Watch the next Language of Business: You’ll eat it up!

Watch the next Language of Business: You’ll eat it up!

Think you can stomach running a successful restaurant? 9 out of every 10 fail. Can you beat the odds? Experts lay it on the line, dishing out advice on restaurant profitability.

Visiting the Center Cafe is like eating among friends. If co-owner Steve Waller isn’t at the door welcoming you by name, then it’s his wife and partner, Karen, showing you to a table in the small restaurant in downtown Needham. The neighborhood restaurant is hidden right in the heart of town, with a front entrance off the Needham Center commuter train station’s parking lot despite having a Great Plain Avenue address. There is a small bar area with four seats, and an unfussy dining room with about 20 tables.

Reservations are accepted, but in case there’s a few minutes wait, you can pass the time taking a turn on the keyboard. The owners bought two pianos, found Newton artist Marcia Cooper to paint them, and leave one just outside the door for anyone who might want to play. They donated the other one to the town, and it now sits on a pedestrian walkway by the train tracks.

Our other guests in this episode will be Jim Miller, discussing his venture Fire and Ice, Jeff Fournier on 51 Lincoln, and John Akar and Greg Sessler on Cava Tapas and Wine Bar. This episode will be airing in mid November.