Danny Meyer: Founder of Union Square Hospitality Group
Business Owner · Food & Beverage
Danny Meyer opened Union Square Cafe at 27 in 1985 and built USHG, whose restaurants include Gramercy Tavern and Shake Shack.
About Danny Meyer: Founder of Union Square Hospitality Group
Daniel "Danny" Meyer (born March 14, 1958) is a New York City restaurateur and the founder and executive chairman of the Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG). He was born and raised in a Reform Jewish family in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Roxanne Harris and Morton L. Meyer, whose father was president of a travel, hospitality and real estate company; his grandfather was the Chicago businessman and philanthropist Irving B. Harris. He attended John Burroughs School and Camp Nebagamon in Wisconsin, worked in college for his father as a tour guide in Rome and later studied international politics there, and graduated from Trinity College in Hartford in 1980 with a degree in political science. After graduating he worked in Chicago as Cook County field director for John Anderson's 1980 independent presidential campaign. He gained his first restaurant experience in 1984 as assistant manager at Pesca, an Italian seafood restaurant in Manhattan's Flatiron District, then returned to Europe to study cooking as a culinary stagiaire in Italy and Bordeaux, France. In 1985, at 27, Meyer opened his first restaurant, Union Square Cafe. His other restaurants and businesses include Gramercy Tavern, Blue Smoke, Jazz Standard, Daily Provisions, Ci Siamo and The Modern, and Shake Shack. Sources: English Wikipedia (Danny Meyer, accessed September 2026).
Basic Information
Founder and Executive Chairman, Union Square Hospitality Group
Company Details
Union Square Hospitality Group
Restaurants, Hospitality
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