Cabo Fresh Opens in Stony Brook, Looks to Franchise Brand

Just two months after he launched his ninth restaurant, Cabo Fresh in Stony Brook, owner Jim DiVilio is already looking to expand.

The next step is to franchise Cabo Fresh, a process DiVilio is currently undertaking quickly after opening the first location. He said his ultimate goal is to expand in Manhattan and high-end hotels.

While the economic climate may be hard on small businesses looking to become a franchise, DiVilio's years of experience may help him succeed, according to Yves Michel, Suffolk County Commissioner of Economic Development.

"It is likely that most small business owners will be more prepared to open a second location through their experience in having opened a first location," Michel said.

According to Michel, Suffolk County reduced the time it takes to get a health department permit from 16 weeks to four, and has enacted economic development solutions like the Suffolk Unified Permit Portal (SUPP). SUPP allows small business owners to submit permit applications to the county, town and village all at once, thus reducing the time it takes a business owner to obtain the right permits before opening.

As he builds his brand, an alternative goal for DiVilio, a resident of St. James, may be to expand it as a family business.

"My children work here. They love it," he said about the ones who helped him with the menu and ingredients. "For the first time in 25 years, my wife is working with me."

The restaurant, a Mexican/Californian surf grill, is named after the Cabo San Lucas area in California and took a year of development, from the menu to the eco-friendly theme inside. DiVilio said he wants patrons to experience the feeling of tropical vacation as well as an upscale feeling as they eat. It's something he’s willing to pay extra for to separate Cabo Fresh from the competition, which he recognizes is fierce. There's a Green Cactus location on Route 25A in Stony Brook, Salsa Salsa in Port Jefferson, and a Chipotle in Hauppauge.

"There's a new concept coming out every day," DiVilio said. "I said let me build something that I don't think the average person would try to copy because it's too expensive. So I tried to cut out my competition by overdeveloping the concept."

Opened on Aug. 15 in the former Cold Stone Creamery space on Nesconset Highway, just getting the 2,000-square-foot restaurant open was an expensive undertaking. DiVilio fell in love with the location because customers driving on Route 347 could see the storefront twice: once before being blocked by Red Lobster, and again after passing Red Lobster. Having that location cost extra: it entailed buying out the remainder of the Cold Stone lease and paying the former tenant's franchise obligation. He estimated that the environmental theme, recycled fixtures, high efficiency appliances, and biodegradable supplies cost about 40 percent extra.

"That's half the story," DiVilio said. "The other half of the story is we make everything from scratch every day. We buy the best chicken available, the best cuts of meat available, [and] local produce, which is twice the price in some cases."

Already the owner of El Dorado in Port Jefferson Station, Divilio, 44, said he wanted a location that doesn’t take him too far away from his family.

"I'm honestly cemented into this because there are very few places for my family to eat healthy," DiVilio said, "and we have to drive a large distance to get there."