Consulting Services

Operations Consulting

Being able to effectively manage all aspects of your restaurant operations is imperative to your financial success. Vine Solutions combines the power of better business practices with experienced restaurant management professionals to help you identify opportunities and develop procedures to better control costs in these key areas.

Concept Development:

If you have plans of opening a restaurant, Vine Solutions can give you the guidance you need to develop your concept into a successful business. Our consultants have formidable experience with strategy, menu planning, preopening, modeling, design construction and branding. Our team is here to help you achieve your desired goals in opening a restaurant.

Menu Assessment:

The importance of having a balanced menu with individually costed out recipes is helpful for your financial success. Vine Solutions can review your menu and help create a plate costing system. We can also review product mix, ingredient costs, and labor needs. Our consultants have the background and mindset to consider both the creative and practical aspects of your dishes in order to help you trim costs, reduce excess waste, and as always, keep your quality high.

General HR Consulting:

Vine Solutions understands that recruiting and maintaining your quality employees is one of your restaurants best assets. We have consultants who can assist you with answering your basic Human Resources questions in any of the following areas: Workers' Compensation, Benefits Administration and COBRA compliance, Employee Relations, Wage and Hour, OSHA requirements, Performance Counseling and terminations.

Establish & Maintain Information Systems:

At Vine Solutions we believe in leveraging technology to improve efficiency and maintain a competitive edge. Whether you are looking to deploy the most advanced restaurant information systems or interested in leveraging what you already have in place, Vine Solutions can guide you through the complex web of hardware, software, vendors and network systems to help achieve your goals.

On-going Accounting Services, Concept Repositioning and Cost Reductions

A high volume Chronicle Top 100 San Francisco restaurant struggled to achieve breakeven sales volumes. Vine Solutions was hired to provide on-going financial management including budgeting, accounting and monthly coaching. After working with ownership and the management team for the past year, the value relationship has strengthened leading to growth in guest counts. Overall ingredients costs have declined from 27.8 percent of sales to 25.0 percent of sales and payroll has been reduced by 7.3 percentage points resulting in a 10.1 point improvement in prime costs. Ingredient costs were improved by focusing management acutely on daily expenditures, costing out of recipes and minimization of waste. Payroll costs were decreased through a reconfiguration of the menu, costed out weekly scheduling consistent with budgetary expectations and the elimination of significant overtime. Vine Solutions meets with the management team monthly to ensure accountability and achievement of budgetary goals. Overall expenses have been reduced due to the provision of timely and accurate information in comparison to budgets developed with the management team.