Keene Addington wears a sports jacket with a tie — and jeans and sneakers. Why the unconventional look?

Addington, founder of the Flat Top Grill restaurant chain, said his unusual sense of style is part of his larger philosophy about the restaurant business — he wants to be accessible to his employees.

“I try and run one shift as a manager in one of my locations every week,” Addington said. “And if I walk in wearing a coat and tie and taking notes, I’m not approachable. Partners won’t open up to me.”

For Addington, staying in touch with the “partners” — he won’t call them employees — is still a big deal. The father and sports fanatic said maintaining a healthy relationship with individual waiters and managers is a matter of principle.

“I started this restaurant chain to make a positive difference in people’s lives,” said Addington, who said he also briefly considered a career with the Red Cross. “Let’s say that one of our employees wants to be an actress. She finally gets a callback to an audition, but no one can pick up her shift. I want her manager to say, ‘Absolutely you go for that audition,’ even if it means he’ll have to wait tables himself that night.”

A supportive atmosphere was important to him when he founded the restaurant, Addington said.

“I was heartbroken when I came up with Flat Top,” he said. Both his parents had passed away and he had just broken up with a long-term girlfriend.

Amidst this turmoil, he decided to open a restaurant.

“As a kid I worked in kitchens, that was my passion,” Addington said.

Despite this passion, Addington spent four years working at a futures exchange before landing at the restaurant chain “Lettuce Entertain You.” This job sent him to Hong Kong, where he managed two stores.

He first encountered the prepare-your-own stir fry idea while working in Hong Kong.

“I went into this small, dirty shack of a restaurant,” he said. “But the place was jammed every night with Americans.”

Addington did the math: He said there were only about 20,000 Americans in Hong Kong at the time.

He brought the idea back to the United States in 1994, put together a business plan, and opened the first Flat Top in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood in 1995.

Since then, the chain has expanded rapidly. Addington said he has opened nine restaurants since 1995 and he aims to open about four in 2006. All the restaurants will be based near Chicago and Washington, DC.

The Evanston Flat Top was the second location and opened in 1996. he chose Evanston based on his “gut” feelings about the town, Addington said.

“What we noticed is that there were a lot of students coming to our first location (near DePaul University),” Addington said. “We thought Northwestern would be a great anchor for the restaurant.”

The Evanston franchise, 707 Church St., has been among the chain’s most successful, topping profit charts in 2002 and 2003, Addington said. He attributed this success as much to NU as Evanston.

“Students use Flat Top in a very adult manner,” he said. “They don’t come here just to swill beers.”

Addington should know, because he still spends time in every one of his restaurants, instructing the waiters and managing shifts.

“I love meeting people with different goals from different walks of life,” Addington said.

Addington said there “is no bigger adrenaline rush” than working in his restaurants — and this from a man who loves tennis, hockey, soccer and “any kind of sport.” Adrenaline is his thing.

That rush is why he intends to be involved in his restaurants on the ground level for years to come.

Since he plans to be around, he’s concerned about how Evanston will develop.

“Back when we were getting started here there was nothing,” Addington said. “The City of Evanston was very helpful to us because restaurants were the main economic force” in the area.

Addington said he is ambivalent about some of the recent development going on in his area, most notably the Sherman Plaza Project.

Although Addington said he felt the development would be good for Flat Top’s business, he said he worries the new development might obscure Evanston’s individuality.

“I’ve seen towns that have turned into a mess of national chains,” Addington said. “I just wouldn’t want that to happen to Evanston, because the town does have such a unique individual character.”

Reach Anika Gupta at [email protected].