Why This Cheesecake Shop Sells Out Before Closing Time | Tarek Hassanin - The Dirty Cheesecake

Staying Hungry is back with a story every restaurant owner needs to hear. This week, hosts Michael D'Onofrio and Vinny Pappalardo sit down with Tarek, founder of Made by Lily's and The Dirty Cheesecake, to unpack the journey from baking with his daughter at home to building one of Long Island's fastest-growing dessert brands.From a tiny Times Square storefront to sold-out nights in Smithtown and North Babylon, Tarek shares the real story behind entrepreneurship: surviving COVID, pivoting to cheesecake-on-a-stick, leveraging social media, building a loyal team, managing growth, and creating a brand customers can't stop talking about.If you're a restaurant owner, bakery operator, food entrepreneur, or anyone looking to scale a local business, this episode is packed with lessons on branding, customer experience, hiring, franchising, social media marketing, and perseverance.Timestamps:00:00 – Entrepreneurship and stress: the ER story01:05 – Meet Tarek from Made by Lily's & The Dirty Cheesecake02:15 – Baking with his daughter and discovering a passion05:20 – Leaving the limo business and taking a chance on Times Square10:10 – Partner fallout and learning the bakery business alone13:05 – COVID shuts everything down15:45 – The cheesecake-on-a-stick pivot18:50 – Scaling delivery through Uber Eats, DoorDash & Grubhub23:30 – The exhaustion of building a business29:15 – Closing Times Square and betting on Long Island33:00 – The influencer marketing strategy that changed everything37:40 – Opening Smithtown and selling out early42:20 – The vision for The Dirty Cheesecake brand46:10 – Building a team and company culture53:15 – Expanding locations and future franchising plans58:45 – Wholesale partnerships with restaurants and coffee shops1:03:50 – Technology, delivery apps, and operational challenges1:10:40 – Managing reviews and customer feedback1:17:20 – From Egypt to New York: Tarek's immigrant journey1:23:45 – Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs1:29:30 – What's next for The Dirty Cheesecake?