LynIsland Grill, a Caribbean-style restaurant owned by Jamaican investors, is scheduled to open its doors on April 11 on Pembroke Road and will offer 16 tropical fruit flavours of Willie's ice cream, a Trinidadian brand.
The restaurant, owned by Thalia and Michael Lyn and David McRae, all from Jamaica, is the second Island Grill the three have set up in the United States. The first, in Lauderdale Lakes, opened last year.
Willie's line of ice cream, produced in South Florida under licence from the Trinidadian-based Willie's Ice Cream Ltd., is sold at three other outlets in South Florida, as well as in New York City and Puerto Rico.
Both companies have targeted South Florida as a key market because of its large Carib-bean community, and co-branding at the restaurant is expected to generate benefits for both parties.
"Willie's is a tropical dessert in keeping with our whole island concept," said Thalia Lyn. "We were very pleased to work with a Trinidadian product."
"Co-branding with Island Grill gives our brand an opportunity to grow as the restaurant grows," said Earl Hall who, along with his brother Douglas-Ray Hall, represents Willie's in the United States. "This is part of an effort to put our product in as many markets as we can."
The new Island Grill, which covers about 4,000 square feet and will seat 104 people, will offer a tropical menu with an emphasis on Jamaican jerk specialties, Mrs. Lyn said.
It will employ 30 workers to start, and eventually could expand to 40 employees.
The three partners have invested US$700,000 in the venture to date, and also have raised US$100,000 in working capital, Lyn said.
The funds came from their savings, she added, a low-interest World Bank loan obtained through the Jamaica Exporters Association, and a grant from the European Union facilitated by the Jamaica Promotions Corp. (JAMPRO), a Government agency that aids businesses.
The partners also have seven Island Grill restaurants in Jamaica, where the chain was founded.
"This is colonisation in reverse," Mrs. Lyn added. "We're taking our company off the island and into the big U.S."
Willie's, founded by Trinida-dian entrepreneur Wilbur Balgobin, operates throughout the Caribbean from its base in Trinidad. In South Florida, the ice cream is sold at two outlets at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and at a store in Lauderhill owned by Earl Hall and his brother.
The first store opened by Willie's in the United States, an outlet on Oakland Park Boulevard, closed last year before the Halls opened their store.
Hall said that despite the closure, the company continues to look for new opportunities to expand in South Florida.
From South Florida Sun-Sentinel
