Know customers before redefining foodservice operations.(News)

National Report--After 15 years of serving College Station, Texas, Bill DeForrest, owner of the 11-story, 303-room Hilton College Station, took a look at his restaurant business and decided it was time for a change.

"We had all day coffee and then an upscale, a-la-carte restaurant operation, but we concluded we were not being very successful in either case," said DeForrest, c.e.o. of Lane Hospitality. "So we asked ourselves, 'What does the customer want?'"

A few months and $5 million later, DeForrest had directed the conversion of the fine-dining area into