General Manager

Company Description Bread and Butter Hospitality is a growing hospitality organization focused on delivering welcoming, high-quality guest experiences through thoughtfully run food and beverage operations. The company values strong community connections, consistent service standards, and teams that take pride in their work. Bread and Butter Hospitality encourages collaboration, accountability, and a hands-on approach to leadership. Team members are supported with clear expectations and opportunities to contribute ideas that improve operations and guest satisfaction.

Position Overview

Sofia's is seeking an experienced, results-driven General Manager to lead all aspects of restaurant operations. We are looking for a hands-on leader who understands that exceptional hospitality, strong team development, operational excellence, and financial performance go hand in hand.

The ideal candidate is more than an experienced restaurant operator. They are a business-minded leader who understands how daily operational decisions affect profitability, takes ownership of financial results, and proactively identifies opportunities to increase sales, improve efficiency, and control costs.

The General Manager is fully accountable for the restaurant's financial performance, guest experience, employee development, operational standards, and overall success.

Key ResponsibilitiesFinancial Management & Profitability

• Demonstrate a strong working knowledge of restaurant Profit & Loss (P&L) statements, including the ability to interpret results, identify opportunities, and implement corrective action.
• Take ownership of the restaurant's financial performance and achievement of established profitability goals.
• Actively manage the restaurant's three primary controllable expenses: food cost, labor cost, and liquor, beer, and wine (LBW) cost.
• Analyze financial performance, identify unfavorable variances, determine root causes, and develop actionable improvement plans.
• Develop and manage operating budgets, sales forecasts, and financial performance targets.
• Monitor and improve prime cost while maintaining appropriate standards of quality, service, and hospitality.
• Demonstrate an understanding of how purchasing, scheduling, inventory, waste, productivity, and sales mix influence profitability.
• Review key performance indicators regularly and communicate results, challenges, and improvement initiatives to ownership.

Labor Management & Productivity

• Develop schedules based on forecasted sales, business demand, and established labor productivity standards.
• Manage both front-of-house and back-of-house labor costs without compromising guest experience or operational effectiveness.
• Optimize staffing levels, shift deployment, and employee productivity.
• Control overtime, monitor actual versus scheduled labor hours, and proactively address inefficiencies.
• Establish accountability among managers for scheduling accuracy, labor deployment, and productivity.
• Recruit, train, and develop a versatile team capable of supporting efficient operations.

Food, Beverage & Inventory Cost Controls

• Monitor food and beverage costs through disciplined purchasing, inventory management, production controls, and waste reduction.
• Ensure accurate inventory counts, appropriate inventory levels, and effective ordering procedures.
• Establish and maintain ordering pars based on actual usage, sales trends, and projected demand.
• Ensure compliance with standardized recipes, portion controls, and product specifications.
• Identify and address waste, spoilage, overproduction, shrinkage, and other sources of unnecessary expense.
• Work collaboratively with culinary leadership to improve kitchen efficiency, product consistency, and food cost performance.
• Monitor vendor pricing, product quality, purchasing practices, and opportunities for improved cost efficiency.
• Maintain accountability for liquor, beer, and wine inventory, portioning, controls, and profitability.

Sales Growth, Marketing & Community Engagement

• Take an active role in developing and executing strategies to grow restaurant sales and market share.
• Identify opportunities to increase guest traffic, average check, visit frequency, and overall revenue.
• Partner with ownership and marketing leadership to develop and execute local store marketing initiatives.
• Build relationships with surrounding businesses, community organizations, and potential corporate customers.
• Actively promote private events, catering, group dining, and other revenue-generating opportunities where applicable.
• Monitor sales trends, guest feedback, competitive activity, and market conditions to identify growth opportunities.
• Ensure successful execution of promotional programs and marketing initiatives.
• Develop a culture in which every manager and team member understands their role in building sales and guest loyalty.

Leadership & Team Development

• Recruit, hire, train, coach, and retain high-performing restaurant managers and team members.
• Establish clear performance expectations and hold managers and employees accountable for results.
• Develop department leaders who take ownership of their respective areas of responsibility.
• Conduct regular management meetings, performance reviews, coaching sessions, and employee development activities.
• Foster a positive, professional, respectful, and performance-driven work environment.
• Address performance concerns promptly and consistently.
• Develop succession plans and identify future leaders within the organization.
• Lead by example through professionalism, integrity, urgency, and a visible presence throughout restaurant operations.

Guest Experience & Hospitality

• Create and maintain a culture of genuine hospitality and exceptional guest service.
• Ensure consistently high standards of food quality, beverage execution, cleanliness, service, and overall guest satisfaction.
• Maintain an active floor presence, particularly during peak business periods.
• Build relationships with regular guests and actively develop repeat business.
• Respond promptly and professionally to guest concerns, service failures, and online reviews.
• Use guest feedback and service trends to identify and implement improvements.
• Ensure the restaurant consistently delivers an experience that strengthens the Sofia's brand and reputation.

Operational Excellence

• Oversee all front-of-house and back-of-house operations to ensure consistency, efficiency, and adherence to company standards.
• Establish and enforce effective opening, closing, sanitation, cash-handling, and operational procedures.
• Maintain high standards of food safety, workplace safety, cleanliness, and facility maintenance.
• Ensure compliance with applicable health department regulations, labor laws, liquor regulations, and company policies.
• Oversee restaurant systems, point-of-sale operations, reporting procedures, and administrative responsibilities.
• Ensure timely and accurate completion of inventory, payroll, financial, and operational reporting.
• Maintain effective communication between management, culinary leadership, team members, and ownership.
• Identify operational challenges and implement sustainable solutions rather than temporary fixes.

Qualifications & Experience

• Minimum of 5 years of progressive restaurant management experience, preferably including 2–3 years as a General Manager in a full-service, high-volume restaurant.
• Demonstrated ability to read, understand, and manage a restaurant P&L statement is required.
• Proven experience managing food cost, labor cost, and beverage cost with measurable results.
• Demonstrated ability to build sales through operational execution, local marketing, community involvement, and guest relationship development.
• Strong understanding of restaurant financial metrics, budgeting, forecasting, inventory management, and purchasing.
• Proven ability to recruit, develop, and retain effective management teams.
• Strong leadership, communication, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Proficiency with restaurant POS systems, scheduling platforms, inventory tools, and financial reporting applications.
• Ability to work a flexible schedule, including nights, weekends, and holidays, based on business needs.

Key Performance Expectations

The General Manager will be evaluated on measurable business results, including:

• Profitability: Achievement of budgeted operating profit and continuous improvement in financial performance.
• Food Cost: Effective management of food cost percentage, inventory accuracy, purchasing controls, and waste.
• Labor Cost: Achievement of labor cost and productivity targets through effective scheduling, deployment, and management.
• LBW Cost: Achievement of beverage cost targets through inventory controls, purchasing, portion management, and loss prevention.
• Sales Growth: Measurable increases in revenue through guest retention, local marketing, catering, events, and other sales-building initiatives.
• Guest Satisfaction: Consistently high standards of service, hospitality, food quality, and guest feedback.
• People Development: Employee retention, management effectiveness, training execution, and development of future leaders.
• Operational Compliance: Consistent adherence to food safety, cleanliness, financial controls, and company operating standards.

What Success Looks Like

A successful General Manager at Sofia's does not simply maintain the restaurant's daily operations. They consistently improve the business.

They understand their numbers, recognize opportunities before they become problems, develop a team that takes ownership of results, and implement strategies that produce measurable financial and operational improvements.

We are seeking a leader who can deliver outstanding hospitality while driving sales, controlling costs, developing people, and maximizing the restaurant's profitability.