First of all, what type of money do you have? There are some excellent companies that can connect you to the right people for market research discussions.
Secondly, you should NOT walk in expecting to speak to the manager. As you stated, you already have connections in the industry, ask them to connect you to other restaurant owners.
Another solution, depending on the type of questions you would like to ask, would be to pose as a student and get an informational interview that way.
Alternatively, you can call them and tell them you are thinking of entering this industry with an idea you have but don't know how the industry functions/etc. and see if they are willing to open up and educate you.
You can find restaurant owners and bar owners on Twitter/LinkedIn as well if location is irrelevant to you. Try to get a variety of types of restaurants to get a better understanding of the different conditions at play that affect decision-making.
Will see if I can come up with any other ideas or leads.
For me it's the learning aspect of a startup. I had a great job for a really fantastic company but I quickly realized that there's a "ceiling" to the amount of learning you can do in one role/position. To continue learning/growing, you'd have to get a new role/position. Lot of time and bureaucracy goes into that role change. My previous employer was mid-sized and there was a lot of flexibility. They encouraged and empowered employees to get exposure to various parts of the company. But for me, learning is not structural and it shouldn't be contained by the role.
I LOVE being part of a startup because everything is so hands-on and the learning has been exponential. In 1 week I've easily learned more than I would have 1 month on a company job.
That to me is worth it. No matter what happens, I'll walk away with a lot more knowledge and courage than I had before.
Second the suggestion. Hoboken's got fantastic access into the city, they have their own tech meetup too (NJ Tech) and there's a new shared workspace that's opened up there too: http://www.missionfifty.com/
Congratulations; it looks great! I am trying to develop some technical skills as well. How long did it take you to learn enough to build Favsi? What were the resources you used? Would appreciate your help with this as I'm really bogged down between choosing the right websites/books and the right language, etc.
Hi Eric, may I please have a copy of your book as well? Like the OP, I too am not a learner that learns just by the act of doing; I need to understand they "why" behind it as well. Would really love it if you could help me out! My email is njstartups (at) gmail (dot) com
Love the idea! Yeah the name could use some tweaking. It's a little bit morbid and just be careful with the "grandma" part. People might remember it differently: "grandmother", "granma" etc.
But, first of all, it would help if you could tell us more about your CS skills, experience, interests, etc.
I'm sure more people would be willing to direct you if you can provide us that information.