From the pages of In Business magazine.
Monona native Joe Klinzing, 54, probably never realized that his very first job at Taco John’s would evolve into a career he would retire from decades later. But as a wet-behind-the-ears teenager, he took to the restaurant business like cheese on nachos, working his way up and eventually owning several Taco John’s franchises around town. He’s also never shied away from risk and at one point even started a pest control business from scratch.
Seven years ago Klinzing retired from Taco John’s, but retirement was short-lived.
He and his wife, Marita, now own two Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt shops in Madison, two self-serve car washes outside of town, and a few rental apartments downtown. Their primary focus, though, is the Off Broadway Drafthouse (the former South Bay Lounge and Grill), which opened in May at 5404 Raywood Road after the couple spent 11 months transforming the building. We recently met with Klinzing at Off Broadway to discuss his varied career.
IB: Taco John’s was not only your first job, but turned into the career you retired from. What was the attraction?
Klinzing: I just loved Taco John’s from the very beginning. I took pride in it. It’s all about the people and serving the customers. Ego is a part of it. You like being in business because you have the opportunity to give back to the community through charities. I love that aspect.
IB: Now you’re focusing on the Off Broadway Drafthouse.
Klinzing: The social atmosphere is really exciting and rewarding. The location couldn’t be better and we have great plans and a tremendous chef!
IB: What has been the most difficult time throughout your varied career?
Klinzing: There have been several. First, when we closed down the University Avenue Taco John’s location and had a Middleton location, as well. I got behind with one of my purveyors to the tune of a couple hundred thousand dollars, which is easy to do. That was a big lesson. It took about three years to resolve.
Later, we owned the South Bay Lounge and Grill, which was doing fantastic until the smoking ban hit. That was an extremely difficult time. We had to lay people off, lost our chef, and the bottom line wasn’t there anymore. Luckily we were able to lease the property and walk away, so that was a positive. Within a year we sold the Taco John’s, retired to the Boscobel area, and got away from everything except a little farming and a couple of carwashes.
IB: Then you moved back?
Klinzing: We got bored, honestly, and that’s when we came back and invested in our first Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt store.
IB: So you’ve already retired once, in your mid 40s!
Klinzing: Retirement is a term … once you retire, you worry if you have enough money; you worry about the economy and the stock market. I’d rather have more control over my destiny than investments. I’ll probably never retire again. I’ll probably always keep things burning just enough to be able to get away when we want to. I still put in 12-hour days occasionally. On Friday nights I wash dishes here. It’s just fun being involved in a team effort of taking care of customers.
IB: How difficult is it to find workers?
Klinzing: We’ve been fortunate, but it’s hard to find a dishwashing person. Most people think that’s the lowest job on the totem pole but it’s the most important job here. You can cover for not having a waiter or bartender, but if you’re missing that dishwasher, everyone in the whole place notices!
IB: Will you continue buying and selling businesses?
Klinzing: No, this is the last. We’ve done a number of different things but always come back to restaurants. This seems natural to us.
IB: Financially, is everything clicking?
Klinzing: We’re in a tough cycle again. We invested in three Orange Leaf Frozen Yogurt stores (they sold one) and opened Off Broadway all within four years, so financially it’s tough, but that’s what we do. We like the risk and we’ll never give up. It’s not about the money. It’s the journey and we have to enjoy it. If we’re going to worry about it all the time, what’s the point?
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