Hungry entrepreneurs sign up for new entrees

A local restaurant chain continues to find ways to grow, despite the recession that could have squashed it.

So much so that the co-owners of Gecko's Grill & Pubs, Mike Quillen and Mike Gowan, have turned nearly squashed into just plain squash. They've turned it into locally grown onions, tomatoes and broccoli, too, through a partnership with Sarasota-based Honeyside Farms.

“We don't want to maintain,” says Quillen. “We want to go forward. It was a big challenge to not cave in.”