Dean LaFollette Brings Full-Circle Story to Life as New Village Inn Franchise Owner in Riverview, Florida

Dean LaFollette’s career with Village Inn has come full circle. Nearly 30 years after beginning with the brand and two decades after advocating for the site in Riverview, Florida, he is now the franchise owner of the very restaurant he once helped establish.

After years of running several restaurants, LaFollette has chosen to concentrate on one location, providing steady leadership in a community still working to recover from major hurricanes. The decision shows both his loyalty to the brand and his personal connection to Riverview, the place where he raised his family.

For LaFollette, ownership is a chance to provide caring hospitality, support 35 local families with steady employment and deliver the comfort food and service Village Inn is known for.

1851 Franchise spoke with LaFollette about his long history with Village Inn and his franchising journey with the brand. Here’s what he had to say:

1851 Franchise: Frame your personal story for us. What did you do before franchising, and how did you decide franchising made sense for you?

Dean LaFollette: I went to work for Village Inn in 1996. Out West, I was a general manager in Utah. I had worked in a couple of other states with another family restaurant concept and ended up at Village Inn. I was successful as a general manager there, was Manager of the Year in 1999, and then in 2000, they moved me to Florida to be the regional manager.

I had 11 corporate Village Inn restaurants throughout Florida, and I did that from 2000 until 2016. In 2016, I left the organization for about a year because you had to have a gap in service to go from being a corporate employee to being a franchise person. When I came back, I went to work with the Lehan franchise in Pinellas County. At the time, Danny [Lehan] had two restaurants and was getting ready to acquire his third, and that created the opportunity for me to join the group. We had three restaurants in Pinellas County, which is St. Petersburg, the west side of the Tampa market. In 2020, during COVID, the franchisor went through a reorganization, and the Lehan franchise had a chance to purchase the Riverview location — along with Land O’ Lakes and Brandon — all three in kind of a fire sale as they went through bankruptcy.

Our Lehan group went from three restaurants to six, and then over the next couple of years grew to eight. We had a ninth restaurant for a little while, but one of them didn’t work out. In 2024, we had two hurricanes come through the area that did catastrophic damage. It really hasn’t been in the news to the degree that it should be. Forty-eight thousand homes were severely damaged or destroyed, and that’s not something you get over in a couple of months.

This last year has been tremendously difficult for every business, including franchise restaurants. The good news is that it created the opportunity to sell one of the assets in order to make sure everything worked properly in the organization, and it worked out to sell the asset to me. We took the challenge of the hurricane damage and spun that into a real success because I was able to trade my interest in the management company that runs the franchise locations into purchasing this Riverview restaurant. 

I went from being an area manager for a franchise to a franchise owner-operator. I no longer have to worry about eight restaurants. I have just one and am glad to have it.

1851: What was your perception of franchising prior to becoming a franchisee, and what do you want people to know about franchising now that you are in it?

LaFollette: I’ve been highly involved in the franchise program for a number of years with my involvement with the Lehan Group. The brand brings credibility, stability and cost advantage. If I just opened a restaurant and called it Dean’s Restaurant, nobody would know what that meant, and I would have zero purchasing power when it comes to getting good pricing, contract pricing and competitiveness. So, there’s a real advantage to being a franchisee.

BBQ Holdings is the franchise holder for Village Inn restaurants. They are very reasonable in their franchise fees and very supportive of the franchise group. Not only are you not breaking the bank to be a franchisee for Village Inn, but it’s also very beneficial in that if I have needs, they have support. When it comes to things like information technology, I flip pancakes, I don’t fix computers. Having computer people available without me having to pay retail for that is a huge advantage.

1851: What made you pick this brand? What excites you most about this company?

LaFollette: Village Inn is a comfort food organization. We sell pancakes, we sell pies, we have an all-day menu. It’s just a comfortable place to be, and it makes us resilient through the ups and downs of the economy. A lot of new concepts pop up, and in five years they’re gone because they don’t have the legs to continue to appeal to the guests. We serve families with kids, seniors and business people. There isn’t a segment we don’t cater to, which is very beneficial for us because everyone can find something they enjoy at Village Inn.

1851: What do you hope to achieve with your business? What are your plans for growth? 

