Kevin Burns of Urbanspace: Real Estate Expertise and Hospitality Passion Drive Modern Restaurant Development

As a part of our series about “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became a Restaurateur”, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Kevin Burns.

Kevin Burns is the CEO of Urbanspace, a real estate firm founded in 2000 on the entrepreneurial vision to provide turn-key solutions to urban core residents of Austin, Texas. True to his lifelong enterprising spirit, Kevin worked to bring his latest vision to life in summer 2023 with the opening of Bacalar, a neighborhood restaurant inspired by the Yucatán Peninsula region of Mexico, created in partnership with Chef/Partner Gabe Erales and Urbanspace Hospitality. Throughout this career, Kevin has exceeded over $1 billion in sales. He has been recognized for his numerous achievements, including earning the Austin Business Journal’s Top Realtor award in 2020, and is a multi-year member of Elite 25, Austin’s top luxury agent group.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to ‘get to know’ you a bit. Can you share with our readers a story about what inspired you to become a restaurateur?

One of my favorite pastimes is experiencing unique restaurants around the world. My core business is developing, designing, and owning great real estate. Becoming a restaurateur was finding myself at the crossroads of my passion for hospitality, design and owning great real estate.

Do you have a specific type of food that you focus on? What was it that first drew you to cooking that type of food? Can you share a story about that with us?

I focus on a combination of what the neighborhood needs and wants, the space that the concept is going into and the core competencies of the chef we are working with. Bacalar was born from Chef Gabe’s childhood experiences in Bacalar, his passion for cooking Yucatán-inspired cuisine and our location along the shore of Lady Bird Lake, which I consider a magical location just like Bacalar, a coastal lake in the Yucatán.

Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey? How did you overcome this obstacle?

We have been blessed in this journey of opening a new restaurant in the fact that we have not encountered any deal killer issues. We have however, faced the typical issues of the space taking significantly longer to build, spending significantly more on construction and opening expenses, and not being able to service as many people as we had originally forecast. The great thing is our food is amazing, the service is outstanding, and the space is transformational.

In your experience, what is the key to creating a dish that customers are crazy about?

As the financial/real estate and design partner, I always believe that a signature dish that you cannot get many other places is the secret sauce to a great restaurant.

Personally, what is the ‘perfect meal for you’?

The perfect meal is the culmination of being in the right space, with the right vibe, eating a balanced, healthy and unique meal with great friends and company.

Where does your inspiration for creating come from? Is there something that you turn to for a daily creativity boost?

I get a lot of my inspiration from my travels. I am always doing “research” whether I am in town or out of town. I am also always getting inspiration through my furniture store and design studio, Urbanspace Interiors.

Are you working on any new or exciting projects now? What impact do you think this will have?

We are working on a private club for the ground floor of The Modern Austin Residences, a 56-story condo tower I am developing just up the street from Bacalar.

What advice would you give to other restaurateurs to thrive and avoid burnout?

I would not get into this business unless you are passionate about hospitality, leading people and creating special experiences for your patrons day in and day out.

Thank you for all that. Now we are ready for the main question of the interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started as a Restaurateur” and why?

Cost more, takes longer. This is a labor-intensive business. Labor is quite fluid in a hot market and great labor is intensive and expensive to keep. A spreadsheet doesn’t mean much until you put it into a real-world experience. You don’t know what you don’t know…

What’s the one dish people have to try if they visit your establishment?

The trick to Bacalar is everything is amazing on our menu. You can come back multiple times a week and create a different culinary experience… My friends think our standouts are our swordfish, cochinita pibil and masa dumplings. Our cocktails are absolutely amazing and unique on our menu… my personal favorite is the Cocosanto.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

Remind the world about the Golden Rule… we are all human beings and should treat each other as we want to be treated.

Thank you so much for these insights. This was very inspirational!