Case Study of Sunrise Café By: Nicole Griffin Danny Johnston is the proud owner of a local favorite restaurant the Sunrise Café. They have just celebrated their 25th year in business! This is the kind of place you go eat at when you are in search of delicious comfort food paired with attentive friendly service. They make you feel like family from the moment you walk in the door. The story of how Sunrise Café came to be is inspiring and a true example of how dedication, hard work, and consistency have made the owner’s dream come true. After serving for 3 years in the Army right after high school, Danny Johnston came home after being honorably discharged. His training had consisted of fire direction for field artillery. That is basically reading and drawing maps, and it did not leave him with any civilian skills since most maps were already drawn. It was now 1982 and his sister knew a friend who just purchased Mr. Ted’s and The Martin Way. He started working at The Martin Way first, honing his skills with a man named Martin Grosball, and learning “The Martin Way” of cooking a hamburger. After the owner, Martin, left that business Danny went on to cook at The Ann Rutledge Pancake House and Mr. Teds. Bouncing back and forth between the two businesses, Danny realized he was developing a real passion for cooking. By 1985, he went on to managing Tops Big Boy. The unfortunate passing of his mother from breast cancer left him with a small inheritance. Rather than invest it in his father’s established financial business, Danny bought a bankrupted donut shop on the corner of Jefferson and MacArthur Boulevard and Sunrise Café opened in the Spring if 1989. Initially, he hired two servers and he ran the back of the house himself. He did all the cooking, cleaning, and dishwashing. Every day he would arrive at the supermarket at 3:30am to buy his daily inventory because at this time he did not have enough money for a bulk order. Most nights he did not arrive home until 10pm and he worked 7 days a week, only closed on major holidays. After doing this for 18 months straight, the city told him he had to move his business because they were expanding Madison Avenue and his building was going to be torn down. The new location is where Sunrise Café sits today. It is on the corner of 2nd and South Grand Avenue. He bought it on a 20-year contract for deed. Danny said. “There were times we struggled, it’s a tough business, and lots of competition, but you must give the guest good food in a pleasant atmosphere, with clean surroundings, all at a reasonable price. I have 18 employees now with sales approaching a million dollars a year. As we just celebrated our 25th year in business, we strive to do better every day. I have a good crew, and I haven’t hired a cook in 7 years. I pay my employees well because I believe guests don’t need to see and be a victim of a high turnover rate. They want familiarity.” Sunrise Café has many great dishes, but what they’re really known for is their cheeseburgers. Their secret is to serve them with thinly shaved grilled onions hot off the flat top grill. The patties are fresh and never frozen! I love this restaurant for the consistency of the food and service and always feeling like home when I walk in the door.
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 19:13:56 +0000
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