Tremendous growth in the restaurant business comes one customer at a time, according to Norman Abdallah, co-founder and CEO of this Austin-based group.

If you’re in Austin, you might expect to be served Tex-Mex, barbecue, or steak. At Carino’s, you’ll get none of the above, but you will get a unique approach to serving fresh food and running a thriving restaurant business.

In 1997, two executives fresh from a multi-billion dollar restaurant chain bought a struggling six-location Italian operation. Renamed Carino’s Italian Grill, the Austin headquarters now presides over 170 locations in 28 US states and the Middle East.

There are several reasons for the enormous growth. The first was a change to the original chain’s open kitchen. “When we bought the group, people were puzzled about what they saw happening in front of them,” said co-founder and CEO Norman Abdallah. “The open kitchen concept is great, but the food was frozen. There’s something off-putting about watching a cook take plastic wrap off a frosty brick of lasagna.” Abdallah and co-founder Creed Ford changed the fare to entrees with fresh ingredients.

“Every Carino’s makes lasagna, meatballs, you name it, fresh every day,” Abdallah said. “My grandmother was Italian, and she would probably have returned from the grave if we kept the frozen approach.”

Another growth factor is the company’s focus on managers and front-line staff. “We try to set the stage for passion about food,” Abdallah said. “Many chains use that word, but we concentrate on training and infrastructure to make each restaurant a fun place to work. If people don’t like what they’re doing, they pass that on to guests, and we won’t have that. We stay connected to managers, and they stay connected to their staff. A manager’s work week is never over 50 hours—the industry average is much higher.”

Instead of enforcing corporate procedure manuals, Carino’s structures its wait-staff training around reading and responding to the customer. “We want them to be themselves,” Abdallah said. “When you go out to eat, you don’t want to interact with a robot. We pick people who are personable, and we let them play to each situation. If diner A is in a hurry, food can get to the table more quickly. If diner B wants an evening-long get-together, the staff matches that pace.”

The company offers 11 weeks of training to new managers, including immersion stints in every hourly task, role playing, and personal and career development mentoring. “If you’ve just been promoted at Carino’s, we want to take time with you,” Abdallah explained. “After all, we’re entrusting a $2.5 million restaurant to you. We want to find out what you think is fun, and noodle out ways to bring that sense of fun to the site. For the inevitable not-so-fun things, we give you tools for handling the people and organizational realities you’ll be facing.”

Livable wages are also part of the mix, in sharp contrast with much of the restaurant world. “Someone being paid at a subsistence level won’t focus on making guests feel comfortable,” Abdallah said. “We have one of the best pay scales in the business.”

Carino’s keeps tabs on its programs with an annual poll, which asks tough questions about how headquarters is doing, Abdallah said. “It asks everyone about what is fun for them, what is not fun, what needs to be changed. We stay connected as best we can.”

Abdallah and his team understand that things are not always going to go smoothly. “Mistakes happen, and they can be costly. But if we were afraid of mistakes, we’d still have six restaurants,” he said.

Mistakes and successes, as well as managerial connectivity, have all helped the chain evolve. “People come to restaurants with higher and higher expectations,” Abdallah said. “TV chefs have done a great deal to influence the taste and level of sophistication of almost everyone. We put a great deal of effort into evolving as our customers evolve.”

While growth is a definite goal for the chain, rapid growth is not. “We learned a lesson in 2003, when we opened 60 new restaurants over an 18 month period,” Abdallah said. “Stretching is not always good. This year, our objective is 10 new sites, a far more manageable pace.”

There are, of course, profitability and customer growth objectives for each restaurant. Bottom-line performance is closely monitored through a centralized system, and the company can trace each site’s costs and profits. The same system allows headquarters to monitor the popularity of menu items, which vary considerably by region.

Fostering brand recognition has recently become a focus. “For 10 years, we’ve been a best-kept secret,” Abdallah said. “Now we’re changing that.” Carino’s has begun an ambitious marketing campaign, working with cable television, ESPN, and Nascar, which Abdallah said is right in the heart of the company’s demographic.

As important as marketing has become, Abdallah emphasizes one-on-one connections. “You have to connect with people in the restaurant business,” Abdallah said. “You have to like the guests, managers, and service staff. We’re here to serve, and there’s always a danger you’ll forget that. You can’t do that and grow.”

Dave Gehman is a Mass.-based freelance writer. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .