My Restaurant Owner/manager Mentorship at

By: Oji Enkhbat

Mentor Liaison: Mrs. Deidra McCabe Seminar Instructor: Mrs. Laura McHugh

Mentor: Mrs. Maureen McManus

• Opened Kelsey’s on October 17, 1994• Has been family-owned and operated ever

since• Offers fresh Irish cuisine with a lot of American

favorites• “Your favorite neighborhood meeting place!”• Located on 8480 Baltimore National Pike

Ellicott City, Maryland

What I Did on the MentorshipShadowed Kristi, the head of the catering

department at Kelsey’s, on a catering gig at the local police station to see the real-world side of running a successful restaurant with a catering option available

Stood on the line and prepared cooked foods to be presented to the customer, adding condiments, sauces, sides and soups.

Recorded the beer stock count and made sure that the amount present was the same we were supposed to have

Went through the Manager’s Opening Checklist along with Mrs. McManus

WHAT I LEARNED• Being a restaurant manager is very stressful- you take the responsibility for everyone

else• There is a constant need to check on customers, servers and chefs to ensure great

customer service• The restaurant manager fills out a manager’s log every day that reports all incidents,

numbers of sales, weather, special occasions, what is out of stock, what equipment may not be working properly and any other comments that may help the manager the next day out with any questions about what happened the day before.

• It is not easy to become a very profitable restaurant without offering special deals or marketing for new customers (like commercials)

• For example: happy hour deals, $3 mixed drinks, half off bottles of wine, MS fundraisers and Pink Plate Promotions.

• There is a lot of pressure involved with scheduling shifts, resolving conflicts with customers, and constantly adjusting to the diverse needs of a restaurant

• The decisions of a restaurant manager affect the whole entire restaurant, so there is a lot of weight on the shoulders of the manager

• For example: Mrs. McManus stopped serving free drinks to her employees after each shift due to increased costs of decreased liquor sales

WHAT I LEARNED• Mrs. McManus gave me a lot of good information on how restaurants

work which in combination with what I already know gave me a whole new perspective.

• I realized that in every restaurants, bartenders were once servers, servers were once hosts and hosts were once buses. It’s the fundamental chain in the restaurant employee system in which to be on top of someone is to know what they have to do.

• I learned that Kelsey’s has a timetable for how long servers should take to go to the table, how long drinks should come, how long appetizers, soups and salads come out, how long dinner should take and how long dessert should take to be prepared. It’s very meticulous and there’s not a lot of room for error. Being the manager means you literally have to manage every aspect of the restaurant.

Most Valuable Insight Every dollar Kelsey’s makes is broken up:

Beer .22-.28Food .33-.40Wages .25-.30Low End: .80High End: .98Depending on how Mrs. McManus manages her money, she can expect to make profits based on how much she saves each month. Being a restaurant manager and owner means that

you are in direct control of your ability to make profits: this is motivational and convenient at the same time.

Most unexpected information learned I learned a lot of important quirks of the

restaurant business, but also more of the bar aspect: beers on tap offer a profit margin of almost 1000%. Meanwhile, traditionally packaged beers and liquors only offer 200-300% profit margins.

It was really interesting to see how kegs are such a necessity for bar restaurants to become more profitable.

Also, every month Mrs. McManus pays Barmetrix for their services.

Why this mentorship was usefulI am now further motivated to find a possible career in restaurant

management because it can pay well only if successfully built from the ground up.

It is a risky career path so I do not want to dive in head first trying to get rich quick, but more of a gradual process of learning enough so that I can open my own restaurant eventually.

I learned so much about what happens behind the scenes with restaurants that I feel more prepared than I did before my mentorship

I have a feel for what I am supposed to do on a daily basis as a restaurant manager

I learned of the flexible hours that make me want to find a restaurant management job, along with the respect and entitlement a restaurant manager/owner is expected to receive.

To Mrs. McCabe, Mrs. McHugh and Mrs. McManus along with all of the Kelsey’s staff that welcomed me with open arms and open hearts.

Thank you