Hospitality Hangout: Recent Episodes

Foodable Network

The Restaurant Guy and The Finance Guy are the personalities behind branded strategic hospitality. Together they connect hospitality, technology, and capital. In the podcast, the Restaurant Guy and The Finance Guy explore exciting trends, happenings, and breakthroughs in hospitality technology. They will be chatting with leaders, marketers, and experts that are leading a new era of innovation. Our hosts bring their gregarious and entertaining personalities to all their topics.

In this insightful episode of Rock My Restaurant, host Paul Barron and Norton Creative CEO Robin Blanchette dive into effective marketing strategies for independent restaurants and small chains operating on limited budgets. They explore the importance of brand identity, customer journey mapping, compelling food photography, and strategic social media presence while sharing practical advice on website essentials, leveraging customer reviews, and choosing the right platforms to connect with target audiences. Blanchette emphasizes that successful restaurant marketing combines both artistry and science to drive profitability, not just create beautiful designs.

~This episode is sponsored by: Gusto → https://gusto.pxf.io/PBN ~

1 rated HR platform for payroll, benefits, and more

With Gusto’s easy-to-use platform, you can empower your people and push your business forward. See why over 400,000 businesses choose Gusto.

RestaurantMarketing #FoodBusinessTips #SmallRestaurantSuccess
Get Your Podcast Now! Are you a hospitality or restaurant industry leader looking to amplify your voice and establish yourself as a thought leader? Look no further than SavorFM, the premier podcast platform designed exclusively for hospitality visionaries like you. Take the next step in your industry leadership journey – visit https://www.savor.fm/

Capital & Advisory: Are you a fast-casual restaurant startup or a technology innovator in the food service industry? Don't miss out on the opportunity to tap into decades of expertise. Reach out to Savor Capital & Advisory now to explore how their seasoned professionals can propel your business forward. Discover if you're eligible to leverage our unparalleled knowledge in food service branding and technology and take your venture to new heights.

Don't wait – amplify your voice or supercharge your startup's growth today with Savor's ecosystem of industry-leading platforms and advisory services. Visit https://www.savor.fm/capital-advisory

In this insightful episode of "Rock My Restaurant," host Paul Barron interviews Jim Balis of CapitalSpring about the evolving restaurant investment landscape. Balis shares CapitalSpring's approach to investing in restaurants, revealing they look for concepts with 15%+ store-level margins and 20%+ ROI. He discusses valuation multiples in today's "moderate" market, when founders should consider taking capital, exit strategies for brands, and his optimism about "fast casual 3.0" concepts that deliver elevated dining experiences without full service.

~This episode is sponsored by: Gusto → https://gusto.pxf.io/PBN ~

1 rated HR platform for payroll, benefits, and more

With Gusto’s easy-to-use platform, you can empower your people and push your business forward. See why over 400,000 businesses choose Gusto.

RestaurantInvestment #FastCasual3 #RestaurantGrowth

Get Your Podcast Now! Are you a hospitality or restaurant industry leader looking to amplify your voice and establish yourself as a thought leader? Look no further than SavorFM, the premier podcast platform designed exclusively for hospitality visionaries like you. Take the next step in your industry leadership journey – visit https://www.savor.fm/

Capital & Advisory: Are you a fast-casual restaurant startup or a technology innovator in the food service industry? Don't miss out on the opportunity to tap into decades of expertise. Reach out to Savor Capital & Advisory now to explore how their seasoned professionals can propel your business forward. Discover if you're eligible to leverage our unparalleled knowledge in food service branding and technology and take your venture to new heights.

Don't wait – amplify your voice or supercharge your startup's growth today with Savor's ecosystem of industry-leading platforms and advisory services. Visit https://www.savor.fm/capital-advisory

In this eye-opening interview, restaurant marketing innovator Shawn P. Walchef reveals why traditional advertising is dead and how restaurants must adapt in 2025. The founder of Cali BBQ Media shares his groundbreaking "Be the Show, Not the Commercial" philosophy, explaining how any restaurant can build a powerful digital presence through authentic storytelling. From live streaming kitchen preparations to building genuine community connections, Walchef provides actionable insights on transforming your restaurant into a media powerhouse, regardless of your location or technical expertise.

RestaurantMarketing #FoodContent #DigitalStorytelling
Are you a hospitality or restaurant industry leader looking to amplify your voice and establish yourself as a thought leader? Look no further than SavorFM, the premier podcast platform designed exclusively for hospitality visionaries like you. ➡ Visit www.savor.fm

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In this eye-opening interview, restaurant industry expert Fred LeFranc reveals how leadership is dramatically evolving in 2025. From the rise of AI and automation changing management tasks, to the emergence of fractional C-suite roles, and the shift away from traditional hierarchical leadership models, LeFranc breaks down what successful restaurant leaders need to focus on now. He explains why human skills like emotional intelligence and self-awareness are becoming more crucial than ever, while sharing insights on how younger generations are reshaping workplace culture. Whether you're a current leader or aspiring to be one, this conversation offers essential perspectives on balancing technology with human elements in modern restaurant leadership.

RestaurantLeadership #FutureOfHospitality #RestaurantIndustry
🫶 Subscribe NOW - Unlock a world of knowledge, innovation, and growth from the largest podcast network in food service! - https://savorfm.substack.com/

📈 Learn More ~ Restaurant Power Index featuring the top 50 brands' performance in consumer sentiment based on 12 performance markers in food, service, and overall brand consumer sentiment. The RPI features historical and current sentiment analysis for key brands based on the overall market sentiment data. Subscribe for weekly reports on the top brands in the restaurant industry. https://www.savor.fm/restaurant-power-index

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In this insightful episode of Rock My Restaurant, industry veteran Vaughan Dugan shares his predictions for the restaurant industry in 2025. From the evolution of customer loyalty programs to the surprising surge in gift card sales, Dugan explores how operators can adapt to changing consumer behaviors. The discussion covers essential advice for restaurant startups, the importance of building genuine community connections, and emerging opportunities in real-time social commerce for hospitality businesses.

RestaurantIndustry #FoodService #HospitalityBusiness
🫶 Subscribe NOW - Unlock a world of knowledge, innovation, and growth from the largest podcast network in food service! - https://savorfm.substack.com/

📈 Learn More ~ Restaurant Power Index featuring the top 50 brands' performance in consumer sentiment based on 12 performance markers in food, service, and overall brand consumer sentiment. The RPI features historical and current sentiment analysis for key brands based on the overall market sentiment data. Subscribe for weekly reports on the top brands in the restaurant industry. https://www.savor.fm/restaurant-power-index

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The restaurant industry is on the brink of a technological transformation that goes beyond mere efficiency, focusing on using innovative technologies like AI and augmented reality to create more meaningful, engaging, and career-driven workplace experiences. By implementing smart tools that provide real-time coaching, personalized career insights, and recognition systems, restaurants can address high turnover rates and empower employees to see their jobs as genuine career opportunities rather than temporary positions.

RestaurantInnovation #EmployeeTech #FutureOfWork

RestaurantInnovation #EmployeeTech #FutureOfWork
🫶 Subscribe NOW - Unlock a world of knowledge, innovation, and growth from the largest podcast network in food service! - https://savorfm.substack.com/

📈 Learn More ~ Restaurant Power Index featuring the top 50 brands' performance in consumer sentiment based on 12 performance markers in food, service, and overall brand consumer sentiment. The RPI features historical and current sentiment analysis for key brands based on the overall market sentiment data. Subscribe for weekly reports on the top brands in the restaurant industry. https://www.savor.fm/restaurant-power-index

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A deep dive into the evolving restaurant industry landscape, exploring how innovative brands like Crave Worthy are adapting to Gen Z preferences through international cuisine, digital marketing strategies, cross-brand loyalty, and authentic brand storytelling.

Guest: Gregg Majewski of Crave Worthy Brands

RestaurantInnovation #FoodTrends #GenZMarketing

🫶 Subscribe NOW - Unlock a world of knowledge, innovation, and growth from the largest podcast network in food service! - https://savorfm.substack.com/

📈 Learn More ~ Restaurant Power Index featuring the top 50 brands' performance in consumer sentiment based on 12 performance markers in food, service, and overall brand consumer sentiment. The RPI features historical and current sentiment analysis for key brands based on the overall market sentiment data. Subscribe for weekly reports on the top brands in the restaurant industry. https://www.savor.fm/restaurant-power-index

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As Gen Z reshapes the restaurant industry, understanding their distinct dining preferences for interactive, tech-integrated experiences is crucial. Restaurants should offer customizable meals, shareable snacks, and strategic social media presence to attract this influential demographic.

Guest: Troy Hooper | CEO of Hot Palette America

🫶 Subscribe NOW - Unlock a world of knowledge, innovation, and growth from the largest podcast network in food service! - https://savorfm.substack.com/

📈 Learn More ~ Restaurant Power Index featuring the top 50 brands' performance in consumer sentiment based on 12 performance markers in food, service, and overall brand consumer sentiment. The RPI features historical and current sentiment analysis for key brands based on the overall market sentiment data. Subscribe for weekly reports on the top brands in the restaurant industry. https://www.savor.fm/restaurant-power-index

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Industry experts Alejandro Marin Vidal and Shelly Ruple discuss how restaurants can revolutionize their customer engagement through gaming, web3, and innovative loyalty programs on the "Rock My Restaurant" podcast. Drawing from his experience at Activision, Marin Vidal emphasizes how modern consumers seek varied experiences and dopamine-driven entertainment, suggesting that restaurants should adopt collaborative loyalty programs—a "NATO of loyalty"—rather than maintaining isolated systems. While the industry has traditionally resisted centralized loyalty programs, the experts argue that emerging technologies like AR/VR and blockchain present unprecedented opportunities for creating immersive dining experiences and strengthening customer connections through shared resources and data.

