For 25-year restaurant veteran Lindsey J. Crowley, life was good at GrillSmith, a fine-casual concept he managed in Lakeland, Fla. Crowley, GrillSmith’s managing partner, oversaw 75 employees in an operation that generated an annual volume of about $3.5 million.


Crowley had high standards. He spent $20 per pound for the best steak in town. He paid his kitchen employees well. And he had a knack for training his staff.


You might say Crowley, a Mobile, Ala., native and father of four, was in his professional comfort zone.


But his boss, Mark Johnston, chief concept officer of Tampa, Fla.-based Front Burner Brands, had different plans for his star restaurant operator. Besides owning six GrillSmith units, Front Burner is the parent of The Melting Pot, the 143-unit fondue-themed chain, and a new upscale burger concept called Burger 21.


After the inaugural Burger 21 opened in an upscale Tampa suburb in October 2010, Johnston wanted someone with the restaurant savvy and training touch to ensure the burger brand got off to a fast start.


Johnston’s man? Crowley.


At first, the Southerner with the ultra-polite manner was not too keen on trading his GrillSmith gig to oversee a burger concept. He was in no mood to swap his pressed-and-starched, button-down GrillSmith shirt for the Burger 21 white polo.


“I was flattered that Mark asked me,” Crowley said. “But it didn’t attract me. I had fallen in love with the full-service GrillSmith experience. But Mark told me that being a big brother and developing managers at Burger 21 would hit my aspirations and goals of helping people.”


Crowley couldn’t disagree with Johnston. He accepted the new job — and, it turns out, he has learned to love running a fast-casual burger concept, even if his team is one-third the size of his former crew.


Indeed, the 43-year-old Crowley has become that big brother and head coach to employees who are young enough to be a kid brother or even a son. He has imparted wisdom from a quarter century in the business, from broiling burgers at Burger King to managing a Romano’s Macaroni Grill, with stops at Ruby Tuesday and Boston Market in between.


Crowley has taught his managers to make sure workers see Burger 21 through the customers’ eyes. The store has to be organized and neat. Workers’ shirts are tucked in. The presentation of burgers, which run $6-$9, has to be perfect. Staff members have to greet guests and keep a book filled with the names of diners who visit more than two or three times. 


It’s all about detailed supervision, he said. Case in point: A customer enters Burger 21 and heads to the counter to order, but an employee named Zack doesn’t see the middle-aged guest.


“Zack, please,” Crowley says to the
college-aged employee. And Zack quickly greets the Burger 21 customer. 


“It turned out fast casual is just as challenging as fine casual,” Crowley said. “I had to realize it was the same business. You still have to figure out what the guest is looking for. This segment requires the same level of professionalism. Guests are demanding and discerning.”


And for Crowley, selling burgers is also just as rewarding.


Contact Alan Snel at alan.snel@penton.com.