Field notes from the line

Real operator stories. Real numbers. No listicles.

First-person analysis from independent restaurant managers, GMs, and owners. Specific incidents. What worked, what backfired. Cited industry sources. Written by a 5-year bar GM, not a content farm.

Brock Markarian Founder · 5 yrs Cosmos Taverna (Bartender → GM)

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Editorial illustration for 5 Ways Bar Pour Cost Actually Leaks (And Why Your % Lies)
9 min read

Bar program · Pour cost · Operations

5 Ways Bar Pour Cost Actually Leaks (And Why Your % Lies)

From a 5-year bar GM: five real reasons your pour cost runs hot, why theft is rarely the first answer, and how to find the leak before it kills margin.

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Topics Bar programPour costOperationsFood costCase studyComplianceTip poolsFLSA

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Editorial illustration for What Food Cost Actually Means (And What Killed Flaco's Cafe) 02
Food cost

What Food Cost Actually Means (And What Killed Flaco's Cafe)

Food cost discipline isn't being cheap. It's knowing what you give away. Story of a Florida cafe that closed, and the weekly habit that would've saved it.

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Editorial illustration for Tip Pool Legal Guide: FLSA, Tip Credits, and What Gets You Sued 03
Compliance

Tip Pool Legal Guide: FLSA, Tip Credits, and What Gets You Sued

Plain-English FLSA guide to tip pools written by a former bar GM. Manager prohibition, tip credit rules, state-by-state, and what actually gets operators sued.

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Why this exists

Most restaurant content online is either a paywalled SaaS pitch or AI-generated padding. This isn't. Every post here is written by a real operator about real operations — with citations, failure modes, and numbers you can verify. If something looks wrong, email me.

Industry data points cross-referenced with the National Restaurant Association, BLS NAICS 722, and DOL FLSA tip-pool guidance.