@cnbc Mexican food unbelievable 👍
This is such a great story.
Lmaooo the dogs not eating eat is funny
the Jar for Tip´s: Muchas pinches gracias jajaja
awesome story...he has his head right, ambitious about the business and take care of his people as well...
That’s awesome ! Enjoy some good bbq Mexico 🇲🇽
Good to see that American BBQ is getting some worldwide recognition!
*Not American BBQ, Texan style BBQ..
@@user-xw4vg1vy5e Kansas City has the best BBQ in america. Hands down
American bbq is such a beautiful thing 🤩
Inspiring
Very cool. Right on. Smart. Food looks so tasty. Love what your doing down there.
I'm going to CDMX and have a date. Will definitely take her here. Looks and sounds amazing. 👏
Awesome story
Wow, Pinche Gringo is near my place!!!! That where I'm eat on my Birthday and holidays. Always crowded at lunch time
I can’t wait to visit Mexico City!
What a great story. An American making it in a highly competitive Mexican market. I believe north America is the best place to do business
🇨🇦💓🇺🇸💓🇲🇽
This was piece had so many good things, but the one that got to me was the fact that many of the employees had been deported from the US, most probably dreamers, and to have a place that resembled what they had lost in the States must mean the world to them. A little known fact for most Americans is that Mexicans who speak English with an American accent are usually looked down on (too long to explain in a post, and yes it's messed up), so for they to be able to again speak perfect English among co-workers must have been a blessing. Great video!
But I hate when they talk about gross revenue. If you seel $9M a year it doesn't matter if your expenses are $10M. We want to know his revenue after taxes and expenses.
You mean the profit. I agree. On the other hand that would be very private, so they could at least give us some indication that the company is earning significantly more than the expenses, enough to pay a good salary to the founders and partners and still grow.
Couldn’t agree more on the American accent in English. Especially if weve lived in the US. Its a love or hate reaction we get. Theres people that are impressed and curious about us and want us to teach them, but we’re also often met with suspicion, stereotypes, and all too often hostility by people who dont care to get to know us.
Great story!
who would have thought that the american dream in mexico :))) great job guys
Mexico city is a real food town as well. Thriving in that food scene is an awesome accomplishment, and shows a valuable culural exchange. The rest is the sauce that takes the story another level, watched as the founders welcomed deported Americans as often one of the best places work for people who might bot even speak spanish, as they fed people during covid, and as they created a piece of the US without bringing colonizing mindset, they are true builders.
Do they have foods from all over the world? its a big city so I wonder
@StevenFrancisco1 Mexico is the ONLY country in all the Americas to have the award of world heritage food by UNESCO, so Mexico is a global HQ for food
Deported Americans? You can’t be American and deported lol
@@StarstruCk728 Why doesn NYC have that?
The most important thing is the opposite of having a colonizing mindset and being open to the world
Bro That's looks so good 🔥 🍖 🥩 🔥
Inspired!
I guess you showed your daddy that you knew what you were doing😁🙌😎
Awesome achievement
This guy will grow this business very big for sure! I will not impress if in 10-15 years Mexico and USA will be full of franchises with this brand🙏
This business would have failed in the us by like 96% .. god job brother on starting it in Mexico..
Lol stop hating
@@EldePHXhe is 1/2 right tho, no BBQ places in MX
@@etires562american bbq* weirdly enough I’ve seen more korean bbq in mexico city than american
@@waNErBOY
Asians are everywhere
@@calidawg510 not koreans
I gave a sample of our food to dogs & they didn’t eat it 😂
I remember the first reviews of their place, good to see how much it’s grown, congrats!
Not a bad hustle right there. Hustle on.
A place that close to Texas has a New Yorker selling BBQ? 😢
bro that is so fxkcin funny "pinch cringe" 😂😂😂😂
great story
Hold on! 🤣🤣🤣🤣"Lousy White Man BBQ" ?🤣🤣🤣 I love t!
This is a perfect example of 10% product and 90% marketing.
well, he did work for Apple.
Good to see a successful short king! :D
love this story wow i cried Pinche Gringo
4:20 seriously 😅😅😅
So his father did not loan him the money, so how did he get it? Failed to say that part.... Come on CNBC.
The bank gave him a loan, I guess
@@anoukc6928 nobody knows.. lol
business loan
Just like Trump, he doesn't consider a measly 1 million dollars an actual "loan".
EL pinche gringo!!! great place great brisket
Just to remind everyone; BBQ comes from Barbacoa; which is pre-Hispanic. The difference is that BBQ is sweat compare to barbacoa, and in Mexico is still cooked the same for more than 1000 years.
No culture can claim BBQ lmao human society's have been cooking meat over smoke or open flame for more than tens of thousands of years. Just a universal human experience that each culture adds their own unique version to it.
Well it appears that Columbia gave you very good roots to make business, I live in Mexico City, and I have eat good brisket in Houston, but Pinche Gringo also have a very good taste.
I have an amazing coconut bread that would fit perfectly on your dessert list 💕🌻🙏
His father taught him a lesson indicating that he had to figure things out and don't call home when he is in trouble. The father wanted him to learn "What would you do if I was around," and the son figured it out.
Not to create a generalisation based off of a tiny snapshot of someone's life, but people thrive in spite of parents with that mentality, not because of it. Help your children people!
Perfect name for the restaurant
Fascinating. I think every American knows what carne asada is. It's surprising that almost no Mexican knows what brisket is. This likely shows that the primary reason that food is imported and adapted is immigration -- and not, say, that two countries share a large border.
I love it, Echale Ganas Pinche Gringo!