Restaurant turnaround consultant

Cormac Doyle

I help independent restaurants in trouble rebuild menu margins, labor scheduling, and front-of-house systems before the next bad quarter. Available for 8–12 week engagements.

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How I help

  • Menu margin audit

    2-week sprint from $7,500

    End-to-end review of food costs, plate-level margins, vendor pricing, and waste. Closes with a re-engineered menu and a 90-minute walkthrough with your chef and GM.

  • Embedded operations partner

    Monthly retainer from $9k/mo

    Two days a week on the floor and in the books. Labor scheduling, vendor calls, shift reviews, FOH training, weekly P&L. Ends when your team can run the systems without me.

  • Pre-sale operations review

    1-week sprint from $4,500

    I run the operational diligence a buyer or lender is about to run — quietly, with you in the room, before the offer has consequences.

Track record

  • 23 Restaurants turned around since 2019
  • 6.4pts Average food-cost reduction per client
  • 89% Engagements that lead to a renewal or referral
  • <2wk Median time from first call to first deliverable

How we work together

  1. Free 30-minute call

    We talk through what's bleeding cash on your P&L. If I'm not the right fit, I'll usually know someone who is.

  2. Scoped proposal

    I send a one-page document with the engagement, the deliverables, and a fixed price. You can say no without owing me anything.

  3. On-site in 5 days

    Once we sign, I'm on your floor and in your books within a week. No long onboarding.

  4. Weekly written updates

    Every Monday: what changed, what's next, what's blocked. Numbers-first; meetings only when they earn their place.

About

I've run restaurant operations since 2008 — three independent kitchens, two profitable rebuilds, one closing that taught me more than the others. Before that, I worked the line and the books at **Balthazar** and **The Spotted Pig**. I write [a newsletter](https://example.com/letters) for owner-operators, and I live in Brooklyn with my partner and a very loud dog.

Got a hard quarter ahead?

I take on three retainer clients at a time. I usually have one slot a quarter.