Riviera Dining Group puts two independents in U.S. top 10

By Elena Vasquez

Riviera Dining Group’s MILA and Casa Neos recorded a combined $86 million in 2025 sales, with MILA ranked No. 2 and Casa Neos No. 10 in Restaurant Business’ forthcoming Top 100 Independents report. The Miami-based group owns both independents; neither operates as a chain or franchise unit.

Last year, MILA ranked No. 1 among U.S. independents. Casa Neos’ arrival at No. 10 gives Riviera two restaurants in the top 10, an unusual position for a group that Gregory Galy founded in 2020. The concepts have become prominent examples in Miami’s hospitality market.

The result comes as Technomic’s Top 500 analysis found that chain restaurant sales slowed again in 2025 as consumers cut back on dining, while coffee, beverages and snacks, and chicken thrived. The independent rankings do not offer a like-for-like chain comparison, but they place two Riviera concepts at substantial scale.

MILA’s $53 million in sales crossed the $50 million threshold Galy discussed as a test for a restaurant’s operating model. At peak season, MILA employs about 400 people. That headcount makes intensive training and management central to the concept, rather than treating service as a small labor detail attached to a large sales base.

Galy credits two connected levers: a luxury experience personalized for each customer and rigorous team training. In the latest episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, he said, “Personalized experiences can unlock big sales.” That puts personalization at the center of the sales model, not just the guest-facing experience.

The published figures do not include average checks, margins, food and beverage costs, or labor percentages. Operators therefore cannot calculate per-cover sales or profit margins from the $53 million and $33 million totals, or determine whether the roughly 400-person peak-season team at MILA produced a favorable labor ratio.

The operating system behind MILA

Galy outlined four operating practices in the interview:

• Sensory details should create a cohesive, coherent experience, connecting the restaurant’s physical presentation with its service proposition.
• A soft launch should test and refine the concept before the full opening, giving the team evidence for changes before scaling.
• Galy said, “There may be opportunity in finding brands within your brand,” one of the growth options he raised for Riviera.
• Loyal guests can drive demand through scarcity, using limited access as a demand-management tool.

Together, those practices connect the restaurant proposition, service and demand. Galy presents personalization as a system that staff must deliver repeatedly. He says friendly competitions among team members can incentivize customer service, adding a structured contest to a culture built around hospitality.

Culture before geographic scale

Galy says culture must be established before the group scales beyond its first market. That order matters for a concept whose roughly 400-person peak-season staff at MILA must deliver a personalized luxury experience consistently. The episode presents training, incentives and culture as operating controls, not ancillary programs added after a restaurant succeeds.

What does this change for independent operators?

For an independent operator, the practical change is a management sequence: test the concept softly, define the sensory and service promise, train staff, establish culture, and only then expand.

Riviera’s results show that personalization can support tens of millions in sales; they do not show whether labor, food costs or occupancy leave healthy margins. That distinction keeps the $86 million achievement in perspective while chain sales slow.

For Riviera Dining Group, the next test is whether Galy can preserve the roughly 400-person peak-season culture at MILA while scaling the model beyond its first market, a step he says must follow the establishment of culture.