Restaurants are in Mislinski's DNA

Since opening its doors, Hub has served as a prime example of how a restaurant can thrive and survive on East Congress Street, inspiring a stampede of new eateries as they stake their claims along the blossoming thoroughfare.

Mislinski, 38, now has three projects up and running, all within the same block. Hub, which serves American classic cuisine with a contemporary twist; the Playground, the nightclub next door with rooftop dance access; and Lulu's Shake Shoppe, which provides cheap, to-go eats to downtown visitors, including falafel, hot dogs and tots.

In his own words

It started with my grandparents in Cleveland in the 1930s. They had a beer distribution company. They were one of the first up and running after Prohibition, and they also catered all-Polish events. My dad grew up in that environment. He went to the Culinary Institute and met my mom in New Haven, Conn. They owned two restaurants, which they eventually sold when they moved here. I'm a third-generation restaurant guy.

We are coming up on two years for Hub and one year at Playground. Lulu's opened in October. My concepts are really trying to address needs for different kinds of crowds, whether it be a business crowd or families who want a place that serves great, local food. The vision with all my concepts is about my childhood. My job is to get that emotional connection with my guests.

I have a great team. I have 130 employees and a payroll that is over $1.5 million a year. I have a responsibility to support plenty of families. That side of the business is important to me, to make sure I protect the business for my employees, too. If I take care of them, they take care of us.

I live near Carrillo's (Tucson Mortuary). I walk to work or take the 16 or 7 Sun Tran bus if I am being super lazy. If I have time to walk, I really enjoy it. It helps me think about what I'm going to do that day. For me, making great decisions is the most important thing. When you are exhausted, that doesn't work.

(My girlfriend, Jenny, and) I have two kids: Jenny's daughter Luna and our son Polo. They are being raised in the environment here. Honestly, I don't really go out of downtown unless I need something from Home Depot. I don't have a car. Jenny has the car. It is amazing the amount of things that are happening down here.

If you look at the great downtowns of the world, they all have a lot of different reasons why people want to come down. On nights when there are activities in Downtown Tucson, Second Saturdays, or shows at the Rialto or the Fox, people are going to use us.

I don't need them to come to my business every day. I do want them to come downtown every day and maybe to my businesses once or twice a week. We are just an accessory to the downtown experience.

We have four concepts in mind for the future. There is a dumpling concept with noodles, with a narrow shotgun kind of feel. There are stools (in the restaurant), but sometimes you can stand and eat at the same time. You walk in and stand and food starts getting thrown at you.

It is dumplings as a world comfort food. You can get pierogies. There is ramen soup, but also Matzo ball soup.

I'll never lease a larger amount of space than what I have now. All my future concepts are going to be really small, real firecrackers full of energy and zest. These are the big ones.

We have a teamwork approach downtown. That is a big thing we want to hit on. There is competition down here, but the competition is going to breed performance. I think there is a buzz that maybe started a couple of years ago. Nothing looks like it did two years ago. In four to five years the street scene out front is going to be crazy.

I think there are needs for other ethnic foods. You could probably have 60 more restaurants downtown and it wouldn't hurt anyone. There is room for a Miss Saigon or Beyond Bread.

For me, the goal is to get the people around us, then go for the people farther out: people from Oro Valley, Green Valley, the gem-show people. We are focused on the university, too, but the students are only here nine months of the year. The faculty is here the whole time. I am really after the grad students, the faculty and staff.

As business owners, we want to keep improving and getting to the next level. Tucsonans are different. Our pace is different. What we want is different. I like the way we do things. I am excited about the other businesses moving in. If we are all quality and all work hard, we are going to be successful as a downtown.