Gregory R. Golem, CFSP
Principal- Interactive Restaurant Consulting, Inc.
As founder of Interactive Restaurant Consulting Inc, Gregg has designed and overseen the development of over 400 restaurant and bar operations. With a 39 year career in the food service industry, Gregg is able to bring the experience and background necessary to contribute to the client’s profitable objectives.
Gregg has an extensive background in food service operations, training, construction, site development, purchasing, and franchising. In his career, Gregg has been; the Owner and Principal Consultant of Interactive Restaurant Consulting Inc, Partner/Owner, of Bob Smith Restaurant Equipment, Chief Operating Officer of East Coast Bagel Co Inc, President of Numero Uno Franchise Corp, Executive Vice President of Shakey’s Pizza Restaurants, Director of Company Operations, Training and Eastern Franchise Operations for A & W Restaurants Inc. His international experience also includes the development, opening and operation of restaurants in Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Hong Kong, Beijing and Shenzhen, China.
Gregg holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Factors-Industrial Psychology. His menu- based approach to design insures myriad details are taken into consideration to produce the food quality and volume needed for each project. Gregg integrates people, product, and production flows into every design to produce an efficient and effective layout which is compliant with the prevailing regulatory codes.
Gregg is one of only 75 design consultants in the United States who is recognized as a Certified Foodservice Professional (CFSP) by the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers. The CFSP professional distinction, coupled with Gregg’s extensive restaurant background, provides a global perspective and unique insight into each client’s design solution.
Louis “Butch” Cummings, CFSP
Senior Designer
Louis has worked in the food service industry for 34 years. Beginning his career in 1982, as a student at UCLA, Louis has the unique experience of having both restaurant operations and restaurant equipment specifications and purchasing in his background.
Louis gained his operations experience working his way up the ranks of restaurant management with Jacmar Restaurants; the parent company of Shakey’s Pizza and Jacmar Food Distribution Company. Louis began his career as an assistant manager. After two years of honing his skills, he was promoted to manager of the company’s new concept restaurant, “Tillys”; a 6000 square foot full service Italian restaurant and bar. After operating the 2.5 million dollar restaurant profitably, Louis was promoted to area manager over 3 quick service Shakey’s Pizza Restaurants: There he increased sales, controlled costs, and trained management and staff. He was also instrumental in setting up Jacmar’s outside catering business, which incrementally increased each unit in the chain by 15%.
Louis took his career in a new direction in 1991 by accepting a sales position at Bob Smith Restaurant Equipment Company, located in Pasadena. Louis helped this company grow 6 fold, until it was sold in 2009. While there, Louis utilized his restaurant operational experience to assist clients in the placement and specification of equipment to best meet their economic and operational needs. At Bob Smith, Louis held the positions of inside and outside sales, assistant manager and general manager. He was responsible for overseeing the facility, training the sales teams, purchasing equipment and was instrumental in implementing the point of sale and inventory control systems.
In 2005, Louis was certified as a Food Service Professional (CSFP) by the NAFEM. He is one of only 1250 people in the nation who hold this high certification. After earning this certification, Louis took on the added responsibility of Project Manager, working in conjunction with an outside restaurant design firm to specify equipment; taking into consideration performance, functionality, and cost. His responsibilities included ordering equipment, supervising delivery and installation and mitigating conditions or problems that arose.
In 2009 Louis joined the IRC team as a design associate. Here he applies his knowledge and experience in restaurant operations and equipment to design operationally efficient and cost effective restaurant solutions.
Elizabeth O’Neil
Contract Administration & Business Development
Elizabeth joined IRC in early 2016 as their Contract Administrator and Business Development Consultant. Her experience in restaurants is multi-faceted and spans more than 25 years, beginning with managing multiple successful restaurants throughout the greater Los Angeles area and moving into restaurant brokerage for the past 15 years with top real estate firms. Her brokerage accomplishments include some of Los Angeles’ landmark restaurants with a proven track record of repeat clients.
