How I FIXED my FAILING Restaurant

[@AwesomeFish12]

Thanks for being real Chef Brian. This is the kind of information every person creating a new food based business needs to understand before starting.

[@ChefBrianTsao]

1000% I wish I had this into before I started.

[@pntballne1]

Nice share. I am glad to hear your dream was able to be turned around. So many restaurants fail. Love to hear a success story.

[@ChefBrianTsao]

🙏❤️ was worth the fight!

[@vercettinguyen9063]

Chef Brian Tsao, not your typical chef, has earned an achievement: Saved his restaurant from bankruptcy. Next achievement: being called Uncle Brian by Uncle Roger.

[@angelachouinard4581]

As a retired CPA who worked with a lot of small businesses I believe the restaurant business is the toughest. For one thing you are very dependent on other people. Waiters and kitchen staff have to show up on time and do their bit, suppliers have to deliver correctly, the city has to not block the street, the landlord can't let the leak from upstairs keep leaking into the dining room and so on. That being said, my clients hired me because they knew how to cook, or do locksmithing or painting and didn't know about things like margins and cost of good sold. I'm so glad you learned and fixed your restaurant. Someday I hope to get there.

[@AjitAdonisManilal]

This was great, it's also something someone planning to open a restaurant can learn from. Glad you're sharing this stuff.

[@ChefBrianTsao]

Thank you for tuning in! 🙏❤️

[@cguy96]

I am so grateful that I have been restaurant/chef adjacent a lot of my life. I am a really enthusiastic home cook, and based on the response from friends and family I am very good at it. I love experimenting, planning menus, etc. I frequently hear "you should open a restaurant." My response always is that I believe that I have one of the qualities of a good restaurant chef/owner and it is probably the least useful when it comes to opening my own restaurant. I have had a chance to stage now and then, and it only served to convince me that I have no business running, much less owning, a restuarant. Good for you, Brian! My best to you in the future.

[@YouDonkeyfu]

i am just a regular home cook who does cooking occasionally and ya, i tend to get those "you should open a restaurant" comments as well, i think in most people mind, they probably did not consider the overhead expense or figure that as long as you cooking is good, people will come. But in my own head, i had just think there are so many other restaurants with people who cook better than i do and their food is more delicious, yet often a month or so after i had walked past their restaurant, i see a place close sign, it is definitely not as easy as what people think.

[@XBluDiamondX]

Don't think I can get used to seeing Chef Brian without a hat.

[@ChefBrianTsao]

😂😂😂

[@AwesomeFish12]

It almost seems like part of his body. I totally agree.

[@jay14110]

Totally agree loll 😂 I didn’t know who that was behind the counter until I realized it was Chef Tsao 😂

[@ChefBrianTsao]

Some people thought there was a rat under the hat

[@ajkulin9]

Lmao ​@@ChefBrianTsao

[@DreuScuhDoo]

As someone who used to work as a line chef and prep cook the management and budgeting aspect of the restaurant has always interested me. It's why I switched careers and became a network admin. I LOVE counting numbers, margins, calculating differences it's all so fascinating to me. I still love cooking and always will but hearing an actual restaurant owner going into detail makes for a fascinating watch.

[@lutre35]

My dad (RIP 04-2000) either owned,managed or worked in restaurants for most of his working years and the one bit of advice i retained from him is to STAY AWAY from that business, and you perfectly explained why.

[@AnakinGroundcrawler]

Brian, I appreciate your candor. That's why I watch you. 🍻

[@inttrovertedmonk851]

People truly do not understand that a restaurant is nothing but hard work for little money. My father owned a restaurant and a twelve hour shift is a luxury. We pretty much lived in that place and I wouldn't trade those years for anything. If you can make money from a restaurant you can make money anywhere. Its the only job where all your hard work turns to shit and you are proud of it, lol. TIP YOUR WAITSTAFF!!

[@ChefBrianTsao]

YES! Tip your waitstaff! And YES! It all turns to 💩 😂😂😂

[@CoolJay77]

A very valuable video. Most people outside of the industry have no clue how challenging the business is and the personal sacrifice that goes along with it. When people notice the high margin over food cost, they'll think you are making zillions in profit. LOL

[@ChefBrianTsao]

Lots of people thinking I’m getting rich off Mission. Def not! Lol

[@deminybs]

nice change of pace, good to know the behind the scenes stuff

[@benjaminotalora363]

Great info! I've been working kitchens for nearly a decade, and almost every spot I've worked at that ended up shutting down was due to the owner having too much ego to change things when they saw things weren't going well. Being able to adapt when it's obvious something isn't working is such an important skill to have, and unfortunately sometimes the person bankrolling the venue lacks that skill.

