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Emad Yacoub, Winner: Hospitality

The 2010 Hospitality and Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year is Emad Yacoub?, the president and CEO of Glowbal Restaurant Group Inc.?

By Rebecca Tay /

emad-yacoub_ceo-glowbal-restaurant_5.jpg

The 2010 Hospitality and Tourism Entrepreneur of the Year is Emad Yacoub
, the president and CEO of Glowbal Restaurant Group Inc.



I have no shame,” says Emad Yacoub, and this in-your-face attitude accounts for at least part of his company’s success. The 45-year-old mastermind behind such see-and-be-seen restaurants as Coast, Society and Italian Kitchen, Yacoub single-handedly transformed Vancouver’s restaurant scene when he opened Glowbal Grill and Satay Bar in 2002. Eight years later (an eternity in a notoriously fickle industry), his group comprises six restaurants, two lounges and a catering company, each profitable, with total revenues expected to exceed $32 million this year. 


But back to Yacoub’s lack of shame: the loud patterned dress shirt by Italian designer Etro that he is wearing on the day of our interview offers ample evidence. From a business perspective, the examples are similarly easy to come by. He recalls an early restaurant review that called him the “car salesman at the door” and remembers soliciting customers in the long lineup at Milestones to try his restaurant instead, saying, “If you don’t like our food, it’s free.”


Four Questions

What was your first real job?



I squeezed oranges at the Hilton in Toronto. I bought my own stopwatch; I could squeeze a bucket of oranges in 6.5 minutes.

What was your first big break in your current business?



Nothing. We’ve worked hard for everything we’ve achieved.

Who is your role model/mentor?



Gordon Ramsay, 15 years ago. I was impressed by how he taught his staff to be managers.

If I wasn’t doing this, I’d be…


An architect or a clothing designer. When I worked in the kitchen, my dishes would have architectural columns made from stacked phyllo.


Others might scoff at such tactics, but Yacoub’s gutsy moves and revolutionary ideas have shaped his success. Where other restaurateurs would balk at the idea of selling gift cards at Costco, he embraced the idea, even offering those customers a 20 per cent discount. The program now generates $1 million annually and according to Yacoub has established Glowbal as the wholesaler’s best-selling restaurant partner in North America.


The recession of 2008-09 didn’t stop Yacoub from opening four new operations (up next: a Gastown trattoria, if all goes according to plan). He also claims his was the first restaurant group to embrace Twitter, incorporating social media into its annual marketing budget of $2 million. Customer freebies totalling $65,000 monthly explain why his customers are so loyal. “I often ask my waiters, ‘What did we buy them?’ because it keeps people coming back,” he says. “It’s not just a restaurant; it’s magic we’re selling.” 


Yacoub’s personal touch – “I always recognize a face,” he says – and commitment to his 780 employees, 26 of whom have invested in the company, are also key success drivers. Yacoub and co-owner Jack Lamont disclose their own salaries to staff, “to motivate managers to make more money,” he explains. Indeed, “everything we do is a chessboard business move,” he says – even if it seems shameless.