Episode 5: From Building Collapse to Financial Clarity: Andy Himmel on the Grit and Gold of Restaurant Success
Guest: Andy Himmel, Founder & CEO of The Restaurant CPAs
Episode: 86 Reason Ep. 5 | Andy Himmel (The Restaurant CPAs): From Building Collapse to Financial Clarity
Episode Duration: 1h 16m 09s
Published: October 27, 2025
Topics: Financial Strategy, Restaurant Accounting, Technology Implementation, Multi-Unit Operations, Industry Culture
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Episode Summary
Imagine pouring your heart and soul into opening your first restaurant, only for the building to collapse before opening day. That's precisely the "traumatic" experience Andy Himmel faced at just 22 years old. This baptism by fire forced him to temporarily relocate and learn operations on a party island for six months, forging the resilience that would define his two-decade career in restaurants.
Today, as founder of The Restaurant CPAs, Andy reveals that this level of grit is more essential than ever as restaurant owners grapple with soaring labor costs, evolving immigration policies, and the complex challenge of effective technology adoption. In this insightful episode of 86 Reason, Andy demystifies how to navigate these hurdles by connecting specialized financial partners restaurant industry and building a foundation of genuine passion, hard work, and strategic partnerships.
Key Takeaways
The Human Element: Your Secret Ingredient for Success
In an industry often viewed through the lens of numbers, Andy passionately argues that the human touch remains paramount. He observed that his early, less meticulously planned ventures often proved more successful and profitable because they were fueled by genuine passion and a relentless desire to succeed.
"The restaurant business is unique in that hard work and genuine care translate directly into positive guest experiences that are difficult to fake."
This unwavering commitment to quality and service builds an undeniable "vibe" and "energy" that guests feel immediately. No amount of planning can replicate the authenticity that comes from truly caring about the experience you're creating.
Hospitality as "The Great Equalizer"
Beyond profit, Andy celebrates the restaurant industry's unique social impact. It's a place where past mistakes or unconventional backgrounds are set aside, and individuals are judged purely on their present contributions.
"The restaurant industry offers a unique environment where past experiences...are not judged. Individuals are instead valued based on their contributions, hard work, respectfulness, and ability to provide value...the great equalizer."
This powerful truth underscores the importance of fostering a culture of respect, hard work, and shared ownership—empowering staff to feel genuinely engaged in decision-making and invested in collective success.
Navigating the Technology Minefield with Confidence
While technology promises efficiency, Andy cautions that its success hinges entirely on a strong organizational foundation. Inconsistent data, poorly managed systems, or a lack of dedicated ownership can quickly erode team confidence, making new tech initiatives dead on arrival.
"The second it starts breaking down because it's not well put together and well managed, well the team loses confidence and when the team loses confidence, it's over."
Instead of striving for day-one perfection, Andy recommends an incremental approach: focus on optimizing the most expensive or frequently ordered items first, building momentum and demonstrating measurable savings that earn team buy-in.
The Indispensable Value of Specialized Financial Partners
Recognizing the specific financial challenges of hospitality—from tight margins to seasonal cash flow—Andy founded The Restaurant CPAs. This free platform bridges a critical gap by connecting specialized financial partners restaurant industry needs.
Post-COVID, geographic boundaries for professional services have dissolved, opening up a vast pool of expertise. Andy stresses that having a specialized accounting firm offers value far beyond basic tax and compliance—helping owners make informed decisions, avoid pitfalls, and structure for long-term growth and value creation.
Meet Our Guest: Andy Himmel
Andy Himmel
Andy Himmel is a Restaurant Industry Executive and the Founder and CEO of The Restaurant CPAs. With over two decades of experience owning, operating, and scaling multi-unit restaurant brands, he leverages his firsthand knowledge to help independent operators, franchisors, and growing restaurant groups find top-tier CPA firms specializing in hospitality.
His platform serves as a shortcut to finding the right financial fit, fast—connecting operators with accountants who truly understand the unique challenges of restaurant finance, from food cost management to franchise structuring and everything in between.
Connect with Andy:
LinkedIn: in/andy-himmel/
Website: www.therestaurantcpas.com
The Story: When Everything Falls Apart (Literally)
The Unthinkable Opening Day
Andy's restaurant journey began with what most would consider a career-ending disaster. At just 22 years old, he was ready to open his first restaurant. Everything was prepared, the team was trained, opening day was approaching—and then the building collapsed.
Not metaphorically. Literally collapsed.
This "traumatic" experience would have been enough to make most aspiring restaurateurs walk away permanently. Instead, it became Andy's defining moment, teaching him lessons about resilience, adaptability, and problem-solving under extreme pressure that would serve him throughout his career.
