Busboy-turned-owner builds on Tampa Bay Village Inn empire

Daniel Lehan IV has turned a teenage busboy gig into a multimillion-dollar restaurant enterprise. One simple key to success: You have to like people.


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  • | 5:00 a.m. March 21, 2024
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Daniel Lehan IV is about to open his ninth Tampa Bay-area Village Inn restaurant in Clearwater, 34 years after he started at the franchise as a busboy.
Daniel Lehan IV is about to open his ninth Tampa Bay-area Village Inn restaurant in Clearwater, 34 years after he started at the franchise as a busboy.
Photo by Mark Wemple
  • Tampa Bay-Lakeland
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As Daniel Lehan IV readies to open his ninth Village Inn restaurant, with its all-day breakfasts and tasty pies, it's worth recalling the story behind his other eight franchise locations. 

It's an all-American story: A 16-year-old Largo busboy works his way up, first to dishwasher, then further up the eatery ladder. Years pass. He then becomes store manager at a Village Inn in St. Pete.

 

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