While appearing in a TV commercial for American Express in 2003, Chef Rocco DiSpirito said that 90% of restaurants fail within the first year. And as it turns out, that is completely false. And yet people keep quoting that statistic… But according to the National Restaurant Association, the real number is closer to 30% for the first year. And another 30% fail within the next two years.

While the failure rate for restaurants is not nearly as high as people think, it is still very intimidating for restauranteurs to open a new concept. So today we explored the challenges with Sal Zappone of Zappone’s Italian Bistro in Gilbert, Arizona, which has been open for about a year.

We talked to Sal about how he balances the busy life of being a restauranteur and chef as well as husband and father. We get his thoughts on Yelp, hiring staff, and what happens when the price of mozzarella goes through the roof.

*Please note that the correct website address is: http://www.zapponesbistro.com/