Danny Meyer is the founder and chief executive officer of the Union Square Cafe, The Modern, Cafe 2, Terrace 5, and Shake Shack.Apart from being an accomplished restaurateur, Meyer is the co-author of three books, including ‘Setting The Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality In Business’. Here is a list of some of the best and most useful Danny Meyer quotes for you!Danny Meyer Hospitality QuotesThe following Danny Meyer quotes are a great source of inspiration for restaurants all around the globe.(Learn more about Hospitality through these Danny Meyer quotes.)“I am usually intimidated by “networking” events, but the atmosphere at FindSpark events is always friendly and welcoming. They create an environment where making connections is easy and natural - with peers as well as industry leaders."“A great restaurant doesn’t distinguish itself by how few mistakes it makes but by how well they handle those mistakes.”“If you develop a dialogue with me and take an interest in me, I’ll want to give you the business. It’s human nature.““In the end, what’s most meaningful is creating positive, uplifting outcomes for human experiences and human relationships.““The chef who recreates a recipe on the fly because a guest happens to be allergic to a certain ingredient in his famed dish.““It is better to prepare a few delicacies with perfection than to exaggerate after having a big menu.““When the students failed to show up, I washed dishes for 3 hours until the chef cut his hand with a knife and then I filled in on the cook’s line until closing. This is what we do so that restaurants can provide their customers with an outstanding dining experience!““If a chef is just coming up with whiz-bang gimmicks on their plate, that has nothing to do with bringing real pleasure to people.““Solo guests deliver the feeling of being at home. Their visits feel like the ultimate compliment to the chef and the waiters involved.““My staff’s job is to adjust to circumstances with technical precision and artful grace so that every patron has a wonderful experience.““Long before Starbucks popularized the phrase ’the third place’ - somewhere to interact outside of work and home - it was neighborhood restaurants that helped to define places like Union Square.““In the hospitality industry, we were are all part of a team.““Creating advances towards the betterment of human relationships and human lives is the most meaningful goal there is.““A restaurant gives the customers what they want. Policies are just guidelines.““Hospitality should be the priority number one for any restaurant across the globe.““Make sure the client’s expectations are met financially, recognize that any project is successful through a team of people, and treat those people with respect.““Every restaurant needs to have a point of view."“There is no point for me… to work hard every day for the purpose of offering guests an average experience.” - ‘Setting the Table: The Transforming Power Of Hospitality in Business’, 2006.“My appreciation of the power of hospitality and my desire to harness it have been the greatest contributors to whatever success my restaurants and businesses have had.”"‘Fine casual’ means taking the cultural priorities that fine dining, at its best, believes."“Nothing would ever matter more to me than how we expressed hospitality to one another.” - ‘Setting The Table: The Transforming Power Of Hospitality In Business’, 2006.“Policies are nothing more than guidelines to be broken for the benefit of our guests. We’re here to give the guests what they want, period.““Good service means never having to ask for anything.””…These guests simply want to do something nice for themselves, chez nous. Why wouldn’t we reward that?"“… hospitality … is the sum of all the thoughtful, caring, gracious things our staff does to make you feel we are on your side when you are dining with us.”“The point is to keep the dialogue open while sending the message: I am your agent, not the gatekeeper!““A great restaurant is one that just makes you feel like you’re not sure whether you went out or you came home and confuses you. If it can do both of those things at the same time, you’re hooked.““Hospitality is almost impossible to teach. It’s all about hiring the right people.““Hospitality exists when you believe that the other person is on your side."“How can you franchise hospitality?““Hospitality is present when something happens for you. It is absent when something happens to you. Those two simple prepositions - for and to - express it all.““The most important thing you can do is make the distinction between customer service and guest hospitality. You need both things to thrive, but they are completely different."“The overarching concern to do the right thing well is something we can’t train for. Either it’s there or it isn’t.” - ‘Setting The Table: The Transforming Power Of Hospitality In Business’, 2006.“At my restaurants, we have training drills before every meal. We talk about what we did yesterday that was great and what we can improve today.