We’re celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month by highlighting NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) staff, services, and businesses we’ve helped. Read on to learn more about Colombian-American Farid Ali Lancheros of Bogotá Latin Bistro, who has benefitted from services provided by NYC Business Acceleration and NYC Business Solutions.
"What you’ve done for this community is incredible." – Bogotá Latin Bistro customer
Bogotá Latin Bistro is a restaurant dedicated to elevating the status of Latin foods, particularly Colombian cuisine, and culture via food, music, service, and attention to detail. After four years of intense research and preparation on how to run a successful business, Farid Ali Lancheros and George Constantinou Fernandes – both with no prior experience in starting a business – opened Bogotá Latin Bistro in July 2005.
Currently, Bogotá Latin Bistro has about 70 employees, and grossed more than 4 million in revenue last year. Bogotá Latin Bistro is a five-time Inc. 5000 Honoree, winner of the Small Business Person of the Year Award for 2013 from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s New York District Office, and a National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation 2014 Faces of Diversity Awards finalist. Farid and George were invited to the White House earlier this year to discuss Living Wages and employees’ overtime pay.
In May, Farid was featured on the cover of El Diario [video here], and in August he was a guest on ABC 7’s Tiempo with Joe Torres, along with SBS Deputy Commissioner Robinson Hernandez [view Part 1 and Part 2 of the interview]. Additionally, Farid and Bogotá Latin Bistro have been featured in commercials for NYC’s Paid Sick Leave Law (en Español), AMEX Small Business Saturday, ink from Chase, and Google Ad Words.
Photos courtesy of Bogotá Latin Bistro