Your restaurant deserves better numbers.
We help restaurant owners and local food businesses cut waste, fix what's broken, and actually turn a profit.
Running a restaurant shouldn't feel like drowning.
Most owners we meet are working 70-hour weeks and still watching money disappear.
Bleeding money on food costs
Your food cost is 35%+ and you can't figure out where it's going. Spoilage, over-portioning, bad vendor deals — it adds up fast and nobody's tracking it.
Staff turnover is killing consistency
You train someone for two weeks, they leave in two months. Your quality disappears with them, and you're back to square one.
No time to actually run the business
You're stuck putting out fires every shift instead of growing. No systems, no processes — just chaos on repeat.
The numbers don't make sense
Sales look decent but the bank account says otherwise. You know something's off, you just can't pinpoint where the money's going.
Straightforward help. Real results.
No 90-page reports that collect dust. We roll up our sleeves and get to work alongside you.
Operations Consulting
We audit your entire operation — front of house, back of house, top to bottom — and build systems that actually stick when we leave. Scheduling, workflows, opening/closing checklists, vendor management — the whole machine.
- Full operational audit & gap analysis
- SOPs and daily checklists
- Vendor scoring & negotiation
- Workflow optimization
Menu Engineering
Your menu should be your best salesperson. We use a profit-vs-popularity matrix to categorize every item into Stars, Plowhorses, Puzzles, and Dogs — then redesign your menu layout using psychology to spotlight the winners.
- Menu engineering matrix (Stars, Dogs, etc.)
- Dynamic recipe costing cards
- Menu layout & pricing psychology
- Modifier profitability audit
Cost Control
Food, labor, overhead — we find the leaks and plug them. Most clients see savings within the first 30 days. We set up waste tracking, par levels for your top ingredients, and weekly flash reports so you always know where you stand.
- Par level calculations & automated ordering
- Waste tracking dashboards
- Liquor variance analysis
- Weekly flash sheet reports
Staff Training
Better trained teams mean better service, lower turnover, and happier guests. We don't do generic videos — we build custom training programs around your menu, your standards, and your culture.
- Custom training programs
- Service standards & scripts
- BOH consistency protocols
- Management coaching
New Concept Launch
Opening a restaurant? We've done it over 15 times from scratch. Lease negotiation, kitchen design, hiring your first team, budgets, permits — we've seen every mistake and know how to avoid them.
- Concept development & validation
- Lease negotiation & site selection
- Kitchen design & equipment planning
- Pre-opening budgets & timelines
Turnaround Strategy
If your restaurant is bleeding cash, we come in fast, diagnose the problems, and implement fixes that save the business. We've turned around restaurants that were weeks from closing — it's what we do best.
- Emergency operational triage
- Cash flow stabilization
- Vendor renegotiation
- Profitability roadmap
Three steps. That's it.
Getting started is the hardest part — so we made it dead simple.
Free Discovery Call
Tell us what's going on. 20 minutes, no pitch, no pressure. We just listen and ask the right questions.
Custom Game Plan
We build a clear, actionable plan tailored to your restaurant — not a copy-paste template from some textbook.
Hands-On Execution
We work alongside you and your team to implement everything. Training, systems, follow-ups — until it sticks.
Results speak louder than promises.
Your weekly flash sheet.
Every Monday morning.
No more guessing. We set up a one-page report that tells you exactly where your money went last week — sales, labor, food cost, the works. Here's a taste.
Get Your Own Dashboard💰 Top Line Revenue
Did we bring money in?
| Category | Actual | vs. Last Week | vs. Last Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Net Sales | $42,500 | ▼ -4.2% | ● +2.1% |
| Food Sales | $31,000 | ▼ -2.0% | ● +5.0% |
| Beverage (Alc) | $11,500 | ▼ -8.5% | ▼ -1.5% |
| Guest Count | 1,250 | ▼ -100 | — |
📊 Prime Costs
The "make or break" numbers
| Metric | Actual $ | Actual % | Target % | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| COGS (Food) | $9,300 | 30.0% | 28.0% | ⚠ High |
| COGS (Pour) | $2,070 | 18.0% | 20.0% | ● Good |
| Labor (Hourly) | $11,475 | 27.0% | 25.0% | ⚠ High |
| Labor (Mgmt) | $3,400 | 8.0% | 8.0% | ● Good |
| TOTAL PRIME | $26,245 | 61.8% | 60.0% | ✕ Over |
We've been in your shoes.
We've run kitchens, managed floors, stared at P&L sheets at 2am, and wondered if the doors would stay open next month.
That's exactly why we started Stratos Consulting. Not as another consulting firm that hands you a binder and disappears — but as people who actually get it. We've helped over 35 restaurants across 6 states go from barely surviving to genuinely thriving.
From family-owned diners to fast-casual startups, we treat every business like our own. Because we know what's at stake.
Houston Parker
Founder & Lead Consultant, Stratos Consulting LLC
Don't take our word for it.
We were three months away from closing. Seriously. My wife and I had poured everything into our little Italian place and the numbers just weren't there. Stratos came in, spent two days just watching everything, then sat us down and laid it all out. Within six weeks our food cost dropped from 38% to 27%. They literally saved our restaurant and probably our marriage lol
Marco D.
Trattoria Bella, Hartford CT
Best money I ever spent on my business. Period.
I'm a second-generation owner — my parents started our diner in 1989. I knew the food, I knew the customers, but I had NO clue about the business side. Stratos didn't talk down to me or make me feel stupid. They taught me how to read my own numbers and now I actually understand where every dollar goes.
Angela M.
Mom's Kitchen Diner, Columbus OH
They reworked our entire menu in like 3 weeks. Removed 12 items nobody ordered, repriced the rest, and our average ticket went up $4.50. Wish I called them sooner honestly
Finally someone who actually understands what it's like behind the line. Not just another suit with a clipboard.
Chris P.
Denver, CO
Our family pizzeria had been open for 22 years but the last 3 were rough. New competition, rising costs, my dad got sick. I was ready to sell. Stratos came in and within the first week found $3,200/month in waste I didn't even know existed. They set up inventory systems, renegotiated our supplier contracts, and trained my kitchen staff on portioning. We went from losing money every month to positive cash flow in about 60 days. I can't thank them enough.
Questions we get a lot.
It depends on the scope. We offer project-based engagements starting at $2,500 and ongoing monthly retainers. Every engagement starts with a free discovery call so we can understand your situation and give you an honest quote — no surprises.
Absolutely — that's our sweet spot. Most of our clients are independent, family-owned restaurants and neighborhood spots. We scale our approach to fit your size and budget. Big chain tactics don't work for a 40-seat diner, and we know that.
Most clients see measurable improvements within the first 30 days — especially in cost control and waste reduction. Bigger operational changes (like staff training and new systems) typically take 60-90 days to fully take hold.
Both. We always start with an on-site assessment — there's no substitute for seeing your operation in person. After that, we work with a mix of on-site visits and remote support depending on what makes sense for you.
Even better — we can help you avoid the expensive mistakes most new owners make. From concept development and lease negotiation to menu design and hiring your first team, we've launched over 15 restaurants from scratch.
We hear this one a lot. Most consultants hand you a report and leave. We don't. We implement alongside you, train your team ourselves, and stick around to make sure changes actually stick. We also only work with committed owners — if you're not ready to put in the work, we'll tell you upfront.
Let's figure this out together.
Whether you're in crisis mode or just want to do better — we're here. No pressure, no commitment. Just a conversation.
"The best time to call was six months ago. The second best time is now."
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