Operator-led restaurant consulting
Control your prime cost. Control your future.
Prime Cost Group gives independent and multi-unit restaurants the experienced operator they can't justify hiring full-time: someone who has run the numbers, built the schedules, negotiated with suppliers and opened new locations. Serving Dallas–Fort Worth.
- Operations Audit
- $3,500
- Retainers from
- $2,500/mo
- Experience
- 15 years in ops
The margin squeeze
The food is good. The guests come back. The margin isn't there.
Food cost drifts
A point at a time. Invoices get paid without anyone checking them against the order guide or the agreed price.
Labor runs on habit
The schedule is last week's schedule, not what the sales forecast says you'll do.
The POS knows, nobody looks
The answers are in your reports. Nobody has time to pull them, let alone act on them.
Busy isn't accountable
Managers work hard all day, and you still can't tell what actually got finished this week.
A full-time COO costs a six-figure salary. A typical consultant hands you a binder and leaves. You need something in between: an experienced operator who works in your business every month and is accountable for the numbers.
Prime Cost Health Check
What is your prime cost, right now?
Your numbers stay in your browser unless you choose to email your report.
Prime cost % of sales
Enter sales, food and labor to see your prime cost.
Services
Published prices. Operator-led work.
Restaurant Operations Audit
A fixed-price, on-site deep dive. Every finding comes with a dollar figure and a place on the fix list.
$3,500
02Fractional COO
Hands-on operating leadership a few days a month: manager meetings, P&L reviews, cost systems and vendors.
$5,000/mo
03Operator Advisor
A monthly P&L review, regular check-ins and on-call guidance from someone who has run the job.
$2,500/mo
04Multi-Unit Fractional COO
Fractional COO leadership across two or more locations, with one set of systems and side-by-side numbers.
$7,500/mo
How we work
Audit. Plan. Implement. Sustain.
- 01
Audit
One to two days on site plus your P&Ls, POS data, invoices and schedules. Every finding gets a dollar figure.
- 02
Plan
A prioritized 90-day plan with an owner, a deadline and a number to track for every fix.
- 03
Implement
We work the plan with you and your managers: schedules, order guides, supplier calls, recipe costing, Toast setup.
- 04
Sustain
Weekly numbers, a manager meeting with a real agenda, and follow-up until the new habits hold without us.
The founder
An operator, not a theorist.
Zack Hutchins has spent 15 years in restaurant operations, specializing in Texas barbecue: rising to General Manager, then serving as a Founding COO and opening new locations. Prime Cost Group brings that operating experience to restaurants of every concept.
- Years in operations
- 15
- Minimum-wage employees, with strong labor cost
- 0
- Based in
- North Texas
Results
Case studies coming soon.
Independent full-service
Case study in progress
Multi-unit group
Case study in progress
New location opening
Case study in progress
FAQ
Straight answers.
How is this different from hiring a restaurant consultant?
Most consultants deliver recommendations and leave. We stay and do the work with you: reviewing numbers, running manager meetings, calling suppliers and following up until the change holds.
Why does every engagement start with the audit?
Because we won't sell you a plan for a restaurant we haven't seen. The audit gives us both a shared set of facts: where prime cost is going, what each fix is worth, and which offer actually fits. If it turns out you don't need us beyond the report, you'll still have a plan you can run yourself.
What are the minimum terms?
Retainers (Operator Advisor, Fractional COO and Multi-Unit) have a 3-month minimum, then continue month-to-month. Real operating change takes at least a quarter to show up in a P&L. The audit and projects are one-time engagements.
Do you only work with barbecue restaurants?
No. Our founder's background is in Texas barbecue, but we work with every concept: quick service, fast casual, full service and bar-forward. The fundamentals are the same: what you buy, what you pay people, what you sell, and who's accountable.
Find out where your prime cost is going.
Thirty minutes, no pitch deck. Tell us about your restaurant and we'll tell you honestly whether we can help and which offer fits.
We respond within one business day. Serving Dallas–Fort Worth.