Owner/Founder
Eddie V's Edgewater Grille,
Roaring Fork and Wildfish Seafood Grille

More than 30 years ago, Guy Villavaso envisioned a restaurant that reflected his values of Southern hospitality combined with a flare for the culinary arts. This vision has unfolded into a trifecta of innovative and distinctive restaurants that span numerous markets. Eddie V’s Edgewater Grill, Wildfish Seafood Grill and The Roaring Fork have spread throughout the west, now operating in Arizona, Texas and California. Each concept possesses a unique atmosphere and flavors, maintaining individuality by tailoring the surroundings and menus to reflect the lifestyles and needs of its guests. 

The ideas propelling Villavaso’s success are modest and avant-garde at once. It begins with the food – a selection of highest-quality freshest ingredients available, cooked with simple techniques that accentuate the food’s natural flavors. Next, the culinary entrepreneur stresses the importance of assembling a professional team of people who share a vision of quality, simplicity and service.

Villavaso began his restaurant career in 1975 while attending college at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. It was there he met his long-time business partner Larry Foles, as well as a core group of associates who continue to invest in and support his restaurant ventures to this day.

Villavaso and Foles hit upon their first big success in 1989. The men partnered with long-time friend and founder of P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Paul Fleming, to create Z' Tejas Southwestern Grille in Phoenix. The restaurant would offer a distinctive "South by Southwest" dining experience for upscale casual diners, featuring cuisine indigenous to the Southern border region of the United States from Mississippi to California. Villavaso served as president and chief operating officer of the company for a decade, before he and Foles sold their shares. During that time, Z' Tejas opened eight restaurants in Arizona, Texas and Nevada.

Bringing award-winning chefs to the table led to the partners’ success in launching each of their next three restaurant concepts.

In 1997, they enlisted James Beard Award-winning chef Robert McGrath as Executive Chef of The Roaring Fork. The Roaring Fork is a combination of bold American flavors and comfort food enhanced by the wood-fire cooking techniques of the Old West. The first Roaring Fork opened its doors in Phoenix on Camelback Road in 1997 and moved to its current Scottsdale, Ariz. location in 2003. 

Eddie V’s Edgewater Grille was born in 1999, filling what Villavaso saw as a vastly underserved niche in quality seafood restaurants throughout the country. He drew inspiration from the great classic seafood restaurants of New Orleans, San Francisco and New York. To help ensure success in this niche, Villavaso and Foles enrolled in a highly-acclaimed seafood school sponsored by Foley's Seafood Company in Boston. There they learned first-hand the "ins and outs" of production and shipping in the fresh seafood industry. The team then recruited John Carver, a tremendous culinary talent from Atlanta. Together, they tested, planned and executed the exciting combinations of premium seafood dishes and prime steaks that make up Eddie V's acclaimed menu today. The first Eddie V’s opened in the winter of 2000 in downtown Austin, Texas, with an atmosphere that is warm and inviting with live music nightly.

In 2004, Villavaso’s fourth concept, Wildfish Seafood Grille, debuted in Newport Beach, California.  Wildfish is a prime seafood and steak restaurant with the same unpretentious atmosphere that has become Villavaso’s hallmark. Yet, with its exposition-style kitchen and contemporary edge, the seafood is the show.

The level of service guests receive in each of his restaurants is just one indicator of Villavaso’s ability to lead and inspire people to be the best.  He lives and breathes the ideals he instills in his family of restaurants, and at the core “Best Today, Better Tomorrow” is the heart and soul of his vision.

He endeavors to grow his company with integrity and compassion, encouraging all of his employees to manage with the same entrepreneurial spirit that drives him. To date, the restaurants’ core markets are Austin, Texas and the Phoenix-Scottsdale area. They have a presence in California and more plans are in the works for new locations to open throughout central Texas in 2008.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Villavaso also lived in Austin for a number of years. He has lived and worked in Scottsdale since the early 1990s, with his wife, Terri, and their three children – Evan, 17, and twins Emily and Tyler, 16.