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Ryn Longmaid

RYN LONGMAID, RESTAURANT BROKER AND CONSULTANT

Ryn Longmaid is a Certified Business Broker who specializes in restaurant sales and consulting. In addition to being a proficient business broker, Ryn has over 20 years experience in the restaurant, hospitality and food industries. She has served as an executive chef, restaurateur, and Culinary Institute of America instructor.

It takes a lot to transfer a restaurant from one owner to the next. However, it isn’t rocket science. If you’re looking to buy or sell a restaurant, you could certainly achieve that goal without a broker. But keep in mind that one small misstep with the health department, the landlord or the ABC could set the entire transfer back months or kill the deal entirely. A qualified restaurant broker is very similar to a project manager who helps both buyer and seller navigate the various licensing and permitting agencies required for a successful ownership transfer. At the same time, restaurant brokers ensure that everything is on track with the escrow company and between the two parties.

Transactions Ryn has represented include:
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  • Full-service restaurants – family style to Michelin-rated fine dining
  • Bars, pubs, & taverns
  • Coffee shops, bakeries (conventional and gluten-free), cafes and delis
  • Restaurants specializing in vegetarian and vegan Cuisine
  • Ice Cream, yogurt & smoothie shops
  • Pizza restaurants – take out & dine-in
  • Mexican, Asian & other ethnic restaurants
  • Wine bars and tasting rooms
  • Fast food & quick-service restaurant & franchises
  • franchises
  • Clubs with music, dancing, & entertainment
  • Catering businesses
  • Coffee roasters & wholesale foods
  • Landowner representation for leases and the sale of real property
  • Business owner representation for leases and the purchase of real property

Ryn is genuinely committed to offering the most knowledgeable services to her clients. When she became a restaurant broker, she joined the California Association of Business Brokers (CABB). As soon as she qualified, she sat for the exam and became a Certified Business Broker (CBB). Soon after receiving that certification, she joined the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA). Once she qualified, she sat for their grueling exam and became a Certified Business Intermediary (CBI). In 2019, she secured a Broker’s license with the Department of Real Estate, which completes the highest level of licensing and certification a business broker can achieve.

Summary of Qualifications:

  • MBA, Presidio Graduate School
  • BA, California Polytechnic Institute (Cal Poly), San Luis Obispo, CA (English and Architecture)
  • Broker, California Department of Real Estate
  • Former Faculty, Culinary Institute of America-Greystone & San Francisco Arts Institute
  • Certified Business Intermediary (CBI)
  • Member, International Business Broker’s Association (IBBA)
  • Certified Business Broker (CBB)
  • Member, California Association of Business Brokers (CABB)
  • Industry Expert – Business Reference Guide
  • Realtor®, National Association of Realtors®, Commercial
  • Member, AIR CRE
  • Founding Chef/Owner, Pasta Bella Sebastopol, CA

About Ryn

Ryn Longmaid has had a long and varied career in the restaurant, hospitality and food industries. Her path to restaurant brokerage began in her late 20’s when she was assigned to wash dishes and chop gallon after gallon of onions in the kitchen of Tassajara Zen Mountain Center; an assignment which launched her on the path to becoming a chef, restaurant owner/operator, and ultimately a restaurant broker.

After leaving Tassajara, she worked at the acclaimed restaurant, Greens in San Francisco. While working at Greens, Ryn secured several interesting internships to support honing her skills as a vegetarian chef, one of these internships was at Millennium Restaurant.

Kitchen at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center

About Ryn

Ryn Longmaid has had a long and varied career in the restaurant, hospitality and food industries. Her path to restaurant brokerage began in her late 20’s when she was assigned to wash dishes and chop gallon after gallon of onions in the kitchen of Tassajara Zen Mountain Center; an assignment which launched her on the path to becoming a chef, restaurant owner/operator, and ultimately a restaurant broker.

Kitchen at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center

After leaving Tassajara, she worked at the acclaimed restaurant, Greens in San Francisco. While working Greens, Ryn secured several interesting internships to support honing her skills as a vegetarian chef, one of these internships was at Millennium Restaurant.

Pasta Bella, 2000

After several years working in the city, she was recruited to join the staff to actor, Don Johnson, as his personal chef where she travelled around the country preparing meals for him, his family, friends and colleagues.

During this time, she was contacted by Amy’s Kitchen, the pioneering vegetarian food manufacturer, to serve as their Executive Chef.

This post brought Ryn to Sonoma County where she founded a family-focused, full-service restaurant, Pasta Bella, which enjoyed 15 years of continuous success under the brand she created.

