What Blau & Associates does

Blau & Associates is a Las Vegas-based strategic hospitality and restaurant development firm founded in 2002 by Elizabeth Blau. The company operates a dual business model: a professional services consulting practice serving enterprise hospitality clients, and an owned-restaurant portfolio that the firm actively operates.

The consulting practice offers five service lines — Strategy Assessment, Concept Development, Project Management, Tenant Search & Selection, and Long Term Operations — delivered to luxury hotel, resort, casino, cruise line, private club, and restaurant chain clients. Marquee engagements span Wynn Resorts (Las Vegas, Boston, Macau, Ras Al Khaimah), MGM/Mirage properties (Le Cirque at Bellagio, The Mirage, Treasure Island), Ritz-Carlton, One&Only, Montage, Park Hyatt, The Plaza, Virgin Hotels, Pendry, Mohegan Sun, Turning Stone, Parq Vancouver, Celebrity Cruises, MSC Cruises, and Discovery Land Company clubs, among others. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, consistent with bespoke enterprise advisory engagements.

The owned-restaurant portfolio comprises five brands: Honey Salt (Las Vegas and Vancouver), Buddy V's at the Venetian (Las Vegas), Crown Block atop Reunion Tower (Dallas), and The Victor and D6 Bar & Lounge at Parq Vancouver. The firm's go-to-market is founder-led enterprise field sales, leveraging Elizabeth Blau's 30-year reputation and direct relationships with major hotel and casino operators; marketing is driven primarily by PR and earned media, industry events, and the founder's personal brand. The firm is privately held with no disclosed institutional investors or external funding rounds.

Name

Blau & Associates

Legal name

Blau & Associates

Website

https://elizabethblau.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Blau & Associates is a Las Vegas-based strategic hospitality and restaurant development firm founded by Elizabeth Blau, providing consulting services in concept development, strategy, project management, and operations to luxury hotels, casinos, and resorts, while also owning and operating five restaurant brands across Las Vegas, Dallas, and Vancouver.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hospitality Consulting

NAICS

Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services (5416), Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (722515)

SIC

Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Product & Brand PR (Consumer & B2B) (BPAFADAH)

Keywords

• Hospitality consulting
• Restaurant development
• F&B strategy
• Culinary consulting
• Concept development

Headquarters

HQ city

Las Vegas

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Strategic Consulting Services: Fees for strategy assessment including feasibility studies, competitive analysis, financial modeling, and project master plan development for restaurant and hospitality clients
2. Restaurant Concept Development: Fees for comprehensive restaurant concept development including assistance with architectural and kitchen design firms, placement of celebrity chef concepts, and culinary ideation and menu development
3. Project Management and Opening Support: On-site support, training, and management during restaurant openings; hands-on assistance throughout project lifecycle from planning to opening
4. Long-term Operations and Asset Management: Ongoing restaurant support, asset management, and day-to-day management services including financial, strategy, and operational support
5. Executive and Management Search: Identification and negotiation of strategic third-party management partners; executive and management searches for hospitality clients

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Blau & Associates is a strategic hospitality and restaurant development firm that provides consulting services spanning strategy assessment, concept development, project management, tenant search and selection, and long-term operations for luxury hotels, casinos, and restaurant chains worldwide. The firm also owns and operates multiple restaurant brands (Honey Salt, Buddy V's, Crown Block, The Victor, D6) across Las Vegas, Dallas, and Vancouver, providing operational experience that informs client engagements.

Product overview

Blau & Associates operates as a strategic hospitality and restaurant development firm offering five core consulting services: Strategy Assessment, Concept Development, Project Management, Tenant Search & Selection, and Long Term Operations. The company also owns and operates five restaurant brands: Honey Salt (Las Vegas and Vancouver), Buddy V's (Las Vegas), Crown Block (Dallas), The Victor (Vancouver), and D6 Bar & Lounge (Vancouver). The consulting services help clients build exceptional food and beverage concepts while the owned restaurants provide hands-on operational experience and learnings that inform client engagements.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Crown Block: Perched high above the Dallas skyline atop Reunion Tower, Crown Block offers a culinary experience that surpasses the typical steakhouse with a stylish, approachable environment celebrating grilled, seared, and roasted fare.
• Honey Salt
• The Victor
• D6
• Buddy V's

