2. Invest in a complicated series of conveyor belts to parade food by the tables of customers so they can pick out what they want.

3. Make it all-you-can-eat.

4. Charge a quarter per person.

That was the strategy of Charles G. Hall, an inventor who opened the Mechanafe in Boise in 1929. Sure, a quarter was worth a lot more then, but wow, what a bargain! “Mechanafe” was a mash-up of “mechanical” and “café.” Automats, restaurants that sold meals through vending machines, had been around for nearly 25 years. The Mechanafe, first located next to the Idanha and later at 211 N. Eighth, took the pick-your-meal idea one step further. Picture a rolling buffet moving enticingly past your booth. If you saw something that appealed to you, you slid the glass to one side and helped yourself.

The slow-moving conveyor belt traveled down the center of a series of booths, allowing you to plate your own meal without benefit of wait staff or even a menu. What you saw was what you got. When you had a dirty dish, you placed it on another conveyor and watched it disappear.

The conveyors were loaded, replenished and unloaded from the basement below the restaurant. The system was a mechanical marvel, but it did require an engineer to be on call, as ads for same reveal over the years.

The Mechanafe food selection changed to reflect the seasons and various holidays, but you could expect a selection that might include chicken and noodles, roast leg of lamb and dressing, prime rib, cold baked ham and potato salad and a fish course of baked halibut and cream sauce with vegetables, salads and desserts including ice cream and sherbets.

Hall was so certain his idea would catch on that he started the Automatic Food Machinery Corporation, envisioning dozens of Mechanafes across the nation. Boiseans were encouraged to buy stock in the company. Many of them did. For the first few years of its operation you could see the stock selling for $10 a share in the classifieds, then $6, then $5, then $4. One seller wanted to trade stock for livestock, offering to purchase cows with the certificates.

The 25 cent all-you-could-eat price couldn’t last forever. By 1936 a meal cost 53 cents. In 1940 you could load up for 55 cents.

From the viewpoint of customers, the Mechanafe was a roaring success. Legislators ate there in droves. Ladies clubs met there for lunch. Other organizations advertised banquets at the Mechanafe.

The Mechanafe became a required stop for tourists. School groups visiting the capital city descended on the place in hoards.

For years the café survived the appetites of Boiseans and visitors. Then, in the mid-40s, high school students began challenging each other to eating contests. Bachelors would visit once a day and eat one big meal.

Visiting football teams took their toll.

At last it was all too much. The owners — Hall had sold out in 1934 — put everything up for sale in 1945. The auction ad for the “world famous Mechanafe Restaurant” told its own story, advertising “equipment enough to seat 114 people at one time.”

Hall’s dream of countless Mechanafes across the country did not come true, but one did open in Los Angeles and another in Salt Lake City. He didn’t quit inventing. Hall had something like 40 patents to his credit when he died in 1967 at age 90.

So, now you have business plan with some record of success. Time to visit your banker?