The Unexpected Education
Forced to pivot dramatically, Andy temporarily relocated his operation to a party island for six months while rebuilding. This unexpected detour provided invaluable hands-on experience in the most challenging circumstances imaginable—managing operations in an unfamiliar market, dealing with unexpected logistical challenges, and learning to stay afloat when nothing goes according to plan.
Looking back, Andy recognizes that this catastrophe was actually a gift. It stripped away any illusions about the restaurant business being easy or predictable. It taught him that success in this industry requires more than a good concept or solid financing—it demands grit, flexibility, and an unwavering commitment to making it work no matter what obstacles appear.
Building a Career on Resilience
That early experience forged the foundation for Andy's two-decade career in restaurants. He went on to own, operate, and scale multiple restaurant brands, gaining firsthand knowledge of every challenge operators face—from managing tight margins and seasonal fluctuations to navigating franchise structures and multi-unit growth.
This comprehensive operational experience informs everything about The Restaurant CPAs. Andy built the platform specifically to address a problem he experienced personally: the difficulty of finding accounting partners who truly understand the unique financial complexities of the restaurant industry.
Key Insights: The Foundation of Restaurant Success
Passion Beats Perfect Planning
One of Andy's most counterintuitive observations is that his early, less meticulously planned ventures often proved more successful and profitable than later, more carefully strategized operations. Why? Because they were fueled by raw passion and an almost desperate desire to succeed.
This doesn't mean planning isn't important—it absolutely is. But Andy's experience demonstrates that in restaurants, authentic passion and genuine care for the guest experience can sometimes overcome operational imperfections. Conversely, a perfectly planned restaurant executed without heart will struggle to connect with customers.
The lesson for operators: Don't wait for everything to be perfect before you start. Your genuine enthusiasm and commitment to excellence will carry you further than you think, and you'll learn the rest along the way.
Creating an Undeniable Vibe
Andy talks about the intangible "vibe" and "energy" that successful restaurants exude. This isn't something you can manufacture through marketing or design alone—it comes from the authentic passion of everyone involved, from ownership to line cooks.
Guests can sense when a team genuinely cares about their experience versus when they're just going through the motions. This human element is what transforms a meal into a memorable experience, turning first-time visitors into regulars and creating the word-of-mouth momentum that no advertising budget can buy.
The Restaurant Industry's Unique Culture
A Place for Second Chances
One of the most powerful aspects of Andy's message is his celebration of the restaurant industry as "the great equalizer." Unlike many industries where past mistakes or unconventional backgrounds can permanently limit opportunities, restaurants judge people on their present contributions.
This creates an environment where individuals who might struggle to find opportunities elsewhere can thrive based purely on their work ethic, respectfulness, and ability to provide value. It's a profoundly democratic meritocracy that offers genuine second chances.
For operators, this insight should inform hiring and management practices. The most valuable team members might not have perfect resumes or conventional backgrounds—they're the ones who show up, work hard, and genuinely care about doing their jobs well.
Fostering Ownership and Engagement
Andy emphasizes the importance of creating a culture where staff feel genuinely engaged in decision-making and invested in collective success. This goes beyond profit-sharing programs or employee stock options (though those can help)—it's about making team members feel heard, valued, and empowered to contribute ideas.
When people feel genuine ownership of outcomes, they bring discretionary effort and creative problem-solving that can't be mandated or incentivized. This is especially critical in an industry facing ongoing labor challenges and high turnover rates.
Technology Implementation: The Confidence Factor
Why Tech Initiatives Fail
Andy's experience implementing technology across multiple restaurant operations taught him a crucial lesson: the technology itself is rarely the problem. The failure point is almost always organizational—inconsistent data, lack of dedicated ownership, or insufficient training and support.
When a new system starts breaking down because it's poorly implemented or inadequately managed, team confidence evaporates instantly. Once that happens, even fixing the technical issues won't restore buy-in. The initiative is effectively dead.
This is why so many restaurant technology implementations fail despite the tools themselves being perfectly capable. The operators who succeed with technology aren't necessarily the most tech-savvy—they're the ones who treat implementation as an organizational change management challenge rather than just a technical upgrade.
The Incremental Approach
Instead of attempting wholesale technology transformations, Andy recommends starting small and building momentum. Focus on optimizing the most expensive or frequently ordered items first. When you can demonstrate measurable cost savings or efficiency gains on these high-impact areas, you build credibility and team confidence for expanding the system.
This incremental approach also allows you to identify and resolve issues on a smaller scale before they become systemic problems. You're essentially piloting the technology while delivering real value, creating a virtuous cycle of success that makes broader adoption much easier.
