Opening a Restaurant in 20 Easy Steps
A childhood friend of mine got a wild hair up her ass and she and her husband decided to open a coffeeshop in a little town outside of Madison WI and she asked if I had any advice. I told her I’d jot down a few things but I figured I’d share it with all aspiring restaurateurs…especially those with no previous food experience. Good god, where to begin.
1. What’s the Game Plan? Other than the obvious, that you're starting off with a big pile of money, yours or someone else's, what do you want to be known for? Buxton Hall BBQ here in Asheville blew up because they picked something they loved and knocked it out of the galaxy. They do other things too but it all revolves around their core focus. Foggy Mountain Brew Pub was opened as a bar the owners wanted to hang out at and it’s turned into one of the busiest service industry bars in town. Even the hot dog cart guy in Pritchard Park is trying to be the best hot dog cart around because he knows he’s going head to head with a dozen of the best restaurants in the country all around him, and sometimes he wins. It comes down to Intention. You have to intend to do something for it to happen. You have to have a vision for it to become reality. Write it down, map it out, and know what it is and how to explain it quickly. “Clown themed tequila karaoke sushi bar!” Boom. Concept. Investors welcome. Restaurant philosophy 101 is over. Next is where you start spending money. And every step of the way is going to cost you money.
2. Location. Where do you plan on putting your new money pit? Are you building fresh? Leasing an existing restaurant space? Take a look at the history of a location really close. What has been there before? Has it ever failed as a restaurant? How big a space do you really need for what you want to do? Smaller places have less seating but lower rent, depending on the neighborhood. Also, what kind of kitchen capabilities do you need vs what the location has? A hood system can cost upwards of $5-10k a foot. If you can find one already installed that’s a huge expense off your plate.
3. Restaurant Design. You may have a rough idea of where in the building you want everything to go but someone needs to design it who knows what the codes are. You don’t want to spend a bunch of money and at the last minute have to delay opening for 2 months because the building inspector came by and said you had to widen the kitchen door two inches. (I seen it!) And not just the kitchen…where are the guests going to sit? What’s the flow for the servers? A good design and things flow like a mountain stream…a poor design has people constantly crashing into one another. Think efficiency of motion…how can someone do the most work with the least movement? Behind a bar a bartender should be able to get to 80% of what they need from their pivot foot. Ice, soda gun, rail, register, service station, garnish, taps and beer cooler should all be within one step of each other. Same for a barista. Don’t make them walk 10 steps to the milk cooler, put it right where they need it. Give them space for extra pitchers, and lots of cups and mugs they don’t have to go across the room for. They’ll thank you later. Probably not, but it’s still a good idea.
4. Décor/Ambiance. What kind of music are you going to play? Metallica? Coltrane? There’s a big difference. What’s it going to look like? Art from local artists on the wall? Movie posters? Plants? Picnic table family seating or white linen and wine glasses? Neon mud flap women on the walls? Don’t wing it. Unless it’s a bar in a bird sanctuary and then by all means, wing away.
5. Build out. Hoods, gas and power lines, drains, water lines, kitchen code walls, and kitchen code floors, lights, HVAC, walk-in cooler/freezer…or just stand-ups if you need to…but check to see if your health department requires NSF branded equipment. Some places are okay with UF but check before you buy or you could be out a lot of money when someone with a clipboard casually tells you to replace your cooler. This is the benefit of moving into an existing structure. Actually building a restaurant from the ground up costs a lot of money. A LOT of money.
6. Permits. Business licenses, health department permits, building permits, ABC permits, fire department permit for occupancy and to certify you for fire escapes and any fire suppression systems you have in place. Quick side note: I was trained early on that in the event of a fire in the kitchen I was NEVER to pull the lever for the Ansul system. Throw flour on it, baking soda, get the fire extinguisher but only pull the lever as a last resort. Those things flood the kitchen with fire suppression foam and you basically kill the restaurant for a week or so. You lose all the food, everything has to be cleaned, and then the system has to be recharged then recertified before you can reopen. That’s one reason why it’s so important to keep things clean and free of grease build up, so the shit doesn’t catch fire in the first place.
7. Equipment. Flat-tops, grills, range/flat/oven combo’s, combi ovens, convection ovens, steamers, fryers, sinks, salamanders (broilers), dish machine, tilt-kettles and skillets…you could spend $250k to build the ultimate state of the art kitchen, or get rolling with no hood, an induction burner and a Turbo-Chef. Your start-up menu goes hand in hand with your capabilities. If you are going to do BBQ then you need a smoker and you probably don’t need a $50k Combi oven. I’ve seen people start catering companies out of their kitchen with what they have on hand and get better equipment as they need it and can afford it. Don’t break the bank right off the bat with a bunch of equipment you don’t know if you’ll even use just to get some new toys.
