Restaurant consulting · McKinney, TX
We know McKinney restaurants from behind the line.
The McKinney market
Historic downtown and the newer edges
Downtown McKinney's square draws locals and visitors for dinner, weekend strolls and community events through the year. It has character, but its older buildings bring tight kitchens, limited storage and parking that guests notice on busy nights.
The rest of the city looks very different. New neighborhoods keep filling in to the north and east, with new retail and restaurant pads along US 380, SH 121 and US 75. Craig Ranch adds a mixed-use area with offices, homes and dining. Those areas run on families and weeknight dinner more than destination weekends.
Labor in a growing suburb
Every new center that opens is hiring from the same pool of cooks, servers and managers. Owners who keep good people do it with consistent schedules, real training and pay that holds up. Zack ran strong labor costs with no minimum-wage employees, and that comes from scheduling well, not from cutting pay.
Where we've been
Zack worked at Hutchins BBQ in McKinney from 2013 to 2022, rising to General Manager. That is where he learned the local vendors, the seasonal pace of the town and what it takes to hold costs steady while volume grows.
What we see in McKinney
Where McKinney operators lose margin.
Downtown building constraints
Small kitchens and limited storage in older buildings push up labor and waste and make deliveries harder to manage.
New competition on every corner
National brands keep opening on new pads near the neighborhoods your guests live in. Independents need tight costs and a reason to come back.
Purchasing that never got revisited
Many owners set up distributor accounts when they opened and haven't renegotiated since. Prices crept up; the contract didn't.
How we help
How we work with McKinney restaurants.
Renegotiate your suppliers
We review invoices line by line, compare pricing across our DFW vendor network and renegotiate with your distributors and specialty vendors.
Supplier & Vendor Negotiation · Project pricing — quoted after a free consultStart with an operations audit
We look at your POS, invoices, payroll and the kitchen itself, then hand you a ranked list of fixes. The $3,500 audit is credited toward any retainer signed within 30 days.
Restaurant Operations Audit · $3,500 one-timeOpen your next location
If you're eyeing a second spot along 380 or 121, we help with build-out design, equipment, opening budgets, business loan packages and hiring.
New Location Openings · Project pricing — quoted after a free consultDo you work with concepts other than barbecue?
Yes. Zack's background is in Texas barbecue, but food cost, labor, purchasing and POS work the same way across concepts. We work with independent and multi-unit restaurants of every kind.
How often will you be in our restaurant?
It depends on the plan. Our fractional COO retainer includes two on-site visits a month, and on-site visits within DFW are included in our retainers.
Running a restaurant in McKinney?
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.