Behind the list with Peter Keares

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Lancaster-based Keares Restaurant Group is behind several midstate eateries, including Gibraltar, Lancaster Brewing Co. Harrisburg and Barny’s Grill.

Peter Keares, president of Keares Restaurant Group, opened his first restaurant with his father in 1989. The Lancaster-based business now operates midstate eateries including Gibraltar, in photo, Lancaster Brewing Co. Harrisburg and Old Naples in Cumberland County. Photo/Amy Spangler

Central Penn Business Journal recently chatted with Peter Keares, president and co-founder of the group, about restaurants, the recession and why knowing how to cook is only the start.

Q: How did Keares Restaurant Group start?

A: My father and I bought a restaurant in 1989 in Lancaster — we opened a restaurant called Checkers. My brother was in college. Two or three years later, he joined us.

How does Keares choose what type of restaurants to buy or open?

We like to determine what the market needs and let that be our first criteria. We’ve learned to be fairly adaptable and changed things, modified things, changed concepts. Things have a lifespan.

What is your most recent initiative?

Both of our locations in Harrisburg have changed — they were both Doc Holliday’s, and that concept ran its course. We needed to make some changes. Last year we changed the East Shore location to Lancaster Brewing Co., and this past winter … (we changed part of another) Doc Holliday’s into Old Naples, which is a New York-style Italian restaurant.

What was it about Doc Holliday’s that wasn’t working anymore?

We positioned it to be a little more expensive — we used a higher-quality beef than other chains. When the economy started to go into decline a little bit, we were sort of caught as a little more expensive than our chain-type competitors.

Restaurants often fail. What, from your experience, are the key points to running a successful restaurant?

I think you really need to focus on the basics. There’s always a cheap product out there, and it’s very tempting and easy to get in trouble thinking, “We can cut a corner here, a corner there.” It might save you a little money, but it never pays off in the long run. People see right away.

I think people know (running a restaurant) is difficult, but (focus on what they see as the easier aspects.) They say, ‘I like to cook,’ but it’s really nothing like cooking at home. … It’s a very capital-intensive and very labor-intensive business. There are very, very razor-thin margins.

What are the major trends you’re seeing in your industry?

I think our consumer is much more educated than they’ve ever been. … All the new cooking shows, they’re really learning about what they’re eating. The initiative from Washington (D.C.), the whole organic food movement, that’s a huge trend. People are more aware of what they’re eating. Fortunately, we’ve always been very ingredient-centric. We always look for the best in local, organic ingredients, and we’ll continue to do that.

How has business been?

Business has improved over the last four to six months. …. We’re stressing service a lot more, taking care of our loyal customers. Not that that shouldn’t always be the case, but (the economy) forces you to focus on that a lot more. … Customers can expect more when they go out to eat because customers are more scarce.

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About Peter Keares

Lancaster native Keares, 44, holds bachelor of science degrees from LaSalle University in finance and marketing. He was president of the Lancaster County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Restaurant Association in 2002, 2003 and 2004 and has sat on the boards of James Street Improvement District and Pennsylvania Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau.

He lives in Lititz and said he enjoys travel, skiing and spending time with his 3½-year-old daughter, Kelli.