Operator-built web studio · Silver Spring, MD

Restaurant websites built by someone who runs restaurants.

One person. Two builds at a time. Three site tiers and three smaller offers, all priced in writing. Five DMV cities served, with restaurants in Silver Spring, Bethesda, Takoma Park, DC, and Arlington. The same person who quotes is the one who designs, codes, and ships.

Three site tiers, posted in writing.

Pick the build that fits today. The full breakdown lives at /services/; the snapshot is below.

Four productized offers, on the way to a full build.

Smaller commitments for operators who aren’t ready for a full rebuild this quarter. Flat-fee. Posted spec. No sales call required.

Five DMV cities I work in.

Discovery happens at your bar after lunch service or before opening — whichever fits your day. Each city page lists the corridors I know best, what I most often fix on local sites, and the local context I quote against.

Outside the DMV? The studio works remote-first by default. The same posted pricing applies; discovery moves to a 20-min call instead of an in-person meeting.

DIY template vs. vendor vs. agency vs. Muntin.

Each option works for someone. The honest version of which one fits depends on budget, calendar, and what you want to do for yourself.

Open the side-by-side comparison

Four steps. No middle layer.

The same process for every full-build project. Smaller offers run their own SOP — see each offer page.

  1. 01 · Conversation

    A 20-minute Zoom or in-person. I ask about your business, you ask anything. Quote arrives in writing within two business days.

  2. 02 · Brand & design

    Logo, colors, typography — or we work with what you have. You see staged designs by week one.

  3. 03 · Build & launch

    Custom-coded on a modern stack. You see progress weekly. Launch happens together when it’s right.

  4. 04 · Care & growth

    Optional monthly Care Plan ($99 light, $225 full). New requests, hours hygiene, growth experiments — on demand or rolling.

Full process page on /services/ →

Built and run by Don Goldstein.

14 years on restaurant floors. Currently running front-of-house at a DMV restaurant — Tacombi Bethesda and the Irish Inn at Glen Echo. ServSafe certified, RAMW member. Maryland LLC. The studio has zero employees, zero subcontractors, and zero plans for either — the productized layer is what scales, not the build floor.

Read the full story →

FAQ.

The five questions every operator asks first. Longer answers and more questions live on /services/#faq.

Do you build for restaurants outside the DMV?

Yes. The cities pages exist because in-person discovery is the default for the DMV; remote-first works fine for everyone else. Same posted pricing, same calendar discipline.

What if I just want my menu page rebuilt, not the whole site?

That’s exactly what the $1,500 menu drop-in is for. Seven days, plugs into your existing site, no rebuild required.

Do you offer free discovery calls?

Yes — a 20-minute call through the Window or directly at /studio/call/. I’d rather have you read /services/ first so the call covers your specifics, not the boilerplate.

Who owns the website when you’re done?

You. Domain in your name. DNS in your registrar. Codebase in a Git repo you own. Stripe account is yours. The day you decide to leave, you take everything — no proprietary CMS, no platform tax. /never/ #1.

What’s your turnaround if my project is urgent?

Two builds run at any given time, no exceptions. If the calendar can’t carry your project, you hear so on day one — with a date you’d be next, or a referral to a peer studio that can. /never/ #5.

One next step.

Pick what fits. The Window goes to my real inbox. Reply within four business hours, Mon–Fri.

Email Don Book a 20-min call Or run a $499 audit