Tim Harris, Tim's Place, and a Dream Bigger Than One Restaurant

Tim Harris, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was born with Down syndrome. In a StoryCorps conversation aired by NPR, he said that owning a restaurant had been his dream ever since he was a kid.

School was not always kind. In that same conversation he recalled other children using a slur against him and said it made him unhappy. His father, Keith, shared something honest too: when Tim was born, he had doubts about whether he could be a good enough dad.

Tim did not treat his dream as a wish. He prepared for it. He attended Eastern New Mexico University and, according to the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, graduated in 2008 with certificates in restaurant management. He told StoryCorps that he went to college to learn independence and business skills.

That preparation mattered. A restaurant is hard work for anyone, and Tim had spent time learning how one runs before he tried to run his own.

In 2010, Tim opened Tim's Place in Albuquerque. His parents, Keith and Jeannie Harris, helped him get it started, and NPR's account notes his father's crucial role in opening it. The restaurant served classic American and New Mexican food, and it soon became known as "the world's friendliest restaurant."

The reason was Tim himself. He greeted customers and offered hugs, and many guests came back for that welcome as much as for the meal. The restaurant kept a count: by the time it closed, according to the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, Tim had given 75,402 hugs.

He was widely described as the first person with Down syndrome to own and operate a restaurant in the United States. He has also said that when people with disabilities tell him they want to be like him, it feels pretty cool.

Tim's Place operated for about five years. It closed in December 2015, when Tim and his family planned to move to Denver and open a new restaurant there. Those plans changed. In May 2016, Denver7 reported that the move was on hold and quoted his parents saying they were back in planning mode to work out the next best steps for Tim's professional life.

It would have been easy to frame the closing as the end of the story. It was not. A restaurant had been one way for Tim to welcome people. It did not have to be the only way.

In 2016, Tim founded Tim's Big Heart Enterprises. He has hosted charity events, including a Hug-A-Thon for his local fire department, and has traveled as an advocate for people with Down syndrome. He received the Quincy Jones Exceptional Advocacy Award from the Global Down Syndrome Foundation. In 2021, KRQE reported that he was helping raise money for heart surgeries for children with Down syndrome.

Today his own site describes him as a keynote speaker, podcast host, and foundation leader supporting families of children with disabilities. He has said that the Walt Disney line "If you can dream it, you can do it" has guided his life.

Tim did not get there alone. His parents, his customers, and many partners all played a part. But the dream, the hugs, and the decision to keep going were his.