Onondaga Central
Finally Ours Diner, owned by Dave and Lisa Laffin, is a very popular and successful restaurant in our community. It wasn’t easy for them to get to where they are now. Along the way, they faced many challenges and were able to overcome them. Lisa has been working in restaurants since she was 17 and Dave had been in the business for about 25 years as well as serving in the military. Having worked as employees for so many years, they decided to try being a business owner and work for themselves. A customer came into a place they were working at and said they had a restaurant for rent. The Laffins checked it out, but they weren’t initially going to take it since it was in the middle of nowhere and they thought they weren’t going to get any customers because of it. They decided to start their restaurant there and in the weeks leading up to their opening, they were told that previous restaurants have never been successful in that location and they weren’t smart for opening theirs there. Dave says that it was the best thing they’ve ever done. When they opened Finally Ours, they received lots of support from their friends, family, and previous co-workers. When they started, they hired former co-workers and borrowed pans and silverware from a friend until they could get their own. Their business just took off from there. “We weren’t even going to open the other side of the restaurant when we started,” Dave added, “We were just going to do something small and within a month we had to buy more tables and chairs.” Their large menu has a wide variety of breakfast and lunch items. Some of their most popular dishes include the garbage plate, grilled cheese, and frittatas. They have daily specials as well as seasonal dishes like pumpkin pancakes in the fall and holiday pancakes and French toast in December. They offer both dine-in or take-out. So far, they’ve won several awards for their food and their successful diner. They won Best New Restaurant in the Syracuse New Times. They also won Best Reuben, Best Chili, and an award through Yelp. They’re currently being nominated for Best Diner and Best Brunch through Syracuse.com. If you are interested in starting your own business, Dave’s advice is “You have to put in the work. If you want to succeed in business, you have to be part of the business. If you think you can just open the door or turn the key and everything is going to flourish, it’s not like that.” “There’s too many things that can go wrong on a daily basis. There isn’t a week that goes by without something happening in the restaurant as far as breaks and you have to be able to know that stuff. You have to be able to trust the people that work for you.” They credit their success to their hard work as well as the community. “The support of our community is tremendous.” Dave and Lisa are in their diner from open to close every day to make sure everything is running smoothly and ensure their valued customers are given the best service as well as the best food. Finally Ours is located at 3788 W Seneca Turnpike, Syracuse, NY 13215
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