Jim Stump – Los Gatos Brewing Company, The Table & Stumpy’s
Jim Stump, a native of Utah, has been working in the food service business since he was fifteen. Jim has worked at some of the Bay Area’s most acclaimed venues including San Francisco’s Fleur de Lys and the Blue Fox, Santa Clara’s Birk’s Restaurant, Saratoga’s Le Mouton Noir, and the Los Gatos Brewing Company. After […]
The Advantage of Being Your Business’s Landlord
One of the biggest challenges restaurant, bar and club operators face is the cost of spiraling occupancy costs. I have seen many good operators over the years lose their successful business because they couldn’t continue to absorb the increased occupancy costs they have experienced. Unless you have a long term lease in place with reasonable […]
Renzo and Crystal Azzarello of Luna Blu
Renzo and Crystal Azzarello came to Tiburon on their honeymoon earlier this year and stumbled upon a vacant restaurant space, Restaurant Realty was marketing, while on a romantic walk down Main Street, Tiburon. In December the couple opened Luna Blu at 35 Main Street, Tiburon. Crystal, who hails from Oxford, England and her husband, who […]
Benefits of working with a Restaurant Broker
A professional restaurant broker should have a vast amount of restaurant, bar, and/or club experience, and understand the operations, marketing, and financial aspects of the business. Additionally, a competent restaurant broker should have successfully completed numerous sales transactions involving restaurants, bars and/or clubs. By having the above experience, a restaurant broker can be helpful to […]
Trio Make Their Mark with French Food in Marin County – Olivier & Susannah Souvestre and Bruno Denis
Bruno Denis and Olivier Souvestre opened the Le Garage in Sausalito together in April 2008 and L’Appart Resto located in San Anselmo in 2010. Born in Brittany, France, Olivier who has over 20 years of restaurant experience moved to San Francisco in 2005 and worked as Executive Chef at Chez Papa Bistrot where he met […]
The Buyer’s Three Stage Checklist
The following list is broken down as follows: Stage 1 – Items you need to do before you sign a purchase contract; Stage 2 – Items you need to complete after you sign a purchase contract, and Stage 3 – Items you need to do in order to close escrow. Many other items are important, […]
Sunny Bajwa & Basque Boulangerie Café in Sonoma
Sunny Bajwa recently purchased the famous Basque Boulangerie Café in Sonoma . Sunny started his food service career working at a Taco Bell, then owned a String’s Italian Franchise in Milpitas for several years, then worked for Einstein’s Noah’s Bagels for 13 years where he was an area manager overseeing between 14 to 28 units […]
Peter Osborne – Momo’s, Pete’s Tavern, Pedro’s Cantina & more!
Peter Osborne is a native restaurateur who has been in the business in the Bay Area since he was 15. Starting out as a dishwasher at Sid & Jims in Mill Valley, he then worked at Victoria Station in Larkspur as a busboy; then on to Sam’s Anchor Café in Tiburon as a busboy and […]
How Buyers Evaluate a Restaurant, Bar or Club Business to Determine if it is the Right Opportunity – Part 1
(Revised 5/12/24 from the original article written 12/30/11) I originally wrote this Restaurant Rap article in 2011 and since that time this article has been among our most popular articles read. I thought it was appropriate to update it which I have done below. Since 2011 we have completed an additional 850+ transactions and in […]
Lloyd Russell of The Corporate Chef
Lloyd Russell and the Corporate Chef celebrates 50 Years in Business. Harry Russell started the Corporate Chef in March 1961 by opening up his first operation in a Macy’s employee’s cafeteria. In 1975 Lloyd, Harry’s son, was in law school when he started working part time in the business. After a year in the business […]