Email me

Run the restaurant you meant to open.

I’m Roy Gemayel. I help independent restaurant owners, investors opening a new concept and brands getting ready to franchise with everything behind the food: costs, systems, suppliers and the team. On-site or remote.

See what I do

Rated 5.0 on Upwork with 100% Job Success, and one of the platform’s top five restaurant operations consultants.

The Smart Bite

Order 0001

Table
Your restaurant
Server
Roy G.
  • Food cost you can explain
  • A team that runs without you
  • Suppliers on your terms
  • Numbers you can trust
  • Systems that hold on a Saturday

Note: On-site or remote

First houron the house

Pull down to tear it off

Who I work with

  • Independent restaurant owners

    One or a few places with real character, and too much on your plate. I set up the systems a group would have, without turning your place into a chain.

  • Investors opening a new concept

    Before you commit the money: feasibility, menu costing and a pre-opening plan, so the concept you fund is one that can trade.

  • Brands getting ready to franchise

    Recipes, SOPs, manuals and training, written down properly, so a new branch runs the way your first one does without you in the room.

What I do

One focused project, or ongoing fractional operations management. On-site or remote.

  1. Before you open

    You have a concept, a site or a lease on the table, and want the numbers and the plan right before the money goes in.

    • Concept development and feasibility studies
    • Financial planning and menu costing
    • Pre-opening consultancy
    • MEP system supervision

  2. While you’re running

    The doors are open, but costs, staff or systems are taking more of your time and margin than they should.

    • Operations manuals, SOPs and systems
    • Inventory, cost control and budgeting
    • Supply chain and vendor management
    • POS and CRM setup
    • Staff and customer service training
    • Cloud kitchen and delivery-only operations
    • Remote or fractional operations management
    • Data analysis and reporting
    • Oversight from one site to several

  3. When you’re ready to grow

    One location works. Now it has to work in more places, under someone else’s management.

    • Standardising operations for franchise readiness
    • Recruitment and performance management
    • Marketing, loyalty and customer retention
    • Digital transformation and automation

How it works

  1. Step 1 of 4

    Email me

    Tell me about your place and what isn’t working. I’ll reply to set a time.

  2. Step 2 of 4

    Free first hour

    We go through where the operation stands and what to fix first. It costs you nothing.

  3. Step 3 of 4

    A written plan

    If we decide to work together, you get the scope, timeline and deliverables in writing before anything starts.

  4. Step 4 of 4

    Hands-on work

    I work with your team, on-site or remote, until the new way of doing things holds.

I’ve run the floor, the kitchen and the boardroom.

I’ve spent more than 18 years in restaurant and hotel operations. I started on the floor, managed a branch and then several, and as COO took a fast-food brand from concept to five branches and a central kitchen.

I’ve also run operations for a group of three hotels in Italy, more than 500 rooms in all, covering F&B, housekeeping, maintenance and front office. Work across departments and sites is familiar ground.

I trained as a computer and communications engineer, which is why I look for the cause of a problem before fixing the symptom. I work in English, Arabic, French and Italian, and I have run projects in Lebanon, Italy, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Canada, the USA, the UK, the Netherlands and Australia, including cloud kitchen launches in the UK and Dubai.

Branch manager, then multi-unit manager
Full-service restaurants
Chief operating officer
A fast-food chain, from concept to five branches and a central kitchen
Operations, hotel group
Three properties in Italy with more than 500 rooms
Founder, The Smart Bite
More than 30 clients since 2022, and over 130 digital adoption plans for Canadian small businesses under CDAP

What clients wrote on Upwork

5.0 on every rated job, and 100% Job Success.

“Roy is a great pleasure to work with. He is very professional, understanding, proactive, and hardworking. He delivered his work ahead of schedule with a quality that exceeded my expectations.”

Restaurant ownerManagement documents for a restaurant

“Roy has excellent communication skills and a kind approach and offered a lot of extremely helpful insight to me. Thank you!”

Consultation clientOne-to-one consultation

“Great experience. He brought the right skills to the table to address my questions and helped me to understand what I was attempting to achieve.”

Consultation clientOne-to-one consultation

“Great experience working with Roy. Responsive, hardworking, and adaptable. Really enjoyed working with him.”

Small business ownerDigital transformation plan
Read every review on Upwork

Your first hour is on the house.

Email me a few lines about your restaurant, your concept or your plans to grow, and I’ll reply to set a time.