Filling a Need While Filling Seats

The idea for an online portal designed to help customers book charity events or fundraisers at participating restaurants in their area was sparked after a Tampa, FL restaurateur came to the rescue of local people in need.

Ryan Gougeon, founder of Restaurant Raise told Modern Restaurant Management that a local college student and her boyfriend were in a car accident while visiting family in Cuba. The female half of the couple needed to get an air ambulance from Havana to Miami. Gougeon used his social media outreach to collect funds and offered to match donations with a gift card at his restaurant, James Joyce Irish Pub & Eatery.

“We had a great turn out, and the family even came on our Facebook page to thank us. In addition, we were already getting requests from large groups, some of them charity groups, and felt the need to have a party booking system to manage the increasing amount of bookings.”

Being many restaurants experience midweek slumps, he thought of a way to fill seats…