CEO of the Year (Restaurant Management) – California 2024
Michael Mindel is founder and CEO of Restaunomics, a restaurant management and consulting company. Restaunomics clients include Poggio Trattoria, a full-service Italian restaurant in Sausalito, CA, Copita Tequileria y Comida, the acclaimed Mexican restaurant that opened in 2012 in partnership with celebrity chef Joanne Weir, and Convivo, a “Nomad Italian” restaurant in Santa Barbara that opened in 2016. Mindel’s latest restaurant is a second Copita Tequileria y Comida location in Willow Glen (San Jose), CA which opened in October 2023. Previously, Mindel was Senior Vice President of Marketing at Il Fornaio (America) Corp., the Corte Madera, California-based owner/operator of two dozen Italian restaurants located across California and Las Vegas. Il Fornaio includes some of the highest volume Italian restaurants in the US, averaging over $5 million per location. Mindel was with Il Fornaio for 27 years.
