The Chronicle-Telegram
Queen of Cuisine

If there’s one thing in life that Shelley Solomon Cull knows, it’s what makes a good restaurant. She should, after all,
given that her father, Eddy Solomon, owned and operated the venerable McGarvey’s in Vermilion for 42 years.

But rather than making the choice to dive entirely into operating a restaurant herself, Solomon Cull of Lorain opted for a slightly different path — creating a training business called Rave Reviews to help “good restaurants become great,”
she said.

Restaurant owners hire her company to increase their bottom line, and she does so by conducting an operational
audit and visiting the restaurant as many as eight times over a two- or three-month period.
She goes in knowing what to look for — flaws in service and operation that can cost restaurants big bucks.

Need to be sharp
For example, if servers aren’t trying to sell the menu to customers, that can add up to huge loss of revenue. One
appetizer and one drink can add as much as $17 to a check, so if 50 to 100 tables are enticed each night, it can
add a lot to the restaurant’s sales for the year, she said.

And don’t think restaurants aren’t big business. The National Restaurant Association reports that industry sales
for Ohio are expected to reach $16 billion this year — a 5 percent increase over 2006. The association also
predicts a 5.8 percent jump in job growth.

“This is a growing industry — owners need to be sharp to capture the revenue,” Solomon Cull said.

Solomon Cull also helps new restaurants get started right. Debbie Gallo, owner of Maxx Doogan’s, sought out Solomon Cull
when she opened her three locations. Gallo said the result was a well-trained staff and managers.

“She is very good and has been in the business as long as anyone,” Gallo said. That really is an understatement.

Solomon Cull practically was raised in McGarvey’s — working as a hostess, busgirl and clerk. She did everything but
bartend, and that was only because she was too young.

“I grew up there,” she explained, matter-of-factly. And even when she wasn’t there, she often was nearby at her
grandmother’s cottage.

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