Dawn Thornton
Long Beach,CA
Summary
Hospitality management professional with 25 years of extensive experience in restaurant operations, including roles such as General Manager, Regional Culinary Training Manager, Kitchen Manager, and Bar and Hospitality Manager. Expertise in developing efficient processes, recruiting top talent, and empowering teams to exceed performance goals while fostering exceptional guest experiences that enhance retention and profitability. A strong commitment to nurturing the next generation of hospitality leaders is demonstrated through hands-on experience across all restaurant positions. Ready to contribute to a dynamic team focused on innovative training and education initiatives that elevate performance standards.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Regional Culinary Training Manager
San Pedro Fish Market
San Pedro , CA
08.2023 - 12.2025
- Designed and implemented a new culinary organizational structure.
- Built a comprehensive Training and Food Safety services program for onboarding new hires.
- Created a Continuous Education Program for all team members.
- Led menu and recipe development to reduce food cost and increase profitability.
- Negotiated with food and liquor vendors to ensure optimal cost point pricing.
- Implemented an inventory system to control food cost and increase profitability.
- Increased team participation in the day-to-day business through the development of a system of checks and verifications to ensure task completion, increasing the entire team's ability to deliver outstanding service to guests, while maintaining the integrity of the business
- Managed new employee orientation training process for more than 200+ employees each year.
Senior Manager
Kings Seafood Company
Laguna , CA
09.2021 - 08.2023
- Built sales forecasts and scheduling templates to reflect desired productivity targets.
- Increased Sales and Profitability by 12% over 2 years.
- Decreased labor by 4% over 6 months.
- As Bar Manager, new bartenders are trained on cost control and waste.
- Decreased liquor costs by 1.5% over 3 months.
- Acting as a Kitchen Manager when necessary for coverage.
- Assisted Kitchen Manager with the training and development of teams.
- Certified Training Manager for all newly hired managers and lead hourly training team.
- Responsible for reporting on all aspects of training Lead and Director of Management Training.
- Responsible for all aspects of scheduling and shift operations and execution, maintaining knowledge and compliance with frequently updated policies and procedures.
- Oversaw execution of operational and organizational plans and projections.
- Optimized profits by controlling food, beverage, and labor costs.
- Utilized culinary talent and scheduling to ensure consistent food quality and service standards, maintaining the highest levels of cleanliness, organization, storage, and sanitation.
- Oversaw inventory management systems, ensuring optimal stock levels and minimizing waste.
- Implemented quality control measures, improving product consistency and customer satisfaction.
- Provided strong leadership to enhance team productivity and morale.
- Directed budgeting processes, aligning financial resources with organizational goals for profitability.
General Manager
California Pizza Kitchen
04.2019 - 09.2021
- Increases sales from 1.72 million to 1.8 million in 8 months.
- Worked with the support center on bringing inventory tracking in line with current pricing.
- Lowered food cost and cost of goods by 2% YTD.
- Conducts weekly inventory of all products to ensure cost control, loss prevention, and proper ordering procedures are being followed.
- Oversee all scheduling and training labor costs. Lowered labor from 23.3% to 20% including supervisors and manager hours.
- Restructured SOPs to ensure all food safety and handling procedures were met daily.
- Raised NSF scores from 82 to 94 on average quarterly.
- Designed a new hospitality structure within the company.
- Daily duties include running shifts, directing and redirecting crew, ongoing team training, managing up, daily accounting, collection and processing of invoices, interviewing and hiring new applicants, coordinating maintenance and housekeeping, ensuring all guests receive guest first service.
- Implemented cost-control measures, optimizing supply chain efficiency and reducing operational expenses.
- Directed daily operations, ensuring compliance with health and safety regulations across multiple locations.
General Manager
Pier Burger / Kings Seafood Company
Santa Monica
03.2015 - 04.2019
- Led the daily operation of a 3.6 million. Increased flow through from 63.2% to 74.4%
- Increase Yelp scores from 3.7 to 4.8 stars
- Developed a new training program for the crew to build brand awareness and pride in the job.
- Improved employee engagement to enhance guest experience.
- Trained the Assistant Managers and Supervisors to create smart, logical, labor-conscious schedules.
- Created an “Always Hiring” policy for the management team.
- Ran all operations and production needs for a 24/7 restaurant maintenance.
- Created a new scheduling template, resulting in increased efficiency and profitability.
- Created a spreadsheet for monitoring and alerting managers to expiring certifications and legal work documents to remain in compliance with state law.
- Implemented cost-control measures, optimizing supply chain efficiency and reducing operational expenses.
- Led team training programs, fostering development of staff skills and enhancing customer service quality.
Senior Manager
BJ’s Restaurants Inc.
Cerritos
01.2011 - 03.2015
- Worked one-on-one with the Kitchen Manager to lower food cost, updating pars, waste control, all kitchen training, and development on new menu rollouts.
- Lowered food cost by 1.6% Decreases waste to $580 from $1,100
- Reviewed sales and labor of multiple units to develop base expectations for restaurants
- Personally, responsible for scheduling staffing of a 25-serving crew and 8 bartenders.
- Re-established training status and trained newly hired managers through an 11-week program that covered all aspects of the business.
- Conducted weekly one-on-one meetings with each manager in training to evaluate their progress and the quality of training being received.
- Evaluated team member performance and administered disciplinary actions consistent with company policies.
- Reviewed sales and labor of multiple units to develop base expectations for restaurants.
- Developed and implemented community-based sales and marketing strategies.
- Directed participation in guest relations, quality of service, and developed procedures to minimize customer complaints to include personal oversight of guest communication via social networking sites.
Education
High School Diploma - Political Science
Banning High School
Skills
- Ability to build highly performing teams
- Proven track record in Talent Management: Recruitment and Development
- Strong Employee Relations experience
- Excellent Managerial Skills: communication, critical thinking, conflict resolution, and employee engagement
- Strong Restaurant Business Acumen: Applied Financial Analysis
- P & L Accountability
- Marketing Plan Execution
- Cost Control Strategies
- Coaching and mentoring
- New employee training
- Program optimization
- New hire on-boarding
Certification
- Nominated Employee of the Year at Claim Jumper 3 times
- Graduated BJ’s Management program with honors.
- “ServSafe” Certified Food & Alcohol
Timeline
Regional Culinary Training Manager
San Pedro Fish Market
08.2023 - 12.2025
Senior Manager
Kings Seafood Company
09.2021 - 08.2023
General Manager
California Pizza Kitchen
04.2019 - 09.2021
General Manager
Pier Burger / Kings Seafood Company
03.2015 - 04.2019
Senior Manager
BJ’s Restaurants Inc.
01.2011 - 03.2015
High School Diploma - Political Science
Banning High School
HIGHLIGHTS
- Restructured all SOP’s for both service and kitchen execution to ensure all food safety and food handling procedures were met daily.
- Personally, developed multiple manager and hourly employees who went on to support staffing needs across additional restaurant locations
- Drove strong unit turnaround and exceeded sales projections in a challenging market.
- Successfully led the hiring and training hiring of over 200 new employees, while maintaining labor cost targets.
- Proven record of building sales year after year through being the ambassador of the product and sharing that knowledge with the team.