Products and services

• Strategy Assessment Consulting service encompassing restaurant concept feasibility, development and implementation, management performance review, project master plan development, competitive analysis, menu engineering and costing, and evaluation of under-performing restaurants. Targeted at enterprise hospitality clients.
• Concept Development Comprehensive development of original restaurant concepts including assistance in selecting architectural and kitchen design firms, placement of celebrity chef concepts, culinary ideation and menu development, and business strategy development. Targeted at hotel, casino, and restaurant chain operators.
• Project Management Coordination and realization of restaurant concepts from planning to opening, including on-site support, training, management during opening, hands-on assistance, collaboration, advisement, and marketing and PR strategies. Targeted at hospitality clients launching new restaurant outlets.
• Tenant Search & Selection Identification and negotiation of strategic third-party management partners, executive and management searches, and real estate site criteria advisement, location assessment and lease negotiation. Targeted at hotel and casino operators requiring management partnerships.
• Long Term Operations Ongoing restaurant support and asset management with full services including financial, strategy, and day-to-day management for hospitality clients operating restaurant assets over the long term.
• Honey Salt Restaurant brand devoted to family, friends and community, offering fresh and innovative food with locations in Las Vegas, NV and Vancouver, BC.
• Buddy V's Italian restaurant located at the Venetian in Las Vegas, NV, featuring casual dining amid upscale Italian decor with signature dishes including Italian Birthday Cake, Cannolis, and Flake Cream-Filled Lobster Tail Pastry.
• Crown Block

Named customers22 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Women's Hospitality Initiative (WHI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Co-founded by Elizabeth Blau in 2020 to advance women in hospitality leadership. Partnership with the Culinary Institute of America and UNLV to launch leadership courses that have since expanded to additional universities. Initiative focuses on mentoring and developing female leaders in the hospitality industry.
• Culinary Institute of AmericacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational partnership through the Women's Hospitality Initiative to develop and deliver leadership courses for women in hospitality
• UNLV (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational partnership through the Women's Hospitality Initiative to develop and deliver leadership courses, expanding to additional universities
• CSS Creative AgencyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreative agency partnership for marketing and brand communications support for hospitality clients
• Sixteenfifty Creative IntelligenceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreative intelligence partnership for strategic communications and brand development
• Steelite InternationalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with tableware manufacturer for restaurant equipment and tableware solutions for hospitality clients

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Restaurant Associates: Restaurant management and catering company providing F&B programming to museums, corporate campuses, and cultural institutions. Overlaps with Blau's owned-operations model and F&B consulting for venue operators.
• Sage Hospitality Group: Denver-based hospitality management and restaurant development company operating hotels and restaurants. Combines consulting/development with owned operations, similar to Blau & Associates' dual model.
• HVS Global Hospitality Services: Hospitality consulting firm providing valuations, feasibility studies, and operational advisory to hotels, restaurants, and casinos worldwide. Directly competes with Blau's Strategy Assessment service line for similar client mandates.
• Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises: Chicago-based restaurant company that develops, owns, and operates 60+ restaurant concepts nationally. Closest comparable to Blau & Associates in combining restaurant ownership with hospitality consulting/development expertise, though at significantly larger scale.
• PKF Hospitality (CBRE Hotels): Hospitality consulting arm of CBRE providing market research, feasibility studies, and valuation services for hotels and restaurants. Competes with Blau's Strategy Assessment offering for luxury hospitality client mandates.
• Union Square Hospitality Group: Danny Meyer's hospitality group operating restaurants and providing consulting/shake shack-style incubation services. Mirrors Blau's combination of restaurant operations with development consulting for major hotels and institutional clients.

Broad incumbents

• Hyatt Hotels Corporation: Major global hotel chain with internal restaurant development and culinary programming teams. Serves as both a potential client and a broad incumbent with internal capabilities competing for similar high-end F&B development mandates.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/blau-&-associates
• Instagraminstagram.com/elizabethblau

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Blau & Associates