8. Insurance. You need it. Get it. If you’re leasing figure out exactly what is your responsibility and what is the owner of the property’s and get covered for whatever is yours. You’ll need workers comp insurance too. And look into health insurance for your staff. It may not be a legal necessity but if you can afford it it’s the right thing to do.
9. Utilities. Imagine paying $4000 a month rent for the privilege of being able to pay an additional $1000 a month just to literally pour water down the drain for 18 hours a day. And gas? You’re burning natural gas or propane every second you’re open and paying for that too. Same for electric. You’ll need a linen service for towels and aprons, and they usually can doorway mats too. And you might have to pay for sewage or trash pick-up, recycling pick-up, grease disposal, cable/cable radio if you want to but this is why God created the iPod…so restaurants can use their DRM to bypass BMI fees, right?
10. Vendors. These guys are your lifeblood but check your orders carefully, you’ll get mispicks all the time. I’ve seen pearl onions come in for pears and a bottle of cumin with the label for a case of chicken. Some want a relationship, but they all want your money. Our current rep is great. He’s local and knows the inventory of every cooler he sells to in town. We had a wing mispick once…8 cases of the wrong product showed up an hour before opening for lunch on a Monday and I was opening nearly 86’ed on wings in a wing place. I called him and 20 minutes later he was walking in the door with enough wings to get us through the day. He took them from a restaurant down the street who was using the same whole wings we did and then replaced theirs from the warehouse before they opened for service that night. That’s extreme customer service, and trust all around.
11. Stuff. Hear that sound? That’s the sound of the cash register at the restaurant supply company. You can absolutely save money getting some things used but in general this is what you’ll expect to need.
a. Barware. Ask your liquor and beer rep for everything you need. Do not pay a penny for anything. Bar rails, caddy’s, bar tools, shakers, pint glasses. If you have a bar you’ll get all of this for free. You may have to buy a blender. Edit: not so much anymore…even the liquor industry if feeling the pinch. Still ask, they do get that stuff in still but it’s not as automatic as it used to be.
b. Tableware. Plates, bowls, glasses, silverware…might as well just keep silverware on order the stuff disappears so fast. They make magnetic trash can lids that catch a lot of the silver servers scrape off into the garbage. They work but get nasty quick.
c. Beverage stuff. Coffeemakers, tea machines, filters, sugar caddies, cups, stemware, water glasses, pint glasses, ice scoops, ice buckets, ice MACHINE.
d. Smallwares. Tongs, knives, peelers, measuring cups, cutting boards, board mats, whisks, saucepans, sauté pans, stockpots, portion scales, storage bins, scoops, rubber spatulas, regular spatulas, long spoons, tasting spoons, measuring spoons…just fucking spoons everywhere…. And sharpies…just buy a crate of sharpies.
e. Power Tools. Hobart bowl mixers, Robocoupes, Vitamix, Immersion Blender…maybe you’ll need them, maybe you won’t, but figure that out before you buy because nothing is worse than having a $1000 50 slice a minute toaster sitting around that never gets used.
f. Janitorial. Mops, brooms, dustpans, plungers, toilet brush, spray bottles for Windex (cheaper to buy the concentrate and mix it yourself but no one ever does it right)…and it’s not a bad idea to have a Wet-Vac around…just in case. Get another broom. They break a lot.
g. P.O.S. System. Yeah you'll need some way of ringing in all of your orders and handling transactions. You could write tickets and get a drawer and a credit card machine or join the future and use an Ipad and a card reader. There are a ton of systems out there. Choose wisely.
12. Paper.
a. Packaging. To-go cups, boxes, cutlery, napkins…I buy compostable stuff instead of styrofoam and I’m phasing out plastic bags and straws. Restaurants are responsible for a huge amount of plastic trash and we can force the industry that makes this stuff to do better. I had a conversation with the owner of a restaurant supply place once and he said “Restaurant owners don’t care about the environment. Restaurant owners just care about making money.” Packaging is the one place we can show with our checkbooks that is just not true.
b. Paper Supplies. Printer paper…and watch out, the little fuckers aren’t universal. Thermal paper? Double sheet? Triple? You'll have three printers using three different types of paper for no reason at all I swear. And labels…it used to be a roll of masking tape was the only thing you needed but I think the label industry bribed the health dept. to force us to buy their crappy “water dissolvable labels with no residue” that you can’t scrub all the way off with steel wool. Masking tape man. That’s all you need if your H.D. is okay with it. I work in one restaurant that has to use the labels, and a half mile away we can use masking tape. Just check with your inspector.
