I want to get back into the comfort‑food diner business. How can I add more value for my customers given the trend toward organic and healthier foods?

Evan CarmichaelSpeaker / Author / Introvert

Startup Business - Should I start a comfort food diner? Ask Evan

6 Jul 2012 · 1 min

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1:18

A 49-year-old who grew up in a family diner wants to open a comfort-food restaurant. Evan Carmichael says build around what you actually love, not trends. Study successful diners from the late 1990s, then modernize the experience while keeping the classic food.

Questions this video answers

Focus on what you love and know best—comfort foods. If you’re not passionate about organic or health‑focused menus, don’t force that direction. Instead, look at diners that succeeded in the late ’90s, identify the elements that made them popular, and recreate those strengths with a modern twist (updated décor, service, or menu presentation) to meet today’s expectations while staying true to your comfort‑food identity.

Chapters

Hi, I'm Evan Carmichael. Welcome to another edition of Ask Evan. In today's episode, I'm going to answer a question from one of my YouTube viewers, I guess, who wrote in and asked, as always, Evan, great video. I have a question for you. I'm 49 years old. I grew up in the diner and the comfort food business. My family sold our diner in 1999. I'm passionate about comfort food, roast gravies, homemade soups, etc. Not always the healthiest kind of food, but it's what I know best. I want to get back into that business for myself. How can I add more value for my customers? Everyone is into organic and healthier foods these days. Any ideas? So thank you for the question. My thought for you and for any entrepreneurs who are starting out, number one rule is you have to do something that you're really passionate about. So if you're super passionate about comfort foods, then that's the business that you got to get into. If you don't really know about organic and healthy foods or you're not really excited about it, your business isn't going to go anywhere. You're not going to be successful. So you have to do something that you're super excited about and you can pour your whole heart into. So think back to the diner of '99 and look at other diners that are successful and think about, you know, how can you replicate that success but do it in a more modern way, right?