Culinary Director

Job Description

Job Description

Brand: Lone Star Market Location: Houston, TX (supporting sites across Houston, Austin &
San Antonio) Reports To: [Director of Operations / CEO] Compensation: $75K?$100K base
(DOE) + bonus, with growth potential and long-term career opportunity

About the Role
Lone Star Market is a fast-growing Texas convenience and fresh-food brand ? built in the
spirit of Wawa and Sheetz ? running a made-to-order kitchen model across 5 sites, scaling
to 10. Food is our growth engine.
We?re hiring a Culinary Director to grow kitchen sales by owning the menu, building
craveable LTOs, and making our quick-service kitchens faster and more efficient at every
site. This is a quick-service, franchise-style food program ? think speed, consistency, and
throughput, not fine-dining plating. You?ll develop the food and the systems; final recipes
are approved by management. You?ll also oversee our light commissary (marinations,
tortillas, select prep) and build the training that lets bilingual line teams execute your
standards affordably across the network.
What You?ll Own
Menu & LTO Growth ? Own the menu and LTO calendar end-to-end: concept, recipe,
costing, and rollout. Develop QSR-style products and dayparts that grow ticket and traffic.
Partner with Marketing on launches and use sales data to decide what stays and what goes.
Operational Efficiency ? Engineer faster, leaner kitchens: optimize prep flow, line setup,
station design, and speed of service. Cut food cost and waste through smarter recipes and
process. Build the SOPs and throughput standards that hold up as we scale to 10 units.
Data & Reporting ? Read and act on back-office reports (sales, food cost, labor, inventory,
waste). Track performance by site, spot the problems, and drive measurable improvements
off the numbers.
Quality & Consistency ? Set the bar for taste, build, and speed across every store.
Standardize recipes and portioning so the food is identical site-to-site. Maintain food safety
and HACCP across kitchen and commissary.
Team & Commissary ? Build the training that lets trained line staff execute without a
dedicated production chef. Lead and develop kitchen teams hands-on, in English and
Spanish. Oversee light commissary output, cost, and timely distribution to stores.

What Success Looks Like
Kitchen sales growing site-over-site and across the network
A steady LTO cadence driving traffic and repeat visits
Faster, lower-cost kitchens with consistent quality at every store
Line teams trained to execute without a dedicated production chef
A food program ready to scale cleanly from 5 to 10 units