O.C. Q&A: Joe Manzella of TAPS Fish House & Brewery
Joe Manzella’s vision of opening a fish house really started taking shape when he worked at Xerox Corp. in Los Angeles.
He was restless in the corporate world and already spent his spare time cooking seafood and steaks and serving craft beers to guests at his home.
Manzella convinced his father to support his dream of opening a restaurant, and after five years of developing a business plan, the restaurateur opened TAPS Fish House & Brewery in Brea in 1999.
Eight years later, he opened a second location in South Corona. At the time, he also owned The Catch seafood restaurant in Anaheim, and after the restaurant’s lease was terminated, he developed a new Catch off East Katella Avenue in Anaheim. His third TAPS opened June 8 in a new, 10,000-square-foot location in The Market Place in Irvine. He also co-owns Lillie’s Q in Brea.
Today, he oversees close to 500 employees and more than $30 million in annual sales.
Manzella is a supporter of community events, including the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Brea Senior Center and Curtis Theatre, among many others. He also supports his alma mater, Arizona State University, through fundraising and athlete-appreciation events.
Manzella lives in Yorba Linda with his wife, Michelle, and their three children.
He recently talked about his restaurant’s expansion, success and his entree recommendations. Spoiler alert: He favors comfort food with a sweet-and-spicy kick.
Weekend: Why did you decide to pursue a career in the restaurant business?
Manzella: I was at a crossroads in my career and wanted to explore opportunities outside of corporate America. My mother’s cooking and hospitality was always something that I gravitated to, even at a very young age. The stars aligned in 1996 and I jumped at the chance.
Weekend: You’ve emphasized community service in your career and through your restaurant. Tell us why you do this kind of work.
Manzella: Giving back was always something that was instilled in me since as far back as I can remember. I played lots of team sports, traveled a lot, and always had a sense of community and being around others. It is very natural for me to want to help others and try to make opportunities a real possibility for them like others did for me, namely my parents and life mentors.
Weekend: What has been your greatest professional success and biggest setback?
Manzella: Success has been making it 16 years in the restaurant business and getting to owning five restaurants, especially when there was a very large peanut gallery of critics that said I wouldn’t make it six months after opening TAPS Brea in 1999. We are employing nearly 500 people. That is enormously gratifying.
Biggest setback was having to push through the horrific economic downturn of 2008, four months after opening an enormous location with TAPS Corona. Just the absolute worst timing imaginable made us really scramble financially to ensure overall fiscal security of the three restaurants at the time. I’m not going to lie, it was enormously nerve-wracking and scary to own large, higher-end restaurants in 2008. That struggle really set us back years in terms of growing things.
Weekend: You were named Restaurateur of the Year for 2011 by Orange County Business Journal. What’s your secret to keeping customers coming in?
Manzella: There are not secrets in this business. None. You’d better keep fresh, creative and exciting or you will literally die a slow death. We have to keep our guests intrigued, and we must embrace differentiation. I travel a lot, and when I do it’s a giant eye opener to how things in this business evolve and change very quickly. My senior managers understand this and have bought into it so we can move very quickly with menu changes, new techniques or different approaches to the business. We have recently kicked up our table side offerings and introduced liquid nitrogen desserts and cocktails, done table-side. Guests have a ball watching it and being immersed in it.
Weekend: What are some of your favorites off the TAPS Fish House & Brewery menu?
Manzella: Being Italian and Sicilian, I grew up eating my mother’s incredible pasta, meatballs and sauce. It’s embedded in me. So we have killer cioppino at TAPS that reminds me so much of my upbringing and is a wonderful comfort dish for me and my hands-down favorite. I order Caesar salads everywhere I go in America, so having a great table-side one at TAPS was a must. I love how bold it is and really enjoy it. And, of course, our Chilean sea bass is legendary for a reason and has always been phenomenal to eat, even after 15 years.