FutureOfDining #RestaurantTech #LoyaltyInnovation
🫶 Subscribe NOW - Unlock a world of knowledge, innovation, and growth from the largest podcast network in food service! - https://savorfm.substack.com/

📈 Learn More ~ Restaurant Power Index featuring the top 50 brands' performance in consumer sentiment based on 12 performance markers in food, service, and overall brand consumer sentiment. The RPI features historical and current sentiment analysis for key brands based on the overall market sentiment data. Subscribe for weekly reports on the top brands in the restaurant industry. https://www.savor.fm/restaurant-power-index

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"Rock My Restaurant" recently discussed the growing integration of gaming and web3 technologies into the restaurant industry. Hosts Paul Barron and Shelley Rupel explored the opportunities for brands to reach younger consumers through gaming platforms and loyalty programs.
Barron highlighted data showing the massive growth of e-sports and brand partnerships, with major chains like Burger King, Chipotle, and McDonald's increasingly active in this space. Rupel noted that smaller restaurant brands are also looking to leverage gaming integrations, but often need technology platforms like Devour to enable cost-effective activations.

A key focus was the role of gamification and loyalty. Rupel explained that points-based programs are less engaging than missions, quests, and dynamic rewards tied to user activity. Brands are exploring ways to blend social media, in-app actions, and blockchain-backed digital assets to create more immersive loyalty experiences.

The discussion also touched on the evolution of augmented reality and the potential impact of devices like Meta's new Quest 3 headset. Barron argued this could be a "ready player one" moment, with AR enabling new modes of productivity, gaming, and spatial computing that brands will need to consider.

Overall, the podcast emphasized that the restaurant industry must adapt to the growing influence of gaming, web3, and emergent technologies to stay relevant with younger consumers. Brands that can authentically integrate these elements into the customer experience will be best positioned for the future.

Forbes is pioneering Web3 integration in legacy media through its Forbes Legacy Pass program, a soulbound NFT initiative led by VP of Web3 Mani Patel, offering valuable insights for the restaurant industry's digital evolution. By establishing a dedicated blockchain department and creating an exclusive, application-based digital membership system, Forbes demonstrates how traditional businesses can embrace Web3 technology while maintaining brand value and community engagement - a model particularly relevant for fine dining establishments looking to enhance their premium experiences with digital collectibles and blockchain-based features.

Web3Innovation #FutureOfDining #DigitalTransformation
🫶 Subscribe NOW - Unlock a world of knowledge, innovation, and growth from the largest podcast network in food service! - https://savorfm.substack.com/

📈 Learn More ~ Restaurant Power Index featuring the top 50 brands' performance in consumer sentiment based on 12 performance markers in food, service, and overall brand consumer sentiment. The RPI features historical and current sentiment analysis for key brands based on the overall market sentiment data. Subscribe for weekly reports on the top brands in the restaurant industry. https://www.savor.fm/restaurant-power-index

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The restaurant industry is undergoing a digital revolution, as discussed in a recent "Rock My Restaurant" podcast featuring Feifei Hu, Paul Barron, and Shelly Rupel. Key trends include authentic community engagement, especially in gaming spaces, balancing appeal across demographics, and leveraging AI and automation for operational efficiency. Emerging technologies like autonomous vehicles and drone delivery are set to reshape food services. The industry faces challenges in adopting these innovations while maintaining brand authenticity, emphasizing the need for leaders who can navigate both current and future digital landscapes to ensure success in this evolving market.

RestaurantTech #DigitalDining #FutureOfFood
🫶 Subscribe NOW - Unlock a world of knowledge, innovation, and growth from the largest podcast network in food service! - https://savorfm.substack.com/

📈 Learn More ~ Restaurant Power Index featuring the top 50 brands' performance in consumer sentiment based on 12 performance markers in food, service, and overall brand consumer sentiment. The RPI features historical and current sentiment analysis for key brands based on the overall market sentiment data. Subscribe for weekly reports on the top brands in the restaurant industry. https://www.savor.fm/restaurant-power-index

Follow on X: Savor_fm

Web3 gaming is emerging as a powerful new frontier for restaurant brand engagement and customer loyalty. In a recent "Rock My Restaurant" podcast episode, industry experts discussed how integrating loyalty programs into gaming experiences, creating comprehensive brand ecosystems, and leveraging storytelling can revolutionize how restaurants connect with customers. Companies like Wagmi Games and Devour are pioneering innovative approaches, such as NFT characters and in-game promotions, while advancements in AR and VR technology promise to further blur the lines between physical dining and digital experiences. This convergence of gaming, loyalty, and immersive technology offers restaurants unprecedented opportunities to create engaging, interactive experiences for their customers.

🫶 Subscribe NOW - Unlock a world of knowledge, innovation, and growth from the largest podcast network in food service! - https://savorfm.substack.com/

📈 Learn More ~ Restaurant Power Index featuring the top 50 brands' performance in consumer sentiment based on 12 performance markers in food, service, and overall brand consumer sentiment. The RPI features historical and current sentiment analysis for key brands based on the overall market sentiment data. Subscribe for weekly reports on the top brands in the restaurant industry. https://www.savor.fm/restaurant-power-index

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Jennifer isn’t just shaking things up, she’s squeezing every drop of her expertise into a brand focused on health and wellness. She has learned that a solid brand, like a great smoothie, is all about authenticity - with a dash of rock star flair and a whole lot of heart, Jennifer’s serving up nutrient-rich goodness, one delicious sip at a time.

Key Takeaways:
• "Fueling yourself, not fooling yourself" – Jennifer discusses Main Squeeze’s fresh approach, focusing on cold-pressed, raw juice, smoothies, acai bowls, and plant-based foods, with a distinct emphasis on health. She shares a breakdown of ingredients with no added sugar, fillers, or artificial sweeteners, treating customers to a menu that’s not only refreshing but healthy and clean.
• The brand remains true to its juice, offering products that customers can trust, keeping Main Squeeze Juice ahead of the competition.
• Jennifer shares excitement about the company’s growth, including a new protein smoothie line launching on September 18th, featuring 20 grams of protein per smoothie, along with superfood add-ins for customization.
• Main Squeeze Juice continues to adapt to customer demand by exploring new wellness trends, such as CBD-infused products.
• Jennifer believes in “serving it forward.” Her leadership style is about empowering franchise owners and her team, helping them succeed and thrive. She sees franchise owners as the true chefs, while her role is to clear the prep station and let their passion cook. Jennifer believes that when people align with their purpose, it’s like "letting the genie out of the bottle"—or the secret ingredient in a winning recipe.
• Main Squeeze Juice is setting the table for growth, positioning itself as a key player in the juice and plant-based food market. With new stores on the horizon, they’re cooking up plans to expand their fresh offerings.

Jennifer, Schatzy, and Jimmy keep the energy high with lively segments like "What's Hot and Not" and the rapid-fire fun of "Branded Quick-fire," serving up laughs and insights you won’t want to miss.

The restaurant industry is exploring Web3 technologies like blockchain and digital collectibles, as discussed on the "Rock My Restaurant" podcast. Beezie's platform for digital twins of physical collectibles was highlighted, along with the potential for blockchain in loyalty programs, marketing, and e-commerce. While adoption is still in early stages, there's growing interest among restaurant brands in leveraging Web3 for brand extension, community building, and unique digital experiences. Education and focus on tangible benefits are key to driving adoption in the industry.

Web3Restaurants #BlockchainLoyalty #DigitalCollectibles

🫶 Subscribe NOW - Unlock a world of knowledge, innovation, and growth from the largest podcast network in food service! - https://savorfm.substack.com/

📈 Learn More ~ Restaurant Power Index featuring the top 50 brands' performance in consumer sentiment based on 12 performance markers in food, service, and overall brand consumer sentiment. The RPI features historical and current sentiment analysis for key brands based on the overall market sentiment data. Subscribe for weekly reports on the top brands in the restaurant industry. https://www.savor.fm/restaurant-power-index

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The restaurant industry is grappling with a significant shift in consumer behavior, particularly among Generation Z, as traditional loyalty programs and marketing strategies lose effectiveness. The "Rock My Restaurant" podcast discusses how emerging technologies like blockchain, AI, and AR/VR, along with gaming integrations, could revolutionize brand engagement and loyalty for younger consumers. While some major brands are experimenting with these approaches, many restaurant executives remain hesitant. The hosts emphasize the need for authenticity, personalization, and emotional connections in loyalty programs, suggesting that brands must adapt to create more engaging, community-driven experiences to remain relevant to Gen Z consumers.

FutureOfLoyalty #GenZMarketing #RestaurantTech
🫶 Subscribe NOW - Unlock a world of knowledge, innovation, and growth from the largest podcast network in food service! - https://savorfm.substack.com/

📈 Learn More ~ Restaurant Power Index featuring the top 50 brands' performance in consumer sentiment based on 12 performance markers in food, service, and overall brand consumer sentiment. The RPI features historical and current sentiment analysis for key brands based on the overall market sentiment data. Subscribe for weekly reports on the top brands in the restaurant industry. https://www.savor.fm/restaurant-power-index

Follow on X: Savor_fm

Noah has been a driving force in revolutionizing the restaurant industry through technology. With a background in Political Science from Yale and early career experiences ranging from service stations to tech startups, Noah launched Olo to streamline digital ordering and delivery for restaurants. Under his leadership, Olo has become a leader in hospitality tech, empowering restaurants to integrate both digital and traditional payment systems, enhancing customer experiences and operational efficiency.

