This is an exploratory study that was aimed to probe into the problems encountered in running a restaurant, targeting 302 self-employed Korean style restaurant owners, and come up with a direction in which they should go to solve those problems. In order to set up a theoretical framework on which the current study could attain its objectives, variables, factors and problems leading to successes and failures of running a restaurant were examined. Findings of the current study indicate that the matter of costs/expenses ranked atop as the primary problem, followed in order of importance by the issues of human resources(employees), policies and government regulations, business administration and management of menus. This means that the reason the matter of costs/expenses was indicated as the primary problem was that the restaurant owners responded most sensitively to the headings directly affecting profits(payroll costs, costs of food supplies, rents, taxes and so forth). To conclude, findings of the study show that those sampled for the current study could not understand the fundamental problem involved in running a Korean style restaurant but focused on superficial problems (matters at issue) in evaluating the problems.