Mark Gray

As CEO, Mark oversees all aspects of business operations. He joined Bottleneck in June 2019 after his role as CEO of Barfly Ventures.

Mark is an influential and impactful executive with expansive career achievement across multi-location hospitality operations, new business development, and successful negotiations. Mark establishes organizational strategy and vision for long-term business growth and sustainability; he develops robust strategies for optimizing processes, policies, procedures—and the bottom line. He demonstrates a comprehensive knowledge of cost control management, food and beverage trends, and competitive menu development. Mark also recruits, leads, and empowers top-performing management teams—and leverages both a pragmatic and unconventional approach to problem-solving to effectively navigate, manage, and execute complex operations.

Background

His 24-year career in the restaurant industry began in the kitchen after attending culinary school at The Art Institute of Atlanta.

Soon after, Mark stepped into management roles at Brinker International, working at both On the Border and Chilis for many years. There, he worked his way from Executive Kitchen Manager to General Manager and eventually to Managing Partner. Mark later joined Yard House where he held a variety of management roles over nine years including, General Manager, Regional Manager, and Director of Operations.

Mark has opened over 30 restaurants in his career and is leading Bottleneck’s ongoing expansion. In addition to overseeing new initiatives and the strategic goals of the organization, Mark continues to support the restaurant industry as a board member for Live.Eat.Surf. restaurant group.

Outside of Work

Outside of work, Mark enjoys spending time with his wife of over 20 years and their three beautiful children.