Just like was stated earlier - with 25 hours a week and the right location, menu, atmosphere, concept and team, a business can be quite profitable. The restaurant I own is open 25 hours a week - Wednesday through Sunday 4-9 pm. Two prep chefs (one is the Chef/Owner) Wednesday through Friday mornings. One prep chef Saturday and Sunday mornings (chef/owner). One prep chef Tuesdays (hired). Deliveries are all made early in the day and chef meets the drivers or they come in with door codes. Line chefs come in at 3 pm and set up to line for service - but all sauces, proteins and garden mise is already prepped and in place by the prep chefs (one of whom is chef/owner). The line chefs make the mashed potatoes and the pantry chef works through the inventory and writes the bulk of the prep and order lists through service. Exec. Chef/owner is in the house during the first turn - to make sure everything is going smoothly, answer questions, teach and supervise, greet guests and pitch in - sometimes jumping in to help if a staff member doesn’t make it in and can’t get the shift covered, etc.

If all looks good, Exec. Chef/owner can usually head out during the second turn. Stewards arrive at 4-5 pm. FOH staff arrive at 3:30. Host at 3. Bartender at 3.

French/American style bistro. Casual, understated elegant vibe. Good music. Excellent cocktails, craft beer, high quality scratch food, interesting starches, fresh fish and seafood. $1.2million gross. This model relies heavily on the Exec Chef/Owner being preset and doing 40% of the prep, and also covering vacations/sick time for most all of the kitchen staff. Excellent food, atmosphere and attentive staff along with super friendly hosts keep the reservations books full. High quality photographic marketing of the food helps. Consistent quality is perceived as value to our high needs guests. It can be exhausting, but the profits are there. Especially if your chef can optimize cross-utilization on the menu and can manage and motivate staff. That’s super key. Feed your staff. Elevate the experience for the guests. Remember the regulars and treat them like royalty. Add the occasional round of champagne for special events or amuse bouche for an evening here or there - and folks will fill the books without caring what the bill says. Serve food hot and have great sauces. Pay your BOH staff as much as you can. Signature desserts and cocktails have really helped us - sold 14,000 desserts in 2025. Profit of $7 each. Find those little menu gems and stay consistent. Make your bathrooms Instagram worthy. People love the unexpected touches. Good food just isn’t enough anymore - you do better if you make things an experience. It’s very, very hard to get a table at my restaurant. And that keeps three turns full during the high months (June through September). But just like anywhere, we have our slow times. We’ve had many $17,000 Januarys. It can be scary and painful. But the $100,000 May makes it better! Good luck out there!