Why I Built My Business in the South Bend, IN, Region
South Bend, IN, business owner Kurt Janowsky started working in restaurants as a teenager, first as a dishwasher at a local pancake house, then rising through the ranks before opening his own restaurants. As owner of Navarre Hospitality Group, Janowsky has owned more than 20 concepts during the span of his career. Navarre Hospitality Group currently operates more than a dozen restaurants, bars and events venues like Cascade Prime Steak & Seafood, Café Navarre, Rocky River Tap and Table, and Spirited. Ahead, he shares the details of his entrepreneurial journey and why he loves doing business in the South Bend, IN, region.
Kurt Janowsky
Why did you decide to build your career in the restaurant industry in the South Bend, IN, region?
I needed a job in high school, so I started washing dishes and later cooking and waiting tables at a local pancake house. I just never left the restaurant business. After the pancake house, I worked in what, at that time, was the premier restaurant in the region. It was a big, successful restaurant, and it was a lot of fun. It turned me on to the business and got me ramped up to stay in it.
Why did you think the South Bend, IN, area was a great place to open businesses?
There are a lot of great reasons to do business in the South Bend, IN, area and to start a business here. For me, because it’s where I lived and came up through the restaurant industry, I knew so many people – customers, coworkers, vendors – and I knew the palate of South Bend, so it was natural to me. It’s a good market for restaurants. Because of the University of Notre Dame, we punch above our weight class when it comes to food. It’s a pretty sophisticated market, partially due to the people the university brings in. You get people who understand good food who come from a place like Chicago or New York, then they settle here because of Notre Dame and are looking for a cosmopolitan dining experience that we help provide.
What local resources did you use when opening your businesses in the South Bend, IN, region?
I’d say all the usual stuff. You go to the local lending institutions and work with the people who know you who have been customers at your restaurants and tell them you need financing for your new restaurant, and they help you out. Because they know you, they’re anxious to do business with you. The same thing goes for getting insurance and setting up vendors; you end up using all the local people. When you’re involved in the community, it means you know your customers, and they know you, know what you do, know what you’re about, and that helps business. It’s important they know you support the community, go to events and support local nonprofits, are on local boards or committees, help and volunteer in the community. It’s rewarding, but it’s also good for business. People want to patronize a place where they know the owner and think the owner is a good person. It’s always important to be a good human regardless.
What tips do you have for those considering opening a business in the South Bend, IN, region?
I’d say get really involved in the community. If you’re going to move in and open a business, don’t just work on your business, but be visible in the community and learn about your customers. Invest time and resources in the community, and you’ll get a lot back if you prime the pump a little. You can be successful in any business in South Bend, IN. It’s a good market and a great place to live. The region’s so big, so there are a lot of customers. We have almost 1 million people in the area, but we’re kind of flying under the radar of the big companies that think we’re too small a market, so it’s pretty ideal. You could be an electrical contractor, run a plumbing supply house or be a restaurateur, and you’ll have plenty of business if you run your business well.
What are some of your favorite places to dine in the South Bend, IN, area (that you don’t own)?
There’s a little fine dining restaurant called Roselily, and the owner was a chef of ours who went out on his own. When I’m there, I get the tasting menu; it’s really top notch. There’s a restaurant called Rohr’s on the campus of Notre Dame in the Morris Inn. My go-to there is simply grilled fish. It’s a nice place, and it’s always good to be at Notre Dame.
There are a million pizza places here, of course, and everyone has their favorite. My favorite is a local place called Rocco’s Original Pizza. There’s a local family who has been in the restaurant business for at least 50 years who owns Carmela’s Restaurant downtown, and I get the chicken piccata. The owners turned the South Bend, IN, business over to their daughter who was married at one of our venues. It’s a lovely family, and they do a great job. They have a bakery, a little Italian deli and grocery, and they do pizza at their restaurant.
For lunch downtown, I like CINCO, which is strangely an Asian-Mexican fusion restaurant, where half the menu is Asian food and the other half is Mexican food. There was a Thai restaurant in town for a long time, and the owner closed the restaurant and went back to Thailand, so these guys hired their cook who knew all these Thai recipes but had nowhere to cook them, so now, they’re doing Thai and Mexican food out of the same restaurant.
This article was sponsored by the South Bend Regional Chamber.
