Thinking of Starting A Bar/Pub in Ecuador

Welcome to the Ecuador forum, Barry.

Unskilled labor is currently making about $400 a month.

Don't move to coastal Ecuador without visiting first.

There are many micro-climates on the coast.

Popular Expat-friendly beach towns include Salinas, possibly the most touristy of all EC beach towns...Bahía de Caráquez (bah-EE-ah day kah-RAH-kez) and others. 

Business can be seasonal.  In Salinas, for instance, high season is approximately December to May.  The beaches are packed.  The off-season is much quieter and business owners can experience a drop-off in customer activity as a result.

The Ecuador coast is hot, and I'm not just talking about the weather.  It's highly desirable to Expats in this era, especially retirees who don't want to challenge their bodies with 9350-foot (Quito) or 8250-foot (Cuenca) altitudes. 

Have you opened a bar in a Spanish-speaking country before ?  Where were those bars and that restaurant chain you helped open located ?

cccmedia in Quito

Don't know as much about Salinas....except that it is larger by population than Bahia where basic infrastructure can be an issue  eg water needing to be delivered in tankers at times and electricity not always 100%. Also a small expat community in Manta

There are some towns further down the coast that are popular with wealthy Quito residents who spend holiday and vacation time in their condos. And rent them out to other vacationers. Also some resorts and nice hotels with restaurants. Southern coast is more humid. The second largest city in EC is the international port of Guayaquil (guy-ah-KEEL...I think) in the south east corner of the country  with residents who also pack these beaches

Estimated to be 5K expats mostly North American with many of your compatriots escaping the long cold winters. The largest expat community is in Cuenca. Mostly pensioners but incomes are varied with some of them very comfortably off.

If you click on the FORUM tab, top of the page, far right you will see all of the topics that exist on the EC Forum. As far as Cuenca I recommend The Unofficial Web Page of the Greater Cuenca expat community. There are lots of photos and Nards Barley, the blogger is a restaurant aficionado  and amateur critic

Huge range of topics including discussions of the economic and political climate in Ecuador. The economy is depressed for many reasons right now one of which is the price of oil. EC is minor OPEC player. There has been Increasing political unrest since the pope's visit earlier this summer. I recommend Protests Planned in Quito week of August 10. -

suefrankdahl wrote:

The second largest city in EC is the international port of Guayaquil (guy-ah-KEEL...I think) in the south east corner of the country.

The Oracle of Oregon was seeking a map of this country a few days ago, and now we know why.

Guayaquil (gwy-ah-KEEL) is actually in western Ecuador, 90 minutes by ground transport from the ocean beaches.  And it's the largest city in Ecuador.  Quito, the capital, is second largest.

Guayaquil is also Ecuador's most-dangerous large city, and -- except for the sofisticado Sambo section -- is not Expat-friendly.  It's hot and humid and lacks the ocean breezes of the true coastal communities.

For you, Barry, think of it as a good connecting point for the beaches.  Fly into GYE and scoot on over to the ocean communities from there.

As for the mentioned Cuenca, it is not at the beach but might merit consideration for your project due to its status as one of the top Expat-living destinations in the world, with a busy and well-organized Expat community.

cccmedia in Quito

suefrankdahl wrote:

There has been Increasing political unrest since the pope's visit earlier this summer.  I recommend (the thread) "Protests Planned in Quito..."

Nobody here blames Su Santidad for the demonstrations and confrontations with police -- which, by the way, had little impact on the coast during national Strike Day last Thursday.

Still, the lady at my local pulpería said she was out of eggs the following week in July (for the first time in memory) due to the Pontiff's visit.

I rolled my eyes and told her:  "No puedes culpar al Papa."  You can't blame the Pope.

cccmedia in Quito

What's your target clientele... expats, tourists, or locals? Playas, Ecuador, south of Salinas desperately needs a decent bar, but your customers will be locals from Guayaquil. Outside of holidays, Bahia's nicer bars looked empty. Montanita has a lot of competition, but could also be the biggest $ maker if you can become the hot new spot with both tourists, and the upper class Ecuadorian party crowd. There is a great, very low investment expat beach bar in Canoa that is doing quite well. You might want to visit with the gringa owner and see how she pulled it off. You can't miss it, it's the only bar playing good music at a tolerable volume.

A faux pas about GYE location I knew it was an international port. Waiting for my map from Amazon  so I'll understand why it's not considered a south west section of the coast

from my brief experience I would say that Salinas would be my choice followed by Manta, Canoa and Bahia. Obviously, you need to do an exploratory trip to the coastal beach communities to determine your best location.

suefrankdahl wrote:

A faux pas about GYE location.... Waiting for my map from Amazon so I'll understand why it's not considered a south west section of the coast.

Your earlier post with the faux pas said Guayaquil is in "south east" Ecuador, not "south west."

If you google the phrase Ecuador maps and then click on a map with cities, you can locate Guayaquil without waiting for your Amazon delivery.   

cccmedia in Quito

cccmedia wrote:

suefrankdahl wrote:

There has been Increasing political unrest since the pope's visit earlier this summer.  I recommend (the thread) "Protests Planned in Quito..."

Nobody here blames Su Santidad for the demonstrations and confrontations with police --

  You can't blame the Pope.

cccmedia in Quito

no puedo al Papa......it was just a time frame of reference...there was political unrest before the Pope's visit and now there is more.

Su Santidad is not really a trouble maker although he has shaken things up in some circles

suefrankdahl wrote:

A faux pas about GYE location I knew it was an international port. Waiting for my map from Amazon  so I'll understand why it's not considered a south west section of the coast

Well I guess it's still a faux pas (because I've never been there) but GYE's location is on the Gulf of Guayaquil which technically is a coastal body of water like the Gulf of Mexico. Have heard it referred to as the armpit (and worse) of Ecuador which also is geographically descriptive

Manta Manta Manta. Beaches, Nice airport with Cargo division.

Guayaquil is the corozon del Ecuador…..

I know but that "Heart" in GYE is Dirty...