When looking back at running a family-owned business, it was always about the relationships made, lessons learned and the memories collected along the way, according to owner of the El Cholo restaurants Ron Salisbury.
Salisbury was the keynote speaker for the Business Journal’s 25th annual Family-Owned Business Awards at the Irvine Marriott hotel on May 30. More than 300 people from the Orange County business community were in attendance.
Salisbury’s grandparents opened the first El Cholo 100 years ago and he currently operates six locations between Southern California and Salt Lake City. He opened the event sharing stories of the people he was able to meet because of the business, such as actor Jack Nicholson and UCLA basketball coach John Wooden.
While the restaurateur congratulated all the nominees in the room, he also paid tribute to his friend and founder of Polly’s Pies and shared admiration for the González family of Northgate Markets.
“This is not your ordinary group [of winners],” Salisbury, who was named the Business Journal’s 2023 Restaurateur of the Year, said.
This year’s event welcomed two new platinum sponsors, Bridgeford Trust Company and Infinity Bank.
Five Firms
Out of 42 nominees, the event’s five honorees were:
•  Newport Beach-based law firm Albright Yee & Schmit APC, in the small business category.
• Also in Newport Beach, medical aesthetics firm Forever Ageless, in the medium business category.
• Lake Forest-based technology company iBase-t Inc., in the large business category.
• Costa Mesa-based real estate developer LAB Holding LLC won the Up and Coming Award.
• Anaheim-based Mexican grocery chain Northgate González Markets earned the Longevity Award.
Upcoming Events
The Business Journal’s Innovator of the Year Awards will be the next event held on Sept. 12.
Robert Brunswick, co-founder and chairman of Newport Beach-based real estate investment firm Buchanan Street Partners, and co-founder of Hoag Innovators, will be this year’s keynote speaker.
The following event will be the Women in Business Awards on Oct. 30 and will feature Brie Olson, the chief executive of Anaheim-based PacSun, as the main speaker.
