Helping you shape your restaurant company’s future, now.
Are you struggling to achieve an outcome?
If You are a CEO OR Founder in your restaurant group, you’ve likely asked yourself these questions:
- Are we getting the return on investment from our restaurants that meets my expectations?
- Are we confident that we are providing guests with the experience they value most?
- Are we growing the brand at the pace and effectiveness we want?
- Do we have the capital structure needed to grow the company effectively?
- Is my team struggling to deliver on my expectations?
- Am I responding quickly enough to the ever-increasing pace of industry change?
Your Vision,Our Guidance
LJR Hospitality Ventures works together with restaurant owners and operators to identify opportunities and execute solutions to create profitable business strategies. We partner with our clients to provide an in-depth look at their business to achieve the level of success they envision for their restaurants.
A proven track record of success with 50+ restaurant companies from quick service to fast casual to full service.
Our approach is to go deep and ask the important questions in order to learn from all stakeholders including guests, team members, managers, corporate team and ownership.
Start finding solutions with ourcomprehensive set of services
We’ve helped organizations like yours create positive change.
“Larry has been a colleague and friend of mine for several years and has recently worked with our company to improve our restaurants in their daily operations. He has a keen ability to observe and assess situations from a high level point of view and his ideas and solutions help restaurants function more efficiently and effectively. It is without hesitation I give Larry my highest recommendation.”
Burney Jennings, CEO, Biscuitville
“Rare is the advisor in the restaurant industry that has the operating experience and successful track record that Larry Reinstein has. An entrepreneur, restaurant founder and accomplished executive, Larry is always at the top of his game solving problems or crafting winning strategies for restaurant owners and executives.”
John Hamburger, President, Franchise Times/Restaurant Finance Monitor
“Larry has been a good friend and business mentor for many, many years. Recently, he has been assisting our family with the development of a sound business plan and strategy for growing the Sushi Maki brand. His ability to strategize at a high level and understand the realities/complexities of implementation has been invaluable to me and our entire organization.”
Abe Ng, CEO, Sushi Maki
“Larry Reinstein has been very helpful to us in performing some analysis for our company. His input has been invaluable and we have made some of the changes he has suggested. I highly recommend Larry to any growing organization.”
John C. Metz, President, RREMC Restaurants
“I have known Larry for many years and have appreciated his ability to both see things globally and to focus on details. He is armed with the ability to get to the heart of a matter quickly and offer solutions that work given the particular situation and the environment. I would highly recommend Larry.”
Mark S. Parmerlee, Chairman, Golden Companies
An outside advisor can be especially valuable when a restaurant company reaches an inflection point—rapid growth, profitability challenges, organizational change, new market expansion, franchising or preparation for a future transaction. The right advisor brings an independent perspective and relevant operating experience, helping leadership identify priorities, challenge assumptions and make better decisions.
Successful growth requires more than finding locations and opening restaurants. Companies need consistent unit economics, repeatable operating systems, disciplined site selection and a leadership team capable of supporting a larger organization. One of the biggest risks is expanding faster than the company’s infrastructure. The goal isn’t simply to open more restaurants—it’s to build a company capable of supporting them successfully.
Before accelerating growth, restaurant companies should evaluate their operating systems, training, financial controls, technology, management structure and leadership depth. As the organization grows, founders and senior executives also need to transition from managing individual decisions to building people and systems that can make those decisions consistently. Building this infrastructure before it is urgently needed can significantly reduce the risks of expansion.
The two objectives should work together. Strong unit economics, disciplined labor and food costs, effective pricing and productive operations improve current profitability. Long-term value also depends on consistent earnings, capable leadership, scalable systems and attractive growth opportunities. The strongest restaurant companies focus on becoming more profitable today while building an organization that can become more valuable tomorrow.
A successful restaurant concept isn’t automatically a scalable restaurant company. Common mistakes include growing too quickly, accepting marginal real estate, underinvesting in leadership, adding overhead prematurely and pursuing too many initiatives at once. Growth can expose weaknesses that weren’t apparent at a smaller size. Knowing when to slow down, strengthen the organization and establish priorities can be as important as knowing when to accelerate.
An experienced outside advisor provides an independent perspective informed by having faced similar decisions. That can include growth strategy, profitability, organizational structure, capital allocation, franchising, acquisitions and future exit options. The right advisor serves as both a sounding board and a constructive challenger, helping CEOs, owners and boards evaluate opportunities, risks and priorities more objectively.
An outside board advisor can be particularly valuable as a restaurant company grows in size, complexity and value. Founder-led and privately held companies often benefit from independent experience when considering expansion, leadership development, capital decisions, succession or a future transaction. The right advisor brings relevant operating experience and strategic judgment while helping management, ownership and the board make better long-term decisions.
Look beyond an impressive résumé. A strong restaurant board or strategic advisor should understand multi-unit operations, unit economics, growth, leadership and the realities of executing strategy at the restaurant level. Just as important, the individual should be independent, collaborative and comfortable challenging assumptions. The best advisors don’t try to run the company—they help the CEO, ownership group and board make better decisions.
Start with the business problem, not the technology. AI and other restaurant technologies can improve labor management, forecasting, guest engagement, marketing, ordering and decision-making, but only when they address a real need. Restaurant companies should evaluate potential return, implementation requirements and organizational readiness before investing. Technology should make the business easier to operate, more profitable or more valuable—not simply more complicated.
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