Who is Cameron Mitchell?
CAMERON MITCHELL, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER
CAMERON MITCHELL RESTAURANTS
Cameron Mitchell is president and founder of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. A lifelong entrepreneur, Mitchell is an accomplished businessman, culinary expert and nationally recognized restaurateur. His prominence in the industry increased exponentially in early 2008, when he guided the sale of two of his most popular concepts — Mitchell’s/Columbus Fish Market and Mitchell’s/Cameron’s Steakhouse, a total of 22 restaurants — to Ruth’s Hospitality Group for $92 million.
It is an extraordinary accomplishment in a career that has been called “a dish room to board room story.” Mitchell began his career in the restaurant industry nearly three decades ago, when he began as a dishwasher at a local steakhouse. A few years later, when he was working as a line cook during a chaotic shift change, he realized he loved the restaurant business and set out to make it his lifelong career. After that shift, he put pen to paper to map out his career goals, waking his mother in the middle of the night to share them with her. Those goals — to attend the prestigious Culinary Institute of America (CIA), to become an executive chef by age 23, to be a restaurant general manager by 24, and ultimately to be president of a company by the age of 35 — eventually were the benchmarks that would set the course of Cameron Mitchell’s restaurant industry career.
At the age of 22, Mitchell graduated from the CIA. He started his professional career with the 55 Restaurant Group in Columbus and rose through the company’s ranks until he was directing all restaurant operations. But eventually, his corporate ladder ran out of rungs, and Mitchell set forth on his final career aspiration — to be president of his own restaurant company. In 1993, Cameron Mitchell Restaurants began with the launch of Cameron’s, an intimate, contemporary American bistro in northwest Columbus. Through the development of new concepts and the expansion of several of his most popular concepts, Cameron Mitchell Restaurants grew to become a 33-unit, multiconcept operation with locations in nine states. At the company’s peak, in 2007, sales exceeded $120 million annually.
Cameron Mitchell has spent the nearly three years since the sale rebuilding his company. CMR remains independent and privately held, with 16 units and seven different concepts, as well as a separate and highly successful catering company. Furthermore, CMR continues to manage the growth and development of its "sister company," The Rusty Bucket Restaurant & Tavern.
With an entrepreneur’s energy, vision and passion, Mitchell’s sights are set on the development of new restaurant concepts, and the expansion of concepts currently in his company’s portfolio, particularly Ocean Prime (known in Columbus as Mitchell’s Ocean Club). Plans include introduction of this concept in metropolitan markets across the country such as Dallas and Houston, Texas; Washington D.C.; Chicago, Illinois and many more.
Cameron Mitchell’s successes in business and keen understanding of the restaurant industry have earned him countless awards and acknowledgements. Most notably, he has been honored as Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst and Young, as a Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration and as one of 5 Golden Chain winners by Nation's Restaurant News. He also received the prestigious Silver Plate award from the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association and was honored with the Council of Hotel and Restaurant Trainers (CHART) 2007 Commitment to People Award. In 2008, Cameron was inducted into the Junior Achievement Central Ohio Business Hall of Fame. Mitchell is regularly sought after for speaking engagements and by national business and industry publications. He has been featured in publications including Restaurant Business, Nation’s Restaurant News, Restaurant Hospitality, Chain Leader and Restaurants and Institutions.
Mitchell is committed both to his profession and to the community he calls home. He serves as Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees of the prestigious CIA and he was the first alumnus to chair its board. Mitchell actively recruits and mentors current and prospective students, and today, he is the school’s largest alumni donor, by establishing a $500,000 scholarship fund. Among his service to numerous local boards and committees in Columbus, Ohio, where he lives
with his family, is his exceptional dedication to the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Foundation, where he serves on the board.
