Fidel Fares has come a long way, from humble beginnings during a civil war in Lebanon to owning and running one of the most successful franchises in the area. “I grew up in Beirut; it was during the civil war so it wasn’t always easy. We would sometimes be interrupted in school and were displaced from our city to another city depending on the situation.” He left Lebanon in 1982 for France to go to college there for three years, and then to Dubai. He graduated with a degree in aviation and worked in Dubai for an airline for ten years. It was in 1991 that he came to Miami Florida to take his FAA dispatch exam with Pan American Airlines. “When I went to Miami I fell in love with America, I lived in Miami for two months and in January 1993 I moved to Los Angeles permanently.” Upon arriving to LA he worked several different jobs, a Beverly Hills travel agency and also a restaurant. “I met my friend Sam Kaissy who is the founder of Dalia’s pizza when he came to buy a sandwich and I was the cashier. I hadn’t seen him in many, many years and he told me he was in the pizza business and that I should come see him.” That same weekend he went to visit, “He asked me to work for him as a pizza delivery boy in the city of Rancho Cucamonga which was my third job. I liked it. I was delivering about 50 orders a day on the weekends making about a hundred dollars in tips. That’s when I told him I wanted to become a pizza man.”
His friend Sam advised him to learn the business, all of the cooking and all of the management. After three years a location that used to be Mike’s Pizza in Azusa opened up and Fidel jumped on it. “I opened my first Dalia’s Pizza in October of 1995 and in that same year I got engaged and married to my wife Hala.” As a team they tackled their new business, having no employees they were there from open until closing, and in the end, the business was a success. “In 1997 I opened my second location in Covina with lots of success as well; we really take care of our customers and make sure we always develop menu items and buy the best ingredients even if it cuts into our profit margin.”
In taking over the old Whole Enchilada Location, Fidel is planning a new kind of Dalia’s Pizza. With overwhelming support from the community and the land lord he is able to make his new vision of Dalia’s come true. It will be a full service restaurant offering a full breakfast, lunch and dinner menu. As always they will still offer carryout and delivery. “The restaurant is going to be called ‘Dalia’s Italian Ristorante’ a new version of Dalia’s Pizza and it will host the best banquet location in this area.”
Dalia’s Italian Ristorante will open in May, 2010 and will be offering free pizza for a year for the first 100 customers on opening night. “I couldn’t have done this without the support from my customers, the Mayor of Azusa Joe Rocha, the Azusa City Council, and the City Manager Mr. Delach, along with many others who have helped me with this new venture.”
Fidel expresses that keeping his 100,000 customer database happy is his key success. “I treat all my customers like they are my only customers. I feed my customers quality food like I would feed my own family.”
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