And yet, he’d do it again in a heartbeat.
For Leonard Fleszar, the owner of Lenny’s Burger, a chain of throwback burger joints across Arizona, creating his own business wasn’t easy. But now, more than 30 years later and during a recession that has seen many restaurants forced to close up shop, he’s about to open a new location in Glendale.
Lenny didn’t start off owning and operating businesses. He grew up in Detroit, Mich., graduated high school, joined the armed services for a year, and then started working for General Motors. After more than 10 years at GM, he left for Arizona to own and operate a Tastee Freez fast food restaurant.
“It was hard for me to leave,” Lenny said. “I left everything. I left four weeks of paid vacation, medical benefits and retirement.”
Striking out on his own gave Lenny more responsibility and more work.
“You’re gonna work twice as hard working for yourself than working for somebody,” he said. “The responsibility is put all on you. Therefore if it works, if it fails, it’s all on your shoulders.”
Lenny admits he enjoys the freedom given to him that comes with being his own boss.
“I can come and go as I please,” he said. “It gives me great freedom, and that is probably all Americans’ dream — doing their own thing, having their own business and their own lifestyle.”
***
Despite owning and operating multiple locations, Lenny spends most of his time at the Central Avenue spot during the week for the lunch hours. During the interview, the busy midday lunch crowd starts to die down — only slightly. The smell of French fries and burgers permeates the air. Customers chatter excitedly, employees bellow order numbers into a microphone and Lenny shouts above the noise just to be heard.
The interview is put on hold for a brief moment as a customer stops by to shake Lenny’s hand, telling him how great his eating experience was. Lenny takes the interruption in good stride, accustomed to hearing positive feedback.
“I get testimonials almost every day,” he said. “Taking care of the customers is probably the most important thing. They are the bread and butter of your business.”
Lenny tries to do everything he can to make sure the customers are happy with their food and service. He works to ensure his restaurants never run out of anything on the menu and he hires the friendliest people he can find.
“I want customers to be repeats, over and over again for a long time,” Lenny said. “I want them to tell as many people as they can about me and their experience. Probably the most powerful and cheapest advertising you can get is word of mouth.”
Andrew Berens, a microbiology freshman, has never been disappointed by the diner, a place he frequented his senior year of high school.
“It’s a nice place to go with friends,” Berens said. “It was a nice bonding experience (because) it has a nice atmosphere and the service is very good and quick.”
One time, Berens visited the Central location on Lenny’s birthday. Lenny had prepared a birthday cake for all of the customers.
“He’s a very nice man,” Berens said. “He really cares about the people who come into Lenny’s, which is very rare.”
***
Red and white checkers. Shiny booths. Metal tables and black leather chairs. This 50s diner is unique compared with its mainstream competitors.
Lenny’s Burger has won the Best Burger in Phoenix award twice from City’s Best, competing against big names like In-N-Out and Delux.
Yet, one honor is still missing.
“My main goal is to get ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’ to visit me,” Lenny said. “I want Guy Fieri in my shop, I don’t know how to get him here. What better diner can he do?”
Jennifer Marx, Lenny’s stepdaughter and general manager of the restaurant chain, expressed the same interest in getting Guy Fieri to come visit.
However, that’s not the only thing she has in common with her stepdad. She has a passion for the restaurant business but says working for her stepdad has its advantages and disadvantages.
“I can’t just call in sick,” Marx said. “Working for family is hard but rewarding. You share the benefits and rewards together.”
After almost 30 successful years, Marx believes the restaurant chain will continue to have a bright future.
“I don’t think we’ve ever gone backwards,” she said. “We’re always moving forward ever since we started. There have been hurdles along the way, but we overcome them.”
***
Hurdles. Unexpectedly, the recent economic troubles have not created problems for the diner. He didn’t experience any loss in business.
“Everybody has to eat,” Lenny said. “I know restaurants have failed out there, but it seems like the little mom and pop places with the reasonable prices, they are the ones that are really surviving and getting through this tough time.”
Even in Phoenix, a city that has seen its share of struggles amid the busts of the construction and housing markets, business has flourished in recent years.
“The center of the city is where the majority of the people work,” he said. “I service a tremendous lunch hour with the downtown people here.”
He has seen quite a few college students come in with the coupon he placed in ASU’s Insider. He’s also hoping to expand his delivery radius so that he can deliver to students at Taylor Place and expand his business even more.
Lenny said he attributes all of the success to his hard work and sacrifice. Even though he considers himself retired, he comes to work so he can talk to the customers and have a good time.
“You’ll never meet Jack at Jack in the Box, and you’ll never meet the King at Burger King,” Lenny said. “But Lenny is real and so are his burgers.”
Contact the reporter at diangelea.millar@asu.edu
