Starting a business

Welcome to the forums. Tell me about your experience here in this country? Have you visited? Do you speak Spanish?  Have you owned a restaurant before?

Will you work in the restaurant? If so you need residency as well.

It's not hard to open or buy a restaurant but it is hard to have a successful one!

Welcome to this forum & a welcome to the dream!  I had designed, built & set up nineteen bars, clubs, discos, neighborhood corner bars. Tiny pubs to large continental restaurants.  Most of them turn-key operations. I moved to the USVI (St Croix) to build my very own.  I understand the dream & the reality. I love the business & love talking about it. Feel free to contact me at any time.

You will have to ask some specific questions to get a better answer.   I moved here without speaking Spanish and I managed to do ok.  I was a bit foolish and just jumped in without a lot of background and research done.   Only a couple of trips.  Anyways, I did not start a restaurant or bar.  Something else, but it worked out.  So I would not listen to all the negative people.  However, I would listen to their stories because there are a lot of pitfalls and such and a lot of good advice in the negative stories.  Doing this alone will not be easy but I would caution you to avoid the help of locals that may be nice, but may prey upon your naivety and inexperience.   Come and spend a little while and talk with various people.  Many restaurants are for sale but they are not advertised.  Come and learn what people are doing so you get off to a better start.  You will find some people willing to share their story and give advice if you take the time to talk with them.  All the best.

Hark!  Take heed to the words of wisdom.  Ommmmmm,oh my, you know the truth, thanks from us all.

There are many expat restaurant owners on the north coast. I’m certain they are able to share their experiences and/or challenges. I would also consider familiarizing myself with Dominican laws regarding owning and registering a business, labor and tax laws.

Please forgive my ignorance, are you posting as a law firm or  as an individual? I am obviously confused. I was under the impression that you were the preferred law office for Casa Linda. Please enlighten me as to who you are. Thank you in advance for clearing my befuddled mind.

Sometimes it is her but often it is someone from the firm . They are not consistent in posting.

I’m currently negotiating a property at Casa Linda and I believe they use Gratereaux Delva & ASOCS.S.R.L. Gratereaux And Assoc.
At least that’s who I signed some documents with.

Yes. For real estate transactions Casa Linda often uses Gratereaux and have used Ariza in the past as well.