Testimonials
This page is a tribute to our cherished clients, whose innovation, determination, and dedication have significantly enhanced the local culinary and nightlife scene. We express our deepest gratitude for having been given the chance to contribute to their unique journeys.
“I can’t thank Jim McGinnis and his team at The Restaurant Broker enough for helping me sell my bar. From start to finish, they handled everything with care, expertise and with constant, pertinent communication. Even when there were hiccups with the deal, they took care of everything to get it completed. Nothing ever phased them and if it did, they never blinked. Cool, calm & collected was the mantra for The Restaurant Broker Company. Through the process, they found a good and qualified buyer who valued what I had built. In the end, a win-win between buyer and seller was achieved. I would recommend them to ANYBODY looking to sell. lease or buy a restaurant. Why settle for anything but the best?”
Greg Barba
Unique Food and Beverage
Pete Repole
Three Brothers Restaurants
“I am writing to express my sincere appreciation for the exceptional service The Restaurant Broker provided as our commercial realtor in the recent sale of our building in College Park.
From our initial consultation to the final closing, your professionalism, expertise, and dedication were truly remarkable. We particularly valued your deep understanding of the restaurant market and prompt communication as essential to finding the right buyer.
Your guidance made what could have been an incredibly stressful process feel manageable and even straightforward. We are incredibly grateful for your commitment to achieving the best possible outcome for us. With you working through many offers and bringing us the highest value, it made us feel that we chose the right Broker.
Thank you again, Jim, for you and your teams outstanding service. I am completely comfortable recommending you to anyone in need of a top-tier commercial realtor, especially within the restaurant industry. Nothing like working with the best in the industry!“
Vernon Cunningham
owner of the original ”Paragon” Restaurant
“I engaged Restaurant Brokers to lease out a restaurant at one of our premier properties. We wanted to find the right Tenant that would be a long-term partner. We met with several Brokers, but Jim and his company specialized in restaurants, and we were impressed with his professionalism and knowledge. He hit the ground running and within a very short time, brought us a very qualified Tenant with whom we are incredibly happy. They did such a great job that we gave them another restaurant space that we needed a quality operator and again, within a short time, had several very qualified prospects. We had great experiences in all our interactions with Jim and his team. Their knowledge of the restaurant industry is excellent. I have called Jim several times for other questions on projects, he has always returned my calls quickly and helped us out. I highly recommend Restaurant Brokers.“
Hamilton Chaney
owner of Herrington Harbor
“I was able to sell our family restaurant, The Original Ledo Restaurant, but would not have been able to do it without the help of Jim McGinnis and The Restaurant Broker Company. We were in business for over 60 years and Jim was familiar with our place because he was also a customer.
He is so knowledgeable in anything restaurant related and food industry! Jim’s expertise in business evaluation, accounting, inventory, and sale is beyond my expectations. He personally walked me through every step of the preparations for the sale. He advised me on increasing revenues our last year, which was effortless and successful! He knew that I wanted to retire, and he helped me out that door. He was always so prompt with responding to any of my questions and concerns. He was always in control of the whole situation and dealt with any issue that came up during the process. expertly and helpfully guided us through all of the steps in this extremely complicated process, and we always felt that we completely understood what was going on at each phase. He was very tactful & professional with attorneys and landlords. I highly recommend The Restaurant Broker Company more than any other Broker in the industry. “
Tommy Marcos
owner of The Original Ledo Restaurant
“I am a seasoned restaurant owner and extremely pleased that Restaurant Broker was my Broker for the restaurant business I bought. You treated me with respect and helped me to complete the acquisition. I would highly recommend your services to anyone looking to buy or sell a Restaurant. Your timely communications helped keep the deal on track and prevented details from falling through the cracks. Most importantly, your honesty and sense of fairness provided a positive framework when came to resolving tough issues between the Buyer and Seller. The Restaurant Broker is the best broker I have worked with by far. Even though they were representing the sellers with my acquisition, they were truly knowledgeable, communicative, informative, and wonderful to work with as a buyer. Let me say this, “that anyone looking to purchase a restaurant in the Mid Atlantic Area, Jim McGinnis and The Restaurant Brokers are the right professionals to aid you in your purchase of a restaurant”
Derek Fink
President, Anchor Hospitality LLC
“My husband and I are first time small business owners and ended up having an excellent experience with Jim McGinnis and The Restaurant Broker company. As we looked to see which businesses we were interested in, Jim was with us every step of the way by encouraging us to visit the business and giving us the proper background details/insider knowledge on its history, ownership, and so on.
