15 Best Restaurant Consultants (When to Hire & What to Look For)

What Is Restaurant Consulting?

Restaurant consulting is the practice of analyzing a venue and guiding improvements through a clear plan. A restaurant consultant reviews how the business works day-to-day. 

They examine operations, finances, staffing, and menu and marketing strategies. Then they set targets and outline simple steps to reach them. In launch phases, the consultant also acts as a project manager.

The outcome is a roadmap that enables the business to run smoothly without friction. Roles are clear. Processes are written down. Metrics are easy to track. 

When Should You Hire a Restaurant Consultant?

Bring in a restaurant consultant when the problem is complex, time-sensitive, or outside your team’s skills.

For most restaurateurs, this is the moment when it makes sense to trade time spent guessing for proven steps and measurable results.

When You’re Opening a New Restaurant

A consultant adds structure and eliminates guesswork, ensuring restaurant start-ups are organized and the business stays on schedule.

• Define the restaurant concept and market fit: Positioning and pricing that match local demand.
• Menu design tied to targets: Recipes and portions that hit food cost and margin goals.
• Operations plan: Kitchen flow, station setup, restaurant SOPs, and a simple service rhythm.
• Hiring and training: Clear roles, onboarding steps, and service standards for day one.
• Financial model: Startup budget, cash flow, and break-even with weekly checkpoints.

This keeps decisions tight and visible. You leave pre-opening with a checklist you can run, a first-month restaurant marketing strategy, a simple customer loyalty plan, and a small set of metrics that show progress. 

When Your Restaurant Is Struggling with Profitability

Margins slip for a few common reasons. Restaurant costs rise faster than prices, the menu mix skews low-margin, or service slows, and guests buy less. The market moves, and your playbook stays the same.

A restaurant consultant starts with a focused audit. They check prime cost, portion specs, prep yield, and inventory accuracy. They review menu design and contribution margin, then align the schedule with real demand. 

Next comes a simple plan: adjust recipes and pricing, reset pars, tighten operations, and add targeted training so standards hold on busy shifts.

You finish with a 30–60 day roadmap and a few restaurant KPIs that matter. 

When You’re Planning to Expand or Franchise

Growth multiplies what already works and what does not. Before you add units, lock in standard recipes, clear SOPs, and a reporting cadence you can run each week. 

A restaurant consultant stress-tests unit economics, builds the playbook, and trains the team so every new opening follows the same process.

More than half of franchises are multi-unit (53.8%), so scalable systems are not optional. 

You need a simple kit: hiring paths, training ladders, a labor template, vendor programs, and QA checks that protect food service standards, quality, and the brand across markets. 

When You Want to Rebrand or Refresh Your Concept

A restaurant’s branding requires alignment between the story, the offer, and day-to-day work. Restaurant consultants keep the plan simple and make sure the change reaches the guest, not just the logo.

• Brand positioning and story: Target audience, promise, and tone that fit the market and reflect consumer behavior.
• Menu design and pricing: Winners stay, weak items go, portions and margins set to plan.
• Visual system and touchpoints: Restaurant design, logo kit, signage, uniforms, and basic cues in the room.
• Operations tune-up and training: Service steps, prep lists, and checks that protect food quality.
• Launch plan and calendar: Local marketing strategy, PR, and critical KPIs to track.

That ties the message to execution, and owners get a clear playbook that the team can easily run.

When You Need Specialized Expertise (Marketing, Tech, Finance)

Complex marketing, tech, or finance work needs specialist depth. 

The consultants configure the POS and online ordering system to ensure clean data and facilitate fast menu changes. 

Then they create simple cost controls and a weekly cadence so decisions follow real sales and margin data.

Best Restaurant Consultants in USA

I chose these companies and experts for their broad knowledge, well-documented results, and strong reviews.

These picks cater to various needs and budgets, allowing you to find the right partner that aligns with your goals.

1. Synergy Restaurant Consultants

Synergy is an operator-led team recognized for its practical playbooks, which enhance day-to-day operations and menu design. 

They have a strong record of success with openings and turnarounds across full-service and quick-service formats, with training and KPI cadences that keep changes in place after launch.

Specialization: Operations, menu development, training, openings, and turnarounds.
For Who: Multi-unit groups and operators preparing new restaurants or fixing slipping sites.

2. TRG – The Restaurant Group Consulting

TRG is a growth-focused consulting firm that moves from restaurant concept and feasibility to finance and pre-opening execution. Expect clear scopes, budget discipline, and cross-functional support from site modeling to launch marketing strategy.

Specialization: Concept development, feasibility, financial modeling, and pre-opening services.
For Who: Companies planning expansion or franchise rollouts that need one plan and one coordinator.

3. Aaron Allen & Associates

Aaron Allen & Associates advises brands and investors with deep benchmarking and capital-ready narratives. The work spans portfolio performance, brand positioning, and market entry with measurable targets.

Specialization: Board-level business strategy, performance diagnostics, investor communications.
For Who: Established groups and brands seeking a data-driven plan before major growth or restructuring.

4. Coyle Hospitality Group

Coyle is a customer-experience consulting firm known for mystery shopping, QA programs, and actionable reporting that raises service standards across food service and lodging. 

Their work helps protect food quality, align staff behavior with brand promises, and support customer loyalty with data you can use in weekly reviews.