Key Takeaways:
• Breaking news: Olo, a leading provider of digital ordering and delivery solutions, expands by introducing card-present payment processing through Olo Pay.
• Noah discusses leveraging data to increase restaurant sales – collecting detailed information from every transaction, Olo helps restaurants understand their consumers’ preferences allowing personalized marketing efforts tailored to individual guests’ tastes, driving higher engagement and increased sales.
• Noah, Jimmy, and Schatzy talk about how a majority of restaurant transactions still occur through traditional, in-person methods, despite the industry’s ongoing digital transformation. Noah shares how Olo’s integration of, “the old fashioned way” with digital payment allows operators to maintain their personal touch while leveraging modern technology to personalize and enhance guests’ experiences.
• "Just getting out of the dugout” – Noah describes the industry as being in the early stages of embracing digital transformation.
• The focus on data-driven decisions – According to Noah, restaurants that are "winning" are those leveraging data to drive traffic in a profitable way.
• Noah addresses the dilemma in the restaurant tech industry of whether to develop solutions in-house or to partner with established vendors.
• Noah explains that leveraging existing technology platforms while building unique, differentiated feathers can create something truly special and impactful – the "true magic" lies in tailored experiences that resonate with guests and set the brand apart.
• Olo goes public marking a significant milestone – Olo’s IPO provides the financial stability and transparency needed to support large-scale partnerships and further innovation.

In “Talking Back”, Noah asks Jimmy and Schatzy to share a time when they experienced genuine hospitality at a restaurant.
Noah, Schatzy, and Jimmy step up to the plate for an engaging session with games like” What’s Hot and Not”, “The Spice is Right”, “Branded Quick-fire” and “Trivia Tuesday”.

Perry talks about recently receiving the prestigious IFMA Oberkfell Award and what it means to be recognized for his leadership and impact. He also reveals that he will soon retire after an impressive 30 years at Nestlé! Perry provides insights into Nestlé Professional’s innovative efforts to embrace technology and better serve operators and consumers as he emphasizes the importance of understanding operators’ needs and leading the industry forward during a time of rapid change.

Key Takeaways:
Live from Pepsi Studios at the International Food Manufacturing Association’s President’s Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Introducing Perry Miele, President and CEO of Nestlé. Perry talks about his path to 30 years at Nestlé and a passion for the food industry
Perry awarded the IFMA’s Oberkfell Award for leadership and impact
Highlights include “Making more possible,” embracing robotics, and using AI to drive traffic and profitability.
How Nestlé is using AI to help operators drive traffic and their bottom line. Innovations inspired by the COVID pandemic.
Breaking news: Perry announces retirement after three decades at Nestlé, sharing plans to stay involved in the hospitality industry.

John’s first job as a dishwasher at Au Bon Pain nurtured his relationship within hospitality eventually leading him to Cornell University School of Hotel Administration. John furthered his career in the hospitality industry by opening up his first restaurant, Gin Lane, in Manhattan and then later founding the original Scarpetta and LDV Hospitality bringing La Dolce Vita around the globe.

Key Takeaways:
• Scarpetta an Italian restaurant, opened in New York 16 years ago, “… it was really game-changing what you did with an Italian restaurant—the coolness, the hipness, the great food, the whole thing.”
• John shares Scarpetta’s expansion to major cities like Las Vegas, Philadelphia, and international locations including London, Doha, Tokyo, and Rome. John discusses the importance of adapting each restaurant to its local market.
• Breaking News: LDV Hospitality plans to open new Scarpetta locations after three years of focusing on international growth while maintaining its unique appeal in different markets.
• John shares a family anecdote about "Good Time Charlie," a bar located on the rooftop at Scarpetta NYC
• Schatzy and Jimmy explore the resilience of New York City's restaurant scene, particularly during the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic. They discuss the unique characteristics that make certain neighborhoods thrive (office-dense vs. mixed-use) and discuss the importance of community.
• The Pareto Principle (80-20 Rule) in hospitality management.
• The lifestyle and personalized service at LDV Hospitality, including the use of CRM platforms like SevenRooms to enhance guest experiences and the significance of creating a seamless and integrated guest experience at properties like The Maidstone Hotel, where every detail contributes to a unified and memorable stay.
• Talking Back: John poses a thoughtful and somewhat romantic question to Schatzy and Jimmy asking them to imagine their ultimate last day in New York City before retiring, detailing what their perfect dining and social itinerary would look like.

Listen in as John, Schatzy, and Jimmy entertain the audience with fun segments like, “What’s Hot and Not”, “Name that Recipe”, “Branded Quick Fire”, and “Trivia Tuesday”.

🫶 Subscribe NOW - Unlock a world of knowledge, innovation, and growth from the largest podcast network in food service! - https://savorfm.substack.com/

Web3 technologies are revolutionizing brand engagement and customer loyalty, as exemplified by The Gods NFT project's collaborations with traditional brands like Dogghouse and the Big3 basketball league. These partnerships leverage engaged online communities to create unique experiences and tokenized promotions, offering exclusive perks to NFT holders. The podcast "Rock My Restaurant" discusses how this approach can help restaurants and other brands connect with younger, tech-savvy consumers, emphasizing the importance of aligned incentives and authentic community engagement. Early adopters of these Web3 strategies may gain a significant competitive advantage in customer acquisition and retention, similar to the benefits seen by early adopters of e-commerce and online ordering.

📈 Learn More ~ Restaurant Power Index featuring the top 50 brands' performance in consumer sentiment based on 12 performance markers in food, service, and overall brand consumer sentiment. The RPI features historical and current sentiment analysis for key brands based on the overall market sentiment data. Subscribe for weekly reports on the top brands in the restaurant industry. https://www.savor.fm/restaurant-power-index
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Lisa attended Michigan State University, where she completed her undergraduate studies and later earned a Master’s degree in Food Safety. Her academic focus laid a solid foundation for her career in the industry. At Ecolab, she is known for her data-driven approach to improving food safety practices and has extensive experience across various prominent food and beverage companies, highlighting her expertise in the field. Her role ensures that Ecolab remains a leader in providing innovative solutions for food safety, supporting restaurants, hotels, and other food service establishments in maintaining high standards of cleanliness and hygiene. Lisa’s career is defined by her dedication to enhancing food safety and public health.

Key Takeaways:

Ecolab is described as a gold standard in the hospitality and food service industry, particularly for their behind-the-scenes contributions, including water safety, hygiene, infection prevention, and overall food safety.
Lisa elaborates on Ecolab’s efforts to build trust in the industry by ensuring that their products are easy to use, efficient, and meet regulatory standards globally.
Lisa emphasizes Ecolab's significant role in the restaurant industry, focusing on innovation, data-driven insights, and comprehensive solutions to enhance food safety and operational efficiency.
Ecolab's comprehensive approach to enhancing food safety in the restaurant industry includes advanced technology, robust training programs, and a strong focus on building a culture of safety.
EcoSure, a notable program offered by Ecolab, includes assessment tools to evaluate food safety culture within organizations. This program helps businesses understand how associates, team members, or partners view food safety and how the organization is addressing it. The EcoSure program involves using data to make plans for improvement and build a strong food safety culture within the organization.
Lisa shares statistics on foodborne illnesses, highlighting the importance of stringent food safety practices.
Talking Back: The hosts express their admiration for Ecolab's innovative products and services, highlighting the company's significant impact on the restaurant industry's safety and efficiency.

Enjoy engaging segments like “What’s Hot and Not,” where the latest industry trends are discussed, “Branded Quick Fire,” which provides rapid-fire insights into key topics, and “Trivia Tuesday,” a fun and informative game that tests your insight on guests.

In the latest episode of "Hospitality Hangout", industry insiders are treated to an enlightening conversation as hosts Michael Schatzberg, fondly known as "The Restaurant Guy", and Jimmy Frischling, dubbed "The Finance Guy", sit down with G.J. Hart. Currently at the helm of Red Robin as President, CEO, and Director, Hart's journey from the Netherlands to leading a renowned American food brand is nothing short of inspiring.

G.J. Hart: From Immigrant Dreams to Restaurant Reality

Arriving in the U.S. in 1963 with dreams of freedom, Hart's initial foray into the hospitality industry was with Howard Johnson's, toggling roles from a dishwasher to a short-order cook. His professional odyssey then took a detour into the poultry business, helping fund his college education. A move to New Orleans saw Hart working under Al Copeland of Popeye's fame, subsequently partnering with Texas Roadhouse's founder, which they took public.

Though Hart dabbled in the idea of retirement, his passion was unwavering. Drawn back to the restaurant cosmos, he took the reins at Red Robin, a brand he had admired for decades.

Revitalizing a Legacy: The North Star Comeback Plan

For over half a century, Red Robin has remained etched in the minds of patrons for its family-centric aura, captivating ambiance, and mouth-watering meals at fair prices. Under Hart's stewardship, the "North Star Comeback Plan" was birthed, aiming to rejuvenate the brand by emphasizing its time-honored attributes. In a span of just 12 months, Red Robin, with Hart's vision and a spirited team, witnessed commendable growth and resurgence.

Leadership: A Game of Authenticity

Hart, with his rich tapestry of experiences, extols the virtue of authenticity in leadership. He advocates for genuine concern for staff and believes that constructing a robust team in a conducive environment is pivotal. This episode offers listeners an intimate look into Hart's life, his strategic leadership methods, the essence of brand identity, and most importantly, his dream for Red Robin's future.

The Core: People and Food

Despite the tsunami of tech advancements swamping the restaurant industry, Hart, along with Schatzberg and Frischling, concurs that the core of the business is, and should always be, about people and the food. While technology acts as a facilitator, enhancing the guest experience, the culinary journey must remain at the forefront.

A Personal Touch to the Conversation

Rounding off the episode, in a jovial segment, Hart turns the tables by posing a personal question to the hosts, revealing their camaraderie and offering listeners a glimpse into their dynamic rapport.

In essence, this episode of "Hospitality Hangout" is a testament to the fact that while the restaurant landscape is continuously evolving with tech innovations, the heart and soul remain in the people and the dishes they serve.

