Michael Martir, CEO and Managing Partner of Coastal Hospitality, Cape Cod’s newest hospitality group, is making waves in the local restaurant industry.

Coastal Hospitality manages five restaurants on Cape including: Chatham Cut, Pates, The Doghouse, One Stop Market and Chapin’s Bayside. It was Michael’s firm beliefs in investing in his employees that inspired him to embark on this business venture. 

In 2019 Martir purchased the Doghouse and transformed the Cape Cod classic into a well-oiled machine. He used his 30 years of experience in the fine dining industry, to rework the systems in place and make the business run as efficiently as possible. Now he has paired up with like-minded business owners, Tom Johnson, Dan McLaughlin, and Jim Peterson, to do the same with the three other local restaurants the group oversees. For Martir, the most important reason for the merger was to be able to prioritize employee benefits on a larger scale. So important to him in fact, that he wouldn’t work with anyone who wasn’t onboard with this vision. He says, “The only way this is going to work is if our number one focus is the employee experience, which would include benefits, retirement offerings, wellness packages and a focus on fostering a positive work environment which improves employee culture across all properties. Once they agreed to that, and gave me full autonomy, then we got deep into the merger negotiation piece.” Martir believes that an employee who is happy and feels appreciated is the cornerstone of a successful restaurant. 

In total, Coastal Hospitality employs over 200 people, and Martir hopes that by treating each of them with respect and dignity, it will trickle down to benefit the local community as well. Paying employees a living wage is what Martir feels inspires them to do their best work and represent the business in a positive way, translating to an overall positive dining experience for the customers. 

The goals Martir had in mind when approaching his company, which he wants to be the best workplace in the state of Massachusetts, are seemingly simple but impactful: inspire people to get involved in the hospitality industry, and support employee culture. To achieve these, he made explicit changes in his restaurants reflecting, “We made adjustments to focus on optimizing operations, and integrating best practices, and just really focusing on ensuring there’s a cohesive team culture.” He continues, “I couldn’t do this alone. I have a great leadership team that helps to achieve these goals.”

A team that works together towards a common goal is what he requires of his staff, esnuring the highest quality service to accompany the amazing food. He shares, “It used to be the front of the house versus the back of the house. They were divided into two separate camps. We are adamant about making sure that there’s a unified cohesive team moving forward.” These initiatives directly benefit the customers. Martir states, “We want the person who is executing that food preparation and delivery in the back to be proud of what they’re putting out, and that all cycles back to employee culture. And on the other side, we want the front of the house staff to be excited about the products as well and have complete understanding and knowledge to talk about these items.” 

He aims for his employees to go above and beyond in their efforts to achieve quality customer service and exceed the expectations of patrons. He has tried to make sure the staff is educated in all aspects of the dining experiences, so they are able to help the customer with whatever they may need. Wine and liquor representatives are available to train the staff, supplying and supporting them information on how to inform customers beverage choices. It’s the accumulation of several things that make the total sum of the dining experience comfortable and impressive. Martir values a clear line of communication among the staff, so that they feel their voices are heard and appreciated. He explains, “If you tell all the employees how great you are and what you got to do, but you never actually take the time to listen to them, it becomes a one-way street and managing becomes challenging. I think implementing that kind of culture and those kinds of systems to have some consistency has probably been the most challenging, but thankfully we have been successful.”

One recent benefit of this merger is that all the restaurants involved were able to lower their menu prices. Martir explains that his fine dining background comes into play as a benefit, “Because I have experience in both retail and consulting, I understood different facets in how to get better pricing which we then pass on to the customer.” 

As for the menus, Michael plans on keeping the classics the same, adding, “We want to be current, and we want to be on trend, but we also want to keep the staples.” He is always looking to improve the way the systems of his businesses function but as far as the purpose they serve and the vibe they offer, he is not planning any major renovations. He feels that each restaurant under the Coastal Hospitality umbrella serves a unique function; “You can get breakfast, you can have a casual lunch with young children, you can take your significant other out for a special dinner, friends can go to The Chatham Cut, or you can come off the beach with your family, listen to some live music and have casual beach fare. It makes sense—it’s symbiotic as opposed to having six fine dining restaurants.” 

Looking ahead however, there are new projects in the works for Coastal Hospitality. Martir is planning the opening of a new establishment in Chatham later this summer and hopes it will bring something different to the area’s landscape. “It’s something that’s been missing from this Chatham area. It’s definitely more casual than our other offerings, but it’s really going to be a fun, vibrant, dynamic place.” With Martir’s positive energy and outlook, it’s sure to be another success. 

Mia Phillips is an intern at Cape Cod Life Publications and a rising junior at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.