Burtons Grill & Bar, a spin on the classic American Bar & Grill, celebrated 20 years in business this past March. Over the last two decades, the brand has weathered challenges like the 2008 recession, COVID-19, and now tariffs and rising prices, but it has come out stronger. What started as a single location in Hingham, Massachusetts has grown to over 20 locations across 10 states.
Burtons attributes its continued success and growth to consistency, quality control, and striving for excellence in what goes on the plate and how it treats its customers. It points to five attributes for lasting success:
- Clear vision and strategy
- Superior execution
- A strong culture
- Relentless commitment to the customer experience
- Adaptability
And Burtons isn't stopping at 20 years. The restaurant brand continues to evolve, and its 2025 goals speak to its focus on growth, evolution and adaptation, and creating a position of enduring market leadership:
1. Strengthening Our Core
Elevate operational excellence, hospitality, and facilities to set new standards of everyday excellence.
2. Advancing People Investment
Expand leadership development, bolster field support, and enhance HR capabilities to nurture high-performing teams at every level.
3. Scaling for Growth
Develop a sustainable and profitable expansion model, focusing on increasing same-store sales, optimizing profitability, and successfully launching new units.
We caught up with Burtons Grill & Bar CEO John Haggai to discuss how the brand has endured, how it takes care of its guests and staff, its advice for other operators looking to scale, and what it plans to do next.
1. How has the brand managed to not only survive but thrive over the last two decades?
John Haggai: Since Day 1, we’ve focused on delivering superior execution, fostering gracious hospitality, and creating vibrant dining experiences. Over two decades, we’ve stayed true to who we are and our unwavering dedication to quality, consistency, and community. Along with that, our passion and protocols for safely serving guests with food allergies and dietary restrictions, and our extensive gluten-free menu, have built a loyal following. I’ve developed our mantra of “Everyday Excellence” to drive home the importance to our teams of focusing on the basics and all the small details that create memorable dining experiences.
2. What advice would you give to other restaurant operators looking to scale their business?
Grow people before you grow footprint. Success starts with your team—invest in their development, align them with your values, and create a strong culture before expanding your reach. From there, scale with intention. Build a rock-solid operational foundation, understand your core guest deeply, and become part of the fabric of your community—not just a business in it. Do the hard work of site selection, training, and systems before you ever think about opening doors. Sustainable growth is a result of discipline, not speed.
3. In recent years, supply chain disruptions, staffing shortages, and now pricing/inflation have challenged the industry. How is Burtons adapting to and dealing with these challenges?
I can’t overstate the importance of building a strong foundation—it enables you to better adapt your business to most macro-influences. Whatever the challenge, it’s always beneficial to have foresight to be proactive, to have the bandwidth and people power to assess, pivot, and reassess. We all make constant adjustments to adapt and sustain ourselves; there must be a constant eye to the future while maintaining focus on what’s happening day-to-day within our four walls.
4. Burtons is known for its involvement in the communities it serves. How does the brand approach community engagement, and how has this contributed to its overall success?
Community engagement is part of our DNA. We think it’s vitally important to not just operate in but become an essential part of the communities we serve. We do this on Little League fields, in schools, and by partnering with various local and regional organizations whose mission it is to better the lives of those who live there.
5. The guest experience now plays a more important role than ever in the hospitality industry. With excellence in customer service a main tenet of the business, how does Burtons Grill prioritize and cultivate the guest experience?
Because we build community within our restaurant teams, it translates to our teams fostering that same sense of community and belonging to our guests who walk through our doors. It all starts and stops with our hosts, servers, and managers. And then we are relentless about cultivating feedback—we solicit it from our guests, and our managers read and respond to reviews daily. I read every review every day, as does our executive team. We view feedback as an opportunity to do better and get better. We must maintain a healthy sense of discontentment to succeed long term.
6. A strong team culture is also important to Burtons Grill. How do you retain employees and create strong teams?
We are so fortunate to have our Culinary/Beverage and Operations teams led by Burtons veterans, who live and breathe the brand. Denise Baron Herrera is our co-founding chef and now chief culinary officer. JP Pauciello has been with Burtons about nineteen years and he’s our VP of Operations. They lead by example, as does all our executive team, but it’s our GMs and chefs who beat the drum. We have longevity among all ranks—it speaks to the passion our people have for Burtons, their satisfaction with the workplace, and their dedication to our guests.
7. What are some emerging trends you’ve observed in the restaurant industry?
Certainly, there are food and lifestyle trends we pay attention to; we are constantly evolving. But we also know who we are and who we aren’t, and we aren’t a brand that jumps on the latest and greatest. We offer boldly-crafted American classics and develop our broad menu so there’s something for everyone at a value. It’s easy to point to gluten-free and food allergy friendly dining as an emerging trend but, for us, it’s just inherent in what we do.
8. As Burtons Grill celebrates its 20th anniversary, what are the brand's strategic priorities and growth plans moving forward? Are there new markets or concepts on the horizon?
What a milestone it was to celebrate our 20th anniversary and to see how far we’ve come! This year we are opening three new restaurant locations, one in an entirely new market for us. We’re continuing to introduce new initiatives that provide opportunities for guest engagement—recently we launched weekend brunch and happy hour, and now we’re rolling out catering. We’re doubling down on operational excellence, talent development, and sustainable, profitable growth.
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