Tune in to "Hospitality Hangout" for this and more episodes, as it continues to engage, enlighten, and entertain those in the hospitality and foodservice sector.

In today's episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” are joined by James Vitrano, Chief Executive Officer of Sucré.

They discuss James' background, from his early ambitions to getting into the restaurant industry and working for major chains like Ruby Tuesday's. They talk about his current role as CEO of Sucré, a high-end New Orleans-inspired dessert chain that he and his partners acquired and are now focused on growing. The three discuss topics such as franchising models, use of technology in restaurants, what's right and wrong with the hospitality industry, along with James' vision for bringing Sucré to new markets.

Key Takeaways:

[00:08 - 03:19] Live from ICR Conference in Orlando Florida, introducing a conversation with James Vitrano, CEO of Sucré
[03:20 - 04:44] Two Truths and a Lie
[04:56 - 06:26] James talks about his background and journey, buying Sucré and becoming its CEO. The original New Orleans patisserie, originally founded by Joel Dondis
[06:27 - 10:40] Sucré is opening up its 15th store, and reflecting on James' background at Louisiana Tech with an interest in pursuing law, but going into hospitality with Noah Restaurant Group, Ruby Tuesdays, among others
[10:04 - 10:40] Ruby Tuesdays and being head of international, that taking James to Iceland, Romania, and Guam
[10:42 - 13:37] Jimmy gives background on the fragmented nature of food service and hospitality, and asks James about leveraging tech. Thinking about the "tech stack"
[13:42 - 15:42] Engagement, opportunity, and an explosion of software solutions. NOLA as a unique market.
[15:52 - 16:38] New Orleans fusion of culture and heritage
[16:39 - 19:18] Learning franchising and taking Noah's Bagels from 7 stores to 2 million. Currently focusing on corporate franchising.
[19:47 - 22:17] Talking Back — How Jimmy and Schatzy met
[22:17 - 24:54] Talking Back follow up — What's right with the hospitality industry?
[24:54 - 27:16] Talking back part three — what's missing in the hospitality industry and needs fixing?
[27:23 - 29:38] The Spice is Right — Disney World edition, the price of Chef Mickey character breakfast buffet
[29:38 - 32:35] Trivia Tuesday answers
[32:35 - 36:38] Branded Quickfire — Orlando edition

In this episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg, “The Restaurant Guy,” and Jimmy Frischling, “The Finance Guy,” sit down with Lisa Robinson, Vice President of Global Food Safety and Public Health at Ecolab.

Lisa attended Michigan State University, where she completed her undergraduate studies and later earned a Master’s degree in Food Safety. Her academic focus laid a solid foundation for her career in the industry. At Ecolab, she is known for her data-driven approach to improving food safety practices and has extensive experience across various prominent food and beverage companies, highlighting her expertise in the field. Her role ensures that Ecolab remains a leader in providing innovative solutions for food safety, supporting restaurants, hotels, and other food service establishments in maintaining high standards of cleanliness and hygiene. Lisa’s career is defined by her dedication to enhancing food safety and public health.

Key Takeaways:

Ecolab is described as a gold standard in the hospitality and food service industry, particularly for their behind-the-scenes contributions, including water safety, hygiene, infection prevention, and overall food safety.
Lisa elaborates on Ecolab’s efforts to build trust in the industry by ensuring that their products are easy to use, efficient, and meet regulatory standards globally.
Lisa emphasizes Ecolab's significant role in the restaurant industry, focusing on innovation, data-driven insights, and comprehensive solutions to enhance food safety and operational efficiency.
Ecolab's comprehensive approach to enhancing food safety in the restaurant industry includes advanced technology, robust training programs, and a strong focus on building a culture of safety.
EcoSure, a notable program offered by Ecolab, includes assessment tools to evaluate food safety culture within organizations. This program helps businesses understand how associates, team members, or partners view food safety and how the organization is addressing it. The EcoSure program involves using data to make plans for improvement and build a strong food safety culture within the organization.
Lisa shares statistics on foodborne illnesses, highlighting the importance of stringent food safety practices.
Talking Back: The hosts express their admiration for Ecolab's innovative products and services, highlighting the company's significant impact on the restaurant industry's safety and efficiency.

Enjoy engaging segments like “What’s Hot and Not,” where the latest industry trends are discussed, “Branded Quick Fire,” which provides rapid-fire insights into key topics, and “Trivia Tuesday,” a fun and informative game that tests your insight on guests.

🫶 Subscribe NOW - Unlock a world of knowledge, innovation, and growth from the largest podcast network in food service! - https://www.savor.fm/

The Rock My Restaurant Podcast, hosted by Shelly Rupel and Paul Barron, explores Web3 integration in loyalty programs with guest Steve Kaczynski. They discuss how blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and NFTs are revolutionizing customer rewards, citing Boba Guys' successful NFT-based membership program as a case study. The episode draws parallels between gaming and loyalty programs, explores Web3 payment technologies, and examines how brands can leverage their IP in the Web3 space. The hosts offer practical advice for businesses looking to implement Web3 loyalty programs.

📈 Learn More ~ Restaurant Power Index featuring the top 50 brands' performance in consumer sentiment based on 12 performance markers in food, service, and overall brand consumer sentiment. The RPI features historical and current sentiment analysis for key brands based on the overall market sentiment data. Subscribe for weekly reports on the top brands in the restaurant industry. https://www.savor.fm/restaurant-power-index

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, hosts Michael Schatzberg, affectionately known as "The Restaurant Guy," and Jimmy Frischling, "The Finance Guy," sit down with the legendary Don Fox, Chairman of Firehouse Subs.

The Meteoric Rise of Don Fox

Starting his culinary journey scrubbing dishes at an Italian restaurant in New Jersey, Fox has seen it all. From his aspirations of being a trumpet player to a substantial 23-year tenure with Burger King, Fox's tale is nothing short of inspiring. The episode sheds light on his monumental contribution to Firehouse Subs, transforming it from a 65-unit brand in 2003 to a colossal chain of over 1200 restaurants under his leadership.

Lessons from Five Decades in the Restaurant Industry

Reflecting on his extensive journey, Fox underlines three key lessons for budding restaurateurs:

The importance of fostering teamwork and building robust relationships.
Embracing hard work, coupled with unwavering dedication and effort.
Prioritizing company culture, with leaders leading by example.

These insights, echoed by Michael and Jimmy, serve as valuable takeaways for anyone in the hospitality industry.

Shaq and the Digital Footprint

A hilarious highlight from the episode revolves around NBA superstar, Shaquille O'Neal. From Shaq inadvertently compelling Firehouse Subs to join Twitter to a memorable interaction at a franchise conference, these stories underscore the potent impact of celebrities on businesses.

However, diving deeper into technology's role, Fox emphasizes the need to merge technology with traditional hospitality elements. With a cautionary note, he warns of the risk of restaurants losing their unique identities if they entirely sideline the human touch that defines true hospitality.

Generation Z and the Future of Dining

The episode delves into the evolving restaurant landscape, particularly the integration of technology. As Gen Z becomes the primary customer demographic, Fox ponders over their heavy reliance on technology and wonders if a saturation point might lead them to seek more traditional dining experiences.

With a nod to the next generation, Fox also dispels some common misconceptions about their work ethic, holding a positive view of their contribution to the restaurant space.

Lighthearted Moments and Quickfire Questions

Between serious discussions, the episode is peppered with playful banter. From joking about popular burrito spots in "Food Service Feud" Don's quickfire revelations (he’s a fan of tomatoes on sandwiches and hails Chicago as his favorite food city!), the conversation keeps listeners engaged and entertained.

Hospitality Hangout's latest episode is a blend of profound insights, playful jests, and industry reflections. Don Fox’s extensive journey, coupled with the shared experiences of Schatzy and Jimmy, provides a holistic perspective on the challenges, growth, and future of the restaurant industry. Don't miss this insightful dive into the intricacies of the hospitality world!

In this episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg, “The Restaurant Guy,” and Jimmy Frischling, “The Finance Guy,” sit down with second-time guest Sam Bakhshandehpour, CEO of José Andrés Group.

Sam started his career as a financial analyst, working with major banks such as Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, UBS, and Bear Stearns, and has a background in real estate. He transitioned into the hospitality industry, starting with the SLS Hotel and later partnering with José Andrés through Silverstone and the Bazaar brand. His experience includes successfully integrating nightlife, dining, and hotel services to create a comprehensive guest experience. By combining his financial expertise, hospitality experience, and strategic vision, Sam has successfully guided the José Andrés Group to new heights, ensuring the brand's continued growth and excellence in the industry.

Key Takeaways:

Breaking News: The José Andrés Group (JAG) is expanding its presence in the hospitality industry.
The concept of "activating the whole hotel box" involves creating a holistic experience for guests, integrating lodging, dining, and entertainment. Sam emphasizes the "trifecta" for creating a successful hospitality experience. This model ensures guests have an all-encompassing experience, leading to higher guest satisfaction and increased revenue.
The Bazaar Hotel brand draws from the successful SLS Hotel concept, where the restaurant and hotel experiences are intertwined.
Sam mentions that implementing this model has led to one of the highest-grossing restaurants in Manhattan and top room rates in the city.
Impact on the Brand: Sam discusses the strategic expansion of José Andrés Group into the media space, leveraging content to drive engagement and business growth across their restaurants and products. The brand's storytelling capabilities create engaging and informative media that promote the brand’s restaurants and products.
Is there potential for career growth in hospitality? The importance of mentorship and the value of diverse experiences within the industry.
José Andrés Group emphasizes purpose-driven work, exemplified by World Central Kitchen’s humanitarian efforts.
Sam's principle that "hospitality is a responsibility" emphasizes treating guests with respect and ensuring they have a great experience, and the mutual efforts required from both staff and guests to create exceptional experiences.
Talking Back: The hosts discuss the importance of leadership, team culture, consistency, and strategic growth in maintaining quality as a restaurant brand expands globally.