Soon after selling the restaurant, Ryn secured an MBA in Sustainable Business Management at Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco. While in grad school she worked as a TA for several of her professors and soon after graduating, she became a college instructor holding posts in culinary management, business planning an accounting at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone and the Art Institute-San Francisco.

In the fall of 2014, Ryn joined Santa Rosa Business & Commercial as a restaurant broker and consultant. During that time, she has assisted hundreds of clients and represented many successful restaurant transfers as both the buyer and seller’s agent. Ryn is a licensed real estate Broker with the California DRE, a Certified Business intermediary (CBI), a Certified Business Broker (CBB) and a Commercial a Realtor ®.  She is an accomplished, experienced restaurant broker offering a wide variety of services to her clients including:

  • Restaurant valuation
  • Restaurant sales packaging and marketing
  • Buyer procurement
  • Management of the sales process including Health Dept Permitting and ABC licensing
  • Liquor license sales, acquisitions and transfer management
  • Business plan creation for landlord approval and SBA loan financing
  • Restaurant related commercial real estate services including
    • Sale and Acquisition of Real Property
    • Lease development and negotiation
background

TESTIMONIALS

  • Ryn Longmaid helped us sell Sandy’s Pizza in Santa Rosa. We went to her last spring when we decided it was time to sell our beloved business, and from the very first meeting with her we knew she was the right one to assist us. Ryn is extremely knowledgeable, professional and she knows the business like no other. Her expertise in the industry helped us to price the business right, find our buyer, work with the health department, and negotiate with our landlord. We felt confident having her as our realtor and knew we were well taken care of each step of the way. She is reliable and has a great personality. We are lucky to have found her and it was our pleasure to work with her. Thank you, Ryn!!!
    Linda and John Ahmadi Sandy’s Pizza
  • Ryn helped me buy Honeymoon Frozen Yogurt in Sebastopol, CA. Although I have a lot of industry experience, I'm a first time owner and Ryn helped me every step of the way. She managed important appointments with the health department as well as worked with me and the landlord to get a new lease. Ryn is diligent, knowledgeable and passionate about great service. I couldn't recommend her more.
    Devin and Robin Russell, New owner of Honeymoon Frozen Yogurt, Sebastopol, CA
  • We've worked with Ryn on multiple occasions, and have been supremely impressed by her expertise and professionalism. Most recently, we worked with her on the sale of Honeymoon Frozen Yogurt in Sebastopol. Throughout the entire process, she was diligent, creative, and insightful.  Her follow through and guidance were invaluable to us, business owners navigating unfamiliar terrain.  Her network of contacts and associates, combined with the exposure that her online network gave us, were critical to a successful sale.  We couldn't recommend her more to any potential business buyers or sellers.
    Tim Mead and Maureen Fitzgerald, Former owners of Honeymoon Frozen Yogurt, Sebastopol, CA
  • We first met Ryn when she worked with Tom Barnett at Santa Rosa Realty and we got to know her a bit better when she would have us guest speak in her classes at the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena. After Tom passed, Ryn stepped in to work with us and her assistance has been indispensable. She has helped us negotiate and secure several restaurant leases as well as purchase and transfer several ABC liquor licenses. We find Ryn to be extremely trustworthy, knowledgeable and diligent. We recommend Ryn for anyone looking for help with restaurant real estate and liquor license sales.
    Mark and Terri Stark, Owners, Stark Reality Restaurants
  • I can’t say enough great things about Ryn Longmaid to make sure that she becomes your broker. Ryn is AMAZING, and she’s the right broker for you. When the deal I’d reached to purchase a restaurant in the Castro district of San Francisco fell through because the seller backed out, I turned my attention to possibly purchasing a restaurant in the wine country region of CA, north of San Francisco. As I was replying to postings of restaurants for sale there, I noticed that each property I was interested in was represented by the same broker, Ryn Longmaid...
    Matt Leum, Buyers / Owner Roma’s, San Francisco
  • Living out of state, I didn't know what to expect when I listed with Ryn to sell my Yogurt Shop in Sonoma County, but she made the sale process as easy as I could have hoped. She packaged and managed all the advertising, found a passionate and qualified buyer, oversaw the lease assignment and all health department requirements and was always available to answer my calls and emails throughout the entire process. I highly recommend Ryn to anyone looking to sell their business.
    Phil Boatwright, Seller Tutti Frutti Yogurt, Santa Rosa CA
  • Ryn is the perfect combo of savvy, smart, kind, supportive, with a mad mix of creative and hard- working. We would not have bought our restaurant without her support. And, she's still supporting us! For first time restauranteurs her experience as a chef, owner, and now sales and consulting makes her worth her weight in gold. Don't use anyone else. I promise it will be the best part of going through the rigmarole of escrow.
    Lisa Marie Le Donne and Charles White III, Buyers / Owners Cozy Plum Bistro, Santa Rosa
  • I worked with Ryn when we purchased the business that we would turn into Stockhome. This was the best experience I have ever had working with someone in and on the perimeter of the Restaurant Industry. Ryn is so incredibly knowledgeable with respect to real estate, licensing, and understanding initial startup needs for a restaurant. She also has a vast index of vetted industry professionals; if she can't help you, she knows who can. And when she recommends someone, one does not have to worry--this is someone to be trusted. She understands business relationships, works with integrity and is honest in her approach. I cannot say enough good things about our experience with her. If I ever have a new project in the area she will be the first call I make.
    Andrea and Roberth Sundell, Buyers and Owners, Stockhome Restaurant, Petaluma and Plaj Restaurant, San Francisco
  • Ryn is a valuable asset to anyone in or looking to be in the restaurant business. Her background and talents lend support to all aspects of purchasing, evaluating, business plan development, financial analysis and liquor licenses. She is on top of the trends, the local scene and is honestly a god send in her field.
    Shawn E. Hall, owner, Gypsy Café, Sebastopol and Shawn E. Hall Designs
  • We are so pleased with the job Ryn did selling our business. It took a tremendous amount of trust for us to hand over our beloved business, which we had nurtured and grew for over 17 years, to Ryn and she didn’t let us down! We counted on her experience and she laid out a plan and stuck to it. We were especially impressed by the professional and comprehensive way in which she sought to understand the business operations and then presented them to buyers. In the end, it was her expertise that brought all of the parts together for a successful transaction."
    Catherine and Dion B., Sellers, Flour Chylde Bakery, Novato

