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During his seven years in the NFL, runningback Amos Zereoue wowed his teammates by whipping up Kedjenou, a spicy chicken stew which is a staple of his homeland, Africa's Ivory Coast.

Now retired at 31, "Famous Amos" is trying to tempt the masses with Zereoue, a new French/African restaurant near midtown Manhattan--and he's taken a beating along the way. "[Cooking for your friends] is pleasure, the other is business," says Zereoue. "It's a lot of work, headaches and stress."

After years of being cheered on, jeered at and banged up, plenty of professional athletes with brand power to spare try their hand at the restaurant business. Yet it takes more than a marquee name and reverent fans to run a winning eatery. Roughly six out of 10 restaurants close within three years, according to a survey of 2,439 restaurants by professors at Ohio State University.

In Pictures: How Athletes Score In The Restaurant Biz

And while athletes may have more money to throw at a new concept than most restaurateurs, the battlefield is littered with losers. Basketball stars Larry Bird and Shane Battier jumped in and out of their own ventures, as did pro footballers Jim McMahon, Johnny Unitas and Lawrence Taylor.

"It's the dumbest thing anybody could do to think they could operate a restaurant as an athlete," says Joe Theismann, former Pro Bowl quarterback with the Washington Redskins, who has invested in five restaurants in the Washington, D.C., area since 1975. "Even if you understand the food business and have worked in a restaurant, it's an ever-changing business that presents new challenges every day."

Zereoue tried tackling the restaurant business much like he played football--by plowing right into it: "Once I found the place [formerly a French bistro] and started paying rent, I closed down for about two to three days, put on new paint and then I was up and running."

Not for long. Sixteen months after opening in July 2006, Zereoue is quick to cite his missteps--from poor marketing and uninspired renovation to lack of training and lax oversight. He even had to close down twice for retooling. "I basically just went all out at the beginning," he says. "I thought that just by buying the best of everything--ingredients, drinks--the place would be successful."

Zereoue's problems started just a few weeks after the doors opened. It was a hot summer, and the air conditioning kept crashing. The phones were on the fritz, too, making it hard to take reservations. He shut down for a week.

A few months later, Zereoue closed its doors again--this time for a thorough overhaul. Among other things, Zereoue redid the walls and overhead lighting; bought new kitchen equipment and tables; and reupholstered the bar stools. He also rearranged the space so the bar felt separate from the dining area, creating a more intimate setting. The month and a half of work ran up "tens of thousands of dollars" in costs beyond Zereoue's initial (undisclosed) investment.

But he still wasn't done. Advertisements on OpenTable.com, a restaurant reservation site, weren't gaining traction; nor were the ads in the New York Knicks' game booklets and local newspapers. Finally, two months ago, Zereoue brought on Casimir Andoh as general manager, a restaurant veteran who has worked for the likes of Jean Georges, to get things on track and generate some buzz.

Andoh has a three-pronged marketing approach. Earlier this month he sent out some 10,000 postcards to neighborhood residents and businesses, inviting them to an open bar from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. each night that week. ("We're not spending a penny, because we have connections with the liquor companies," he says.) Next up: a party for all the concierges at Manhattan's major hotels, and after that, a night for all the U.N. ambassadors.

While Zereoue has clearly made progress, it's too early to tell if his restaurant will be a hit--or if it is, whether it will have staying power. Here are a few more tips from ex-athletes and their advisers who have scored in the restaurant biz:

Learn The Business From The Inside

Rusty Staub, first-baseman and right fielder for multiple Major League Baseball teams from 1963 to 1985, and former owner of two Manhattan restaurants: When I got injured in 1972, I had to stay in New York and train. I decided to have fun on the side by working under different chefs in the city. By the time I had opened up my restaurant, I had spent over 1,500 hours in the kitchen. It was an incredible basis for my ideas of what I wanted to accomplish.

Serve The Right Niche

John Whitehead, managing director, Brett Favre's Steakhouse, owned by current Green Bay Packer quarterback Brett Favre: We started with two concepts. We were trying to be a Cajun sports bar [to incorporate Favre's southern background] and a high-end steakhouse. We shot somewhere in between. Eventually we learned that the Midwestern palate is not a Cajun palate. Five years ago, we upgraded our whole profile--everything from the quality of meat to the wine list to the table presentation--to become a high-end steakhouse. Since then, our sales have grown between 10% and 15% each year.

Have Patience

Tom Moxley, managing director of Elway's, owned by former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway: We knew that, at the beginning, the business would be bumpy. It takes a while to get all the costs and controls in line--it took us millions of dollars to get started--and you have to be patient. If your investors don't know the business, and expectations are out of line, they'll put inordinate pressure to make money from the get-go, which is not what a new business needs. Most restaurants fail because they're undercapitalized.

Despite the risks of owning of restaurant, some athletes say there's something addictive about it. "Being in the restaurant business is like having malaria," says Staub of the urge to own a restaurant. "You never know when it's going to rear its ugly head again."

In Pictures: How Athletes Score In The Restaurant Biz

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