Field notes.
Lessons and frameworks from the front lines of restaurant operations, people and systems. Eight topics. Written by an operator, for operators.
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The first 90 days of a multi-unit turnaround
Diagnose, stabilize, rebuild. The sequence that works, and the mistakes that cost me time.Read it →- Behind the $4.9M: How Three Underperforming Units Came BackA month-by-month account of a turnaround at a Michelin-recognized Bay Area restaurant group. Three underperforming units, $30M group, $4.9M operating profit improvement. What actually happened, what worked, what did not.
- What to Fix First When Three Locations Are Bleeding at OnceA field-tested triage framework for multi-unit turnarounds. How to rank failing locations by severity and fixability, and which cost line to attack first in each.
- Why Twenty Units Is a Different Job Than OneRunning twenty locations is not running one location twenty times. It is a different job. Here is what changes about the work, the numbers, and the operator when the unit count crosses ten.
- The Regional Operating Rhythm That Actually WorksA weekly, monthly, and quarterly regional operating rhythm that holds gains across a multi-unit region. What goes in each meeting, who owns it, and why cadence beats charisma.
- Span of Control: How Many Units Can One Leader Really RunThe healthy span of control for a multi-unit leader is 8 to 12 direct-report general managers. What breaks past that, when to add a district layer, and how to know your real number.
- Sitting the Regional Seat: What the Job Looks Like on Monday MorningAn hour by hour walk through a real Monday for a regional director. Weekend flash, variance email, general manager one-on-ones, numbers block, field visit prep, catering client call. What the job actually is on the day it starts.
- The Four Cost Lines That Move FirstLabor variance, food waste, unbilled comps, and repair drift. The four cost lines that decide whether a restaurant P&L is fixable in a quarter, and the order to attack them.
- Labor Variance Is Almost Always a Schedule ProblemLabor variance is not a wage problem or a headcount problem. It is a schedule that does not follow demand. Here is the diagnostic and the fix that recovers 3 to 5 points without changing headcount.
- Food Cost Is a Counting Problem, Not a Buying ProblemOperators blame vendors. Real food cost leaks are inside the walk-in: broken count discipline, unlogged waste, and portioning drift. Here is the diagnostic that recovers 2 to 3 points in 45 days.
- Give the General Manager Real Decision RightsA working framework for the four decision rights every general manager needs to run a P&L: money, people, time, and product. What to grant, what to keep, and how to write it down so the unit stops calling you at 9pm.
- The Weekly One-on-One That Is Actually UsefulA working 30-minute weekly one-on-one template built for field leaders and general managers. Numbers, people, you. What to skip, what to protect, and why status update meetings kill trust.
- Bench Strength: Building the Two-Deep Behind Every SeatEvery seat needs a named successor and a named second. The two-deep bench chart, how to build it in a real multi-unit region, and the promotion and cross-training moves that make it stick.
- The Host Environment Mindset: You Are a Guest In Their StoreThe mindset piece for embedded operators. You do not own the store. You do not own the customer. You do not own the brand. What that means for how you carry yourself, dress your team, handle conflict, and win the long game.
- The Retail Partner Scorecard You Cannot See but You Are OnRetailers grade you on things they never share formally. What store leadership tells the buyer, the quiet mark from a district manager, and how to reverse-engineer your real standing inside a host retailer.
- What to Do the Day Before a Retail Partner AuditThe 24-hour readiness window before a retail partner audit. What auditors check first, the paperwork stack, the visual tells that lose you points, the 5am walk, and how to brief a nervous general manager.
- The Daily Line Check That Actually WorksMost restaurant line checks are a signature on a clipboard. Here is a 20 minute line check that a sous chef actually runs, catches real problems, and drives measurable food safety and food cost outcomes.
- Service Recovery in Under Five MinutesA five-step service recovery playbook that resolves a guest complaint in under five minutes and turns a bad experience into a loyal one. Notice, approach, own, fix, follow up. Field-tested across a Michelin-recognized restaurant group.
- Kitchen Prep Discipline That Cuts Waste 15%A five-part prep discipline that cuts back-of-house food waste by 15 percent inside 60 days. Par levels, prep sheets, receive-to-shelf, portion control, and the end-of-shift waste log that actually gets filled in.
- The Dashboard the General Manager Opens Every MorningThe five-tile daily dashboard general managers actually open. What to show, what to hide, and why most operator dashboards die inside three weeks.
- Building an Operating SOP That Survives a New HireMost SOPs die inside 90 days of a new hire arriving. Here is how to write standard operating procedures that hold up when the person who wrote them is gone.
- The Weekly P&L Review That Actually WorksA 45-minute weekly P&L review with the general manager, run the same way every week. Format, agenda, artifacts, and the mistakes that turn it into a status meeting.
- The Twelve-Opening PlaybookTwelve new-unit openings across restaurant and embedded retail. What the third opening taught me that the first eleven did not, and the sequence I run every time now.
- The 90 Days Before Opening DayThe last 90 days before a new restaurant opens are the ones that decide whether week one goes clean or breaks. The T-90 to T-1 sequence, week by week, from an operator who has run it twelve times.
- Week 1 Through Week 4 Post-Opening CadenceThe operating rhythm for the first four weeks after a new restaurant opens. Daily huddles W1, twice-daily P&L reads, staffing recalibration by W2, first monthly review at W4. What actually stabilizes a new unit.
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