Enjoy the dynamic interaction between guest and hosts as Sam plays "What’s Hot and Not," rating QR code ordering, virtual kitchens, and all-day breakfast, and other entertaining games like "Branded Quick Fire," "Name That Recipe," and "Trivia Tuesday."

In this episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg, “The Restaurant Guy,” and Jimmy Frischling, “The Finance Guy,” dive into an engaging conversation with guest Greg Flynn, founder, chairman, and CEO of the Flynn Group and Flynn Properties.

Pull up a chair and grab a napkin as Greg serves a hearty helping of inspiration. Greg shares his pursuit in the hospitality industry, his insights on various market segments, and his experiences with different aspects of the business, including restaurant operations, real estate investments, and the expansion into fitness centers. From flipping burgers at McDonald's to running the show as the head honcho of the world's largest franchise operation, Greg's journey is a real-life recipe for success, highlighting the key ingredients of operational excellence, a dash of strategic diversification, and a generous portion of adapting to ever-changing market trends. So, sit back and enjoy this conversation that's sure to leave you hungry for more knowledge in the dynamic world of hospitality.

Key Takeaways:

Greg leads the largest franchise operation globally, managing over 2,600 units across several iconic brands, including Applebee’s, Taco Bell, Panera, Arby’s, Pizza Hut, Wendy’s, and Planet Fitness. This massive scale and diversity in operations are unparalleled in the industry.
The Flynn Group’s emphasis on operational excellence is reflected in their numerous accolades, such as being named Pizza Hut's Franchisee of the Year and Applebee's Franchisee of the Year multiple times. Achieving these recognitions, especially as the largest franchisee, underscores their commitment to high standards and quality management.
The Flynn Group’s strategic pivot into the fitness industry with Planet Fitness is a notable diversification move. This expansion beyond traditional restaurant operations into adjacent consumer-facing businesses showcases Flynn’s innovative approach and adaptability in identifying and capitalizing on new market opportunities. Greg jokes about the Flynn Group's expansion into Planet Fitness as "vertical integration" – feeding customers at their restaurants and then slimming them down at their gyms.
The unique aspects of Flynn Properties illustrate Greg exceptional ability to diversify, innovate, and adapt in the dynamic fields of real estate and hospitality.
Greg offers a golden nugget of advice for aspiring operators and franchisees, “be an operator” first and foremost. In a highly competitive industry, excellence in hospitality trumps all. He emphasizes that it's not about the finance or buying assets but about being exceptionally good at running the operations. His perspective underscores that even with perfect timing and other strategies in place, the core of success lies in mastering the day-to-day operations and delivering unparalleled service. This advice from a proven industry leader highlights the essential focus on operational excellence as the key to thriving in the hospitality sector.

Savor the flavor of engaging segments like "What’s Hot and Not," a Quickfire Round that's sure to add some zest, and the pièce de résistance, Trivia Tuesday.

In this episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg, “The Restaurant Guy,” and Jimmy Frischling, “The Finance Guy,” are joined by guests Nick Bishop Jr, co-founder of Hattie B’s Hot Chicken, and Todd Williams, co-president and CFO of Hattie B’s Hot Chicken.

A partnership that took flight over a few rounds of golf eventually grew into the beloved Hattie B's Hot Chicken. Nick reveals his family's 50-year legacy in the restaurant business, starting with his grandfather and continuing through his father and uncles. Todd shares his transition from accountant to partner in the restaurant. Todd emphasizes the inspiring and motivating nature of working with Nick and his father, describing them as the kind of people you want to "kick the sheets off every day for.”

Key Takeaways:

Origin of Hattie B's Name: Nick shares the importance of family and their passion for the restaurant industry. With a legacy spanning over 50 years, starting with his grandfather, the father-son duo eventually created Hattie B's, a name that honors multiple generations.
Growing A Brand: Nick and Todd explore the power of marketing and social media. They highlight the "Shut the Cluck Up Challenge" as a fun and engaging way to involve guests. Jimmy and Shatzy attempt the challenge live, demonstrating the experiential nature of Hattie B's food and its impact on customer engagement.
Hattie B's X-Factor: The incredible people behind Hattie B's drives its success. Their dedication to the mission and community ensures great food, dedicated service, and an overall exceptional experience. Todd highlights the importance of authenticity, deeply rooted in the traditional Nashville experience.
Todd discusses the balance between using technology to improve operations without detracting from authenticity.
Ambassadors of The Brand: Nick and Todd discuss the importance of making a positive impact in the communities where they operate.
Hattie B's is rolling out its new breakfast menu at their Franklin, Tennessee location.
Talking Back: The hosts explore what they believe the biggest restaurant tech trend will be in the next 3-5 years.

Enjoy engaging discussions like "What’s Hot and Not," a Quickfire Round that's sure to spice things up, and other fun games that will leave you hungry for more.

🫶 Subscribe NOW - Unlock a world of knowledge, innovation, and growth from the largest podcast network in foodservice! - https://www.savor.fm/

Strategies for restaurants to regain customer loyalty, particularly among Generation Z, amid declining loyalty due to abundant choices and changing consumer behaviors. We explore leveraging technology, offering unique experiences, emphasizing authenticity, personalization, and creating shareable moments to engage Gen Z consumers effectively.

RestaurantMarketing #GenZLoyalty #DiningExperiences

📈 Learn More ~ https://www.revernetworks.com/restaurant-power-index
Restaurant Power Index featuring the top 50 brands' performance in consumer sentiment based on 12 performance markers in food, service, and overall brand consumer sentiment. The RPI features historical and current sentiment analysis for key brands based on the overall market sentiment data. Subscribe for weekly reports on the top brands in the restaurant industry.

In this episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg, “The Restaurant Guy,” and Jimmy Frischling, “The Finance Guy,” are joined by two returning guests,Christi Ravneberg, Senior Director of Media Intelligence and Custom Content for Informa Connect and Joe Donnelly, President of Media and Events at Informa Connect.

Christi and Joe dive into the Informa Connect intelligence platform, stirring the pot by surveying operator and retailer audiences. They whip up in-depth reports on technology, labor, and the major challenges operators are chewing over today. The guests dish out key trends from the Restaurant Tech Outlook report.

Key Takeaways:

· Breaking News: The release of Nation's Restaurant News' 2024 Restaurant Tech Outlook, a market leader report on the transformative tech strategies for restaurants. Ben discusses the value of the report as part of an ongoing annual effort, with plans to continue this trend with collaboration between Nation's Restaurant News and Restaurant Business, supported by the sponsor community, including QSR Automation.

· Operator Confidence in Data Utilization: Christi talks about investment trends and operator behavior. She shares that operators are increasingly confident in their use of data. Digital marketing emerges as a major area of investment, with trends leaning toward more cautious and discerning investments in technology compared to previous years.

· Focused Investments for ROI: Ben shares his insight on ROI (Return on Investment) and operator’s increasing focus on making pointed investments that provide clear ROI rather than adopting new technologies hastily.

· Importance of Key Customer Data: The discussion highlights how business growth is dependent upon understanding the guest and aiding the experienced operator in efficiency.

· Challenges and Opportunities in Tech Vendor Relationships: Christi shares data on operators' expectations for changes in their tech vendor relationships over the next year. There is a notable interest in replacing unsatisfactory tech components with better-performing ones, for example in Mergers and Acquisitions and food waste management.

· Can There Be Too Much Tech? The panel debates the restaurant industry’s growing reliance on technology. Can too much tech might overshadow the heart and soul of the business? Or, does tech and AI play an essential role across operations – from boosting kitchen efficiency and reducing errors to enhancing customer engagement.

In this episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg, “The Restaurant Guy,” and Jimmy Frischling, “The Finance Guy,” are joined by Zach Stein, co-founder and CEO of Supply Caddy.

Zach shares his journey into hospitality, starting with his degree from Wayne Huizenga School of Business, followed by years in venture capital focusing on early-stage startups. He discovered his flavor in CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods), garnishing his experience with a passion for creative packaging. With Supply Caddy, he’s now cooking up innovative packaging solutions that are as appealing as the dishes they encase, ensuring every takeout and delivery experience is a feast for the senses.

Key Takeaways:

· Pandemic's Impact on Packaging: Zach discusses the launch of Supply Caddy and how the pandemic accelerated the need for innovative packaging solutions due to the rise in delivery and takeout. He explains the industry’s shift towards third-party delivery becoming a necessity for restaurant operators.

· Role of Packaging in Brand Identity: Zach emphasizes creating a fun and useful way to represent the restaurant experience, with packaging now a key element of brand identity. He shares insights on how custom packaging can differentiate a brand and enhance customer satisfaction and experience.

· Zach highlights Supply Caddy as a forward-thinking company at the forefront of packaging innovation, discussing potential future technological advancements such as sensors and smart packaging.

· Supply Caddy’s dedication to meeting specific brand needs is showcased through their collaboration with Dave's Hot Chicken. Zach talks about maintaining food quality while enhancing the brand's appeal through innovative design.

· Marketing and Branding Benefits: Custom packaging allows smaller brands to compete with larger chains by providing a unique and consistent customer experience. Creative and high-quality packaging can serve as a marketing tool, attracting attention on social media and driving customer engagement.

· Talking Back: Zach asks “The Restaurant Guy” and “The Finance Guy” to share their secret ingredient in selecting winners among emerging growth brands as an operator or tech platform.

Enjoy a zesty flavor of discussions with games like Word Association, Name That Recipe, Quick Fire Round, and the main course, Trivia Tuesday.

