That's one way of doing it, sure, but some restaraunts are themselves the product. My parents, for instance, would be completely lost trying to eat in a startup

That's one way of doing it, sure, but some restaraunts are themselves the product. My parents, for instance, would be completely lost trying to eat in a startup type restaraunt like you describe. They want familiar menu items served in a nicely apportioned, comfortable restaraunt. The operators of those kind of places are usually more business people than artists. Getting a restaraunt like that up and running on time and within budget is it's own challenge, requiring a different set of skills.