Independent Restaurants

No longer are restaurant mission statements all about the menu. Today, they’re more likely to focus on the overall experience an operation is hoping to provide, conveyed in a short, compact statement rather than a lengthy, clunky paragraph. Experts say the modern mission statement should be just broad enough to allow for expansion and fundamental changes to a concept without any growth-hindering contradictions.

Leadership was a particularly strong factor in distinguishing winners from losers in the restaurant business this year.