In this episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg, “The Restaurant Guy,” and Jimmy Frischling, “Finance Guy”, welcome a titan of the restaurant tech industry, Ben Leventhal. Ben a co-founder of Eater, the visionary, co-founder, and former CEO of Resy, and now the co-founder and CEO of Blackbird Labs.

Throughout his career, Ben has been at the forefront of technological and marketing revolutions in the restaurant industry. Ben’s journey began with Eater, a trailblazing digital media brand dedicated to food culture and enhancing dining experiences, then co-founded Resy, a consumer-facing reservation platform that revolutionized how restaurants and guests interact. Ben shares his latest venture, Blackbird Labs, shaking up the restaurant scene with cutting-edge technology and forging the future in the food service, hospitality, and restaurant industries.

Key Takeaways:

· Ben touches on Eater, a go-to resource for food enthusiasts, to Resy, a more seamless and efficient experience for both diners and establishments.

· The evolution of content in the industry: In the early days with Eater, being quicker than print publications was a defining feature. Compelling storytelling and a strong brand narrative continue to be an enhancement to customer relationships and brand perception.

· Blackbird introduces FLY, a revolutionary point system designed to create a unified rewards currency for restaurants. Blackbird empowers independent restaurants to enhance their customer experience and compete on a more level playing field with larger chains and loyalty programs.

· Web3: Innovative technology helping restaurant operators scale their businesses and improve their connection with guests and other establishments while reducing transition costs. Blackbird aims to equip independent restaurants with the tools they need to understand the value of immediate and long-term customer engagement.

· Ben emphasizes a key lesson from his experience - when developing software, ask restaurants to do as little as possible in terms of implementation, operations, and training.

· Reducing Operational Complexity: Blackbird aims to integrate into the existing tech stack, striving to be best-in-class in what they do.

· Hot Takes: Ben shares his insight on trends, from TikTok recipes to drone food delivery.

· Talking Back: The “Restaurant Guy” and The “Finance Guy” share their views on the introduction of technology in the workplace.

· Trivia Tuesday: Separating fact from fiction in a lighthearted battle of wits.

In this episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg, “The Restaurant Guy,” and Jimmy Frischling, “The Finance Guy,” are thrilled to welcome Zachary “Schmackary” Schmahl, the Nebraska native who turned his Broadway dreams into a cookie empire right in the heart of New York City’s theatre district.

Starting at 24, Zachary began experimenting with cookie recipes, combining traditional concepts with bold twists. His creations quickly caught the attention of the Broadway community, turning his side hustle into a full-time, highly acclaimed cookie business. We like it so much we invested! Schmackary’s, often referred to as the hottest show in town, not only delights the local arts scene but also ships its award-winning cookies nationwide.

Key Takeaways:

Schatzy breaks down the amazing story behind Schmackary’s Cookies. Kinda…
Zachary Schmahl gives us his backstory, from aspiring to be an actor to working in marketing and PR. Zack tells us about his 'Aha!' moment.
When the universe calls, you answer! Zachary dishes on how Schmackary's experienced phenomenal early growth, made the right choices, fostered a community, and became the Official Cookie of Broadway!
Schmackary's has over 100 cookie options on the menu and continues to introduce new items. Zack shares his thoughts on limited-time offers (LTOs) and how to leverage new ideas.
Schmackary’s is coming to a city near you! Zack shares insights on how to transition into a franchise model while keeping your brand special.
Looking at the numbers, what is the secret ingredient behind Schmackary’s meteoric success?
Talking Back: Zach asks the Restaurant Guy and the Finance Guy what they think about tipping culture and, with changing service models, what tipping should look like today?
“Food Service Feud,” we asked 100 billion people what their favorite Starbucks drink is.

In this episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg, “The Restaurant Guy,” and Jimmy Frischling, “Finance Guy”, are joined by Craig Dunaway COO and a member of the Board of Directors of Penn Station East Coast Subs.

Craig recounts his journey, beginning as a young professional at a regional accounting firm in Indiana before venturing into the world of franchising with Papa John’s Pizza and eventually becoming a multi- unit franchisee of Papa John’s and Penn Station East Coast Subs, culminating in his current role as COO.

Key Takeaways:

Craig talks about his entrepreneurial journey, fueled by a shared vision with a college buddy to garner wealth through real estate. In time, fate steered them towards the owner-operator concept, resulting in Craig opening 11 Papa John’s franchises over the course of a decade.
Craig’s sale of the largest Papa John’s Franchisee in Cincinnati marks a significant milestone in his career.
Meeting the menu and the founder of Penn Station and finding a commonality between brands: A focus on food, the franchisee, and profitability.
The triumph of adaptability over unpredictability: Attaining success through pliability during COVID. Penn Station’s swift pivot to cold sandwiches and integration with third-party delivery platforms.
Post-pandemic landscape: With 80% of business takeaway now coming from off-premise dining,
Penn Station responds to evolving consumer preferences as an industry attuned to guest needs through flexibility and choice.
The debate between quality or convenience in an ever-evolving industry.
Hot Takes: From ghost kitchens to the integration of smart kitchen appliances, Craig sheds his insight on cutting-edge trends.
Trivia Tuesday: Separating fact from fiction in a lighthearted battle of wits.

🫶 Subscribe NOW - Unlock a world of knowledge, innovation, and growth from the largest podcast network in foodservice! - https://www.savor.fm/

In this episode of the Rock My Restaurant Podcast, Leon Davoyan (CTO) and Brad Haley (Chief Marketing Officer) from Dave's Hot Chicken share their invaluable insights on successfully navigating growth while catering to Generation Z's unique preferences and demands. They discuss the importance of leveraging cutting-edge technology, creating engaging brand experiences, prioritizing authenticity, transparency, and effectively utilizing social media platforms to attract and retain Gen Z customers. Additionally, they explore the challenges faced during expansion, the company's commitment to sustainability and social responsibility, and provide key growth strategies for reaching the digital native Gen Z, including embracing mobile-first experiences, prioritizing social media engagement, offering personalized experiences, and emphasizing purpose-driven initiatives.

📈 Learn More ~ https://www.revernetworks.com/restaurant-power-index Restaurant Power Index featuring the top 50 brands' performance in consumer sentiment based on 12 performance markers in food, service, and overall brand consumer sentiment. The RPI features historical and current sentiment analysis for key brands based on the overall market sentiment data. Subscribe for weekly reports on the top brands in the restaurant industry.

In this episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg, “The Restaurant Guy,” and Jimmy Frischling, “The Finance Guy,” are joined by Tracy Kim, CEO of DIG.

Tracy tells us about her journey from a pre-med student at Stanford and earning her MBA at Harvard Business School and her subsequent leap into the hospitality sector, culminating in her leadership role at DIG. Fast forward, Tracy dishes out how DIG has ‘bowled over’ their audience and positioned itself as the go-to solution for lunch and dinner. Tracy also shares how DIG has used data and technology to modify their approach to capturing new audiences. Plus, why culture is more than just training and the importance of a truly dedicated team.

Key Takeaways:

• Leadership and Innovation: Tracy’s leadership at DIG is informed by her diverse experiences

and passion for hospitality. Tracy peppers in stories from her years with General Mills and

Weight-Watchers and experiences at tech giants like Shuttershock and as a former CEO of

Aaptiv.

• Pump Energy changes to DIG as a healthy staple to New Yorkers bringing fresh high-quality

vegetable-forward food. DIG has ‘bowled over’ their audience and positioned itself as the go-to

solution for lunch and dinner, emphasizing how data and technology have been instrumental in

expanding market reach and understanding consumer behaviors.

• Consumer segmentation analysis and leveraging psychographic data to tailor services.

• Market Adaptation: Post-COVID, DIG beyond cities. The hybrid workforce and being able to

adapt, tapping into new markets.

• Tracy highlights the importance of efficient in-house technology systems. Tracy shares how

the right technological partnerships have streamlined operations, allowing DIG to maintain a

strong focus on hospitality.

• Bleeding DIG: The dedication of DIG’s team and the strong company culture are vital to their

success. A testament to the employees of DIG.

• Hot Takes: Tracy offers her insight on evolving trends, such as plant-based menus and the

use of robot servers.

• Talking back: Where is technology heading in hospitality? The restaurant guy and finance guy share their forecast on the future of tech in the dining scene.

In this episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg, “The Restaurant Guy,” and Jimmy Frischling, “Finance Guy,” are joined by Scott Redler, co-founder of Freddy’s Frozen Custard and founder of Redler’s Hospitality.

Scott tells his story of 48 years of experience, dedication, and admiration for the restaurant industry and creating an impact on others’ entrepreneurial lives and experiences. From the birth of Shanghai Charlie’s and Timberline Steakhouse to navigating the complexities of finances, location, and ergonomics, Scott's journey is a personal tale of passion and perseverance.

Key Takeaways:

Scott’s early dedication to the industry and his continual partnership.The hardships entrepreneurs encounter and the exchange of experience gained leading up to success.
Lessons learned: Scott shares insights from his ventures like Shanghai Charlies and Timberline Steakhouse. He emphasizes the importance of culture, location, and attitude as key ingredients for any entrepreneurial venture. He also shares his truth about the recession's toll, where his 4-million-dollar investment, Timberline Steakhouse, sells for 25,000.
Freddy’s: the concept and entrepreneurs behind the investment. With integrity, minimal investment, and hard work, Freddy's has become a beloved fixture, serving up satisfaction to over 50% of its patrons to this day. As the first franchise was brought to life in Hutchinson, Kansas, Scott celebrates the joy of franchisee success stories, where lives are changed and businesses flourish.
Scott tours across the country and even beyond as the Honors of Service Chair of the National Restaurant Association. Now, with Mocha’s Café and Redler Hospitality, Scott continues to stir up excitement in the industry. With a wealth of experience, Scott plans to make Mocha's Café a franchisable business and share his success.
Hot Takes: From AI-driven drive-through menus to paperless receipts via automatic email, Scott spices up the conversation with insights into the hottest trends in food service technology. From the importance of the Owner Operator Concept to the game-changing benefits of data-driven decision-making (DDD).

