Carmel Magazine

demonstrated the first inkling of his innate business sense by investing his Montrose earnings in apartment buildings. He bought a mountain bike store in Marin County in the 1990s and found himself on the crest of the huge wave of mountain bike popularity. His Sausalito Cyclery was soon the number one inde- pendent bike store in the state. Then he fell in love with Cabo San Lucas. "When I first went to Cabo, it was all dirt streets," Hagar says. "You could stand on the beach and not see footprints for miles except your own. I knew I wanted to be there." He bought a house, then wanted a place to play music. "So I built Cabo Wabo Cantina." In another example of the Hagar sense of timing, the restaurant and nightclub became—and remains—wildly popular, paral- leling the growth of the resort town itself. "That place is a frig- gin' gold mine," he says. That success spawned another location in Las Vegas, and that led to the founding of Sammy's Beach Bar and Grill with six locations around the country, including several airports, and also a fine dining establishment, El Paseo, in his adopted hometown of Mill Valley. But it's perhaps tequila that really put Sammy Hagar on the business map. "I got turned on to good tequila while in Cabo," he recalls. At the time, high-quality versions of the liquor distilled from the agave plant were plen- tiful in Mexico, but scarce in the States. Cabo Wabo Tequila was born, and became another home run for the singer, eventually earning him many mil- lions when the brand was acquired by Gruppo Campari. Paradoxically, being in business is not about the money to Sammy Hagar. "When people look at all I've done outside the music business, they don't realize that every- thing was done out of passion," he says. "When you do things just for money, all you end up with is a pile of money. I do these things because I love them and they make me happy." Like his restaurants, for example. He claims that, for the most part, they're not big money makers. "I think I'm actually a pret- ty crappy businessman. I'll do things that aren't necessarily smart. For example, I love restaurants. One of the biggest joys in life is taking your family out to a nice meal. I love being able to give that to people. A couple of my places make money, most just break even, but I wouldn't think of closing them." He takes the same philosophical approach to El Paseo, his Mill Valley homage to fine cui- sine. "The food is phenomenal. I want it to be the best restaurant in Mill Valley. It's not mak- ing me rich, but it makes me happy. To me, success is being able to do the things you like Photo: Gabe Ginsberg Hagar turned 67 Oct. 13, 2014. He celebrated with an all-star concert, here with ex-Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony. Photo: Kelli Uldall (Left) Sammy clowns around during our cover shoot. (Right) The Red Rocker with a guitar he signed to raise funds for Little Kids Rock. Hagar generously gives back to the community through donations and performances.

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