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GLOBAL Expertise with restaurants, bars, FOOD TRUCKS, and clubs

COMING SOON IN 2026!

Restaurants are one of the most emotionally charged, operationally complex, and financially unforgiving businesses in the world. Yet the operators who truly succeed are not the ones who simply “love food” or “care about hospitality”—they are the ones who understand systems, psychology, engineering, financial discipline, and how to create environments that persuade people to return again and again.

That combination of art and science is rare.

That combination of experience and clarity is rarer.

And that combination is what Eric Faber delivers in this book.

For four decades, Eric has lived inside every side of the hospitality business—from restaurants to food trucks, packaging to distribution, construction to operations consulting. Most books capture one slice of the business. This one captures all of it.

This is not a book about theory.
It is a book about what actually works.

It is a playbook built from tens of thousands of real operational hours, hundreds of client engagements, thousands of menu revisions, dozens of bar rebuilds, millions in packaging decisions, and the kind of experience only earned by solving the same problems operators face every single day.

If you want a book that tells romantic stories about “finding your passion in the kitchen,” put this down.

If you want a book that shows you how to:

· Increase revenue

· Improve consistency

· Fix operational bottlenecks

· Design bars and kitchens that actually work

· Build teams that stay

· Make decisions based on evidence, not emotion

· And create restaurants that thrive, not just survive—

Then you’re holding the right book.

This book is the manual the industry has needed for a long time.

Eric has written it with honesty, clarity, and an unwavering focus on what helps operators win.

Restaurants are hard. But with the right knowledge, they can also be extraordinary.

You’re about to learn from one of the best.

Eric Faber
Restaurant, Packaging & Hospitality Consultant
U.S. Restaurant Consultants • U.S. Foodtruck Consultants

U.S. Delivery Consultants • Packaging Resources

A SNEAK PEEK

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

This book exists for one reason:

To give restaurant operators the playbook I wish I had when I started.

Across my career—spanning hospitality, packaging, distribution, delivery, construction, and consulting—I kept seeing the same problems repeated over and over:

· Great concepts failing because of poor systems

· Beautiful bars that couldn’

This book exists for one reason:

To give restaurant operators the playbook I wish I had when I started.

Across my career—spanning hospitality, packaging, distribution, delivery, construction, and consulting—I kept seeing the same problems repeated over and over:

· Great concepts failing because of poor systems

· Beautiful bars that couldn’t produce drinks

· Kitchens built by architects instead of operators

· Servers overwhelmed because training lacked structure

· Owners making emotional decisions instead of operational ones

· Packaging adding cost when it should add value

· Operators working harder instead of smarter

And there was no single resource that addressed the industry as a whole.

There were books about leadership.
Books about menus.
Books about service.
Books about scaling.

But not one book that integrated all the disciplines required to run a modern hospitality business.

Restaurants are no longer “just restaurants.”

Today, they are:

· Retail

· Entertainment

· Manufacturing

· Logistics

· Branding

· Marketing

· Engineering

· Packaging

· Technology

This book is designed to marry all of those worlds.

I wrote this playbook intentionally so operators can:

✔ Flip to any section and immediately solve a problem
✔ Use individual chapters as training manuals
✔ Build repeatable systems
✔ Improve food, beverage, service, and profitability
✔ Strengthen culture and reduce turnover
✔ Understand the business at a deeper level

This is the book I wish someone gave me 30 years ago.

Today, I’m giving it to you.

Let’s build something remarkable.

— Eric Faber

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INTRODUCTION

Restaurants are one of the most challenging businesses on earth. They are also one of the most rewarding—when built and managed with intention.

But intention requires clarity.
Clarity requires structure.
And structure requires systems.

Today’s restaurant landscape is defined by:

Rising labor costs
Increasing competition
Volatile food prices
Del

Restaurants are one of the most challenging businesses on earth. They are also one of the most rewarding—when built and managed with intention.

But intention requires clarity.
Clarity requires structure.
And structure requires systems.

Today’s restaurant landscape is defined by:

Rising labor costs
Increasing competition
Volatile food prices
Delivery fees shrinking margins
Higher guest expectations
Technology accelerating change
Packaging influencing brand perception
Social media shaping demand
Operational complexity increasing

Success is no longer about having good food and friendly service.

Success is about mastering the entire ecosystem.

From:

Menu engineering
Pricing strategy
Bar design
Labor models
Floor management
Kitchen flow
Packaging optimization
POS systems
Training
Culture
Construction
And the long-term economics that keep the doors open

Restaurants that thrive do so because their operators understand the business with precision.

Restaurants that struggle tend to rely on hope, emotion, or outdated assumptions.

This book is designed to eliminate guesswork.

You will learn:

Why restaurants fail, and how to avoid the traps
How to build a profitable bar program
How to engineer a menu that drives margin, not just volume
How to design a kitchen that works under pressure
How to train teams that stay
How to think about packaging, distribution, and technology strategically
How to build a restaurant brand that guests love
And how to operate with systems—not stress

Every chapter is a stand-alone playbook.
Every section gives you tools.
Every part is built from real experience, not theory.

The goal of this book is simple:

To help you build a restaurant that is profitable, scalable, and unforgettable.

Let’s get to work.

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BACK COVER

INTRODUCTION

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY HAS CHANGED. MOST RESTAURANT OPERATORS HAVEN’T.

Margins are thinner.
Expectations are higher.
Competition is fiercer.
Technology is faster.
And the old playbooks no longer work.

This book delivers the new one.

Written for owners, operators, chefs, bar managers, GMs, franchisees, investors, consultants, and anyone buil

THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY HAS CHANGED. MOST RESTAURANT OPERATORS HAVEN’T.

