About – Rooted Hospitality Group

Who We Are

Rooted Vision

Dedicated to creating a brighter world by enriching people’s lives through genuine hospitality, exceptional products and servant leadership.

Our Story So Far...

Rooted Hospitality Group (RHG, or Rooted) is an award-winning, Long Island-based restaurant hospitality company that has been exceeding customers’ expectations since 2009. Founded by David and Rachel Hersh, the company began with a dream to create a gathering place that paired sun, soft sand, and refreshing breezes with good drinks, chef-driven food, and great company. It has grown into just that, a restaurant group, creating some of the most beloved restaurants and bars, which all offer the company’s signature warmth and hospitality.

In 2010, RHG opened its first location, RUMBA in Hampton Bays, NY. Two years later, RHG acquired one of the most beautiful yet underperforming properties in the same area, injected its vision, and brought the property back to life. Cowfish Restaurant opened in 2012, also in Hampton Bays, NY. Beginning in 2014, RHG acquired a property in Patchogue, NY, on the revitalized downtown Main Street, where they renovated and reconstructed a one-story restaurant into a tri-level space that includes the only rooftop dining terrace in the area. RHUM, sister restaurant to RUMBA, opened its doors in 2016. RHG expanded into Westhampton Beach with flora in 2020, once again turning around an underperforming property and complimented it with Fauna which opened in May of 2022.

The quick service arm of Rooted Hospitality Group began in 2018 with AVO TACO which has locations in New Hyde Park and Bayside, NY as well as New Orleans, LA.

Our Restaurants

RHG operates under the highest attention to service and a dedication to delivering a superior customer experience – something they call “Hospitality DNA.” As industry leaders, RHG also specializes in consulting services in restaurant and hospitality providing customized solutions to each.

Rooted Hospitality Group Core Values

We believe that a commitment to uncompromising values and integrity should always guide our decisions and actions as we pursue our goals. Our restaurants can only prosper and provide opportunities for employment and growth when we continually work to improve ourselves and the work we do together. Sales, guest counts, and numbers alone do not—and cannot—measure success. We must also look at the way in which these goals are achieved.

Here are the core values that form our foundation for success:

Lead with integrity and ethics

Do the right thing even when no one is looking. Always be honest, reliable, and sincere while practicing win-win partnerships.

Put the guest first, then the team, then the business.

Make sure that the decisions you make daily are always in the best interest of our guests. Strive to always make things right for our guests to ensure their return. Our team is an extension of our family. How we treat one another is how we’ll treat our guests.

Have fun.

Never take the pressures of yourself so seriously that you forget to have fun. Create an environment that people want to be part of. Always have a positive attitude. Value humor but stay appropriate. Celebrate the wins!

Continued growth.

To be successful, operate the business by sharing best practices, achieving benchmarks, and aggressively “raising the bar” in every aspect. When the business grows, it gives all of us a chance to grow as well. Live with a student’s mind, always seeking more knowledge and applying new skills.

Care about our community and environment.

Be a positive member of the community and practice sustainability. Be thrifty and aim for zero waste. Continuously look for ways to reduce our carbon footprint and make the world a better place.

Deliver uncompromising quality in our service, our product, and our people.

Set and demand high standards of excellence. Anything we do, we must do well because our guests and team deserve nothing less than the best experience. Strong leadership creates quality teams. Display hospitality through everything we do. We don’t meet expectations, we exceed them!

Provide clear direction and focus.

Communicate precisely and efficiently. Teams should know exactly where they are headed and how to get there. When we demonstrate leadership in our every activity, we will always provide a clear path to achieving team goals.

Seek first to understand.

Gather all necessary information before drawing a conclusion. Practice empathetic listening and be able to communicate another’s point of view.

Promote team member growth and happiness.

Our success is dependent upon the collective energy, ideas, and contributions of all team members. Encourage innovation by providing the freedom to make mistakes. Grow individuals and foster their self-esteem. Bring out the best in our people.

Take ownership.

Cultivate a proactive mindset by not only identifying opportunities but also, providing innovative solutions. Provide valuable insights on how to enhance the operations, boost sales, foster growth, improve team dynamics, and better serve our employees and guests.

Our Executive Team

Our Community

At RHG, we believe that by extending our hospitality to our communities, we strengthen our own culture by working together to improve lives, inside and outside the walls of our restaurants. We support local, national, and international initiatives, including Dress for Success, Quogue Wildlife Refuge, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, as well as civic organizations and efforts to maintain the beauty of our waterways and environment.

Find out more about what Rooted Hospitality Group is doing to give back to the communities we serve and we welcome your donation requests on our community page.