John G. Laytham
President
Clyde's Restaurant Group
For over 45 years, John G. Laytham has been a key figure in making Clyde's Restaurant Group one of the most enduring and successful privately owned restaurant companies in the nation. As co-owner and president, he steered the development of the company's management philosophy with its emphasis on customer service and value.
The restaurant business is the only business Laytham has ever known. He grew up near Pottstown, Pennsylvania and attended prep school in West Orange, New Jersey, where he worked part-time at a hotel. When he came to Georgetown University, he went to work at Clyde's to earn spending money. The famed Georgetown saloon had opened a few months earlier, in August 1963. Over the next few years he held virtually every job at Clyde's and eventually decided that the restaurant business was more compelling than the Foreign Service career he had planned.
In 1968, owner Stuart Davidson asked John Laytham to become a partner. In 1970 the two bought the Old Ebbitt Grill, the oldest saloon in Washington, and today the most popular restaurant in the city.
More expansion followed with Clyde's of Columbia (1975), Clyde's of Tysons Corner (1980) and the acquisition of The Tombs, F. Scott's, and 1789 Restaurant (1985).
Clyde's of Reston, opened in 1991, offers classic American food at modest prices in comfortable and attractive surroundings. The company's next venture, The Tomato Palace, opened in spring 1993 in Columbia, Maryland. The most family-oriented restaurant in the company's history, it features homemade pizza and pasta. The Ebbitt Express, an exceptional carryout offering freshly prepared foods, opened in March 1994.
The company's most ambitious project at the time, Clyde's of Chevy Chase, a multi-million dollar nostalgia trip celebrating 20th century travel, opened in December 1995. After closing for three months for refurbishing and the installation of a new kitchen, the original Clyde's of Georgetown reopened in May, 1996. Two years later in 1998, Clyde's at Mark Center brought a seafaring theme to the West End of Alexandria, and in 1999 the Old Ebbitt Grill unveiled its Corner Bar, with a Chesapeake Bay motif.
October 2002 saw the opening of Tower Oaks Lodge in Rockville, Maryland. This dramatic 20,000 square foot restaurant, featuring art, artifacts and furnishings reminiscent of the Great Camps of the Adirondacks, overlooks a 21-acre nature preserve. Clyde's of Gallery Place opened in November 2005 and brought a grand Victorian saloon to the heart of Chinatown, next door to the Verizon Center. Finally, in December 2006, Clyde's rebuilt four antique timber structures from Vermont which were destined for the wrecking ball, and created Clyde's Willow Creek Farm, a 20,000 square foot classic American inn in Loudoun County, Virginia.
In seeking to make the restaurant business a serious profession with career potential, John Laytham has focused on employee empowerment and management training. He was one of the first to hire women in the traditionally male-dominated restaurant industry.
Over the years, Laytham has also been a leader in the communities his restaurants serve. He co-founded and has been vice president of the Georgetown Business and Professional Association (now known as GBA) and a major contributor to Youth for Tomorrow, the favorite charity of former Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs. In 1992, he launched Clyde's School/Work Program in partnership with the D.C. public school system and has contributed more than $100,000 annually to this ambitious mentoring program. In 2000, he announced his five-year financial commitment of $250,000 to consolidate the Clyde's School/Work Program with the Marriott Hospitality Public Charter High School. In 2005, Laytham received the Duke Zeibert Lifetime Achievement Award from the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington and in 2007, he received the GBA Lifetime Achievement Award. Other favorite charities and causes include the Washington Opera, the Tudor Place Foundation, the Friends of Volta Park and the Columbia Festival of the Arts.
The resounding success of Clyde's Restaurant Group suggests that John Laytham has his finger on the pulse of the restaurant-going public. Indeed this savvy entrepreneur has made a career out of giving people what they want: good food at fair prices.
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