Mrs. Alexandra Poll raised her boys to respect each other and act as a team. Applying her wisdom, they've created a $15 million restaurant empire.

After growing up in the restaurant business, Gillis, Dean and George opened Bryant & Cooper Steak House in 1986. Two low-cost steak joints called Majors Steak House soon foll- owed. The Polls now also own a butcher shop/retail market and a mail-order catalog for meat that operate under the aegis of Bryant & Cooper. They've recently bottled and marketed their own sauce.

Each brother manages a different aspect of the business. George, 32, oversees Riverbay restaurant and is the wine expert of the family. He implemented Wine Week, during which lunchtime customers can sample selections from different vineyards, courtesy of the restaurant. It's a value- added service - and a way to make customers feel like part of a family.

Dean, 38, handles many of the financial issues. He and Gillis are the concept developers of the trio. Gillis, age 43 and, at 6 feet 4, the shortest brother, handles operations and public relations. He meets with managers every week to review everything, from the correct temperature of plates to the fine points of cracking stone crabs.

In turn, managers have predinner meetings every day with the service staff. "Our employees know how serious we are about the policies we've created, " he says.

The Polls scour the earth for new ideas to apply to their eateries. A trip to a high-class hotel in Italy inspired them to put plush hand towels in the men's rooms. In the South of France, one brother found a new recipe for mussels.

In the next two years, the Polls will open two to three more Majors and several Bryant & Cooper Steak Houses. As a family operation, they're trying to grow their business without sacrificing the personal touch.

It's Tuesday night on Long Island, and Bryant & Cooper is hopping. Gillis Poll jumps up to meet another customer. "We try to make sure that every person comes in is greeted three times, " he explains. "Once, when he walks in, another time at his table, and again when he leaves. " Gillis says, "We strive to overwhelm our customers with hospitality. The customer is our boss."

In their journey from small family business to entrepreneurial juggernaut, the Poll brothers have been able to count on each other. "Our mother raised us to be close," says Gillis, "That closeness means everything."

Katherine Gallan