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Frank Neri closed his first restaurant, Pez, when he received the E -mail.
It was a Monday when he announced the closure. Two days later a message came from the Michelin guide in which photos, chefs and a complete description of the restaurant were asked.
“We didn’t get a star,” says Neri. “But we made the list. And we were already closed.”
The irony was not lost to him. After years of having deposited his heart into Pez, a Baja style of seafood concept came rooted in good food, the validation came just a few days late.
“The media jumped on it,” he says. “The story about how we were closed just before the list was released.”
But the experience gave Neri clarity. He had chased perfection and ambition, and he learned how fragile a great restaurant can be. That lesson stayed with him. That also did the need to evolve.
“I used to think that good food meant success,” he explains. “Now I know it’s about doing really good one thing, keeping the team small and staying focused.”
Related: what it is like to set up a restaurant show for 55,000 people
Just like many others in the hospitality world, Neri had to learn in public. He made serious decisions, weathered closures and leaned on a WhatsApp group local restorers in Miami to share strategies and vente frustrations during the pandemic.
The group, to which he jokes refers as the Cuban Mafia, included some of the most influential operators in the city. “One day they would say,” Tomorrow we will talk to the mayor, we are urging full capacity, “Neri recalls.” And then it would actually happen. “
Those hard lessons have reformed his approach to the company. It became the beginning of The Primo Red Tacos.
Related: How a place on ‘The Montel Williams Show’ has fueled a restaurant option for this Miami Chef
The Birria Taco Boom
When the pandemic struck, Neri had a choice. Instead of double in large dining rooms and complicated menus, he simplified. He took a slowly stewed beef Birria recipe, one that he had quietly served for Brunch, and changed it at the center of a stripped pop-up. Only Birria. Pick up alone. Twenty hours a week.
Within a few days people stood in line around the block.
But the movement was not only reactive. The foundation was built years earlier, during a trip to Tijuana in 2012. Neri remembers the exact date, July 28, because it changed the way he thought about taste.
“I had this TOSTADA with yellow -fintonine and machaca,” he says. “I had trained in France and Spain, but this was something else. A taste explosion.”
It was not about copying that dish; It was about chasing that feeling. The impact of bold, unexpected flavor combinations inspired Neri’s approach to tacos. He wanted to create something memorable, but rooted in his own voice and vision.
Years later, when nobody in Miami did Tacos as he remembered, Neri gave the city six months to get it right. When nobody did, he launched his own concept: The Primo Red Tacos.
Related: A loyal customer asked him to take care of one event. Now he runs more than 1,000 a year.
Now located in the center of Miami, The Primo Red Tacos Keep the menu tight and the focus singular. The specialty is Birria and everything is all about doing well. “We specialize. That is what we believe in,” he says. “Specialize, perfect it and that’s it.”
Even the recipes are personal. Neri’s mother-in-law helped to shape the original Birria blend, which he refined with care.
Neri offers its advice with the same clarity that came from hard -fought experience. Take small steps. Avoid inflated menus. Focus on what you care most about. That mentality did not just help him to return; It gave him a new blueprint for growth.
Failing did not end his career. It was the stage for slightly more focused, more intentional and more successful. “We are proud of our food,” says Neri. “Everyone is doing Birria now, but not everyone is doing well. Nobody does it like us.”
Related: This ‘chopped’ champion defeated 6 times cancer, lost almost 200 pounds and found strength in presence
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Frank Neri closed his first restaurant, Pez, when he received the E -mail.
It was a Monday when he announced the closure. Two days later a message came from the Michelin guide in which photos, chefs and a complete description of the restaurant were asked.
“We didn’t get a star,” says Neri. “But we made the list. And we were already closed.”
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