He is a very motivated person, texting us regularly, if not daily, when we finally did find the place, we wanted to purchase. Jim was essential in our business purchase, looking out for our best interests as the interlocutor. He was the easiest person to reach, and always responded immediately. We truly had a wonderful experience with Jim! He is the most positive person we have ever met, and he is so very well connected in his line of work, so he knows all the key players. It was a very smooth process and anytime an issue would come up, he was willing to do his best to resolve it. We never felt alone, he was our best resource!
We would highly recommend Jim McGinnis & The Restaurant Broker to anyone who needs a business broker, you will not be disappointed!”
Anita Gulati
“I would like to thank Jim McGinnis and Restaurant Brokers for all of their help in working with my Landlord to work out our hiccups and getting us back on track to help for our continued success. Jim was able to offer solutions I never thought of and his ideas for tweaking some things to bring us up to date in the market were well received and implemented. The Restaurant business can be difficult but when you have someone that can offer help and solutions to everyday problems, can be a welcome relief. Calls at all times of the day were answered and problems were addressed and solved. I want to thank them for all of their help and would recommend them to everyone that is involved with a restaurant. Don’t use anyone else if you need help with your restaurant. I’m so glad I did.”
Jerry Cosker
Sir Walter Raleigh Restaurant
“I cannot express how much I appreciate Jim and his team at The Restaurant Broker. I tried to sell my restaurant for close to two years. Unfortunately, there were multiple factors that made the restaurant extremely difficult to sell.
I brought on Jim and his team, and they went right to work. They created professional looking marketing material. They worked with their vast network and brought in many potential buyers. The obstacles were immense, but Jim persisted. There were at least 10 times where I was ready to give up and just lock the door and return the keys and let the chips fall as they may.
However, Jim took this as a personal challenge and goal. Selling my restaurant was personal to Jim. He was always available to answer questions and talk me off of a ledge whenever needed. I never could have sold my restaurant without Restaurant Brokers. I am so glad I found them. I highly recommend The Restaurant Brokers for anyone trying to sell their restaurant.”
Josh Volosov
Owner, Sushi Sakura Kosher Restaurant
“I have had the pleasure of working with Jim McGinnis and Restaurant Brokers with the sale of two of our restaurants. Both were challenging from a sales standpoint and in a difficult economy, we needed a talented and seasoned professional to get the job done. Jim used every tool at his disposal to get the job done. Because of complications from our end, it took almost a year to get the two locations to settlement. During that time, Jim never wavered from doing the marketing that we needed. He and his team were constantly looking for the right fit. He prescreened potential buyers and didn’t bring us anyone who was just fishing. Because of his hard work up front, when we did talk to buyers, most of the hard work was already done.
I admired Jim for his professionalism and because he deals only with restaurants, we weren’t being inundated with real estate agents who weren’t savvy in the sale of a restaurant and bar.
I look forward to working with Jim again in the sale of our other restaurants. And I would highly recommend him in the buying or selling of your property.”
Steve Wecker
Cured/ 18th & 21st / The Iron Bridge Wine Company/ Mutiny Pirate Bar- 2019 State of Maryland Restaurateur of the Year
“If you are considering selling a restaurant, I would recommend Jim McGinnis and his company. Jim is very professional and efficient with getting potential buyers into view the location, screening buyers to make sure they are financial able and does all this discretely. Jim is very proactive from the beginning of signing a contract to sell to the end with a completed sale at settlement. His many years of selling restaurants helped us answer any question that came up during the process. I highly recommend Restaurant Broker’s services. Jim is an honorable person who gets you thru the process with ease and taking all the burden off of the Seller.”
Donna Duran
Broadneck Grill, Edgewater
“…From the beginning they treated us like family. They were always available to take our calls, worked very hard and brought us the perfect buyer. They understood everything about the sale and advised us with great knowledge of what was needed and required. To us, The Restaurant Broker were top notch!”
Kim Carlson & Tammy Prestipino
Former owners of Sisters Sandwiches
“…I personally practiced commercial real estate brokerage for a decade and know all of the. business brokers personally. That’s why it’s important for me to voice the following; In the mid-Atlantic region, we could see no equal to Restaurant Brokers Inc’s ability to surgically and discretely market our multi-unit portfolio of stores to qualified buyers while maintaining our operations running smoothly. Ultimately, even in the rocky landscape of 2021, Jim, using cutting edge virtual videos and a deep rolodex from 40+ years in the industry, got us multiple written offers from prospects that ranged from qualified locals to an offer in writing from a 500+ unit national chain!”
