Armada Launches New Platform Connecting Restaurant Workers and Operators, Kicking Off Nationwide Search for the Best in Hospitality
Atlanta, GA – October 13, 2026 – Armada, a new professional platform built for the restaurant and hospitality industry, is officially launching nationwide with a competition for the best hospitality professionals and teams.
With more than a decade of hands-on hospitality experience, Starr Douglas founded Armada after seeing the same disconnect play out across the industry: workers often have little insight into what it is actually like to work at a restaurant, while operators have limited visibility into the people behind the resume.
“There’s so much information that gets lost between a worker and a restaurant,” said Douglas, founder and CEO of Armada. “A resume can tell you where someone has worked, but not what it’s like to work alongside them. A job posting can tell a worker what a restaurant is looking for, but not what it’s really like to be part of that team. We wanted to give both sides a better picture before they choose to work together.”
For restaurants, that visibility can extend beyond a single hire. Chris Harter, a member of Armada’s board of directors and former president of Levy Restaurants and Patina Restaurant Group, brings decades of experience as a restaurant operator and executive.
“Operators are constantly trying to answer two questions: Who are the people we can trust to represent our restaurant, and where do we find them when we need them?” said Harter. “Armada gives restaurants a way to get to know hospitality professionals before they need to hire them, while building relationships with talent they can come back to again and again.”
Armada is the evolution of FrontHouz, building on five years of industry workforce insights and experience to create a platform where workers can explore restaurants, showcase their careers and build a portable professional reputation, while restaurants can showcase their workplace, discover talent and build relationships with professionals for current and future opportunities.
The name Armada reflects the company’s vision of the hospitality industry as one fleet: individual professionals, restaurant teams and operators navigating the industry together.
An Industry Celebration: All Hands by Armada
The vision comes to life through All Hands by Armada, an industry event series bringing together hospitality workers, teams and operators. The inaugural gathering drew more than 500 hospitality professionals representing 250+ restaurants, with management, front-of-house and back-of-house teams all represented.
Over the next two years, All Hands will travel to 100 cities alongside Armada’s nationwide competition, recognizing the workers and teams that make each hospitality community exceptional. Categories will include Best Server, Best Bartender, Best Crew and more, with additional categories evolving by market.
Celebrating Armada’s Atlanta Roots
In its first month in Atlanta, more than 1,000 hospitality professionals from more than 200 restaurants have joined Armada, establishing an early presence across hundreds of local teams.
Armada will celebrate its launch in Atlanta this October at Haunted Underground, taking over a Davy Jones-inspired haunted pirate ship as the nationwide competition gets underway. The Atlanta Best Crew in the City competition will culminate on December 1, when the winning crew is crowned.
From Atlanta, Armada will bring its competition and All Hands series to markets including Savannah, Charleston, Nashville, Orlando and Jacksonville, with additional cities to be announced.
About Armada
Armada is a professional platform built for the restaurant and hospitality industry, connecting workers and restaurants through a two-sided network designed to make hospitality hiring and employment more transparent.
Workers can explore restaurants, learn what it is actually like to work there, showcase their experience and build a portable professional reputation through vouches and endorsements. Restaurants can showcase their workplace, discover hospitality professionals, understand their experience and build relationships with talent for current and future opportunities.
Learn more at armada.work.
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Company Name: Armada
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Website: armada.work
