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Salahodeen Abdul-Kafi left a 14-year career in tech to open Kafi BBQ, a halal Texas barbecue restaurant in Irving, Texas. In its first year, Kafi made about $2.3 million in revenue without serving pork, one of the highest-margin items in traditional Texas barbecue.

Fortunato Brothers Bakery has been hand-making cannolis, cookies, and sfogliatelle in Brooklyn since 1976, using the same recipes the founders brought from Naples, Italy.

George Joseph Switzer III runs Queen Ann Ravioli, a Brooklyn pasta shop founded in 1972. Inside, vintage machines produce thousands of pounds of pasta each week, including up to 2,000 boxes of ravioli a day.

Jatee Kearsley built Je T'aime Patisserie in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, with a mission to make high-quality French desserts accessible to everyone, including customers who pay with EBT.

Richard Boccato created a business that transforms 300-pound blocks of filtered tap water into hand-cut cubes, spheres, and custom-engraved ice. His company, Hundredweight Ice, based in New York City, harvests more than 3 million pounds of ice a year and generated $3 million in revenue in 2025.