The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting Your Own Restaurant [Paperback]

Howard Cannon (Author), Brian Tarcy (Author)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

HOWARD CANNON is President of Restaurant Operations Institute, Inc. (ROI), a national restaurant-based operations, training, and consulting firm specializing in turnarounds and start-ups. With more than 20 years of experience, he is a frequent speaker at universities and industry shows across the nation. BRIAN TARCY has authored or co-authored more than 13 books, including The Complete Idiot's Guide® to Business Management.

Product Details

• Paperback: 308 pages
• Publisher: Alpha; 1st edition (December 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 002864168X
• ISBN-13: 978-0028641683
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #114,924 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #22 in Books > Business & Investing > Small Business & Entrepreneurship > Hospitality Businesses

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great plan, August 12, 2002

By 

goodtaste (NY, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting Your Own Restaurant (Paperback)

The restaurant business is not easy. Howard Cannon makes that very clear in his book. Yet he shows you how, in step-by-step fashion, to make your dream come true if you are willing to work hard enough and plan things out. From the beginning, as he helps you analyze whether the business is for you, through the various stages of planning what kind of restaurant you want to how to buy silverware, Cannon delivers the goods. Perhaps the best thing he does is identify the things that can derail your dream so that you can be on the lookout. He points out that most restaurants fail, but he has turned around enough failures to know how to avoid the common pitfalls. More than that, though, he is enthusiastic about the business while being realistic about the work involved. The restaurant business is not for the timid, but this book takes you through all the steps, including a calendar of when to do things, so that you will be able to be seating customers soon in your very own restaurant. This is a great book and it will help you a lot.

43 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars For beginners only, April 9, 2002

By 

David T Wootten (Chile) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting Your Own Restaurant (Paperback)

Considering the expertise that the author brings to this book, one would expect or at least hoped for him to have given a more indepth treatment of this subject. Most of what he says (80%) is common business sense and anyone who has had some experience in any kind of business could probably figure out. There are some really good tips in here but they are very few and far between. Perhaps part of this has to do with expectations - I was looking for a book to lay out more specific issues involved with this industry. What I got was a Business 101 book. It's clear that Mr. Cannon has the experience to deliver something more - if he comes out with an advanced book on the subject I'd buy it. Warning: only buy this book if you have no prior experience in business.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Just the Basics, September 4, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Starting Your Own Restaurant (Paperback)

For someone coming in with no knowledge at all of the restaurant business, this is not a bad general guide.
I was a little disapointed however at the terse treatment the author gave to money processing in the restaurant.
There are many types of restaurant computer systems(POS) and lots of systems to accept checks and credit cards. Since in most restaurants these payment forms far outdistance cash, it would be helpful to include some of the basic credit card processing provisions and information about terminals. Merchants are misguided and ripped off all the time on check and credit cards sytems that are not proper for the specific restaurant. The topic deserves a chapter, not just a few paragraphs.