CERTIFICATIONS & AFFILIATIONS

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Certified Business Broker

The CABB Certified Business Broker (CBB) certification is a privileged designation that identifies an experienced and dedicated Business Broker. The title distinguishes its holder as a seasoned, professional who has a solid educational background, proven accomplishments in completing deals, and an active membership in the CABB.

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Certified Business Intermediary

A Certified Business Intermediary (CBI) is an experienced business broker who is committed to the highest level of professional development the industry has to offer and has ethical values aligned with the IBBA standards of professionalism. A CBI has the ability to objectively guide clients through the intricacies of the entire marketing and negotiation process of a business sale, resulting in successful transactions and satisfied clients.

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Idustry Expert

Our Industry Expert program allows you to share your expertise in such a way that benefits brokers across the nation and around the world, while also offering you valuable benefits that increase your visibility to potential clients and referral sources.

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Commercial Real Estate Association

AIR CRE is an innovative, member-owned platform that provides commercial real estate professionals in Southern California with the critical tools they need to be successful. We have curated the best resources that the industry has to offer, and packaged them together as a single integrated network. Our Members have unparalleled access to a system of market research, listings services, contracts and legal resources, networking, and education.

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Santa Rosa Business & Commercial

Santa Rosa Business & Commercial is a team of real estate brokers and agents, who specialize in business sales and acquisitions, commercial leasing and sales in Sonoma County and the entire North Bay Area. There is no other firm that has the equivalent depth and length of experience as each agent and broker is well-networked and established in the area of business opportunities. As a full service brokerage firm we also offer residential sales to our valued clients. Please stop by our office, call or email us. All inquiries will always be held with the highest respect, trust and confidentiality.

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Commercial Real Estate

Commercial Real Estate is everywhere: your local coffee shop, industrial park, downtown main street, and even the office where you work. NAR has a broad array of resources to help you provide the best service to your clients, and to be the best in your field. From education to advocacy efforts, from networking to property data – NAR works to help you be more profitable, while protecting the commercial real estate industry.

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International Business Brokers Association

The IBBA is the world’s largest professional community of business intermediary specialists. When it comes time to sell or buy a business, choose to work with an experienced IBBA Member who will guide you through every step of the process. Look for the Certified Business Intermediary (CBI) designation to identify individuals who have met our highest standards for education, ethics and professionalism.

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California Association of Business Brokers

The California Association of Business Brokers is a professional trade association whose members are actively involved in assisting their clients in selling, buying, and evaluating businesses.

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