Entrepreneurs in the restaurant industry must perform a balancing act between passion and pragmatism. The realities of running a food business involve analyzing razor-thin margins, bracing for economic uncertainty, and weathering quick shifts in consumer behaviors, which are often fueled by the latest trends.

Business Insider’s “Made to Order” series explores the inventive strategies chefs, owners, and hospitality leaders are using to navigate this turbulent and quick-to-change market.

There’s a paired-down Los Angeles ghost kitchen operation that keeps a family’s longtime business alive; a bevy of local restaurant owners partnering with hospitality groups to set up shop in their home airports; side hustlers who are on a mission to bust intergenerational loneliness with dinner party-style dining; and owners who build their business models with employee retention in mind.

These innovators are up to the challenge of reinventing the food industry. “Made to Order” shows how they’re making it happen.

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A kitchen worker looks over a computer on a kitchen.

An Idaho restaurant put employee well-being first — and it paid off

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Elixir

Your favorite local restaurant could be coming to an airport terminal near you

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Dash In convenience store.

Convenience stores are becoming culinary destinations

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The Dinner Table club at Piggyback.

How a Gen Zer turned his dinner party into a business focused on busting intergenerational loneliness

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Box Chicken owners in the kitchen.

It’s tough to run a restaurant in LA. This chef is giving it a shot — in only 200 square feet.

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The cook of Box Chicken wrapping up a takeout order.

‘Ghost kitchens’ are great for shoestring budgets, but brick-and-mortar is still king, restaurant owners say

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A woman serves plates through the kitchen window at a restaurant.

The dinner party entrepreneurs trying to bust loneliness and pay the bills in a notoriously tough industry

Credits

Series editors:
Lily Katzman, Julia Naftulin
Editors:
Brea Cubit, Clementine Fletcher, Micaela Garber, Lily Katzman, Julia Naftulin, Akin Oyedele, Bartie Scott
Reporters:
Alex Bitter, Kathleen Elkins, Juliana Guaraccino, Lily Katzman, Juliana Kaplan, Anneta Konstantinides, Julia Naftulin, Tim Paradis
Photo editor:
Isabel Fernandez-Pujol

Photographers:
Gab Bonghi, Amy Lombard, Shelby Moore, Leslie Scott, Scott Shuman

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