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Biff Naylor

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W.W. “Biff” Naylor is a retired restaurant owner in Los Angeles, California. He was born in Oakland, California[1] in 1939 [2] and graduated from Pennsylvania State University. In 2017 Los_Angeles_(magazine) food critic Patric Kuh called the longtime restaurant operator "Diner royalty" [2]." [3]. His father W.W. “Tiny” Naylor started Tiny’s Waffle Shops in Central California in the 1920s, and operated a chain of more than 40 Tiny Naylor’s and Biff’s restaurants in Southern California.[4] Biff Naylor took over operations of Tiny Naylor's after his father's death in 1959[5] and was still operating at least one location in 1999[6]. Naylor is the oldest of five brothers [7] who ran American Restaurant Services, Inc. which operated Café River City in Sacramento, California, Tiny’s family restaurant in Capitola, California, and seven Cindy’s coffee shops in Northern California.[8] He became chief executive of the Hershel's Delicatessen chain, created by Denny's founder Harold Butler, in 1987. [9]

Naylor joined the board of the California Restaurant Association in 1983[10] and is former chairman of the National Restaurant Association[11]. Naylor hired Godfather's Pizza president Herman Cain as president of the National Restaurant Association in 1996[12]

In 2004 Naylor came out of retirement to purchase the Du-Par’s restaurant chain. He brought in daughter Jennifer Naylor, who had formerly worked with chef Wolfgang Puck, to revamp the menu[13]. He sold it in 2018.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Oakland: Biff's to be torn down, replaced by 'hipster hive' of 255 condo units". San Jose Mercury News. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  2. ^ a b Kuh, Patric (November 21, 2017). "A Love Letter to L.A.'s Eternally Charming Diners and Coffee Shops". Los Angeles magazine.
  3. ^ "NRA's Naylor speaks out on food industry issues". Nation's Restaurant News. 16 September 1996.
  4. ^ "Du-par's Bringing Famous West Coast Brand East". Bethesda Beat. November 30, 2012.
  5. ^ "=Tiny Naylor, Restaurant and Racing Figure Dies". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. 19 August 1959.
  6. ^ "'I'll Have the Blue-Plate Special'". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. 14 October 1999.
  7. ^ "NRA's Naylor speaks out on food industry issues". Nation's Restaurant News. 16 September 1996.
  8. ^ United States Congress (1 May 1989). "Basic Health Benefits for All Americans Act: Hearings Before the Committee". via Google Books. Washington, D.C.
  9. ^ "Collins to buy Hershel's under Chapter 11 plan". Nation's Restaurant News. 20 July 1987.
  10. ^ "NRA's Naylor speaks out on food industry issues". Nation's Restaurant News. 16 September 1996.
  11. ^ "Cain's experience as restaurant group chief mirrors some of his campaign's problems". The Washington Post. 3 November 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  12. ^ "Cain: I Was 'Falsely Accused'". Wall Street Journal. New York. 1 November 2011.
  13. ^ "NRA's Naylor speaks out on food industry issues". Nation's Restaurant News. 8 November 2004.
  14. ^ Nichols, Chris (July 27, 2020). "Some of L.A.'s Most Beloved Institutions Are Threatened with Extinction". Los Angeles magazine.