🫶 Subscribe NOW - www.savor.fm for more in-depth research on fast casual and the restaurant industry.

The episode explores the future of consumer engagement and experiences in restaurants through Web3 tools like blockchain, digital IDs, NFTs and gaming. While Starbucks dropped its NFT program, edgier brands like Wow Bao are partnering with gaming platforms like Roblox to reach younger audiences. Gaming is a major growth area, with the global market expected to hit $1 trillion by 2027, driven substantially by Gen Z's affinity. The fast-casual restaurant segment, with its tech-savvy consumer base and $80 billion U.S. revenue, is well-positioned to lead Web3 adoption in areas like personalized loyalty programs through digital IDs. As Gen Z's influence rises, restaurants integrating Web3 solutions and gaming will likely be at the forefront of enhancing customer engagement.

Web3Restaurants #RestaurantMetaverse #FastCasualFuture #GamifyDining #GenZEats

🔥 🔥 📈 Learn More ~ https://bit.ly/3Osn1Lk
Restaurant Power Index featuring the top 50 brands' performance in consumer sentiment based on 12 performance markers in food, service, and overall brand consumer sentiment. The RPI features historical and current sentiment analysis for key brands based on the overall market sentiment data. Subscribe for weekly reports on the top brands in the restaurant industry.

In this episode of Rocky My Restaurant, Freebirds World Burrito CEO Alex Eagle shares his insights on building a successful fresh-mex brand in the highly competitive fast-casual sector. He discusses the importance of differentiating through a unique brand identity, high-quality ingredients, and customizable options to cater to customer tastes. Eagle also emphasizes the need to adapt to evolving customer preferences, such as offering online ordering and curbside pickup, while maintaining consistent quality and service to foster customer loyalty and create a memorable dining experience - key strategies for sustaining a brand in the modern restaurant industry.

🫶 Subscribe NOW - www.savor.fm for more in-depth research on fast casual and the restaurant industry.

🔥 🔥 📈 Learn More ~ https://bit.ly/3Osn1Lk
Restaurant Power Index featuring the top 50 brands' performance in consumer sentiment based on 12 performance markers in food, service, and overall brand consumer sentiment. The RPI features historical and current sentiment analysis for key brands based on the overall market sentiment data. Subscribe for weekly reports on the top brands in the restaurant industry.

In this episode of Rock My Restaurant, host Paul Barron and Tammy Billings sit down with Brandy Blackwell, the VP of Marketing for Another Broken Egg Cafe. The trio delves into women's growing presence and success in foodservice, highlighting the increasing number of women taking on leadership roles within the industry.

The conversation reveals that women have made significant strides in VP and CXO roles across various sectors, with the fast casual industry experiencing the most notable growth. The year-over-year increase in these positions for women in fast casual has reached an impressive 6%, marking the most significant rise in the past decade.

Brandy shares her insights on the hospitality sector's challenges, particularly the declining restaurant visits in 2024. The discussion focuses on potential solutions to address this issue and revitalize the industry. Drawing from their extensive experience, Paul, Tammy, and Brandy reveal three key secrets for brands looking to boost their daypart sales and engage consumers in innovative ways.

Throughout the episode, Paul, Tammy, and Brandy explore the restaurant industry's evolving challenges in hospitality. The trio of experts unveils three crucial secrets that can help businesses improve guest satisfaction and construct a resilient, bullet-proof brand. By implementing these strategies, restaurants can navigate the industry's ever-changing landscape and emerge stronger than ever.

Don't miss this thought-provoking and informative episode of Rock My Restaurant, as Paul Barron, Tammy Billings, and Brandy Blackwell share their expertise and offer a fresh perspective on the future of foodservice and the rising influence of women in the industry.

In this episode of The Rock My Restaurant Podcast, hosts Paul Barron and Tammy Billings are joined by special guest Alexia Penna, a seasoned multi-brand and multi-segment marketer from Eureka! Restaurants. Together, they delve into the restaurant industry's pressing issues and explore innovative strategies to overcome challenges and drive success.

Alexia shares her unique perspective on the current wage and employment crunch, offering valuable insights into navigating this complex issue. The discussion then shifts to the power of technology, particularly loyalty systems, and how restaurants can leverage these tools to enhance customer engagement and retention.

Multi-brand Marketing is a strategic approach that can offer numerous benefits to businesses looking to expand their reach, target diverse customer segments, and drive growth. By leveraging the power of multiple brands, companies can tap into new markets, increase their market share, and build a more substantial, more resilient business. Let's explore some of the critical advantages of multi-brand marketing and how it can help companies to thrive.1. Targeting diverse customer segments: One of the primary benefits of multi-brand marketing is the ability to appeal to different customer segments. By creating separate brands, each with a unique identity, positioning, and target audience, businesses can effectively cater to the specific needs and preferences of various consumer groups. This allows companies to expand their customer base and capture a larger market share. 2. Increased market share: By introducing multiple brands, businesses can occupy a more significant portion of the market and reduce the impact of competitors. Each brand can carve out its niche, attracting a specific set of customers and building loyalty within that segment. As a result, the company can capture a greater market share, leading to increased revenue and profitability. 3. Cross-promotion opportunities: Multi-brand marketing allows businesses to leverage the strengths of each brand to support the others. Through strategic cross-promotion initiatives, companies can encourage customers of one brand to try the products or services of another. This not only increases brand exposure but also fosters a sense of trust and loyalty among customers, as they associate the positive experiences of one brand with others under the same corporate umbrella. 4. Enhanced brand equity: By building a portfolio of strong, recognizable brands, businesses can enhance their overall brand equity. Each successful brand contributes to the reputation and value of the parent company, creating a halo effect that benefits all the brands under its umbrella. This increased brand equity can lead to higher customer loyalty, better partnerships, and more attractive investment opportunities.

Social Media Importance Still?The conversation also explores social media's dynamic world and online personalities' growing influence. Alexia reveals how Eureka! Restaurants harness the power of influencers to expand their reach and connect with new audiences.

Looking towards the future, the podcast covers exciting opportunities in expanding dining sectors and the launch of new fine dining brands. Alexia provides a glimpse into Eureka! Restaurants' plans and shares her thoughts on the restaurant industry's evolving landscape.

This episode is a must-listen for restaurant owners, managers, and marketers seeking to stay ahead of the curve in branding, marketing, and technology. Join Paul, Tammy, and Alexia as they serve up actionable insights to help you rock your restaurant!

In this episode of Rock My Restaurant, Paul and Tammy are joined by Bloomberg's renowned restaurant analyst Michael Halen. Together, they examine the current state of the restaurant industry and explore the potential obstacles that lie ahead.

Despite the consumer sentiment survey trending upward, the trio discusses how this metric may not accurately reflect diners' true sentiment. Michael shares his expert analysis on why traditional sentiment indicators might be misleading in today's complex economic landscape.

The conversation then shifts to the pressing issues of technology and labor, two critical factors that could pose significant challenges for restaurants in the coming year. Michael provides valuable insights into these areas' latest trends and developments, helping listeners understand how they might impact the industry's operations and bottom line.

As the discussion progresses, the group tackles the burning question on everyone's mind: Will the persistent economic pressures on consumers continue to drive a decline in restaurant visits? Michael draws upon his extensive research and data to offer a balanced perspective, considering various scenarios and potential mitigating factors.

Throughout the episode, Paul, Tammy, and Michael engage in thought-provoking discussions, sharing their unique perspectives and experiences to provide a well-rounded view of the challenges facing the restaurant industry in 2024. Listeners can expect to gain valuable insights and actionable strategies to help navigate the ever-changing landscape.

Don't miss this informative episode of Rock My Restaurant, where industry experts come together to dissect the most pressing issues and equip listeners with the knowledge they need to stay ahead of the curve.

In a recent episode of "Rock My Restaurant," a thought-provoking podcast hosted by Paul Barron and Tammy Billings, the spotlight was turned towards the innovative intersection of brand and technology within the restaurant industry. The episode featured insightful discussions with executives from Dog Haus, a fast casual pioneer based in Los Angeles, known for its creative approach to Dogs and Burgers and rapid multi-brand growth. Key takeaways from their conversation, focusing on the role of technology in brand expansion, the evolution of loyalty systems, and the technological advancements poised to revolutionize restaurant sales in the future.Multi-brand Growth and Technological SynergyThe executives from Dog Haus discussed a compelling vision for leveraging technology to fuel the growth of multiple brands under one umbrella. The conversation revealed how Dog Haus is not just a restaurant; it's a testament to the power of brand scalability and technological integration.Subscribe nowKey Insights:* Strategic Use of Technology: Dog Haus utilizes cutting-edge technology to streamline operations, enhance customer experiences, and manage multiple brands efficiently. * Brand Expansion: Technology enables Dog Haus to rapidly expand its brand portfolio, making it easier to test new concepts and scale successful ones.

Loyalty Systems of the FutureMuch of the discussion was dedicated to the future of loyalty systems. In an era where customer engagement is paramount, Dog Haus executives shared their vision for innovative loyalty programs beyond traditional point-based systems.Future Trends:* Personalization: Advanced data analytics will allow for highly personalized loyalty programs, offering rewards and experiences tailored to individual preferences. * Integration with Lifestyle: Loyalty programs will become more integrated with customers' daily lives, offering benefits beyond the restaurant's doors.

Technological Advancements Driving Restaurant SalesThe conversation also ventured into speculative territory, discussing the technological advancements expected to drive future restaurant sales. The Dog Haus executives underscore the transformative potential of technology in the restaurant industry. As brands like Dog Haus continue to innovate and adapt, the future of dining looks delicious and digitally dynamic.

