Railway Tavern Bistro – Legacy of Grit, Growth & Resilience
The Railway Tavern Bistro was where it all began—a 7-year journey of relentless drive, sacrifice, and transformation. When we took over, the venue was serving just 400 covers per week. Through sheer grit, operational refinement, and unwavering commitment, we scaled to well over 1,000 covers weekly, generating $1.2 million annually by our final year.
It wasn’t easy. This success was forged in the heat of the kitchen—long hours, tough decisions, and lost time with family. But it was a training ground for everything we now teach through Ground Up Hospitality.
Then came March 23rd, 2020—the day the restaurant went silent. COVID-19 forced our closure overnight. No warning, no plan, no certainty. Twelve staff, hundreds of bills, and a town in shock. But we didn’t fold.
We pivoted fast:
- Rebuilt the business for takeaway operations, restructuring menus, shifting staff roles, and maintaining service when most venues shut down.
- Focused on community service and survival, earning the town’s gratitude and loyalty.
- Adapted to post-COVID rules with agility by retraining staff, rewriting service protocols, and leading through a new era of hospitality.
Despite everything, we kept going. This was no longer about profitability, it was about resilience. This experience taught us more about leadership, innovation, and real-world systems than any business course ever could.
The Railway Tavern Bistro wasn’t just a restaurant, it was the birthplace of a philosophy: that hospitality can be systemised, stabilised, and scaled even in the most chaotic times. That legacy now fuels the mission of Ground Up Hospitality.
The Local, Glen Innes
Over the past several years, The Local Glen Innes has become a standout hospitality venue in regional NSW, both in community reputation and financial performance. When we took over, the business was generating approximately $600,000 annually. Through strategic leadership, systems development, and a focus on efficiency and team culture, we scaled the venue to over $1 million in annual revenue within just two years.
Key achievements include:
- Revenue growth of over 65% while reducing direct owner involvement to just three days per week.
- Implementation of streamlined SOPs, staff training systems, and a profit-first operational model that ensured consistency, efficiency, and long-term sustainability.
- Maintained a strong community presence and reputation, with The Local being regarded as one of the most popular and profitable venues in town.
- Built a loyal, high-performing team capable of running day-to-day operations with minimal oversight, allowing time to focus on new ventures such as Ground Up Hospitality.
This transformation not only proved the effectiveness of our systems-first approach but also demonstrated our ability to extract performance from existing resources and scale profitably without burnout or compromise in quality.
