Development & openings
How to open a restaurant in Miami
What should you resolve before opening a restaurant in Miami? Connect site selection, the operating model, permitting and opening readiness.
Who we advise · Restaurants & Bars
Restaurant and bar consulting for openings, performance and growth.
Restaurant and bar consulting connects the guest experience with the economics and daily decisions that keep a business working. Leviathan advises independent owners and multi-unit groups on concepts, openings, performance and expansion.
Let’s chat.
Wildflower · Photography by Matt Kissadeh · Credits
Who this is for
Independent restaurants · Bars and lounges · Cafes and bakeries · Quick service · Multi-unit groups
Based in South Florida, we bring local market knowledge and experience developing, launching and advising concepts across North America.
Planning
Give the concept a sound operating basis.
Define the guest and the occasion before committing to a site. Review the operating model, financial assumptions and development team together so the concept has a credible path to opening.
Our Research & Feasibility review tests those assumptions before a lease becomes an obligation.
Explore planning services
- Market and competitive research
- Who the guests are, what they choose today and where the market opportunity lies.
- Feasibility and financial underwriting
- Review a model built from seats, turns, check average and labor, tested against a downside case.
- Concept development
- The occasion, the guest, the price point and the reason to pick you over the place next door.
- Guest experience and service model
- How service runs from arrival to check, and the staffing it requires.
- Food and beverage direction
- What the menu and the bar have to do for the concept, the kitchen and the margin.
- Real estate strategy
- Neighborhoods and sites judged against the concept and the numbers, and lease terms reviewed alongside your attorney.
- Development team selection
- Help choosing your general contractor, architect, permit expeditor, interior designer and kitchen designer.
- Proposal comparison
- Bids compared line by line for scope, assumptions, cost and schedule.
Opening
Get the dining room ready for its first guest.
Give your managers a clear critical path and standards they can train from. Readiness reviews and opening counsel help the team resolve the issues guests will notice first.
Use Pre-Opening advice to assess readiness, assign responsibilities and resolve open items.
Explore opening services
- Critical path and pre-opening budget
- One plan with an owner and a date for every task.
- Organizational design
- Roles, reporting lines and pay structure for the opening team.
- Recruiting
- We run the search for your general manager, chef and leadership team.
- Critical documentation
- We write the employee handbook, kitchen bible, bar bible, service standards and training manuals.
- Menu development guidance
- Tastings, recipe standards and costing reviewed with your chef.
- Beverage program direction
- The shape of the list, the pricing and the supplier plan.
- Technology selection
- POS, reservations, payroll, scheduling, inventory and accounting chosen to work together.
- Training plan
- A day-by-day curriculum your managers deliver.
Operating
Understand what each service earns.
Read the P&L alongside the menu mix, schedules and guest feedback. Set priorities your managers can act on, and assess whether the business is ready for another location.
Use Ongoing Advisory & Profit to turn the findings into priorities your managers can act on.
Explore operating services
- Ownership and leadership advisory
- A standing conversation with someone who has run a business like yours.
- Monthly P&L review
- What moved, why it moved and what to do next.
- Menu optimization and engineering
- Mix, pricing and contribution reviewed on a schedule.
- Beverage program review
- Cost, pricing and list structure checked against sales.
- Labor and scheduling review
- Schedules matched to demand by daypart.
- Purchasing and vendor review
- Where rebidding pays and where it does not.
- Standards and health code audits
- Periodic walk-throughs against your standards and the code.
- Marketing strategy
- Where to spend, what to say and how to tell whether it worked.
Selected experience
Brands and venues from Daniel Levine's operating career and Leviathan's client work.
- Joe's Stone Crab
- Kiki on the River
- The Gramercy
- El Santo
- Habibi
- Hillstone
- Houston's
- East Hampton Grill
- Chipotle Mexican Grill
- Maple & Ash
- Bar Victor
- Kaori
- Whiskey Social
- Vicky Bakery
Related insights
Questions worth working through.
Financial performance
The restaurant turnaround playbook
Where should you look when restaurant sales rise but profit falls? Diagnose menu contribution, labor demand, purchasing and operating controls.
Development & openings
The restaurant pre-opening checklist
What needs to be ready before opening day? Use a shared critical path to coordinate leadership, operating standards, systems and service rehearsals.
Common questions
Before you get in touch.
When should I involve a restaurant consultant?
Bring in a consultant before signing a lease or committing to a major change. That leaves room to test the concept, site and operating assumptions together. For an established restaurant, a useful starting point is a decision the management team cannot resolve from its current reporting, such as why steady sales are producing less profit.
Can you review a restaurant that is already open?
Yes. We review the operating evidence alongside the guest experience to identify priorities for the owner and management team. That can include the menu mix, labor schedule and purchasing patterns. The work starts with the question you need answered, then connects the findings to decisions your managers can take and review over time.
Do you help with a new restaurant opening?
Yes. We guide owners through feasibility, concept development and the decisions that shape an opening. As the project progresses, we review the development team’s proposals, operating plans and readiness. Leviathan also runs leadership searches and writes the manuals managers need to train the team and maintain standards after opening.
Can you help us decide whether to open another location?
Yes. We assess whether the existing business has the economics, leadership and operating consistency to support expansion. A strong first location can still depend heavily on its owner or a particular site. The review examines those dependencies and the demands of the proposed location before you commit to another lease or development budget.
Start a conversation
Let’s talk about your restaurant or bar.
Planning an opening, improving profitability or considering another location? Tell us what you have in mind.
Let’s chat.