Russ Graham is the owner and operator of Ambrosia, an upscale steak and seafood concept in Watersound, Florida. His journey to restaurant entrepreneurship was inspired and enabled by his RestaurantOwner.com membership.

‘I Can Do This’

Russ Graham of Ambrosia

In 2022, Russ Graham followed his dream to live and own a restaurant where he vacationed, in the Florida Panhandle. And so, his upscale steak and Gulf Coast seafood concept Ambrosia opened for business in a new retail development in Watersound, Florida.

Fourteen years earlier, as director of operations for a multiunit casual concept, Graham joined and implemented the myriad resources offered by RestaurantOwner.com. According to Graham, he was rewarded with improved consistency, cost control, and inventory management. During that time, he attended restaurant best practices seminars conducted by RestaurantOwner.com founder Jim Laube at The International Pizza Expo conferences in Las Vegas. It was then, says Graham, that he decided “I can do this,” and set his sights on opening his restaurant.

In 2009, Graham and his business partner Tom Powers opened Flight, a fine-dining restaurant in downtown Memphis. They used RestaurantOwner.com’s business plan templates to secure the lease and financing. They also used the site’s templates and materials to create training manuals, an employee handbook, and all their hiring and kitchen systems. Flight continues to be one of Memphis’s most popular and successful restaurants today, and the duo went on to open three additional successful upscale concepts.