El Fogon Diner’s recipe for surviving the recession

The recession is hurting consumers everywhere and sales are down in most businesses. At La Isla Bonita, News Five found out this week that hotel occupancy was considerably down over the same period last year. There was a silver lining, however, for one businessman in the food business. Proprietor of El Fogon Diner in San Pedro, Norman Eiley, says that he is holding his own because of the type of food he offers.

Norman Eiley, Proprietor, El Fogon Diner, San Pedro
“Surprisingly increasing, even though things supposed to be slow, things been on the rise for us. We’ve been in operation for three years and for the first two and a half years we’ve been dealing with locals a lot and the locals start telling people about a real local place because we kept fire hearth. That’s what they want to see and then word of mouth and some of the hotels recommend their guests to come to El Fogon. So it’s constantly on the rise that way. You can see for yourself how it is. We have to expand—not necessarily expand in size, but in food – more pots or bigger pots.”

Eiley says he believes that their unique touch, coupled with small incentives they give their habitual customers, are what contributes to the steady growth in business.