Building Lasting Confidence
The key to successful technology adoption is building and maintaining team confidence. This requires:
Consistent data quality - Garbage in, garbage out applies doubly in restaurants
Clear ownership - Someone must be accountable for system management and troubleshooting
Adequate training - Teams need to understand not just how but why to use the system
Quick issue resolution - Problems must be addressed immediately before they undermine confidence
Visible wins - Regularly communicate the concrete benefits the technology is delivering
When teams see technology making their jobs easier and helping the business succeed, adoption becomes organic rather than forced.
The Critical Role of Specialized Financial Partners
Why Restaurant Accounting Is Different
Restaurant financial management has unique complexities that general accountants often don't understand:
Razor-thin margins that make cost control critical
High inventory turnover requiring sophisticated tracking
Seasonal fluctuations demanding careful cash flow management
Complex tip reporting and labor compliance requirements
Franchise structures with unique accounting and tax considerations
Multi-unit consolidation and intercompany transactions
An accountant who primarily serves retail or professional services clients may be perfectly competent in their domain but ill-equipped to provide strategic guidance to restaurant operators. The nuances matter enormously.
The Birth of The Restaurant CPAs
Andy founded The Restaurant CPAs specifically to solve a problem he experienced firsthand: the difficulty of finding accounting partners who truly understand restaurant operations and can provide strategic value beyond basic compliance.
The platform is free for operators to use and serves as a matchmaking service, connecting restaurant owners with CPA firms that specialize in hospitality. This specialization ensures that operators work with advisors who understand their unique challenges and can provide genuinely useful guidance.
The Post-COVID Opportunity
One of the unexpected silver linings of the pandemic is that it normalized remote professional services. Geographic boundaries that once limited options for connecting specialized financial partners restaurant industry have largely dissolved.
An operator in a small market who previously had limited local accounting options can now work with top-tier hospitality specialists anywhere in the country. This dramatically expands the pool of available expertise and ensures better matches between operators and financial partners.
Beyond Compliance: Strategic Value
Andy stresses that the right accounting partner offers value far beyond tax preparation and compliance. They should help you:
Make informed decisions based on accurate, timely financial data
Avoid costly pitfalls through proactive guidance on structuring and planning
Structure for growth in ways that maximize value creation
Navigate expansion with insights on franchise structures, multi-unit management, and capital strategy
Optimize tax position through legitimate strategies that require industry-specific knowledge
This strategic partnership approach transforms accounting from a necessary cost center into a genuine competitive advantage.
The Personal Ingredient
Lessons from Adversity
Andy's opening story about the building collapse isn't just a dramatic hook—it reveals something essential about his character and approach to business. When faced with a disaster that would justify quitting, he found a way forward.
This resilience, forged in the crucible of that early crisis, permeates everything about how he views the restaurant industry. He understands viscerally that success in this business isn't about avoiding challenges—it's about responding to them with creativity, determination, and an unwavering commitment to making it work.
The Mission to Help Others
The Restaurant CPAs represents more than a business opportunity for Andy—it's a mission to help other operators avoid the struggles he experienced and to ensure they have access to the specialized expertise that makes the difference between surviving and thriving.
By creating a free platform that connects operators with the right financial partners, Andy is giving back to an industry that gave him opportunities, taught him invaluable lessons, and allowed him to build a successful career despite that catastrophic beginning.
Actionable Insights for Restaurant Operators
What You Can Apply Today
Audit Your Accounting Relationship - Is your CPA specialized in restaurants? If not, explore options for connecting specialized financial partners restaurant industry through platforms like The Restaurant CPAs. The difference in strategic value can be transformative.
Start Technology Small - Identify your single most expensive or frequently ordered item category. Implement tracking and optimization there first, demonstrating measurable value before expanding system-wide.
Build Team Confidence Before Tech Rollout - Ensure data quality, assign clear ownership, and provide thorough training before launching new technology. One successful small-scale implementation beats three failed large-scale attempts.
Foster an Ownership Culture - Create opportunities for team members to contribute ideas and feel invested in outcomes. The engagement and discretionary effort this generates can't be replicated through top-down mandates.
Lead with Passion, Refine with Planning - Don't wait for perfect conditions to start. Your authentic passion and commitment will carry you further than you think, and you'll learn the operational refinements along the way.
Embrace the Great Equalizer - Evaluate people based on their present contributions rather than their past. Some of your most valuable team members will come from unexpected backgrounds.
Share Your Thoughts
Have you struggled to find accounting partners who truly understand restaurant operations? What's your biggest challenge in implementing new technology across your locations? Connect with us and share your experiences.
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