Frequently Asked Questions

For Owners and Suppliers

For Owners

Is Restaurant Journey free for restaurant owners?▾

The first 3 chapters of the Journey are free — no credit card required. Publishing requests and receiving proposals from suppliers is always free. To unlock the full 14-chapter roadmap, a membership costs $59/year.

What does the Journey include?▾

A 14-chapter roadmap personalized for your state, county, city and concept. Chapters 1-3 are free. Chapters 4-14 (build-out, FF&E, finance, personnel, marketing, technology, and more) require a membership ($59/year). It covers federal, state, county and city licensing, food & health compliance, lease, build-out, FF&E, finance, personnel, marketing and technology.

How does document expiration work?▾

When you upload a license, permit, certificate or insurance to a Journey task, we run OCR with Google Cloud Vision to extract the expiration date. We then notify you 90 / 30 / 7 days before expiration via email and push.

What if my city doesn't have a template yet?▾

We use a fallback statewide template + AI (Gemini) to generate a personalized roadmap for your jurisdiction in real time. Our team manually verifies the AI-generated content within 48h.

Can I have multiple businesses in the same account?▾

Yes. You can run multiple restaurants in different cities — each business has its own Journey, its own documents, its own request inbox. Switch between them at the top of your dashboard.

How do I hire a supplier?▾

Publish a free request from any task in your Journey or from the Requests tab. You'll receive up to 3 proposals from suppliers in your area filtered by category and zip code. Pick your favorite — that's it.

Do I pay Restaurant Journey to hire a supplier?▾

No. Hiring is between you and the supplier. We only facilitate the introduction. Suppliers pay us to unlock leads.

What if I have a problem with a hired supplier?▾

Leave a review. Our team monitors low ratings and removes suppliers that consistently underperform.

For Suppliers

Do quotes expire?▾

No. Quotes never expire — buy them whenever you want and use them at your own pace.

How much does verification cost?▾

$20 one-time per profile (professional or business). The verification gives you the blue badge in the public directory.

How many suppliers can compete for the same lead?▾

Maximum 3. Once 3 suppliers unlock a lead, it closes — no oversaturation.

Can I have multiple profiles?▾

Yes. One personal professional profile + N business profiles (your own or as approved collaborator). Switch between them Netflix-style in your navbar.

Do collaborators pay verification?▾

No. Only the business owner pays $20 per business. Approved collaborators don't pay anything.

What payment methods do you accept?▾

All major credit and debit cards via Stripe Checkout.

How long does verification take?▾

Manual review within 48 hours after payment. You'll receive an email when your blue badge is live.

Can I refund unused quotes?▾

In v1.0 quotes are non-refundable — but they never expire, so you can always use them later. We're working on a refund policy for unused quotes after 12 months of inactivity.