Restaurant magnate Larry Foles wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

On his own in life at 13, the visionary co-creator of Z’Tejas, Eddie V’s, Roaring Fork and Cover 3 pulled himself above his early circumstances to build an empire of eateries. It wasn’t easy, but he did it by setting a few personal philosophies that have served him well. Treat those you work with like a team. Deliver quality and service that people recognize and value. And stay on the cutting edge.

Most of the tools Foles uses to develop restaurants, he seems to have been born with, but his work ethic may have developed early.

Early Days

Growing up poor in Mississippi, nothing came easy to him. His family split apart when he was 13, and the young teenager found himself on his own from that point forward. He did what he could to get by, took life a day at a time and looked for opportunity. Foles doesn’t spend much time reliving his tough early years, but something in his eyes tells you he remembers them – uses them somehow to propel himself to new success.

“If I didn’t have the past I have, I wouldn’t be who I am today,” he said with shrug. “It all happened for a reason.”

Since the creation of Chez Fred in the early 1980s, Foles and business partner Guy Villavaso have been redefining restaurants in Austin, coming up with concepts that people have never seen before. Judging from their success, people like those concepts.

“With my 30 years in the restaurant business, I can say that Larry Foles is the best restaurant guy out there,” Villavaso said. “He’s the best in food, design and style, and he has tremendous intuitive natural restaurant talent. He has a knack for knowing what people respond to, and he has the discipline to put the details together to create it.”

Not afraid of hard work, Foles worked construction for a while in the early days. It taught him something important about himself.

“I found out that I did not like people telling me what to do,” he said. “I still don’t like it. It felt like time never moved. I kept checking my watch wondering if the day was ever going to end.”

Then Foles got lucky. He took a job managing a local Shoney’s restaurant and got a taste for the food business.

“Time flew; I loved it,” he said. “I knew instantly that I had found my calling. A lot of people work their whole lives and never find the right fit. I stumbled on that early and was lucky enough to recognize it.”

Foles loved the instant feedback that working with restaurant customers provided.

“You can tell at any moment if you are doing well just by looking at people’s eyes,” he said. “You can see it if you’ve got it right, and you can see it if you got it wrong.”

In his creative element, Foles began to dream. He wanted restaurants of his own.

Dynamic duo
Foles and Villavaso met in 1974 while Villavaso was earning a degree in psychology at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Fraternity brother Paul Fleming, creator of PF Chang’s and Fleming’s, hired Villavaso to work at the local Saturday’s, a restaurant company that Foles was by then presiding over. Villavaso moved with Foles to Austin in 1975. Five years later, they opened their own restaurant, Chez Fred, an upscale restaurant that served pastries, popular lunches and Southwestern cuisine. Starting a strategy that would prove a reliable winner for the new entrepreneurs, the restaurant concept was new to Austin. With the confidence that the success of Chez Fred earned them, Foles and Villavaso opened Z’Tejas in 1989.

“The first year was tough; we didn’t know if we were going to make it,” Foles said.

Then Foles brought in Chef Jack Gilmore and put Texas food and California food together on the menu.

“It was off to the races,” Foles said.

The dynamic restaurant duo opened their first Roaring Fork restaurant in Scottsdale, Ariz., in 1995. The restaurant features wood-fired cooking – meats and fish – combined with high-end service. The Scottsdale restaurant was followed by Austin and San Antonio locations.

Eddie V’s, one of Austin’s most treasured eating establishments, opened in 1999, offering seafood and steak in a luxurious setting. The restaurant offers live music, and some customers swear it serves the freshest seafood in the country. That freshness is no mistake. Foles and Villavaso spent a lot of time learning from the experts how to recognize fresh fish, how to buy it off the docks, how to transport it to the restaurant and how to take care of it once it was there. That kind of attention to detail and dependable high quality food set the pace for fine dining in Austin and helped create the magic of Eddie V’s that draws loyal customers back time and again.

Foles and Villavaso also created and own Wildfish Seafood Grille restaurants in Newport Beach, Calif., and San Antonio.

“There’s a market out there for service people recognize when you deliver it,” Foles said. “If it’s a product somebody likes, adjust it to where they love it. Guy and I have gotten very good at recognizing what works and putting our own twist on it.”

The economic downturn that is taking its toll on a lot of other restaurants isn’t discouraging Foles and Villavaso. They have opened five new restaurants in the last 14 months and plan to open four more during the coming year.

Recipe for Success

In addition to Foles’ talent for recognizing and creating the next big thing in dining trends, what makes him so good at what he does? Some people think it’s his personality and the respect he earns from his employees – from the busboys to the general managers of his restaurants.

“In my mind, Larry’s success can be attributed to the combination of his attention to the detail of quality and his easygoing personality,” said Doug English, longtime friend and player for the Detroit Lions who now serves as president of the Lone Star Paralysis Foundation. “I’ve found that successful businesses always emulate the man or woman at the top. In Larry’s case, you have businesses that deliver unanticipated quality delivered by people that truly want to see you enjoy the experience.”

Doug Young has been working with Foles since 1979. He said he considers his mentor to be a second father.

“Larry has that charisma that makes people want to be around him,” Young said. “He’s that guy that will do anything for you. He works hard, he’s good at what he does, and he treats people the way they want to be treated. It’s all family to Larry.”

“We’re all a team, that’s why we are so good,” Foles said. “We see a problem, and we all attack it. We tell the truth. We respond quickly.”

Foles believes in training and the value of good information. He and Villavaso keep track of comments by customers, and they bring in people who can help analyze what’s going on in the world. They make sure that every employee gets a snapshot of reality on a regular basis.

Foles is no fool. After decades in the business, he knows what he is up against to stay on the top.

“The restaurant business is the highest-risk business out there,” he said. “But you can’t think about that. You have to think about how much you enjoy it.”

Foles also knows that it takes more than a wary eye to stay successful. Creativity is key.

“You have to chase the vision, not the money,” he said. “If you have a vision and don’t follow that because you think it is too costly, you’ve killed it. That’s true all the way down to the furniture you put on your patio. Chase the vision.”

Family Business

As profitable as Foles is in his professional life, he knows that, at the end of the day, success is measured by much more than accounting books. Family is what centers the entrepreneur. When the business day is done, he looks forward to turning it all off and spending time with his wife, Melissa, and he looks forward to watching his three children, who range in age from 16 to 20, grow and develop independent spirit of their own.

“Seeing them blossom, seeing if there is anything you can teach them – that’s important,” he said. “If you can instill an entrepreneurial spirit, help them see something of their own, that would be the real pleasurable part of life.”

Foles extends that fatherly eye to his corporate family members as well. What keeps him in the business as much as anything else is the opportunity it affords him to train others and grow new entrepreneurs.

“If you can do that, you’ve done something important,” he said.

Foles recently put his money where his mouth is in that respect. Along with Villavaso, he helped former employees Young and Matt Dodson open their own restaurant, Cover 3. Another groundbreaking concept restaurant – a sports bar and restaurant with high-quality food and drinks that targets women. Open 10 months now,  Cover 3  seems destined for success.

Villavaso said that Foles is able to transfer his passion for what he does to those around him.

“He’s uncompromising, and he demands excellence and instills those demands in others,” Villavaso said. “Larry is a standard bearer. When he walks into a restaurant, he’s got all his senses going full tilt.”

Neither Foles nor Villavaso show any signs of slowing down.

“Larry is relentless,” his longtime partner said. “No matter what success he has had, he comes in a place like he’s trying to make his first restaurant work. There’s not a relaxed bone in his body.”