Bricco Dining Group is a beloved Ohio-based restaurant group known for serving great food and drinks at great prices across its four unique locations: Akron Bricco, Pub Bricco, Bricco Kent, and Café Bricco. When seasoned restaurateur Dave Sharp acquired the group in 2019, he saw both potential and a pressing need for change. The restaurants lacked financial clarity, with no standardized systems in place and decisions being made based on the bank balance rather than a proper profit and loss statement. Determined to turn things around, Sharp set out to build a more transparent, accountable, and data-driven operation.
When Sharp took ownership of Bricco Dining Group, they were not in good financial shape and he reported that the books didn’t line up. Without clean books or visibility into performance metrics, it was nearly impossible to make informed decisions or hold managers accountable. Sharp needed a solution that could bring structure, transparency, and efficiency to Bricco’s operations.
Key challenges included:
To modernize operations and build a stronger, more profitable business, Sharp turned to Restaurant365.
As he began working with the restaurants, Sharp had a simple rule: decisions would be made based on data. Under the previous ownership, only two people in the restaurant group had access to the accounting and operations data, leaving managers to make decisions based on assumptions. Moving forward, Sharp wanted to use data to train managers to run their restaurants more efficiently.
He chose Restaurant365 because it provided the powerful, Mac-friendly tools needed to bring accuracy, visibility, and efficiency to his restaurant operations. With R365, Sharp could dive into granular financial data from anywhere, enabling him to make strategic decisions backed by real numbers. Best of all, Restaurant365 gave managers access to the information they needed to take ownership of their locations. Automated reporting, scheduling, and reconciliation tools saved hours of manual work, while helping managers align labor and food costs with actual sales.
The numbers tell a story. And now that we have real-time data, we can adjust our strategy daily instead of waiting weeks for a P&L report.
Dave Sharp, Owner
Bricco Dining Group
With Restaurant365 in place, Bricco Dining Group quickly began to see measurable improvements across financial operations, time savings, and team accountability. One of the biggest wins came from automating previously manual processes. Bank reconciliations, which once took Sharp up to 40 hours a month across three or four 10-hour days, now take just 15 minutes thanks to R365’s automated reconciliation feature.
Labor management also saw a significant improvement. By giving managers access to real-time labor and sales data—and training them to schedule based on actual need rather than guesswork—Bricco cut labor costs by at least 5%.
Managers are now scheduling to a budget, seeing the numbers, and evaluating their actuals at the end of the week. That level of visibility and accountability has been a game changer.
Dave Sharp, Owner
Bricco Dining Group
Beyond time and cost savings, Restaurant365 empowered Sharp to build a stronger, more responsible management team. Managers now enter invoices at the store level, monitor their own P&Ls, and make informed decisions based on daily reporting. “The data gives them the power to manage their own business,” Sharp shared. It’s even introduced healthy competition, as team members strive to outperform each other in key metrics like food cost and labor efficiency.
Restaurant365’s centralized tools, like the manager log, have also simplified communication across all four locations. Sharp now has a “central command” where he can monitor operations, view pictures, and track tasks across the restaurants—something especially critical while managing four locations during an unpredictable market.
Perhaps most importantly, R365 has positioned Bricco for long-term success. Sharp plans to eventually sell the restaurant group, and thanks to the structured systems and data transparency R365 provides, he feels confident that even investors outside the restaurant industry will see the value in a well-run, data-driven operation.
By partnering with Restaurant365, Dave Sharp has transformed Bricco Dining Group into a data-driven, well-organized operation with streamlined processes, empowered managers, and measurable financial gains. What was once a group of restaurants struggling with inconsistent practices and unclear reporting is now a lean, accountable business primed for success. With the right systems in place, Sharp has not only reclaimed his time, but also created a foundation for long-term success, proving that with the right tools and mindset, a restaurant group can turn its operations—and its future—around.
5% reduction
in labor costs
30–40 hours saved per month
on bank reconciliations
15-minute monthly close
compared to 30+ hours previously
Discover how you can start achieving savings like these for your business
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Restaurant365 bridges the gap between accounting and operations by centralizing all data, helping restaurant operators to become more efficient, accurately forecast, and tackle any challenge or opportunity with speed and accuracy.
