About Us
I am a restaurant consultant with both operational and financial expertise since 1973. I am a CPA by background but have been CFO, COO, CEO and/or Director of numerous restaurant Companies including Spectrum Foods, Il Fornaio and Johnny Rockets, to name a few. Fast growth and internal controls are my major areas of expertise, but I also do evaluations, assist with PPP loans and have a range of skills that separates me from more traditional consultants.
The products and services we offer
Recommendations Received (9)
"Chuck is a pleasure to deal with! "
"Chuck Frank has a deep understanding on the financial implications and impact whether for a..."
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"Chuck Frank has a deep understanding on the financial implications and impact whether for a single restaurant or any of the giants in the industry. He's not one to slap some rote solution into a situation, nor to accept given solutions to problems as recommended by others. Rather, I've witnessed first hand his impact on food service CEO's and CFO's, teaching them how to make better decisions for their companies."
Recommendations Given (16)
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Will has an excellent understanding of restaurants and landlords both. He negotiates fair deals..."
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Will has an excellent understanding of restaurants and landlords both. He negotiates fair deals for both sides and can be of great assistance to operators."
"Mariana is dedicated to great food and has surrounded herself with extremely capable employees."
Recent Activity
For the restaurant industry, vaccinations are more important than direct aid if they lead to restaurant openings. With opening of outdoor dining and, shortly thereafter indoor dining, restaurants will have a chance to bring back business rather than rely on take-out and pick-up only. For fine...
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For the restaurant industry, vaccinations are more important than direct aid if they lead to restaurant openings. With opening of outdoor dining and, shortly thereafter indoor dining, restaurants will have a chance to bring back business rather than rely on take-out and pick-up only. For fine dining, and for many fast casuals, take out and pick up does not provide enough revenue to justify opening. With table service allowed, restaurants can hire back personnel, fill a tremendous backlog of pent up demand, and begin a path to recovery. PPP loans, of course, have helped many restaurants stay alive in the interim, but vaccinations will allow them to survive long-run.
I am going to assume that all of you reading this have applied for PPP funds and have been using them to meet ongoing payroll, rent, utilities. I am further assuming that most of you are running out of cash, or close to it. Clearly, the best thing you can do is to conserve cash, which might...
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I am going to assume that all of you reading this have applied for PPP funds and have been using them to meet ongoing payroll, rent, utilities. I am further assuming that most of you are running out of cash, or close to it. Clearly, the best thing you can do is to conserve cash, which might entail:
Renegotiating your lease so that you pay only % rent (somewhere between 5% and 10%) until 100% indoor dining is allowed.
Speak with vendors about extending terms. For those of you who have not yet paid old (January-March 2020 bills), ask your vendors to "freeze" those balances with no interest charged, but continue to pay current bills. Let them know you will put a plan together once the diningrooms are reopened.
Continue to refine your To Go and Pick Up menus. Many of the delivery companies will work with you to reduce fees in the meantime.
Create Holiday Menus to go, and promote them on social media.
If you have gift cards, offer them to guests at a discount (i.e., $100.00 gift card can be purchased for $75).
Communicate with your guests. They want you to succeed and will support you.
Be first in line to apply for future PPP funds if they become available.
Make plans to "winterize" your parklets.
Apply for any local city, county or state grants.
Hope this helps.
Chuck Frank
CAF Restaurant Services, Inc.
Wow the fine dining restaurant industry is having difficulty, I have changed my model and I’m now working with landlords and hotels on locating operators.
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Wow the fine dining restaurant industry is having difficulty, I have changed my model and I’m now working with landlords and hotels on locating operators.
I received funds from the PPP, and it allowed me to reopen my business.
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I received funds from the PPP, and it allowed me to reopen my business.
If we survive the pandemic, we will come out stronger. This has required that we revisit our business model and make some dramatic changes.
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If we survive the pandemic, we will come out stronger. This has required that we revisit our business model and make some dramatic changes.
My response is limited to full-service restaurants. I am very concerned about reopening to the public because studies have shown that >70% of Americans are not comfortable with dining out during the first few months after dining out is allowed. Admittedly, 30% of the audience is still a large...
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My response is limited to full-service restaurants. I am very concerned about reopening to the public because studies have shown that >70% of Americans are not comfortable with dining out during the first few months after dining out is allowed. Admittedly, 30% of the audience is still a large amount of business, and I am going to attempt to gain confidence by:
Having hand-sanitizers throughout the restaurant.
Having masks for staff.
Checking temperatures of all employees daily before allowing them to start work.
Insuring that hands are washed by all employees no less than every 30 minutes
Writing new procedures for cleaning and sanitizing, at the beginning, middle and end of each shift, and after each table turns.
Eliminating 50% of the tables in each restaurant, and insuring that all table have at least 6 feet between them.
Opening up all of our outside tables first, and adding more if possible while maintaining social distancing
I have already opened MacArthur Park in Palo Alto for Take Out and Delivery, and I hope to be open by July 4 for dine-in business.