[@cryptomadic8083]

I'll be stopping by Mission Sandwich on my next trip to NY. Just a fan of how cool and grounded Brian and Frenchie are. Love the peek behind the kitchen doors you guys give is on your videos 👌

[@verentyee5413]

Yes, same here! I wanted to visit there and Le Rivage while in New York over the last Christmas holiday. Timing just did not work out. Those places are definitely on my bucket list for my next visit.

[@AwesomeFish12]

You might have to book ahead, La Rivage doesn't always have spots for walk-in customers. Or aim for a time slot that is generally unpopular, you can get the same food at a different time of day without the hassle and congestion...

[@verentyee5413]

@AwesomeFish12 I fully believe you, given it is a high-end French restaurant. Thank you for the tips!

[@tanikokishimoto1604]

I won't ever buy vegetable oil for home use, but i don't expect, and won't ask for, extra virgin olive oil at a restaurant when i go out. Perhaps if I were ever to go to Salt Bae's highly overpriced venues, i'd expect EVOO or avocado oil - But I never plan to go there!

[@Ian1329]

Same. I still don't go to restaurants when all of them are still serving oxidized, shitfucked with linoleic acid, oils.

[@jaymuse127]

This was the episode i was waiting for. Thank you, Chef Brian

[@ChefBrianTsao]

Thanks for tuning in!

[@timpindell8178]

Chef, you are one hell of a tease :) Thanks for sharing the info!

[@BrutusMaximusAurelius]

1:45 hearing this as a European is always baffling. None of those things are optional here. Anyway, happy to see you turned it around!

[@ChefBrianTsao]

Thank you!

[@kakefisk]

As someone who used to work in fine dining in an European setting - working holidays and birthdays and whatever days most certainly were not optional

[@BrutusMaximusAurelius]

@ the timing is a bit off of my timestamp, I was talking about healthcare and stuff he mention a bit before. Also I said “NONE of these things were optional”, so the point still holds even though I meant something else.

[@G60syncro]

As a musician, I've seen my share of venues where I get there early and see all the prep work going on, it's clear the staff earns it! I'm just a hobby musician and have a job that pays for that, but career musicians we played with also deserve every penny! We always all had eachother's back!!

[@frankgyure3154]

Great video. Thought provoking. Interesting change of pace. There was a recent NYT article about Yannick Benjamin\Contento restaurant and the challenges facing resteraunters Good luck.

[@VengirSvogthos]

I have worked in skeleton crew jobs before, and I've worked in bloated crew jobs. As an employee, I hate being told to stretch myself by a boss who doesn't even lift a finger when help is needed. My current boss expects me to figure out the solution without him, and then tell him the solution while I'm solving it. It's always so good to hear a boss take ownership of their scheduling and work WITH the team, not make the team work for him.

[@salatsanxDD]

first :D thank you for sharing your story and journey! It is so inspiring and important to see all sides of business... any kind of business really, as learning curves apply to all of us. Congrats to finding solutions!

[@ChefBrianTsao]

🤘😁

[@bridgetboyle687]

This was so interesting. Thank you for educating me.

[@juntianwei9273]

Came for the reaction, stayed for the insider story from you! Also Uncle Roger and Guga did a collab video in Malaysia (in uncle roger's channel), you and frenchie are gonna love it

[@eloquentsarcasm]

Restaurants are some of the toughest businesses to start and keep running. You and Frenchy are like the start and end, you're at the beginning and he's managed to keep his place up and running for decades now. The closest I ever came to your world was working at Subway in HS and in a cafe later on. The profit margins are insane, one slow day can screw up the balance sheets something fierce. I enjoy cooking, but doing it for a living just isn't for me, I respect the hell out of guys like you and Frenchy.

[@groofay]

3:13 thank goodness Chef Brian isn't reacting to this clip 😬Anyone want some finger in their onions? For real though, thank you for your transparency and humility in talking about the struggles in the minutiae of running a restaurant. I know myself and respect the industry well enough to know I should be nowhere near it, but hearing about it is so interesting. I hope to get out to NYC some time and stop by Mission!

[@ChefBrianTsao]

Can’t wait to see ya there!

[@mikelchinacat6326]

i like the new direction, this will help when, someday i open my food truck

[@ChefBrianTsao]

🤘🙏more like this to come!

[@AwesomeFish12]

@@ChefBrianTsao I hope so.

[@pierceromeyn8433]

Great video its nice to see a perspective of a chef.