LaFollette: The number one thing we’re going to achieve with our business is to continue supporting the 35 families that count on this restaurant. We want to make sure that we are financially healthy and able to sustain what we offer and continue to be the employer of choice for our team. That is our internal priority — to operate in a manner that’s stable and sustainable and to provide opportunity for the team and the guests. Vision-wise, we want the customers to feel that we show caring hospitality. We’re nice because it matters. We’re happy they’re here. Caring hospitality and delicious, memorable food are our focus. Anything we’re not proud of on the menu isn’t on the menu anymore. We make sure to remove items that don’t measure up and present the rest consistently so the guest knows what they’ll get.

Our customers continually respond that it’s a great value — they get a big plate of food, and they’re happy with the quality. The restaurant has to be attractive, clean and organized. That’s the baseline you have to have. We’re working on all kinds of priorities to reinforce that caring hospitality and delicious, memorable food that define our brand reputation.

1851: Is there anything else about your story you want us to know?

LaFollette: When I moved to Florida, I lived in the Riverview area. My kids went to Riverview High School. I lived five minutes up the street from this location for 15 years. In 2004, when the franchisor was looking to expand, I advocated for this site. There wasn’t much here — a bowling alley and one hot dog stand. They told me I was crazy, that a Village Inn didn’t belong here. But we knew Sam’s Club and the hospital were coming. I won the argument, they built the restaurant, and it opened in 2006. Now, 20 years later, I’ve had the opportunity to purchase the restaurant. It’s a nice full-circle moment. I also have strong ties in the community and look forward to reestablishing relationships.

1851: What advice do you have for other people thinking about becoming franchise owners?

LaFollette: The best advice I can give anyone interested in being a franchisee of any brand is to get to know the brand until you can be an expert at what it does. I have nearly 30 years with the Village Inn system, so I’m confident I know what it takes to be successful. Some people open thinking they can hire staff to handle everything while they sit back and collect deposits. That doesn’t work. Unfortunately, many lose their life savings that way.

Anyone interested in this needs to understand the brand well enough that maybe they aren’t an expert yet, but they have the vision to become one. That’s the only way to be successful and sustainable. I would encourage people not to just work a couple shifts, but to really get familiar with the brand and know what they’re getting into.

1851 Franchise: Do you have anything else to add? 

LaFollette: Village Inn offers some opportunities the public might not know about. Our restaurants host bingo one night a week, and in Riverview it’s Monday nights. That’s proven very popular and it’s growing on local social media.

ezCater is another opportunity for people to order catering from Village Inn. The company is also involved with GroupRaise, which organizes spirit nights for community groups. That makes it easy for organizations to fundraise at our restaurant. Locally, we’ve also added some retail in the lobby — decorative pie plates, Florida-engraved cutting boards, hats, mugs and postcards. These enhance the guest experience.

We’re also adding elevated coffees. This week, we’re installing a cappuccino machine to offer lattes and cappuccinos — not something available systemwide at Village Inn. I’m also joining the Chamber of Commerce here in Riverview to be actively part of the community. That’s something I’ve always done wherever I’ve worked, and now I can focus more on it here.

Village Inn has some exciting promotions right now. We’ve introduced new skillets — the Ragin’ Cajun skillet, the Big Country skillet and a Philly steak skillet. We’ve also brought back pumpkin pancakes for fall and added apple cider pancakes, which guests are raving about. Those are great examples of the food innovations happening at Village Inn.

ABOUT VILLAGE INN:

Village Inn is a wholly owned subsidiary of BBQ Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BBQ). Founded in 1958 in Denver, Colorado, Village Inn Pancake House offered made-from-scratch buttermilk pancakes, fresh eggs, bacon and steaming hot coffee. The welcoming local restaurant and its delicious breakfast foods quickly became a favorite of permanent residents and vacationers alike, and co-founders Merton “Andy” Anderson and Jim Mola began fielding questions about franchising opportunities. After an ad placement in The Wall Street Journal, the brand’s first franchised location began operating in 1961. For over 60 years, Village Inn has been revered for its breakfast, which is available all day, lunch, dinner and widely celebrated pies, and it has now grown to a system of over 100 restaurants, all of which offer a cozy atmosphere for guests to enjoy their favorite comfort foods.