Success Story: El Diablo

Wild West Group was founded by Louis Lewis-Smith in 2015 with the opening of The Dark Horse bar in Bath. The following year The Dark Horse was shortlisted amongst the ‘top 4 best cocktail bars in the world’, and in 2017 received a ‘top 10 bars in Europe’ nomination. This success was followed by the opening of Crying Wolf bar in Bristol, and have recently had their sights set on further expansion.

Louis was introduced to BCDF back in July of 2024. Louis required finance to support the opening of his third location, El Diablo. El Diablo, is a new Mexican restaurant and bar concept. Louis had already identified a premises on Gloucester Road and needed the funds to secure it – time was of the essence.

We managed to arrange the funding for Louis via a regional lender within the space of only four weeks. This allowed Louis to fully fit out the Gloucester Road location, which was formerly a Pizza Shopt, and meet their looming opening day target. El Diablo launched at the end of November to rousing reviews, with customers particularly enjoying their authentic Tacos and Margaritas.

When asked about his experience with BCDF, Louis said, “Absolute legend – Josh was amazing and totally sorted us out with financing when we were in a real pinch. He was super professional and put in loads of work to get us a package and was just all round very very helpful. Will be using his services again and would recommend to anyone”.

Wild West Group’s mission is to establish itself as a leading force in UK bar and restaurant operations and consultancy, whilst championing the best of West Country produce and products. We were glad to play a small role in the opening of their latest esablishment and wish them continued success. Visit www.eldiablo.uk to book a table and learn more.

For more information on BCDF, or to enquire about any of the solutions we arrange, call us on 0117 251 0189 or drop us an email to [email protected].