Operator makes smooth transition to better-burger conceptOperator makes smooth transition to better-burger concept

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 Melt...