Margins are thinner.
Expectations are higher.
Competition is fiercer.
Technology is faster.
And the old playbooks no longer work.

This book delivers the new one.

Written for owners, operators, chefs, bar managers, GMs, franchisees, investors, consultants, and anyone building a modern restaurant, this comprehensive playbook blends:

Operational systems
Menu engineering
Bar design and beverage strategy
Packaging innovation
Labor modeling
Service excellence
Training programs
Kitchen flow
Culture
Guest psychology
Branding
Construction and design
Profit optimization

…into a single field manual grounded in 40+ years of cross-industry experience.

You’ll learn:

Why restaurants succeed (and why they fail)
How to build a bar that prints money
How to engineer menus that drive margin
How to scale service without losing soul
How to design kitchens and dining rooms that work
How to train teams that stay
How to think like a world-class operator
And how to create a restaurant guests love coming back to

Whether you run a single location or multiple units, this book will change the way you operate forever.

Restaurants aren’t just businesses.
They’re ecosystems.

This is the guide to mastering them.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eric Faber is a multi-disciplinary consultant with more than forty years of hands-on experience across restaurants, hospitality, packaging, manufacturing, distribution, delivery logistics, construction oversight, and concept development. His uniquely expansive background gives him a rare 360-degree perspective on how food, people, systems

Eric grew up inside the packaging and manufacturing world, where his family helped pioneer early innovations for national restaurant chains. He literally started walking the hallways of National and Regional Restaurant conventions and trade shows at age 7, absorbing everything at hundreds of booths offering something to the industry. That foundation—combined with decades of operational work across kitchens, bars, distribution centers, packaging plants, and construction sites—shaped a career defined by depth, range, and practical problem-solving.

He is the founder of four specialized consulting divisions:

U.S. Restaurant Consultants (founded 1993)
U.S. Food Truck Consultants (founded 2017)
Packaging Resources (founded 1989, advising global brands on packaging innovation, materials, sourcing, and manufacturing)
U.S. Delivery Consultants (founded 2018)

Across these interconnected fields, Eric has advised:

Independent restaurant operators
Multi-unit and emerging groups
Startups and new-build concepts
National retailers
C-stores and grocery chains
Packaging manufacturers and brand owners
Hospitality developers
Food production and distribution companies

Eric’s work spans hundreds of client engagements and tens of thousands of operational hours, including menu engineering, bar system design, kitchen workflow optimization, facility audits, packaging redesigns, delivery channel strategy, concept creation, construction oversight, and full-scale restaurant turnarounds.

He is known for his ability to step inside a business, diagnose problems with clarity and speed, and implement practical, high-ROI solutions that operators can apply immediately. Eric writes, consults, trains, builds, redesigns, evaluates, and solves the day-to-day challenges modern operators face.

This book represents the culmination of a career spent inside restaurants, behind bars, on loading docks, in packaging plants, at design tables, inside distribution centers, and in the field—helping real operators solve real problems.

Eric lives in Eagle, Idaho with his wife, Debra. He remains deeply connected to the restaurant, hospitality, and packaging communities he has served for more than three decades. When he’s not consulting, writing, or developing new concepts, he enjoys time with his family and exploring the local food scene he has long supported.

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SECTION I — THE FOUNDATIONS OF A SUCCESSFUL RESTAURANT

1. Why Restaurants Fail

2. Understanding Today’s Guest

3. Menu Engineering 101

4. Dayparts: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

5. Beverage Programs That Work

SECTION II — MODERN OPERATIONS
6. POS Systems, Tablets & AI Tools
7. Staffing, Scheduling & Labor Models
8. Table-Turning Systems
9. Trai

SECTION I — THE FOUNDATIONS OF A SUCCESSFUL RESTAURANT

1. Why Restaurants Fail

2. Understanding Today’s Guest

3. Menu Engineering 101

4. Dayparts: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

5. Beverage Programs That Work

SECTION II — MODERN OPERATIONS
6. POS Systems, Tablets & AI Tools
7. Staffing, Scheduling & Labor Models
8. Table-Turning Systems
9. Training That Actually Works
10. Waste Management
11. Safety, Compliance & Operational Discipline

SECTION III — PACKAGING & OFF-PREMISE EXCELLENCE
12. Packaging as Branding
13. Off-Premise, Delivery & Economics
14. Modern Pizza Packaging
15. Why Packaging Fails
16. Sustainability, AI & Future Materials

SECTION IV — DESIGN, BUILD & CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
17. Kitchen Design & Engineering
18. Dining Room Layouts
19. Sports Bar Engineering
20. Outdoor Dining & Patios
21. Construction, Permits & Avoiding Overruns

SECTION V — SPECIALTY SEGMENTS
22. Food Trucks
23. Fast Casual vs. Casual
24. Buffets & Self-Service
25. Ghost Kitchens & Virtual Brands
26. C-Stores as Restaurants

SECTION VI — THE FUTURE OF RESTAURANTS
27. Robotics & Automation
28. AI in Restaurants
29. The Future of Distribution
30. What the Next 10 Years Will Bring

TOOLKIT A — The Restaurant Operator’s Systems Library
Checklists, SOPs, formulas, templates, scripts, and day-to-day tools.

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GLOBAL Expertise with restaurants, bars, FOOD TRUCKS, and clubs

COMING SOON IN 2026!

A SNEAK PEEK

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

BACK COVER

INTRODUCTION

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

GLOBAL Expertise with restaurants, bars, FOOD TRUCKS, and clubs

COMING SOON IN 2026!

A SNEAK PEEK

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

BACK COVER

INTRODUCTION

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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