13. Menu Planning. You’ve got a theme but you need the whole enchilada…and burritos, tacos, combination plates, nachos…whatever. Keep it focused. You want to be known for doing something really well, not a bunch of things sort of half assed. But you also have to think of your kitchen and who is doing what and which station. Is your menu going to cause a bottleneck when half the restaurant is ordering wings, poppers, tempura shrimp and chicken tenders, and the burger needs a fried cheese wheel, and the lamb shanks need fried leeks? The food has to taste good. It HAS to. But you also have to be able to get it out swiftly with a minimum of preventable fuss.
14. Menu Design. This is the first thing customers are going to judge you on. Not the service, not the food, not the jackalope above the door…maybe the music…but definitely the menu. Keep it clean, free of typos, and easy to understand. I would definitely hire someone to put this together for you. As good as you are at making a chicken piccata look easy, so are they at making your menu look good. Hire a professional, get a professional job.
15. Beverages. What are you going to sell and where are you going to stock them? Hey look, you need yet another cooler! A soda gun/fountain system is a high margin option, or you can do cans or bottles and be able to adjust your offerings as you want to, rather than being stuck with the same 6 blends of sugar-water for the next 10 years. You also have tea and coffee to consider…both essentially flavored water so they are cheap and good for your bottom line.
16. Alcohol. Find out where you need to purchase it for your state and what the local Alcohol Beverage Control or Enforcement rules are and stick to them. They change everywhere…in some states you can’t have happy hour. Some states say bartenders can drink with the customers if the customers offer to buy them a shot. As far as what to sell? That goes back to your identity. Are you a bar? Pizza joint? Sidewalk café? Drinks are easy money and good margin and you don’t have to have a big elaborate bar with a cocktail trick pulling bartender to be a place where people can enjoy an adult beverage. Just don’t overserve. It may be 11am but that guy ordering a beer might still be going from last night.
17. Payroll/Bookkeeping. QuickBooks. Learn it. Live it. Love it. Then get an accountant to handle your taxes. This is like a graphic artist and a chef…people who are experts at what they do and can keep you from making a rookie error because you were playing around in a field you know nothing about. Accountants know tax law; they know the codes, the loopholes, the deductions…and what you can or cannot get away with. They also keep you from being tempted to NOT pay or under-report your taxes…which is a very slippery slope. I watched the IRS come in on a wing night at a busy sports bar once and literally carry the register out. Pay your taxes man.
18. Marketing. Yes, you need social media. You need the Facebook page, Instagram, Twitter, hell put up a profile on OKCupid. You’ll need a website of course, with your menu, hours, contact info, and pictures…taken by a professional. But the most important thing you’ll need is word of mouth. You have to get everyone who lives or works within a mile of your business to have a paper menu in their hand and know where you are and what you’re doing. Even if it means beating the streets like a politician out to change the world, you need to let people know you’re there. Be as local as possible. Get involved in the community. Host fundraisers and get some free press while supporting good causes. You own a business in a community…you should want to be part of that community…support them and they will support you.
19. Staff. Well, there’s you and presumably any family members you blackmailed or forced through liberal family child labors laws into servitude, so that’s a start. Be careful hiring friends…unless you’re confident in their work ethic and would hire them even if you didn’t know them. Otherwise it’s a crapshoot. The Industry is famously filled with sociopaths, drug addicts, wide-eyed innocents just entering the world, and everyone in between. Don’t discriminate. In fact, do the opposite…strive for a diverse workplace. Old, young, black, Hispanic, guy, girl, transgender, Asian…I don’t care…I’ll hire anyone as long as they can do the job, work fast, work clean, have a good attitude and come to work on time. It’s like hunting unicorns.
20. Sanity. Megalulz. Say good-bye to this for a while. Be careful with substances. Get some sleep. Take days off when you can. Eat. Drink water. Stretch. Laugh. Don’t look at Yelp.
Good luck! This is a fun industry. The money can be good…even great. The work is hard but you’re not sitting at a desk or behind the wheel of a car. You’re talking to people, building relationships, providing jobs, making killer food, and living a dream man. Remember that and have fun. And watch out for Karen. She wants to see the Manager.