Specialization: CX audits, standards design, staff training, KPI dashboards, compliance report cadence.
For Who: Multi-unit restaurants and brands in full service or quick service that need consistent guest experience across markets.

5. Playground Hospitality

Playground brings operator discipline to openings and resets, from restaurant concept tuning to kitchen flow and menu design that fits the market. Expect clear scopes, hands-on operations work, and practical coaching that keeps the team aligned after launch.

Specialization: Openings, turnarounds, menu, SOPs, hiring and training, launch playbooks.
For Who: Owner-operators and companies seeking a grounded plan for new restaurants or a clean operational reset.

6. Blackwood Hospitality

Blackwood focuses on growth projects with tight pre-opening control, linking site modeling and staffing to a simple launch marketing strategy and day-one standards. The group balances brand polish with checklists that make expansion manageable for the company.

Specialization: Concept development, pre-opening operations, menu design, and launch calendars.
For Who: Growth-minded groups adding units or restaurateurs launching in a new city who want a repeatable playbook.

7. Clark Wolf Company

Clark Wolf advises on taste, sourcing, and restaurant concept clarity with an eye for economics and brand fit. Work ranges from menu direction to market positioning and partnerships across the hospitality space.

Specialization: Concept evaluation, sourcing, brand positioning, high-level strategy.
For Who: Established brands and groups that want senior guidance before a pivot or major growth.

8. Blue Orbit Hospitality Consulting

Blue Orbit focuses on back-of-house processes and frontline operations that reduce food waste and expedite service. The team aligns the kitchen layout, menu design, and staffing so that the plan is simple to run day-to-day.

Specialization: Kitchen design, SOPs, labor planning, and menu engineering for food service.
For Who: Operators who need tighter execution for openings or resets where consistency matters.

9. Goliath Consulting Group

Goliath blends operator discipline with practical coaching that sticks after handoff. Expect clear plans for training, menu development, and a launch marketing strategy tailored to the local market in both full-service and quick-service settings.

Specialization: Training systems, menu design, local marketing, and step-by-step process.
For Who: Owner-operators and growing company teams that want a hands-on partner for new units or turnarounds.

10. Gilkey Restaurant Consulting Group

Gilkey builds clear systems that tighten operations and raise consistency across kitchens and service teams. Work spans hotel F&B, bars, and food service, with practical checklists, training, and menu design you can run day to day.

Specialization: SOPs, labor planning, menu engineering, QA, and report cadence.
For Who: Groups that want a steady playbook for openings, resets, and multi-unit control.

11. KRG Hospitality

KRG is known for launching disciplines that turn a vision into an actionable plan, complete with budgets, timelines, and hiring paths. Strong fit for restaurant start-ups and new restaurants that need concept clarity, site modeling, and an early restaurant marketing plan.

Specialization: Concept development, feasibility, pre-opening training, first-90-day plan.
For Who: Founders and small teams building a first unit or expanding with a tight process.

12. New School Consulting

New School blends brand energy with operator rigor. Expect sharp menu design, pre-opening playbooks, and a launch calendar that fits the local market without losing speed.

Specialization: Brand and concept tuning, restaurant menu pricing, launch services, and staffing plans.
For Who: Growth-minded companies and brands that want a creative push with practical controls.

13. Last Word Hospitality

Last Word pairs operator discipline with creative concept work. The group builds tight openings and clean resets, linking kitchen flow, menu design, and launch plans you can run day to day.

Specialization: Openings, turnarounds, SOPs, menu and pricing, team training.
For Who: Growing companies and owner-operators that want a practical playbook for new restaurants or a focused reset.

14. Donald Burns – The Restaurant Coach

Donald Burns focuses on leadership, culture, and standards that hold under pressure. Expect clear service steps, coaching for managers, and simple operations rhythms that improve consistency and guest experience.

Specialization: Leadership systems, staff training, accountability tools, service standards.
For Who: Independent operators and groups that need stronger habits before scaling or a steady fix for service drift.

15. David Scott Peters

David Peters is known for profit-first systems that owners can keep without outside help. Work centers on recipe costing, menu design for margin, scheduling rules, and a weekly numbers routine that keeps the mix profitable.

Specialization: Cost controls, menu engineering, labor templates, manager coaching, simple report cadence.
For Who: Restaurateurs and small teams who want a step-by-step system to stabilize cash flow and fund growth.

What to Look For When Choosing a Consultant?

Before committing to any restaurant partnerships you should carefully look for fit proof and clear ownership of outcomes.

Here’s a checklist that will help you avoid wasted time missed expectations and sunk cost.

• Proven outcomes: Ask for case studies and references and a simple report cadence that you can verify
• Segment fit: Choose restaurant consultants with wins in full service, quick service, or wider food service in the restaurant industry
• Clear scope: Define consulting services, deliverables, KPIs, and the process with named owners on your team
• Concept and menu alignment: Link restaurant concept, menu design, food quality, and local market goals
• Strategy and marketing: Require a workable marketing strategy that builds customer loyalty and supports daily execution
• Operational depth: Expect practical operations playbooks with manager training you can keep
• Business terms: Pick a consulting firm with transparent pricing and timelines so the business stays on track
• Fit and communication: Favor partners who listen, speak plainly, and keep meetings useful