Note: Andy Pforzheimer (Harvard College ’83) is the co-founder and former CEO of Barteca (Barcelona Wine Bar and Bartaco). He is currently a board member of US Foods and multiple privately-owned restaurant groups.

Uniquely within the HBS EC curriculum, this course is industry specific. Despite its universal appeal and reach, the restaurant industry has been lightly studied academically -- and yet its entrepreneurial and management learnings have broad application beyond restaurants. Sited within General Management, this course explores exactly that.

We will run the gamut from planning for the first restaurant to scaling to leadership of multinational chains, and evaluate opportunities inherent in typical restaurant business models as well as those created by disruptive changes affecting and shaping the industry.

Michael and Andy will co-teach the course using written cases, as well as “live” cases with protagonists facing real-time challenges. We will draw on industry executives, HBS alumni active in the industry, industry analysts and investors, and well-known chefs and restaurateurs.

9 in 10 consumers say they enjoy going to restaurants and half of consumers consider restaurants to be an essential part of their lifestyle. Restaurants are an important source of employment: the industry is the 2nd largest private employer in the US, projected to employ 15.5 million people in 2023, with over 60% of adults and 70% of millennials in the US having worked in the restaurant industry at some point in their life and 1 in 3 Americans having their first job experience in a restaurant. Restaurants have provided significant management and ownership opportunities for women and minorities.

Restaurants are also big business. In 2023, US restaurant industry sales are projected to reach $997 billion representing a $3 trillion economic impact and approximately 10% of the US gross domestic product. While business schools have occasionally studied large, national restaurant chains, approximately 70% of restaurants in 2019 were single unit operations. Restaurants have also attracted significant interest from venture capital and private equity and the industry has spawned a number of “unicorns.”

We hope to engage not only with students interested in the restaurant industry, but also those interested in food and sustainability, applications of technology and, given the labor-intense characteristic of restaurants, the complex interaction of food and labor costs with consumer value. The course may also appeal to future consultants, investment bankers and venture capital/private equity professionals, as well as to students interested in general management, particularly regarding an industry subject to hugely disruptive forces and spawning compelling investment opportunities.

Grading will be based on class participation (40%), the two exercises (30%), and a final exam (30%). Cross registrants will be accepted.

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