COLUMBUS, Ohio — 2023 is a milestone year for both Cameron Mitchell the man, and Cameron Mitchell the company.
“I love being Cameron Mitchell,” said the restaurant mogul. “You know, I’m very proud of it. My family, I think, is proud.”
2023 marks his 30th year in business, the opening of his 100th restaurant, his 60th birthday day and his 28th wedding anniversary. This is also the year Cameron Mitchell will unveil his first restaurant on the glitzy Las Vegas strip.
“I’m the leader of our company, there’s no doubt about that. But everything we do at Cameron Mitchell Restaurants is by collaboration.”
He calls all these milestones a group effort. It’s all about the team.
Always humble, but not too shabby for a temporary high school dropout, who at 18 nearly lost his job as a fry cook at Max & Erma’s.
“I was late for work all the time. I was just working for beer money, lazy you know,” recalls Mitchell. “I was suspended for a few days and then put on 30 days probation.”
It was during that time Mitchell has an epiphany. He loved the restaurant business and told his mother he wanted to be president of a restaurant company by the age of 35.
“She was relieved and excited,” he said. “I went to work the next day. So, on Friday, I’m the laziest guy in the kitchen. On Saturday I’m the hardest working guy in the kitchen. On Friday I’ve got the worst attitude in the kitchen. On Saturday I’ve got the best attitude in the kitchen. On Friday I was working for the man. On Saturday I was working for my future and my career.”
But Cameron Mitchell topped his aspirations. He not only became the president of a restaurant company, he became the president of his own restaurant company.
His is a company that puts people first.
“Our associates come first, we call our employees associates,” he says. “I look at it as a triangular relationship. We take care of our people. Our people take care of our guests, and our guests take care of our company by repeat business.
The company culture he’s created has made Cameron Mitchell Restaurants a place where people want to work.
“We’re closed major holidays, you know, because I used to work holidays. I don’t want to work holidays,” said Mitchell. “We can make a lot more profit if we’re open on some of those busy, busy holidays. It’s not worth it. We say in our company, our associates come first.”
Mitchell is living proof of what a second chance can do for someone and because of that, he says he runs a company of second chances.
“I always joke, if you meet someone who got fired from Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, pat ‘em on the back because they worked hard at it,” he told 10TV. “I use my story. If I would have gotten fired from Max & Erma’s back then as a troubled youth, who knows where I would have been right now.”
The veteran restauranteur is also big on giving back. One of his greatest achievements is Mitchell Hall – a culinary school and restaurant at Columbus State Community College.
Now, as he enters what he calls the fourth quarter of his career, Mitchell is beginning to look ahead in a new direction.
“I’ve certainly exceeded my goals and aspirations and so forth and that’s why I’m turning a corner to a certain extent. I’m trying to think more about legacy, more about traveling with my wife, spending more time with my kids and one day grandkids,” Mitchell said.
However, he still has goals he wants to achieve. So, it doesn’t sound like retirement is too close for Cameron Mitchell. When asked which of his many restaurants is his favorite, he simply said “the next one.”
As of May 2023, the next Cameron Mitchell restaurants set to open are “Cento,” his 100th restaurant, opening in German Village in June. Then there’s “Valentina’s” opening in Dublin the same month as well as Ocean Prime opening this summer on the Las Vegas strip.