“Famous Danny Meyer QuotesCheck out these popularly known and famous Danny Meyer quotes of the renowned businessman and restaurateur.“You can’t let challenges argue you out of doing what you know is the right thing.““If you got that fancy resume and portfolio down, but you’re not familiar enough with your dream position’s skill-set: coding, SEO, leadership skills, work ethic, etc, then you won’t seem like a good fit to the company.““Solo guests embody the soul of a true foodie. They don’t visit for a date or a reunion. They come solely for enjoying the variety of delicacies being prepared.““Just because you have an entrepreneurial bent doesn’t mean that you have to apply it to every idea under the sun, and just because you’ve had business success doesn’t mean that you’re going to succeed at every business.““I adore going to a very, very fancy restaurant - as long as the spirit is genuine, like it’s their pleasure to welcome you.““I never get sick on airplanes, which is incredible. You’re basically in a flying petri dish.““A delicious meal cooked by a colleague for many others nourishes not only the body but also the soul.““London has become one of the great world destinations for someone who likes food.““Some people are near - or farsighted - I’m thorn-sighted. The thorns on the rose are in really sharp definition for me, the rose petals a little fuzzier.““The guy says, “You can’t tell me not to have another drink.” And I say, “But I can tell you to pay your bill.” And he says, “You can’t tell me to pay my bill.” And I say, “But I can kick you out of my restaurant”.““In an age when so many groups are rolling out restaurants faster than your local baker makes donuts, my goal is that each restaurant feels hand-crafted.““The concept of servant leadership by Robert Greenleaf is extremely effective.““The great thing about capitalism is that it’s a system that works.““For judges of character, there is no such thing as the color gray."“I have always felt that solo guests pay us the ultimate compliment by joining us for a meal. Their visit has no ulterior motive.” - ‘Setting The Table: The Transforming Power Of Hospitality In Business’, 2006.“The excellence reflex is rooted in instinct and upbringing, and then constantly honed through awareness, caring, and practice.” - ‘Setting The Table: The Transforming Power Of Hospitality In Business’, 2006.“But the fact that something is free alone doesn’t make it wise or compelling to proceed.““Union Square Cafe is all soul, not brain.““Work on yourself and make sure that you’re demonstrating not only what you’ve learned, but your willingness to continue learning.““You cannot open a major New York restaurant today and not be aware that showbiz will play a role.““During one of his uncannily well-timed impromptu visits to my restaurant, Union Square Cafe, Pat Cetta taught me how to manage people.““Ninety-five percent of all brussels sprouts come from California.““In order to encourage the cattle farmers to raise a herd of all-natural cattle, which is a several-year process, they have to know that it’s not just Shake Shack that wants to buy it.““Hospitality is crucially important for work. If we put the importance in an order, then the first would be the employees, then the stakeholders, the guests, the suppliers, and finally the investors.““There are three things that people pick up on the instant they walk into your home on Thanksgiving. They will be able to feel the human energy. They’ll smell the food. And they will see, instantly, the table.““The desire to harness and implement the true art of hospitality should be present in any restaurant owner if he/she desires to own a long sustaining successful business.““Perfection should be the goal of a good restaurant. A big menu does not represent the worth of a restaurant, the taste of the food does.““Museums are like sports stadiums, hotels, and hospitals: they are in the category of captive-audience dining.““The instinct to do the right thing is either ingrained in us or it isn’t. We cannot develop or train that quality.““I gasp for air if I don’t get to breathe Italian air once a year.““Motivation, enthusiasm, confidence, pride and peace together make the perfect combination for a good workplace.““I don’t think there’s going to be sustainable demand for restaurants that force you to spend hours there."“I’m a big believer that you can try to change the world based on philosophy, doctrine, and belief.”“But the worst mistake is not to figure out some way to end up in a better place after having made a mistake. We call that ‘writing a great last chapter.““I learned that you shouldn’t take your most esoteric concept and fit it into the largest space with the highest fixed costs. It puts too much pressure on the restaurant to hit grand slams every day when there just aren’t enough people who want to watch that sport.““Whole Foods has been brilliant at changing the way food is produced because they just won’t buy it if it doesn’t meet their standards.