As an older, milder, slower moving contingent, American seniors can’t possibly be fixated on the hot new restaurants, healthy menu items and groundbreaking aesthetics, right? Wrong. If you see an older diner and think milquetoast and mashed potatoes, you’re closing yourself off to a powerful dining group. Sure, some seniors may want the menu and decor to stay the same year after year. But plenty of others would just as soon shake up their dining habits. Now 36 million strong, the 65-and-older crowd controls 52 percent of all consumer spending.

You can train and mentor until your head explodes, but the truth is that, to get a good manager you’ve got to start with the right kind of person. And what does that person actually look like? Probably something like Tracy Wilson at Tabla or Todd Orlando at Old Chicago, possibly Ed Berkle at ESPN Zone or Tommy Hart at Smith & Wollensky, or even Shona Barnes at Charley’s Fresh Grilled Subs. All five of these pros have become top restaurant managers. And here’s why.

Harry Bond has been in the pizza business for 30 years. He’s weathered his share of ups and downs—the gas crisis of the 1970s, a recession in the early ’80s, the Atkins craze. But nothing compares to the perfect storm he’s facing today: way too much competition, cheese prices at record highs and other food costs skyrocketing due to the ethanol effect. What’s more, Bradley, Illinois-based Monical’s Pizza, where Bond is president, faces some sticky regional issues, like a dollar-an-hour hike in the minimum wage and rising electricity rates.

When Giorgio Kolaj came to the United States from Italy in 1970 with dreams of opening a pizza shop, he never imagined he'd one day fly to Hong Kong to open franchises. But last year, after he and three brothers grew Famous Famiglia to 60 stores, that's what he did. They've now got agreements for 36 units in 11 countries. A search firm told Kolaj that Hong Kong's airport wanted a pizza concession. Investor groups in Mexico and the Balkans approached him directly.