[@AsThePokeballTurns]

Such a great insight. I've been reading books about running your own business and one author mentioned something similar on how when starting your own business, its common for owners to start from the perspective as an employee instead of utilizing numbers and developing skills as an owner. The oil would be the example for you since as a chef, you would view as using Extra Virgin Olive Oil, but as a business owner, the cost of using a more expensive items isn't worth the revenue it would generate for the business.

[@15oClock]

I made beef burgundy yesterday because I saw it on your show. I half-assed it, didn’t get all the ingredients, messed up a step or two, but it was still beyond what I was expecting. It’s common to want to do something better because the results were terrible, but it is another thing to want to do it better because it was already good.

[@ChefBrianTsao]

That’s awesome to hear! That’s one of those dishes worth perfecting, but also fun to tweak!

[@AwesomeFish12]

If it isn't perfect every time, it can't be served. That is one of the difficulties in a restaurant/ food shop, you have to make it EXACTLY the same every time. One of the joys as a home cook is getting to mess around and play with recipes.

[@ChefBrianTsao]

Indeed!

[@Milehighssc5280]

As a fellow business owner it is so awesome to see the brutal honesty of how much this sucks lol

[@longdutchprod]

Going on a date here today! Wish me luck 🙏🏾

[@VerhoevenSimon]

Thank you for sharing your experiences.

[@ChefBrianTsao]

Thank YOU for tuning in!

[@PTBPCarson]

Yo, thanks for sharing. Great information and video. Happy New Year.

[@ChefBrianTsao]

Thanks for tuning in! Happy New year!

[@paligga]

Nice to peek behind the scenes of restaurant management. Hope I get visit your shop someday.

[@ChefBrianTsao]

Hope to see ya here too!

[@SuperBossGiovanni]

Side note, being a Giants fan myself, that Tommy Cutlet Chicky Parm is BASED.

[@TheDarkmagus421]

Thanks for sharing this journey/discovery with us. Interesting.

[@ChefBrianTsao]

Thanks for tuning in!

[@WalleyeWalrus]

In love the idea of being in the culinary arts......unfortunately, as a aviation mechanic......it's hard to make the transition at this point in my career. I value the insight though, thank you so much for sharing the triumphs and struggles

[@davidlynch5309]

Gordon can't make a grilled cheese sandwich how is he going to work in a sandwich shop lol

[@ChefBrianTsao]

Good point 😂

[@christhekiwi109]

Congratulations on having a successful business. As a previous business owner I undertand the challenges you have had and will face. One thing you commented on I dont agree with, planning your costs prior to opening. You should have planned out your food and labour costs so with your fixed overheads you would have an idea on your basic operating costs and how many sales you would need to break even.

[@StnrVibe]

I've realized, you've been a chef for as long as I've been alive- and that puts things at an odd perspective for me

[@nodwick4231]

As a European, those sandwiches look crazy overfilled. Very interesting to see the difference in food culture.

[@mfaizsyahmi]

Haven't watched the video, but I get a feeling a certain frenchie might be financially involved.

[@silverchilli1]

I hear you brother...been restaurant manager / chef 27 years now. * fistbump*

[@steakhoagieman]

that onion cutting b-roll you played pissed me tf off.

[@TimothyAtwell-hb9zv]

After doing P&Ls at KFC for years. Food cost and labor are the easiest for sure. Labor to can stagger peoples arrival and departures, and that saves min 30 a person. Food paper and saop cost you have to calculate the price of the goods being used and price accordingly so sadly that means slight increases or lower quality food. The overhead my only suggestion is to slowly turn on your equipment cause electric companies based off higher usage for the whole day.

[@black_rabbit_0f_inle805]

I remember my boss would schedule me 19 hours some weekends. I don't miss that.

[@tburgess3426]

Hi Brian. Was wondering have you seen any changes with customers since NYC added those tolls on the roads? I know people were talking about how it could change food traffic for restaurants.

[@woltews]

It never occurred to me with all those spices he would use extra virgin or even regular olive oil as the spice will mask the oil's flavour anyway. The problem with changing ingredients is if you have signage and promotional material already listing the more expensive ingredient having new stuff produced can be $$$. There is normally a cheaper suppler you can find but frequently the cheaper one is not so reliable ( they have smaller warehouses and can run our of product ) .Utilities and rent can be hard but sum times you can get government grants on for stuff like energy efficiency , composting etc

[@0MichiganExotics0]

Brian thats life stuff going up and going down the point its never give up for nothing

[@dominicballinger6536]

Man, i love cooking, but im starting to be very glad that im going for a bachelor's in computer science instead of being a chef or opening a restaurant. Making great food is good and all, but being underpaid, overworked, and overly judged for outliers instead of the norm sounds like itll make me wanna go 6 ft under too soon

[@EdwardWong-w9j]

Good for you.

