"F&B consultant" describes at least five different jobs. Before you shortlist anyone, it is worth knowing which of them you actually need, because the skills barely overlap.
The five kinds
| Type | What they do | When you need them |
|---|---|---|
| Concept / pre-opening | Design the outlet, brand, kitchen and menu from scratch | New build or a full relaunch |
| Operations / task force | Step in and run the department | A gap in leadership or a turnaround |
| Cost and procurement | Attack food cost, supplier terms, waste | Margin is the problem, not revenue |
| Menu engineering / revenue | Change what guests order and what they spend | Revenue per guest is flat |
| Training | Upskill the service team | The offer is right, execution is not |
Most properties looking for help assume they need the first or second and actually need the fourth or fifth. Pre-opening consultants are expensive precisely because that work is large — it is the wrong purchase for an operating property with a menu that underperforms.
How engagements are usually structured
- Hourly, roughly $40–120 for generalists and $75–300 for specialists.
- Project fee, from about $2,500 for menu work to five or six figures for full concept work.
- Monthly retainer, commonly $5,000–15,000, aimed at groups.
- Productised subscription, from a few hundred a month, aimed at independent properties.
What a good engagement produces
Whatever the type, the useful ones share a shape: a baseline measured before anything changes, a small number of prioritised changes rather than a long list, artefacts you can actually use — a printed menu, a script card, a schedule — and a follow-up that checks whether the numbers moved.
Warning signs
- No interest in your POS data. Everything downstream is guesswork without it.
- A guaranteed revenue percentage. Nobody can guarantee an outcome that depends on your implementation.
- Recommendations that require capital before anything operational has been tried.
- One report, no measurement, no return visit.