Interview With Randy Alonso: Innovative Entrepreneur & Founder Of Downtown Miami Hotspot Bar & Restaurant ‘Lost Boy’
By Contemporary Approaches April 13, 2021
Randy Alonso: Innovative Entrepreneur and Founder of Downtown Miami Hotspot Bar & Restaurant ‘Lost Boy’
“Lost Boy started as a denim shop as my family and I were trying to expand our retail footprint in Downtown Miami. Eventually, we decided to exit the retail industry in 2016 but I had personally designed the interior space of ‘Lost Boy’ and didn’t want to give it up to some other tenant. Living for the past 10 years in Downtown Miami, I knew there was a void for a neighborhood bar that was straightforward and no nonsense.”-Randy Alonso
1. CA: Tell us a bit about where you grew up and your background?
Randy Alonso:I am from Miami, born and raised. Grew up in Coral Gables in a Cuban-American household with family of six siblings. I studied Civil Engineering at Duke University but ultimately went into my family’s retail business with our department store in Downtown Miami since 1965 called La Epoca.
Randy Alonso: Innovative Entrepreneur and Founder of Downtown Miami Hotspot Bar & Restaurant ‘ Lost Boy’
2. CA: What attracted you to the restaurant and hospitality industry?
Randy Alonso: I’ve always been intrigued by the hospitality industry. Fortunate to grow up traveling and visiting hotels and restaurants around the world, I believe I inherited my father’s love for hosting. It’s a very gratifying industry to be a part of, and especially in Miami.
3. CA: Tell us the story behind your restaurant ‘Lost Boy’?
Randy Alonso: Lost Boy started as a denim shop as my family and I were trying to expand our retail footprint in Downtown Miami. Eventually, we decided to exit the retail industry in 2016 but I had personally designed the interior space of ‘Lost Boy’ and didn’t want to give it up to some other tenant. Living for the past 10 years in Downtown Miami, I knew there was a void for a neighborhood bar that was straightforward and no nonsense. I asked a good friend of mine, Chris Hudnall, who had been in the hospitality business his whole life if he’d like to open a bar with me, and the rest is history. We transformed the retail space and to this day, you can still see many of the furniture and fixtures that were left over. ‘Lost Boy’ is the name of the ski run in Colorado that I learned how to ski on with my father.
Lost Boy Bar located in Downtown Miami at 157 E Flagler Street. Photo Credit: Lost Boy
4. CA: What inspired the design and decor of the restaurant?
Randy Alonso: The original design was inspired by Colorado and the mineral mines that denim was often worn to work in. Carrying that theme over to the bar, we combined our love of an English Pub and a Colorado miner’s saloon with a drunk sailor’s tavern. Much of the furniture are items I’ve kept or collected. My grandfather’s original desk is in the space, my dad’s old book shelves, and even the typewriter I wrote my college application on.
5. CA: What are some of the other projects you’re involved in or currently working on?
Randy Alonso: Chris and I have many projects we are opening in 2021. We have a Spanish gin and tapas restaurant on Espanola Way called Tropezon, we are resurrected an old dive bar in South Miami called Fox’s Sherron Inn, we have two hotels with several food & beverage concepts on Espanola Way and Sunset Harbor, and then a very special project in Coconut Grove that is set to open at the end of the year.
6. CA: What are some of the main challenges in your industry, and how do you approach dealing with those challenges?
Randy Alonso: I would say the main challenge of our industry, and in particular in Miami, is finding the right people. Miami has long been notorious for slow service, and like in any other business, we are only as good as the team we build. We approach these challenges by creating a culture where our staff is just as important as our guests.
7. CA: What area do you think is the new trend to pay attention to or to pursue to remain competitive?
Randy Alonso: I think Gin is going to have a really great next few years. Long been known as our grandfather’s spirit of choice, gin has not had the popularity that it deserves as an incredibly dynamic and versatile liquor. At Tropezon, we will be making it approachable while at the same time elevating it.
8. CA: How do you maintain a balance with your work and personal life?
Randy Alonso: Well, I spend most of my time in my personal life in bars and restaurants anyway. So what better way to balance my work and personal, then to make my work my personal life haha. But in all honesty, my work life has become my passion and it doesn’t feel like work anymore. I didn’t feel that in the retail business. I feel very lucky to have found the pathway that I belong on.
9. CA: Any book(s) that had a significant impact on you?
Randy Alonso: I am a big fan of both American and European literature, especially adventure books like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Treasure Island, but my favorite author is Ernest Hemingway.