Eli’s Restaurant Group is a family-owned hospitality company that’s been a staple in Connecticut’s dining scene for over two decades. With six vibrant restaurant concepts and a thriving catering arm, the group is known for its upscale American fare, neighborhood charm, and versatile dining experiences. Their restaurants include Eli’s Brick Oven Pizza, popular for its pizza and wine; Eli’s on Whitney, featuring casual American food in an upscale sports atmosphere; Eli’s Branford, boasting an extensive selection of draft beer, wine and martinis, along with classic American food; Eli’s Tavern, a New York City-inspired gastropub serving upscale tavern food; Eli’s Orange, serving upscale American fare with an Italian twist; and Elicit Brewery, famous for its versatility as a brewery, beer hall, cocktail bar, lounge, arcade, restaurant, and much more.
When Eric Steinbach joined as Chief Operating Officer in 2020, he saw a clear opportunity to modernize operations and tackle inefficiencies that were limiting growth. Without accurate food and labor costs, standardized recipes, or clear P&L reporting, Eli’s was missing out on significant profit potential. Steinbach knew it was time for a data-driven change.
Eli’s implemented Restaurant365 in 2018, but until recently the restaurant group used the platform only on the accounting side of the business. When Steinbach came onboard in mid-2020, he began to explore how Restaurant365 could benefit their operations.
Prior to using Restaurant365 to streamline operations, Eli’s wasn’t generating consistent or accurate data for food and labor costs. The restaurant was lacking simple reports like a profit and loss statement (P&L) to better analyze the business.
To drive better financial decisions, the business needed a real-time, accurate view of their operations data and a strategy to address the following business challenges:
Eli’s turned to Restaurant365 Inventory & Purchasing for help gathering operations data.
After implementing new automations from Restaurant365, Eli’s Restaurant Group quickly saw major gains in efficiency, especially with menu planning. Weekly inventories provided real-time data to validate menu pricing and Steinbach used the platform’s easy reporting to cross-examine food costs and ensure items were priced for profitability.
Being able to have that data built out in the system through the AP gives us the ability to do that, without having to go to a file cabinet, pull out an invoice, and do all the mental math.
Eric Steinbach, Chief Operating Officer
Eli’s Restaurant Group
Additionally, the team began to standardize recipes and automate accounts payable, allowing them to factor in vendor price fluctuations and accurately price each plate. That data became essential for building profitable menus and identifying where the business was leaking money. With tools like the Actual vs. Theoretical (AvT) analysis, the leadership team began reviewing reports weekly with location managers, helping them pinpoint and address costly issues. For example, they discovered one location making macaroni and cheese incorrectly, leading to consistent cheese and cream overuse.
Restaurant365 also transformed labor scheduling by pairing sales forecasts with scheduling tools, replacing static “set schedules” with dynamic, data-driven planning. Operators learned to align labor hours with projected sales, improving both efficiency and business acumen across the team.
Finally, the integration between Eli’s POS system and Restaurant365 gave managers access to tools that helped them monitor their performance daily. Now that operators had access to real-time data, Steinbach felt operators were more empowered to make better, data-driven decisions.
Being able to just have the seemingly limitless amount of data increases our operators’ ability to run their business as a businessperson.
Eric Steinbach, Chief Operating Officer
Eli’s Restaurant Group
By 2019, Eli’s Restaurant Group estimated they were losing approximate$1.5 million in potential profit annually due to inefficiencies in food, labor, and supply cost tracking. Since adopting the more advanced features of Restaurant365, they’ve been able to close at least 75% of that gap, despite the financial headwinds of COVID-19 and ongoing commodity pressures.
We’ve done a heck of a job remaining profitable throughout a really, really tough time. I wish I had last year’s sales now with everything we have in place — because we’d be printing cash out the back door.
Eric Steinbach, Chief Operating Officer
Eli’s Restaurant Group
The biggest gains came from improvements in cost of goods sold (CoGS) and labor. Mr. Steinbach reports $600,000 saved in labor and another $500,000 in food and liquor, beer, and wine (LBW) costs. The key to this turnaround? Real-time data and better visibility into recipe costing, inventory, and actual vs. theoretical (AvT) reporting. With Restaurant365, Eli’s was able to drill into their data, flag unprofitable items, and more accurately price their catering and in-house menus. As a result, they’ve improved their theoretical food costs by 2.5%—3%, and brought their operational efficiency from 70—80% up to 92—93% across all locations.
Beyond cost savings, Restaurant365 empowered Eli’s to make faster, more informed decisions. Menu profitability can now be assessed in just a few clicks, allowing the team to quickly adjust pricing strategies or push high-margin items. When ownership asks for key financial insights, Steinbach says the process is no longer a heavy lift: “We don’t need to get out the abacus and sundial anymore. We can quickly customize a report and get the data back fast.”
Looking ahead, Eli’s sees Restaurant365 as a critical tool for navigating uncertainty and sustaining growth.
The amount of data that we have at our fingertips now is unlike anything we’ve had in 20–25 years of our existence.
Eric Steinbach, Chief Operating Officer
Eli’s Restaurant Group
Eli’s Restaurant Group proves that with the right tools and the right data, even long-standing businesses can unlock new levels of profitability and performance. By fully embracing Restaurant365 across operations, they’ve created a culture of accountability, empowered their team with real-time insights, and positioned themselves for long-term success — even in the face of industry-wide challenges. As they look to the future, Eli’s is no longer just reacting to change — they’re planning for it with confidence.
$1.1M recovered in profit
through improved labor and food cost controls
2.5–3% theoretical food costs improvement
using recipe costing and inventory tracking
92–93% operational efficiency
across all locations
Discover how you can start achieving savings like these for your business
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Irvine, CA 92618
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Austin, TX 78759
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.
