It’s been a long time coming for the grand opening of Burly’s California Bistro in West Modesto.
After 18 months, owner Kimberly Gainer and CFO John Curtis can finally breathe a sigh of relief. With the help of Access Plus Capital, Burly’s opened its doors on North Carpenter Road.
Kimberly Gainer was born and raised in West Modesto, running her own catering business, Burly’s Catering & Events. She catered while working for years at other restaurants and serving clients like Save Mart and Costco for company events, which continued when she saw an opportunity to open up a restaurant. Kimberly said, “I was raised in West Modesto, and I feel that West Modesto needed an upscale meat and potatoes restaurant in its area because we’re a farm to fork, and we’re right in the heart of agriculture.” “We’re going to be serving a market that is underserved in this area for a little bit more upscale dining,” said Curtis. “Otherwise, they have to go downtown or out by the freeway to dine. Now, they can come here instead.”
Opening a restaurant or any new business is one of the most rewarding experiences, but it also comes with many challenges. One of the biggest challenges is access to funding. And when COVID-19 hit last year, obtaining funding became increasingly difficult, especially for Burly’s. “We got denied by quite a few banks because of COVID-19,” Curtis told us. “Banks were not interested in loaning to restaurants. But we got referred over to Janay at Access Plus Capital from one of the Modesto banks, and she was great to work with. Access Plus Capital was able to put together a package that was approved. We ended up getting our SBA funding through Access Plus, and we were able to finish all of the improvements. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t be open.” “We’re excited because we’re going to be providing good jobs for the local area because there’s a huge housing development that’s around us. So people are not going to have to travel very far to work here as well as customers.” “I tell people about how easy it was for us to get funding,” Kimberly added. “I have already referred somebody over to Access Plus Capital.”
At Access Plus Capital, we’re so happy to have helped Kimberly complete her dream of owning her restaurant and we’re excited for the future of Burly’s California Bistro! Be sure to take a trip to Burly’s for lunch or dinner and check them out here.