We recently connected with Adrian Perez and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Adrian thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

In the restaurant business, the answer is simple: taking care of people. Taking care of your guest if defiantly a top priority, but beyond that- maybe even more important is taking care of YOUR people. The people who work WITH YOU (not for you) everyday to make sure your business is a success. That means taking the time to get to know them. Know who they are as people/individuals. Training people to be successful so when they are preforming there functions, they are doing it at the highest levels. Identifying and nurturing leaders. Leaders that can help your business run at the highest levels when you are not in the building, making sure your people are taken care of.
Also FUN. The environment, the job, it HAS TO BE fun. People have to enjoy being there, that’s how success is generated.

Adrian, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started in the restaurant business at 24 years old working as a bus boy. I made way up from the bottom working through all positions in the Front of House (Bus Boy, Host, Carry Out Server, Server, Bartender) for 3 years until I was offered a management position with Outback steakhouse. I was with Outback steakhouse as Manager until I was approached by Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen and was offered a Managing Partner position. During my 3 year tenure at Cheddar’s I promoted more Team Members than any other Partner and also was the training location for most of the Managers that came from the South East.
After my time with Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, I was offered a Managing Partner position with Metro Diner. I was through Metro Diner that I found my love and success in the “Quick Service” Breakfast industry. I quickly became a breading ground for Managers (again) and also became the training location for the Central Florida Market. My time with Metro Diner culminated with receiving the “Partner of the Year” award. It was an award given to the operator who had achieved the highest levels of success through Team Member growth, Sales Growth, profitability performance and community outreach.

Shortly after receiving my award I was contacted by a local Restaurateur Susan Bona. Susan Bona has owned and operated the Celebration Town Tavern in Celebration Florida for over 20 years. Shortly after COVID Ms. Bona had re-opened the Downtown Diner in Celebration as the previous owners had closed it prior to COVID sweeping the world.
Ms. Bona ran both establishments for about a year and a half and once the Downtown Diner had a strong operational foundation, she decided that she want to sell the business. However, Ms. Bona did not want to sell the business to just anyone, she wanted to sell it to someone who had a strong roots in the community, someone who she believed would grow on the success she had started to experience with the Downtown Diner and she wanted it sell it to a family’s life who would be changed by this opportunity.
After making this decision Ms. Bona ran across a Facebook post that my mother Joan Perez (who is a long time friend of Ms. Bona and was/still is a host at the Downtown Diner) showing off her sons great achievement.
It was after viewing this post that Ms. Bona reached out to me via Facebook messenger, she congratulated me on my award and asked if I would meet with her.
It is important to note that up until this time- I had never met or spoken to Ms. Bona. I knew of her (as she has done many great things for the community of celebration) but this was a first time meeting. It was during this meeting she shared the situation I mentioned above and then asked if I was interested in purchasing the Downtown Diner in Celebration from her. After hearing about her story and then hearing what her wishes for the business were, I then told her a story….
When I was 24 years old, shortly after I had started working in restaurants my parents took myself and my siblings out to diner a local restaurant here in celebration. After diner we had gone for a walk around the beautiful lake that sits at the heart of Downtown Celebration and during that walk my father asked my the age old father-son question of “What’s the next step for you in life, what do you want to do with it”. I told my father that I really enjoyed the restaurant world and my eventual goal would be to own my own restaurant. My father then asked me another question “Well, if you could own your own restaurant anywhere in the world, where would it be?” It was at that moment that I pointed to the building that now exist as the Downtown Diner and I said “Right there”….
After telling Ms. Bona this story I looked at her and said “So I don’t know how we are going to make this happen, but the answer is yes, and I will do whatever I can to make this happen”.
I gave my 30 day notice to Metro Diner and a few months later with some hard work and persistence, I was able to purchase the Downtown Diner on January 1st 2023.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn seeking approval from those who were “above” me in the industry. In the corporate world if you want to change something- approval is always needed, red tape needs to be cut through no matter how great the idea is. It took some time truly understanding that there were no strings holding me back from doing anything I felt would generate success.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

We are pivoting all the time. Wither its a path on Social Media we thought would generate interest, Menu ideas that sounded great but did not it the mark to name a few, sometimes you have to put all that planning ad hard work behind you and move on to the next idea or item.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.downtowndinercelebration.net
• Instagram: downtowndiner_celebration
• Facebook: Downtown Diner Celebration
• Other: Tik Tok- DowntownDinerCelebration