Ghulam Bombaywala

[1] In 1999, Magaret L. Briggs of the Houston Press wrote that Bombaywala was "well-known" and "perhaps most famous for sharing his rags-to-riches tale with Oprah's audience".

[4] He is a Halai Memon,[citation needed] and his family migrated to Pakistan from India during the Partition of 1947.

[6] At one time Michelangelo's had refused to employ Bombaywala for a busboy position due to his low English fluency.

[9] In 1989 he, Katz, and Irvin Kaplan, opened Guggenheim's Delicatessen, a New York-style deli located at the intersection of San Felipe and Post Oak Boulevard.

[8] In 1994 Bombaywala expressed his intention to open Marco's Mexican Restaurant locations across the United States.

[14] In July 1994 Bombaywala merged Marco's Mexican Restaurants and Billy Blues Food Co.,[15] a San Antonio, Texas chain.

Bombaywala planned to move the Billy Blues headquarters from San Antonio to Houston.

[15] By 1998 he had established a holding company for some of his restaurants, Watermarc Food Management Co., and he served as its chairperson.

It was the holding company of Billy Blues Barbecue Bar & Grill, Marco's Mexican Restaurant, and The Original Pasta Co.

[7] By 1999,[2] Bombaywala appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show, and the episode discussed the rise of his business empire.

According to the settlement, the assets, including 29 restaurants, were to be sold to Five Points Investments Inc., a company owned by Haroon Sheikh, for $13 million.

[11] The remaining Billy Blues Bar & Grill location on Richmond Avenue in Houston closed in January 2001.

[3] After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Bombaywala became the head of the Pakistani-American Association of Greater Houston (PAGH).