Across America, some of the biggest names in the restaurant business are shrinking, closing locations or restructuring, while locally operated restaurants are demonstrating that there may still be room to succeed by offering something corporate dining can struggle to duplicate: personal ownership, flexibility and genuine hospitality.
The restaurant industry is going through a significant period of change. Rising food prices, labor expenses, insurance, utilities, occupancy costs and other operating expenses have squeezed already-thin restaurant margins. According to the National Restaurant Association, total expenses for the average restaurant increased approximately 36 percent between 2019 and 2026. The association reported that 42 percent of restaurant operators said their businesses were not profitable in 2025.
Large restaurant organizations have not escaped those pressures.
In 2026, multi-unit restaurant franchisee bankruptcies surged, with significant filings involving operators connected to brands including Hardee’s, Subway, Popeyes, Carl’s Jr., Moe’s Southwest Grill and Applebee’s. Industry experts have pointed to high labor and food costs, declining traffic and financially cautious consumers as major factors.
The challenges can also be seen in restaurant traffic. In August 2026, 46 percent of restaurant operators reported lower customer traffic compared with the previous year, marking the 18th month out of the previous 19 in which the industry reported a net decline in traffic.
Yet people have not stopped wanting to eat out.
Instead, diners appear to be demanding more for their money.
The National Restaurant Association has found that consumers increasingly define value as more than price. The overall experience, hospitality, atmosphere and opportunity to socialize are increasingly important components of what makes a restaurant worth visiting.
That changing environment may create an opportunity for restaurants such as the newly opened Timber Ridge in San Bernardino.
Timber Ridge is operated by longtime Inland Empire restaurateurs Mike and Lori Miller, whose restaurant family also includes Woody’s Classic Grill in Grand Terrace and Woody’s Roadhouse in Colton.
Mike Miller brings approximately 52 years of restaurant experience to the operation.
He entered the business at just 15 years old, beginning at a McDonald’s on E Street and later working at Cask ’n Cleaver. At Cask ’n Cleaver, Miller began at one of the most basic positions in the restaurant industry: dishwasher.
From there, he worked his way through virtually every level of restaurant operations.
He became a prep cook, cook, busser, server and bartender before moving into management. Over his career, Miller estimates that he has managed approximately 10 restaurants and owned about seven.
That history is important to understanding how he approaches Timber Ridge.
Miller is not an absentee corporate operator studying restaurant performance from a spreadsheet. He has washed the dishes, cooked the meals, waited on the tables and managed the employees.
And now he is using that experience to train another generation of restaurant workers.
One of Miller’s strongest beliefs is that a restaurant employee should not simply be an “order taker.”
He wants his servers to become what he calls “hospitality agents.”
That means greeting guests enthusiastically, learning about them, remembering regular customers, paying attention to the table and recognizing needs before a customer has to ask.
Miller compares operating a restaurant to throwing a party at home.
When friends arrive at your house, he explains, you do not disappear into another room. You greet them, offer them something to drink, make sure they are comfortable and spend time with them.
He teaches his servers to approach their sections the same way.
“The party is out here,” Miller tells employees. “You need to be with your party, hosting your party.”
Even something as simple as leftovers becomes part of the training.
Miller does not believe a server should simply drop a takeout container on the table and walk away. If a guest would like to take the remainder of a meal home, he believes the server should assist in boxing it.
His philosophy is straightforward: if a server hopes to receive an 18 to 20 percent gratuity, the employee should provide the level of service that earns it.
“The guest’s job is to relax,” Miller said.
That philosophy could also make Timber Ridge an attractive workplace for people interested in building a career in hospitality.
Miller understands entry-level restaurant employees because he once was one.
His own career demonstrates that washing dishes or bussing tables does not necessarily have to be the final destination. Those jobs can become an introduction to cooking, serving, bartending, management and eventually restaurant ownership.
As Timber Ridge transitioned to the Millers’ operation, employees went through interviews, orientation and new-hire procedures. The existing staff was given an opportunity to remain while learning the Millers’ systems and expectations.
Employees are being trained on technology, including handheld ordering systems, but Miller's larger focus is on something technology cannot easily replace: human interaction.
That may prove particularly important as large restaurant companies increasingly rely on kiosks, apps and automated ordering to control costs.
Miller believes technology can assist employees, but it should not eliminate hospitality.
For someone seeking restaurant work, Timber Ridge therefore offers the possibility of learning from an owner who has personally worked virtually every position employees are being asked to perform.
The Millers also operate restaurants in Grand Terrace and Colton, potentially giving employees experience within a growing local restaurant organization rather than at a single location.
Training does not stop with servers.
Miller has a simple standard for employees preparing food:
“If you wouldn’t serve it to your mom, it better not go to the table.”
It summarizes his expectation that cooks, servers and managers take personal responsibility for what reaches the customer.
At Timber Ridge, the strategy is to combine that attention to quality with generous portions and competitive pricing.
Miller has said his goal is to increase portion sizes while positioning menu prices below comparable competitors when possible.
That reflects another of his longstanding business philosophies: he would rather make a smaller profit from a large number of satisfied customers than attempt to make a large profit from a smaller group.
Independent restaurants are certainly not immune from the economic forces hurting national chains. Food, labor, utilities and insurance cost local owners money too.
But a locally operated restaurant can have an advantage that is difficult to reproduce on a national scale.
The owner can be in the dining room.
The owner can talk directly with employees.
The owner can hear what customers like and change something without waiting for a corporate directive.
Most importantly, customers can develop a relationship with the people behind the restaurant.
That has already been part of the Woody’s story in Grand Terrace and Colton, where the Millers have built relationships with customers and the communities surrounding their restaurants.
Timber Ridge takes that philosophy into a larger steakhouse environment, offering the Inland Empire another option for a quality dining experience while creating additional local employment opportunities.
The broader restaurant industry remains enormous. The National Restaurant Association projects U.S. restaurant and foodservice sales will reach approximately $1.55 trillion in 2026 and expects the industry to add more than 100,000 jobs.
So the story of today's restaurant industry may not simply be that restaurants are failing.
It may be that customers are becoming more selective about which restaurants deserve their business.
For Mike Miller, the answer is to return to fundamentals that existed long before mobile ordering, national loyalty programs and corporate restaurant conglomerates: serve good food, provide value, train good people and make customers feel genuinely welcome.
At Timber Ridge, that philosophy is also creating something valuable beyond another place to eat.
It is creating jobs, training employees and giving Inland Empire workers an opportunity to learn the restaurant business from someone who started at the bottom himself more than half a century ago.