Elizabeth takes a comprehensive approach to restaurant brokerage, including her knowledge and application of ABC & CUP work, concept formation and design. Utilizing her long-standing relationships with other professionals in the industry, Elizabeth is able to build a team specific for each project to meet the needs of buyers, sellers, landlords and developers with their respective requirements. Elizabeth worked with IRC on many of her projects before joining the company. With her unique set of crossover skills, she understands IRC client needs and is dedicated to the goal of helping restaurant owners find creative solutions in planning and design to achieve their ideals.
Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Elizabeth is a graduate of Indiana University with double major B.A. Degrees in English Literature and Telecommunications. After moving to Los Angeles, she earned her real estate license and started in high-end residential home sales before gravitating to the commercial sector and ultimately specializing in restaurant sales and leasing. Elizabeth is a member of the BHGLAAR and a licensed agent with eXp Realty where she continues to work actively as a restaurant broker. She also works for several Southern California cities as an Economic Development Consultant under her own consulting label, O’Neil Venture, Inc., on mixed-use commercial project evaluation, restaurant relocation and business development.
Teresa Lundberg
Design Associate
Teresa joined Interactive Restaurant Consulting in April, 2014 as Design Associate making the move to draft and design commercial food service plans for health and building department submittals.
Beginning her design career in 2004, Teresa achieved certification in both AutoCAD and Rivet cad design programs from Riverside Community College. She went on to earn additional certificates in architectural and interior design from San Bernardino Valley College. For the next 12 years she honed her skills in the development and drafting of plans for both residential and commercial projects with an emphasis on creating comprehensive construction submittal and documentation plans.
Teresa’s demonstrated expertise evolved through designer/cad positions at Andresen’s Architecture, A&E West Architecture, Lawrence Roberts & Associates Architecture, and Strobel Architecture, among others. Major project involvement includes; CCI Medical College, Miramar Naval Base Laboratory, Camp Pendleton primary kitchen, Baskin and Robbins Ice Cream, and Frozen Ropes Sports Training.
In 2007 Teresa created her own consulting practice, which provided free-lance design and drafting services to Southern California architects, contractors, developers, and engineering firms. During this time Teresa’s primary client became The Kitchen Lady, a premier residential kitchen design and construction company. Here she was responsible for preparing design and construction documents for residential kitchens equipped with professional style equipment and cabinetry. Over time, she developed her own project portfolio and clientele and helped direct clients to translate their ideas and vision into practical and finished construction submittal documents for permit.
Teresa’s breadth of experience assures that best practices and executional excellence are continually applied to IRC’s myriad projects.
Curtis Yamada
Design Associate
In 1992 Curtis began his restaurant / food service career at Santo's West, a restaurant and bar in Westwood, California. At Santo’s he gained valuable experience working all aspects of the concept inclusive of front of the house, back of the house, employee scheduling, purchasing, and overall operations management. In 1996 Curtis joined the food service operations team for Federated (Bullocks / Macy's) in Southern California. Here his responsibilities included the day-to-day operations of four locations, catering and special events execution and oversight of 150+ employees.
Curtis expanded his building skills by entering the residential construction industry in 1999. Here he was exposed to every facet of construction; from grading and framing to rough outs and finished construction. His stint in construction exposed him to a broad understanding of plans, interface with inspections and the design/build of complex residential kitchen programs. Curtis joined Michael Blackman & Associates – which eventually became Chef Toys – in 2011 as Project Administrator. At MB&A his responsibilities included estimating, purchasing, coordination of delivery and installation and the design and specification of equipment.
The marriages of his diverse skill sets are fully employed in his position as Design Associate at IRC. At IRC he is able to immerse himself in all aspects of our clients’ food service design needs with a comprehensive set of skills that ensure their objectives and project criteria are attended to with appropriate care and expertise.