Steve Roberts

Steve Roberts founded Restaurant Magic in 1989. When first founded, the company provided custom business-process software for clients such as Motorola, Tech Data, Budget Rent-a-Car and Outback Steakhouse. When Outback Steakhouse acquired development rights to Carrabba’s Italian Grill in 1995, the president of Carrabba’s approached him with an opportunity to automate the expansion of the concept. That meeting resulted in Restaurant Magic Software, a product specializing in business management software for multi-unit restaurants. Steve led the ground up redesign and re-branding of its primary product as Data Central, and expanded its breadth to include a full suite SaaS back office system, mobile business tools, and business intelligence. He has also led the development of AfterWords, a patent pending online survey system that utilizes near real-time POS data collection to build surveys based upon each customer’s actual purchases. It is poised to revolutionize feedback.

A native of Ft. Myers, FL, Mr. Roberts attended the University of South Florida where he interrupted his senior year study as a classical musician to pursue his first software development project, subsequently redirecting his future into software development. Steve is regularly sought after as an expert in the food and beverage segment and was recently named to the advisory board of Site Zeus, a Tampa-based real estate site selection and GIS software platform. He is married to Dolly, a well-known harpist in Tampa Bay, and has two married children and one grandchild. He enjoys reading, mountain biking, fishing and piloting a small plane. The Roberts are active in the community, supporting their local church in Tampa, their second church in the Bahamas, and ministries dedicated to the well-being of children and families including Frameworks, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, Compassion International, Metropolitan Ministries, Salvation Army, UNICEF, and Feeding Tampa Bay.