every employee at the restaurant – and soon two others across the street owned and operated by the same group – is taught the economics of running a restaurant, and to a greater extent, their own life, thanks to an open-book management style.

order lunch or dinner at the rail trail flatbread co. in hudson, mass., and you’re in for a pleasant experience. the food is great. the service is excellent. and if you ask, your server will be happy to explain the economics of the business—labor, cost of goods, and so on—along with some ideas she and her coworkers have recently come up with to boost revenue and control expenses

Ask Michael Kasseris what his title is at the Rail Trail Flatbread Co. in downtown Hudson, Mass., and the 32-year-old hesitates. He co-owns the restaurant – and two other hot spots on Main Street -- with Karim El-Gamal and Jason Kleinerman. "We like to call ourselves sometimes 'creative directors' because we like to play around with the creative direction of the company," he told MassLive during a sit-down inside the restaurant during a busy Thursday afternoon.

Opened by three young entrepreneurs in 2012, this area hot spot almost single-handedly revitalized Hudson’s now-booming Main Street, and the fire is still burning bright in the pizza oven today.

they opened the rail trail flatbread co., offering 20 taps of craft beer and char-blistered pies. that leap of faith opened the floodgates for other food-oriented entrepreneurs, who are populating downtown with everything from a gourmet cheese shop to a next-level gastropub. ahead, a pedestrian-friendly tour of hudson’s burgeoning main street