[@Sharon46T]

Hospitality is hard! You have to constantly know your figures and make changes, marketing etc 🤯 Do your paperwork and get an accountant! Always keep a buffer in your bank account and pay yourself a monthly wage and stick to it!

[@seijiren5115]

Next video : The Sandwich chef situation is CRAZY! jk Brian, You have come a real long way and you're one of my inspiration as an everyday worker!

[@TontoKowalski2]

Blue-ballapalooza man. It will work, but sheeeeeet.

[@da_uno]

What is the outro song on your videos?

[@mickdanger]

Corn oil... Soy (vegetable oil) can go nasty...

[@noreehix5714]

That's why Im scared of following my dreams especially in this economy the finacial stress can be painful

[@ChefBrianTsao]

I get ya, with that said, while I can’t promise you’ll be successful if you chase your dreams, you def won’t get any closer if you don’t try.

[@CreatorInTrng]

How I un-fucked my Business - OK, that's a great hook for the next episode.

[@Mimtoes]

Since i started watching your videos i added to my bucket list :visiting NY and having a mission sandwich so keep it up, dont eff it up, i'm on my way 😉 Of course i also want to sample a Denamiel the animal dish yummmm

[@ChefBrianTsao]

🙏❤️ I won’t and I’m looking forward to seeing ya here!

[@justinhartsink2566]

WHERES FRENCHY!

[@SickMeds]

I guess you’ve never seen movie the founder … besides being a cook or chef does not mean you know how to run business, still nice video bud, at least opened eyes for wanna be business owners especially in restaurant business

[@isaiah513623]

People/budding foodie owners will get a lot out of this video

[@ChefBrianTsao]

🙏❤️

[@LOLHICRONO]

if im ever in new york i know where ill have a sandwich

[@lesliemorgan1614]

The food looks great to bad you are in New York !

[@peppybocan]

what about the rent prices (overhead) - are you not touching that?

[@ChefBrianTsao]

Next episode!

[@PaleHorseO.o]

I can believe your restaurant was failing due to using extra virgin olive oil instead of vegetable oil. Olives are nasty.

[@Soleniae]

on the food cost example of the chicken, be super careful with your percentages. you say you saved 15% on chicken cost by switching vendors, but then in your example say 'in a hypothetical, if i sell the sandwich for $1.00 and the cost of that chicken was $0.55, i'm now saving $0.15 by going with the new vendor', applying the food cost diff to the total cost of the product not the individual ingredient in actuality, if your food cost of the chicken originally was $0.55, 15% of that is $0.0825. so you save 8 cents in this hypothetical i understand this is a high level intro to operations, but that's an absolutely massive difference borne of a (very common) misunderstanding of percentages. a common instance of this misunderstanding is in gaming scenarios. if an ability is buffed from a 9% ratio to a 12% ratio, that's not a 3% buff, it's a 33% buff

[@ChefBrianTsao]

I’m aware, I simplified the example for the video.

[@davidkomen5283]

These are the pros and cons of capitalism.

[@hershpat1]

If the cost of the chicken is 55 cents and you can save 15% then are only saving 8 cents per sandwich as I am assuming the 55 cents is the cost of the chicken used in the sandwich not a full dollar which is the total cost of the sandwich no?

[@ChefBrianTsao]

Yes, I was simplify the example.

[@friendlyneighbourhoodsteve4087]

Restaurant failing? Needs more cowbell!

[@ChefBrianTsao]

Damn, I wish I thought of that 😂😂😂

[@whatthe6871]

Eggs out here destroying food budgets.

[@ChefBrianTsao]

Oh man, egg prices are wild

[@FroggyNight]

Really dude? 15min of info and then you just bail out when it’s time for the good bits? You’ve made longer content before. Please don’t start milking content just to get more views, clicks, as revenue etc. I respect the hustle but there are better ways. You’ve already proved that so many times over.

[@seanrh4294]

Relax, I spent all my money on my disabled old mom and now I live off 200$ a month.

[@shivanshusahay7185]

First

[@ChefBrianTsao]

🤘😁

[@AwesomeFish12]

Recognition and celebrations abound. 🎉🥳

[@ajkulin9]

@ChefBrianTsao dongsaeng, make a vidéo with frenchy AND chef Jean-Pierre !!! That would be hilarious !!!!