BUSINESS PROFILE:

Rob Bitar’s Pizza, Pasta & Grill

Bitar’s success story did not happen overnight. Years of patiently waiting until the demographics were “just right” along the East Hants Corridor are now paying off for the young entrepreneur as Bitar’s offers a unique fine dining experience unparralled from Halifax to Moncton.

About Rob Bitar

Rob Bitar learned the value of hard work and developed a keen business sense by working in his parents’ delicatessen as a youth. In 1998, with the guidance of his brother-in-law, a 21-year-old Bitar opened his first food service business in Elmsdale, Bitar’s Pizza & Donair. On the same location as his present day business, Bitar first learned how to make the products and then improved the recipes by adding his own ingredients to the mix. Bitar attributes his cooking skills to his parents, who loved to cook, and encouraged him to do so as well by learning the basics and then personalizing recipes.

However, while the young Bitar worked at making his pizzeria successful, he always dreamed for something more, something unique to the rural backdrop of East Hants.

All Things Come with Time and Patience

The dream of opening a fine dining experience was not a sudden thought put to action. Bitar watched for many years as the community grew into the current population that could support such an establishment. Determining that the community demographics were prime for his business to be successful, Bitar still remained visibly inactive as he contemplated the many facets of design, staffing, municipal regulations, menus, recipes, and more.

The interior design of Bitar’s is highly creative and reflects the modern urban décor found in elite establishments of city centers. Using natural hues, textured paint techniques, and leafy greenery offset by the coolness of cast iron and chrome, patrons can easily feel that they have stepped into summer’s eve during even the coolest of winter days. Full wines bottles adorn the upper walls, creating a rich Italian feel, while being useful to the servers at the same time.

Bitar takes pride in his conservative philosophy that “If I don’t know what I want, I don’t do it,” attributing the lack of signage on the building for a year to trying to find the perfect compliment to his restaurant. Through six months of extensive planning, every inch of the interior was given careful consideration to both atmosphere and practicality, boasting barrier free dining and tasteful cohesion with recent upgrades in municipal bylaws.

Satisfied Staff Successfully Satisfy Customers

Rob Bitar fondly reminisced about the initial days of trying to renovate the building to meet his new design while still operating his traditional pizza and donair shop to maintain operating cash flow. With the expanded menu and sit down dining, Bitar had to broaden his focus from quick product preparation with limited customer service to an experience in fine dining. Staffing, he admitted, has been the most difficult issue due to the geographic location and his desire for highly qualified staff.

Working alongside his staff, Bitar has gained a genuine appreciation for their workplace concerns and consults with his them to find practical solutions to potential employment barriers. During peak hours, kitchen staff will frequently move to the main serving floor to assist servers during the seating and ordering rush, and, in turn, servers will help out in the kitchen once the orders have been placed and the rush transfers to the kitchen. Bitar says the reciprocal approach makes everyone feel better about their jobs and shows the customer that exceptional service is the main priority. “Everyone needs to pitch in to be successful,” he says, citing that each staff member is dependent on the others for their livelihood as dissatisfied customers do not return and deter their colleagues from doing so as well. During the initial days of the “reopening,” Bitar admits that things could get hectic, but applauded his staff for remaining calm, ensuring that the customers felt everything was under control.

“The clients seem pleased. They seem to like my ideas,” says Bitar, who demands only the best from décor to ingredients. “Everything is made from scratch, from sauces to breads.” Meticulous about quality, Bitar always has a chef or sous-chef in the kitchen to create both mouth watering and visually appealing dishes.

At 29 years old, Rob Bitar has certainly carved out a niche in the East Hants food service industry through careful attention to detail, extensive planning, and making his customers his number one priority.

In paraphrasing Bitar, “I’m not brand loyal – I’m loyal to my customers. Whether it’s Pepsi or Coke, at Bitar’s customers get what they want."