open a restaurant

Opening your own restaurant isn’t easy… I should know as I have opened and operated over 15 restaurants and cafes in the past 20 years. I have retired from that now, however what gave me a leg up was using the the best management tools and software including a really good restaurant marketing campaign. Keep your goal alive and learn as much as you can before you get there.

A place that would bring the community together through food

Here in Portland I’ve encountered something I’ve seen on TV about New York or Europe but rarely came across in Los Angeles or Phoenix… food shacks! There are areas downtown just full of them and even some in Pioneer Square. Some stay open late, most don’t. Some have big-sister restaurants like The Whole Bowl, most are probably owner-operators trying to make a buck.

Wouldn’t that be fun?? I would love to have a burrito stand. Breakfast burritos galore in the morning and my interesting concoctions the rest of the day! And, I’d totally make sure we were accessible to the 2am crowd on weekends.

What does it take to get started I wonder? A mobile trailer type kitchen for sure. Probably some licensing and permits to park around town or on a single business’ property. Food. Power. Maybe I’ll head there next week or so at an off time and talk to one of the vendors, maybe find an owner. I’m so curious.

All my life I thought of myself as a foodie. Its my one true goal to open a restaurant that cooks food that I like and hope others enjoy.

I want to have my own restaurant – someplace chic, but comfortable; someplace lively, yet subdued; someplace warm, stylish and soothing.

i want to explore the world of food

I am in the mid-phase of buying a bar/restaurant. We are negotiating over price/repairs, but with everything going on with the looming recession the question that begs to be answered is: is now the time to take this step?

I just discovered this site and all of your posts that I have read seem to come from experience, not just guessing. So, any and all thoughts would be welcome. Thanks!

I have been in the restaurant industry for over 13 years and have opened 5 restaurants with various companies. The two biggest reasons restaurants fail are because of the lack of the necessary capital and the lack of knowledge running a restaurant.

Over Estimate the Capital Needed
If you are thinking about opening a restaurant, make sure you low ball your sales and high ball your costs. If you are comfortable with the resulting numbers and have the cash to last through the first year at these numbers then you should open your restaurant. To many times, people are overly optimistic about their idea and they high ball their sales. This is not a good idea.

Over coming the Lack of Knowledge
If you have never managed a restaurant and you want to open a restaurant, then I suggest hiring a consultant to help you. Make sure the consultant has personally opened a restaurant. Do not hire someone that has never opened a restaurant and are using you as their guinea pig. In addition, make sure you hire a consultant that works with you and shows you how to be successful in the future. This is key!

Honestly, I haven’t even given it much though, I hadn’t even been on 43 things for about 6 months, but I am taking a step to get myself back involved with food, despite my schedule and being in a unrelated industry.

I just upgraded my digital camera and operating system for the goal of setting up a food blog. I will do food and drink and restaurant reviews. I think it’s a good start, and it puts me in a position to make menus again, which will feel nice.

My husband and I are buying a great spot! It’s so exciting we’ve both been in the restaraunt 10+ years…Hard to believe since we’re only in our Mid 20’s but I started in the industry at 16 and he was only 12 when he started bussing tables. He is currently an Assistant Mangaer for a very well known Corporate restaraunt. The spot we’ve found is excellent, a local nostalgic spot and once we sign the papers on our place then we actually get the 2 recipes that made this place known across the state. We are adding a great Southwestern Menu and Expanding on the exsisting country menu.