Mike Gioioso
Former owner of the PlantBar Juice chain
“…The Restaurant Broker has the most positive attitude and always kept me updated throughout the selling process. They were aggressive from the start in finding a buyer and guiding me on getting my restaurant ready for sale. I had many questions and they patiently answered every one of them. They were a pleasure to work with.”
Mala Belli
Chef’s Secret Restaurant
“We had the good fortune of working with Jim and his team in the sale of our Montgomery County, 10,000 sf restaurant property. Jim’s long-standing knowledge of the restaurant industry and retail space proved to be a dual asset in attracting a strong price in a tumultuous market. I highly recommend The Restaurant Brokers to any restaurateur looking to sell, buy, or lease their next project.”
Will Murray
Owner of The Greene Turtle
“… Dealing with Landlords can be very frustrating but they were so professional that everything went very smooth… Jim has a great sense of what your concept is and where to look for the right location. He never gives up or stops working and was available for all of my many calls. To me, I wouldn’t use anyone else but The Restaurant Brokers.”
Tom Stack
Owner of the Irish Channel
“Jim McGinnis and Restaurant Brokers helped sell my restaurant/brewery in Ellicott City with property. They worked very hard with their network of contacts to attract the right buyer, assisted with sales agreements, and ultimately helped to bring the transaction to a successful closing. There were many hurdles that were out of our control but they never wavered during the entire process. I would positively recommend their services.”
Rick C. Winter
Former Owner of Ellicott Mills Brewery
“Jim & The Restaurant Broker team knocked the ball out of the park for us in College Park. Their knowledge of the restaurant industry, combined with their local network provided us with the best possible solution for our property, not for one spot but two of our restaurant spaces we needed leased. Jim has a no nonsense approach and calls them like he sees them. He knows when to put on his advisory cap and when to step on the gas. He is not only a relentless advocate for his client, he will also seek every possible angle to ensure a win-win for all stakeholders. Importantly, Jim’s integrity is above reproach and I look forward to the opportunity to work with him again in the future.”
James LoBosco
Executive Vice President, Southern Management Companies
“I have worked with Jim & his company for many years now because when I engage him to work for me, the job always gets done. There aren’t many Commercial Brokers in the Restaurant industry that understand the complexities of the business. Jim and his company do! If there is ever a problem, they work hard to understand the problem and get it fixed They have worked for me on several of my projects and I was always impressed with their professionalism and knowledge. When people ask me who to use to help them sell or lease a restaurant, they are the only ones I recommend. If you want to have a job done well, these are the guys to call. You won’t be disappointed.”
Tony Toscov
Cancun Cantina, Twains Tavern, Barefoot Bernie’s
We wanted to write about our experience with Jim McGinnis and his team at The Restaurant Broker.
We were first introduced to Jim when we were looking for our first restaurant to purchase in 2012. After a long search we found what we thought would be a great opportunity and reached out for more information. As it turned out Jim was the Broker for the sellers. He was so professional and personable, and it was obvious from the start that he had a lot of experience in this arena. During the purchase process Jim made himself available to us for any questions or concerns we had as he passed information back and forth between us and the sellers.
The negotiation was a success and in August of 2012 the sale was complete!
Throughout the years we stayed in touch with Jim, bouncing ideas and questions off him and Jim would occasionally check in with us to see how things were going and to ask about opportunities he had heard about in our area.
In February of 2022 we decided that it was time for us to sell the restaurant and explore other business opportunities, so it was a no brainer for us to reach out to Jim and his team. We knew we would be in good hands. We met with Jim and his team as they put together our sales packet. The great thing was that Jim didn’t try to force his ideals or opinions on us but rather listened to our thoughts and what we hoped to achieve by selling our restaurant and together we laid out a plan to move forward. We wanted to note this because if you are in a position of selling your restaurant you already know how much blood sweat and tears have gone into the place so you want someone who will appreciate all those efforts and listen to what you hope to achieve in the sale, not force you in a direction in which you aren’t comfortable.
Jim worked hard for us, keeping us updated at every turn and within a few months we had an offer. We’re happy to say that the sales process was very smooth and in September of 2022 we had sold our restaurant!
If you are looking to purchase a restaurant, or if you own and are thinking of selling, we would definitely recommend reaching out to Jim and his team at The Restaurant Broker. You’ll be in great hands from start to finish!
Jeff & Joanna B.
JoJo’s Taphouse, Frederick, MD