NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — In the nook between the office full of monitors and the bustling kitchen of Cappy’s Cafe, Tim Campbell crouched enough for the face-recognition reader to capture his features.
“I’m 6’4”, so it’s not easy,” the restaurant owner said. “It’s how we do payroll.”
The system, called Swipeclock, captures the features of employees and automatically logs their entrance and exit. It’s just one of many technological improvements Campbell has installed in the business.
Four years ago, when he was shopping, it had everything he wanted to buy: long-time staff who wanted to stay, a good reputation and a history of making a profit.
“I try to buy cash flow and not screw it up,” he said. “We’re at 20%. Net.”
The restaurant just celebrated its 40th anniversary on Saturday.
Campbell comes from a 30-year career in Orange County commercial real estate and found in restaurants a business challenge more than a passion for food. It began in Hawaii in 2015, where he helped run a family seafood distribution company that shuttled and sold 3 million pounds of product each year. That business included one restaurant, Uncle’s Fish Market and Grill. The business and critical success were so great they opened another restaurant in 2019.
There he learned about customers and the power of fresh ingredients over frozen ones. But ultimately, to listen to customer feedback.
As the restaurants soared upward, the family sold off the family business to one of the top fishing companies in the state, but they kept the restaurants and kept going.
Cappy’s came up for sale through a broker who understood what Campbell wanted. Four years later, the business is still cash flow positive, the executive chef is on year 25 cooking there, and the menu has adjusted to customer appetites.
All the seafood is fresh, eggs benedict was so popular they added three more kinds, and meat, like corned beef, is top quality.
Sometimes the business is simple, Campbell explained, pointing to a picture of the cinnamon swirl French toast on the front.
“This was a customer suggestion,” he said, a forefinger tapping the laminated menu. “Now it’s our no. 1 seller.”
Other items have fallen flat, like his idea to put a Philly cheesesteak on the menu.
“I loved it. The problem was that nobody else did,” he said, laughing.
Restaurants for Campbell have been an enduring balance of listening to customer wants and expectations versus anticipating them. A key to his strategy has been to double down on what makes his restaurant a valued piece of the community food experience but also as a meeting place that contains the flavors and images of the town.
He contracted a local artist to paint the Huntington Beach pier on the inside walls, a mural depicting local surfers outside and a collection of dog portraits showing the furry friends of employees and patrons.
Campbell wants to take everything that has worked for him at Cappy’s and plug it into more local diners. He’s looking for the same things: a long-time owner ready for retirement with entrenched staff. Like Plums Cafe in Costa Mesa, which he’s in the process of purchasing. Plums, like Cappy’s, has enjoyed steady profits but does not have the same technological improvements.
Campbell has a software that automatically calculates how much each dish costs to make and the cost of each ingredient. The office monitors show the restaurant so he or a manager can help a waiting customer or touch base with a door dasher.
His next mission is to bring the under-the-hood improvements made at Cappy’s work more smoothly to new opportunities.
“We’ve been around 40 years now, and we hope to be around 40 more and beyond,” he said.