MIAMI – Emilio Cabrera owns 18 McDonald’s franchises in South Florida. From Hollywood to Sunny Isles, his Mickey D’s have been serving up Big Macs and Happy Meals for the past 43 years.
Cabrera has a soft spot for law enforcement. He retired from the Miami police department as a lieutenant. Late in his career, an assignment to solve robberies at local McDonald’s restaurants changed his life. Cabrera said a gang of robbers was targeting local McDonald’s. Since he was in the robbery unit, he was assigned to a robbery detail at one of the restaurants.
“We didn’t know where this gang was going to hit next so we had to stake out the restaurants to catch them,” Cabrera said.
During this time, he got to know some of the McDonald’s owners and managers and asked them how he could get his own franchise.
“They told me about a program that McDonald’s has,” Cabrera said, admitting he had little money to invest in a franchise. “If they liked you and saw your potential they got you into the program.”