In the back-of-house chaos of the restaurant world, there’s one thing you can always count on finding: a tech closet that looks like it lost a fight with a bowl of spaghetti. Tangled wires, stacked legacy systems, and just enough duct tape to keep things limping along. Dan Diaz has seen it all — and he’s made it his mission to fix it.
As the CEO and founder of F3, a restaurant-focused IT and managed services company, Diaz doesn’t just talk about streamlining operations. He and his team are actively doing it, one install at a time. With over 100 technicians across 36 states and 24/7/365 live support, F3 is helping restaurants make the leap from duct-taped disasters to future-proof digital infrastructure.
Hospitality Starts in the Closet
“Every day we walk into restaurants and it’s legacy system over legacy system — over someone’s cousin’s friend’s speaker system,” Dan says with a laugh. It might be funny if it weren’t so costly. A poorly wired tech setup isn’t just an eyesore; it’s a ticking time bomb for Saturday night dinner rushes and Sunday brunch crowds.
F3 steps in to clean up the mess — sometimes literally — replacing outdated gear, organizing chaotic closets, and creating port maps so future techs (even if it’s not them) can walk in and know exactly what’s going on. “Even if they’re not one of our clients, we leave it better than we found it,” says Dan.
Scaling with Empathy
What sets F3 apart is more than just their technical chops. It’s the culture. Diaz trains every technician to treat each install like it could be a restaurant’s last chance. “You never know if this is someone’s last thousand dollars. Or grandma’s recipe. Or a dream they’ve been building for a decade,” he says. “That’s how seriously we take it.”
That philosophy carries into their support model too. F3 is built for restaurants, by restaurant people. Their help desk doesn’t close, their team knows hot-side from cold-side printers, and they maintain a 94% first-call resolution rate. Need help on Slack? Text? Carrier pigeon? They’ll find a way.
From Super Bowls to Fried Chicken Festivals
It’s not just brick-and-mortar restaurants that rely on F3. Diaz and his team thrive in high-pressure environments — like supporting 30,000-person events where one dropped connection could derail an entire activation. “There’s nothing like that adrenaline of a big event,” he says. “But everything has to go right. And if it doesn’t, you’re gonna hear about it — from the headliner DJ.”
F3 may be gritty and hands-on, but it’s also forward-thinking. The company is actively rolling out AI tools to optimize technician schedules and predict traffic patterns — shaving hours off of routing and operations. “We’re scrappy,” Dan admits, “but we’re getting smarter. We’ve matured five years in just the last twelve months.”
With Dan Diaz at the helm, F3 isn’t just another IT vendor. It’s a lifeline for restaurant operators who need tech that works, support that cares, and partners who understand the pressure of running a business where every minute — and every port — matters.
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