Guy Villavaso - Owner/Founder

Guy Villavaso recently introduced his third innovative restaurant to the West Coast.  Bringing more than 30 years of experience to the restaurant industry, Villavaso successfully introduced Wildfish to Newport Beach (November 2005) and has already generated a great deal of buzz for Scottsdale, which opened on March 6, 2006.  In addition to the development of Eddie V's seafood restaurants, Villavaso oversees the management of the additional restaurants he co-founded, the Roaring Fork in Scottsdale and Austin, Texas.

Villavaso began his restaurant career in 1975 while attending college at LSU in Baton Rouge.  It was there he met his core group of business partners whom continue to invest and support his restaurant ventures 30 years later.  After refining his culinary and operations talents in a variety of different restaurants, Villavaso joined forces with Paul Fleming, a close college friend and founder of P.F. Changs China Bistro, to create Z' Tejas Southwestern Grille.  Z' Tejas offers a distinctive "South by Southwest" dining experience for upscale casual diners that features exciting cuisine indigenous to the Southern Border region of the U.S. from Mississippi to California.

From the inception of Z' Tejas in 1989 through the summer of 1999, Villavaso was the president and chief operating officer of the company.  During that span, Z' Tejas opened eight restaurants averaging in sales in excess of 3.5 million per unit and producing premium returns on revenues and investment.

No longer having the day-to-day responsibilities of running Z' Tejas, Villavaso teamed up with long time friend and partner Larry Foles to create Eddie V's Edgewater Grille.  Villavaso and Foles had long felt there was a vastly underserved niche in quality seafood restaurants throughout the country.  They enrolled themselves in a highly acclaimed seafood school in Boston, Foley's Seafood Company, where they learned firsthand the "in's and out's" of production in the fresh seafood industry.  Villavaso and Foles recruited John Carver, a tremendous culinary talent from Atlanta. Together they tested, planned and executed the exciting combinations of premium seafood dishes and prime steaks that make up Eddie V's acclaimed menu today.  The first Eddie V's located in Austin opened in 2000.

Guy Villavaso lives in North Scottsdale, where the third Eddie V's, established in March 2002 and second Wildfish, established in March 2006 operate.

Larry Foles - Owner/Founder

Larry Foles brings nearly 40 years of experience to the opening of Wildfish Seafood Grille.  Foles owns and operates three successful restaurant concepts with his partner Guy Villavaso, in distinct markets, including Scottsdale, Arizona, Southern California, and Austin, Texas.

Long before Foles achieved recognition as an accomplished restaurateur, he started out as Assistant Manager for Shoney's in the late - 1960's, where he realized that the restaurant and service industry was his calling. He rose through the ranks, and in 1973, he opened Saturday's in Baton Rouge, where he met and hired Guy Villavaso and Paul Fleming. A long time friendship and partnership formed.

In 1981, Foles and Villavaso started their own restaurant group Chez Fred's. In 1987, the partners sold it to a larger restaurant group and the following year, they developed the Z'Tejas Southwestern Grille concept with Paul Fleming.

After growing Z'Tejas to eight locations, in the late nineties Foles and Villavaso divested their ownership to create a new restaurant company, Eddie V's Edgewater Grille. They recognized a unique opportunity for the underserved seafood niche and they decided to take the steakhouse concept and flip it bringing the first fish-house restaurant concept to Austin. Foles and Villavaso researched extensively the seafood industry, including attending Foley's Seafood School in Boston and traveling to the best restaurants throughout the United States. Eddie V's has successfully opened a second location in Austin and another in North Scottsdale.

Foles and Villavaso bring their passion for great food to their latest concept, Wildfish Seafood Grille, the sister restaurant to their popular Eddie V's. Wildfish successfully launched in the affluent Newport Beach area in November 2005. Just four months later, the second Wildfish Seafood Grille was introduced to the Scottsdale market. Wildfish has already received numerous accolades.

Foles has also taken an active role in numerous professional and community organizations and continues to reside in Austin, TX overseeing the Eddie V's restaurants. Foles is married with three children.