““I just think the best way for me to be greedy is long-term greedy.“You wouldn’t have the same art on the walls at every restaurant or the same waiter uniforms. Neither should you have the same service style at every restaurant.““Earlier in my career, I needed to be the writer, casting director, set designer, leading man, and producer.““Life is a series of waves to be embraced and overcome.“Best Danny Meyer Quotes On Service and BusinessThese are some of the best Danny Meyer quotes about service, community, employees, and human experiences in the restaurant industry.“Business, like life, is all about how you make people feel. It’s that simple, and it’s that hard.““A cocktail done right can really show your guests that you care.““Her recipe for the perfect waitress was, “two parts Walter Cronkite to one part Mae West, carefully blended with a cup of Mikhail Baryshnikov and a liberal sprinkling of Mother Teresa”.““The founder has the privilege to implement a combination of practical and philosophical choices while starting a new business.““Previous success in any field invites high expectations and scrutiny the next time around."“Sometimes, early in their careers, chefs make the mistake of adding one too many things to a plate to get attention.”“If you’re constantly making business decisions on behalf of your investors first, ultimately you’re going to wear down your other stakeholders.““There should be a core strategy that always asks for improvement and progress.““My job is to serve and support the next layer “above” me so that the people on that layer can then serve and support the next layer “above” them, and so on.““It’s going to be potentially hurtful for your employees and your customers and the community you do business with."“THE FOUNDER OF ANY new business has an opportunity to initiate the first expression of that business’s point of view through a compendium of aesthetic and philosophical choices.” - ‘Setting The Table: The Transforming Power Of Hospitality In Business’, 2006.“Change is necessary. Change means progress. But the individuals involved need to have the change happening for them, not to them.““In one respect, it’s easier to open a restaurant in New York because you get more media attention than anywhere else.““I think that Shake Shack wouldn’t exist had it not been for Twitter.““A constant gentle pressure is required in every professional organization as the pressure will undoubtedly bring changes.““I run in London, in San Francisco – any city that’s got a waterfront or park.““Almost everyone will try a new place once, irrespective of the reviews, because it’s a spectator sport.““After all the subordinates are the core group that signifies the efficiency of any organization.““Every business needs a core strategy to be what I call always on the improve, for us, it’s constant, gentle pressure.““Foundation of a business will ultimately affect its success. A traditional or modern approach can be taken, but the foundation is required to be solid."“Mistakes can happen in a business, but we need to figure out how to rise after that.”“The only way a company can maintain constant success is by continuously growing and sticking to the purpose.““Shake Shack started off as a summer hot dog cart in Madison Square Park. It was not meant to be a company - it was completely accidental.““The only way a company can grow, stay true to its soul, and remain consistently successful is to attract, hire, and keep great people.““Talents need to be scouted, trained, and promoted. Then the company must have the capability to keep them satisfied."“One of the things that may get lost among all the hubbub when a company is ‘going public’ is that the business can now be owned, in part, by its greatest fans.”“Festive cocktails mean color, lots of color.”“Make new mistakes every day. Don’t waste time repeating the old ones.““I think that any business that thinks that the transaction is ‘you give me money and I give you food, next, you give me money and I give you food, next,’ without understanding that people deeply want to feel restored is in danger.““Being jazzed is a combination of feeling motivated, enthusiastic, confident, proud, and at peace with the choice to work on our team.““It’s the job of any business owner to be clear about the company’s non-negotiable core values. They’re the riverbanks that help guide us as we refine and improve on performance and excellence. A lack of riverbanks creates estuaries and cloudy waters that are confusing to navigate.““I have taken from the continued success of Union Square Café is that willingness to overcome difficult circumstances is a crucial character trait in my employees, partners, and restaurants.““If the employees are not satisfied with terms and the environment of work, they will not be able to serve the customers properly.”
Danny Meyer is the founder and chief executive officer of the Union Square Cafe, The Modern, Cafe 2, Terrace 5, and Shake Shack.
