Jean Bernstein, co-founder of the beloved Flying Star Café chain in Albuquerque, speaks with pride about her journey from disillusioned teacher to successful restaurateur. She also knows the hard realities of operating a business in New Mexico.
Flying Star began as a vision for a warm, welcoming café inspired by the small-town ethnic food scenes of New York and Brooklyn. It was founded by Jean in 1987 with her husband, a self-described “idea guy.” Today, the cafe includes multiple locations and a dedicated bakery crew of 17 people working in a separate facility on Broadway.
“We were just small business folks,” Bernstein says. “I was actually a teacher, and I wasn’t really feeling it at that time.” She says her husband had a janitorial business, “but we always wanted to do something to serve the public.” What they ended up building went beyond their original expectations. “Actually, it’s much more.”
Flying Star’s charm is rooted in authenticity, shaped by the couple’s childhoods in ethnically diverse neighborhoods filled with home-cooked meals and corner stores. “We had a desire to create something similar out here which didn’t exist,” she says.
The recipes aren’t from her own kitchen—“my mother was sadly a terrible cook”—but from a team of international chefs and local culinary talent. “We started out chef-driven and also ‘our tastebuds-driven’ because we’re eaters,” Bernstein says with a laugh.
New Mexico’s iconic red and green chile soon became a staple. “We only had chili because this is New Mexico,” she says. “Once you get into it, you’re addicted.” Over time, the café evolved into a community fixture. “We have fun all the time.”
From Mother's Day flowers to seasonal menus and live music in acoustically friendly locations, Flying Star works to be more than a restaurant—it’s a gathering space. “Our places are organic,” Bernstein says. “They just kind of ebb and flow on their own.”
But an inviting spirit has not insulated Bernstein from the difficulties of running a business. “Even though we’re a larger business—we have almost 400 employees—we would still be classified now by the SBA as a large business, which makes life very different,” she says.
She believes the state’s policies favor large chains over small or mid-sized businesses. “What I do notice is when laws are passed… they tend to be hard on small businesses, easy for larger businesses.”
Bernstein points to the COVID-19 pandemic as a turning point. “So much of what was deemed essential or nonessential really favored large business and really almost destroyed so many small businesses,” she says. Legislation such as the Paid Family Leave Act and the city’s expanded PTO requirements compound the challenge. “They never consult business—never,” she says. “There’s no respect for businesses at all.”
While she understands the intent behind many proposed new laws, Bernstein doesn’t trust the implementation. “It was a good-hearted intent,” she claims of the Family Leave Act. “But I don’t trust the leaders to have thought it through.”
Flying Star has tried to support employees, offering benefits and even considering an employee emergency fund, but Bernstein found that even generous intentions run up against “a governmental nightmare.”
The state’s fragile economy doesn’t help. “We have been very subject to all of the various winds,” she says, citing the 2013 government shutdown, the 2009 crash, and the prolonged pandemic response in New Mexico. “That almost put us out of business,” she says. While Flying Star has grown resilient, she worries about smaller businesses. “Can you imagine the little guys?”
As for workforce issues, Bernstein sees talent leaving the state. “We aren’t giving people enough reason to come or to stay,” she says. “There was a wage war, but it wasn’t that that was keeping people.” In her view, “you can keep throwing everything at employees and they still won’t stay.”
Despite the challenges, Flying Star continues to attract employees who treat work with respect and ambition. “Some of our best people have been students… studying for their degrees,” Bernstein says. “People are in all phases of their life… but while they’re there it’s meaningful.” Some have gone on to buy homes, send their kids to college, or even open businesses of their own.
Bernstein urges state and city leaders to start a dialogue with business owners. “We don’t have much dialogue in this state,” she says. “It’s very polarized–it’s very secretive in many ways,” she says.
With over 50 years in New Mexico and nearly four decades in business, she believes there’s untapped potential. “We’re squandering our own resources—time is ticking.”
For Jean Bernstein, Flying Star remains a labor of love and community. She believes the state could be more successful “with all the talent and ability and good people here,” she says. “It has to happen.”
