When asked why he left a 30+ year career in the steel industry to open Chino’s Mexican Restaurant in Gering, Nebraska, Ed Bartella had a quick answer: “I’d been doing the same thing for an awful long time.” Ed and his wife Christina are no strangers to being entrepreneurs – Christina owns and runs a Service Master franchise in northwest Nebraska. They also are no strangers to being in the kitchen – they have a large extended family and enjoy cooking for them regularly. Word of their culinary talents got around to a local steak house restaurant in their community of Gering, Nebraska, and they were asked to cater a Christmas party – and asked to specifically cater dishes outside of the restaurant’s normal meat and potatoes fare. Ed and his wife cooked up enchiladas, rice and beans and homemade tortillas for more than 200 people. Their food was such a hit that they were asked to cater there again the following year.
For Ed, starting a restaurant seemed to be almost pre-... Read More