In this episode, Paul Barron and Tammy Billings are joined by Chris Demery, the CTO of Blaze Pizza, a rapidly expanding fast-casual brand known for its focus on guest experience and innovative technology. The conversation dives deep into the strategies and insights behind building a stellar executive team to steer the company through its fast-paced growth. The discussion unfolds around three core areas:1. Building a Start Executive Team: * The importance of assembling a team that combines expertise in foodservice with technology and innovation. * Strategies for attracting top talent in a competitive landscape. 2. Engaging Gen Z Customers: * Understanding the unique preferences and values of the Gen Z demographic. * Tailoring marketing and product offerings to meet the demands of this growing customer base. 3. Growth in the Fast-Casual Pizza Segment: * Analyzing the crowded market and identifying opportunities for differentiation. * Leveraging technology and guest experience as key drivers for growth and brand loyalty.

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In this episode of Rock My Restaurant, we delve into the world of Web3 marketing with a fascinating case study: Glenlivet's recent foray into NFTs and AI.As the spirits industry experiences a slowdown, we explore how innovative brands adapt and push boundaries.Join us as we explore:
* How Glenlivet is leveraging cutting-edge technology to market their 50-year-old whiskey collection in a competitive and saturated market. * The benefits and potential of Web3 marketing for brands, including: + Enhanced brand storytelling and engagement. + Reaching new and tech-savvy audiences. + Creating unique and ownable experiences. * Who exactly is the target audience for these Web3 initiatives? * The innovative use of smart contracts in this campaign and their potential for the future of brand IP extensions.

We'll also discuss:
* The current state of the spirits industry and how the slowdown is impacting marketing strategies. * Why brands like Glenlivet are increasingly turning to Web3 to innovate and stay ahead of the curve. * The potential challenges and considerations for brands entering the Web3 space.

Whether you're a restaurateur, marketer, or simply curious about the intersection of technology and brand building, this episode is packed with valuable insights and thought-provoking discussions.Please tune in and discover how Web3 is shaking up the marketing landscape and what it means for the future of brands like Glenlivet and, potentially, your restaurant!

In this episode of Rock My Restaurant, Paul Barron and Tammy Billings co-host the visionary Geoff Alexander and his journey with Wow Bao, which has embarked on a transformative journey that redefined how diners interacted with restaurants. Wow Bao emerged as a trailblazer in the culinary world through a strategic blend of technology integration, and next gen technology.

Embracing Technological Advancements
Alexander recognized the potential of technology to enhance the dining experience and wasted no time in implementing groundbreaking solutions. Wow Bao became synonymous with convenience by introducing mobile and desktop ordering systems. This move empowered customers to place orders seamlessly, catering to the evolving preferences of modern consumers.

Moreover, Wow Bao's adoption of self-ordering kiosks revolutionized the traditional dining model, offering patrons a streamlined and efficient way to customize their orders. This innovation improved operational efficiency and enhanced customer satisfaction by reducing wait times and minimizing errors.

Pioneering Loyalty Programs and Delivery Services
In addition to technological advancements, Alexander spearheaded the development of a mobile gift card and loyalty program, fostering a sense of loyalty and engagement among customers. Wow, Bao effectively incentivized repeat business by leveraging digital platforms and fostering deeper connections with its patrons.

Integration with Devours Web3 Solution has assisted in the overall strategy development of Alexander and how his brand could be on the pioneer trail and separated from other emerging brands.

Venturing into the Web3 Space
Wow Bao remains at the forefront of innovation as technology evolves, embracing emerging trends to stay ahead of the curve. Alexander's visionary approach has led Wow Bao to explore brand integrations with Web3 Loyalty platforms, tapping into the potential of blockchain technology to enhance customer engagement and loyalty.

Moreover, Wow Bao's creation of digital brand IP in the Web3 space represents a strategic move to forge deeper connections with the Gen Z consumer demographic. By leveraging Web3 technology's immersive capabilities, Wow Bao aims to create unique and memorable experiences that resonate with the digital-native generation.

Don't miss this episode, and subscribe for the full breakdown!
For More Web3 Topics visit these additional videos for a full breakdown.

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In this episode of the Rock My Restaurant Podcast, we had the pleasure of interviewing Aaron Noveshen, the CEO of Starbird Chicken. His brand is rapidly growing and is taking the foodservice industry by storm. In this interview, we explored the secrets behind their remarkable growth and whether technology can keep pace with their ambitious expansion plans.

The Starbirds Success Story: Starbird Chicken has become a household name in the fast casual sector, known for its delectable chicken offerings and unique dining experiences. With a focus on quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction, the chain has achieved remarkable success in a relatively short period. But what's the secret sauce behind their meteoric rise?

The Technology Behind the Growth: As Starbird Chicken looks to expand even further in 2024, the question arises: can technology keep pace with its ambitions? Let's examine some of how technology is playing a crucial role in Starbirds' growth:

Digital Ordering and Delivery: Starbird Chicken leverages advanced mobile apps and online ordering platforms to cater to the digital-savvy consumer. This enhances convenience and allows for data collection and analysis to tailor offerings to customer preferences.

We discussed many insights into how Starbirds has become the best guest sentiment brand in the chicken category.

Strategies setting them apart in the digital space
Consumer pushback on Price in the restaurant business
Tech challenges facing the industry
What are the best marketing tactics for next-gen consumers
Don’t miss the entire podcast!

In this episode, Paul Barron and Paul Molinari shed light on one of the most successful loyalty programs to date. Surprisingly, it's not from a major brand or a fast-casual giant; instead, it's a new brand that's shaking things up with innovative approaches. Moreover, we'll explore the triumph of Starbucks' Odyssey and discuss the potential integration of Web3 strategies by McDonald's in gamification, consumer loyalty, and brand IP.

The New Paradigm in Foodservice Loyalty: Traditionally, foodservice loyalty programs have been dominated by industry giants, but times are changing. A new wave of innovators is challenging the status quo. The success story discussed in this episode exemplifies how fresh ideas can disrupt the norm.

Loyalty Program Unveiled: In this episode, we uncover the details of a loyalty program that has taken the foodservice industry by storm. This program's unique approach and fresh perspective on engaging consumers have garnered remarkable success. It serves as a testament to the fact that in the world of loyalty, innovation knows no bounds.

Starbucks Odyssey: A Case Study in Excellence: Starbucks has long been a trailblazer in the foodservice industry, and their Odyssey loyalty program is no exception. We'll delve into the strategies that have made Starbucks a leader in consumer loyalty and how it continues to set the bar for others to follow.

McDonald's and Web3: A Glimpse into the Future: Web3 technologies are reshaping industries across the board, and foodservice is no exception. We'll explore how McDonald's, a global fast-food giant, could leverage Web3 strategies in gamification, consumer loyalty, and brand intellectual property (IP). This forward-thinking approach could revolutionize the way McDonald's interacts with its customers and strengthens its brand.

Next Generation Brand IP
The utilization of NFTs and blockchain technology in the context of next-generation brand intellectual property (IP) opens up new avenues for brands to explore IP in ways previously unattainable, thanks to the incorporation of Smart Contracts.

Predictions for the Future
Based on historical analysis and current trends, we provide some predictions for the future of foodservice loyalty programs. Will more disruptors like the brand discussed in this episode emerge, challenging the established players? Will Web3 technologies become a standard tool for enhancing consumer engagement and loyalty?

In this episode, we talk with Josh Halpern, the CEO of Big Chicken, who has proven to be a visionary leader with a knack for navigating the unique challenges of leading a brand associated with a celebrity owner. Here are some key areas where Josh Halpern's leadership shines:
Podcast Rundown - A Don’t Miss Episode!

Celebrity Branding Done Right: Big Chicken's association with a celebrity owner, in this case, the iconic Shaquille O'Neal, is a testament to the power of celebrity branding. However, Josh Halpern's ability to leverage this star power effectively sets him apart. Under his leadership, Big Chicken has relied on the celebrity factor and built a brand that stands on its merits with outstanding leadership by Josh.

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~Sponsored by: Devour~
For more information about Devour, visit www.devour.io
Devour.io is a platform that helps restaurants create engaging and interactive loyalty programs that leverage the power of gamification. Through features like points, badges, and leaderboards, Devour.io makes dining out more fun and rewarding for customers while providing restaurants with valuable data and insights.

In this captivating episode of the Rock My Restaurant Podcast, our hosts Paul Barron and Paul Molinari sit down with Nicole Tanner, the innovative founder of Swig, to explore the remarkable journey behind creating a viral restaurant brand. Swig has taken the fast-casual restaurant sector by storm, but it's not your typical food establishment. Nicole has steered Swig towards a unique path, one centered around creative beverages that cater to an entirely new demographic of consumers.

fastcasual #restaurants #marketing #branding #SwigDrinks #rockmyrestaurant

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~Sponsored by: Devour~
For more information about Devour, visit www.devour.io
Devour.io is a platform that helps restaurants create engaging and interactive loyalty programs that leverage the power of gamification. Through features like points, badges, and leaderboards, Devour.io makes dining out more fun and rewarding for customers while providing restaurants with valuable data and insights.

In this podcast, we get to talk with Jeremy Theisen, the CDO of Craveworthy Brands, a Multi-brand restaurant operator, who is at the forefront of this revolution, capitalizing on the growing consumer demand for diverse dining experiences. In this podcast, we will explore the phenomenon of Craveworthy Brands and their focus on growth in the fast-casual segment.We explore the array of brands and what makes them work in a new landscape of fast-casual.

The Podcast Rundown and What We Discuss
Consumer Growth in Fast Casual: Fast casual dining has witnessed a remarkable surge in popularity in recent years. This growth can be attributed to various factors, including changing consumer preferences and shifting towards healthier, more customizable dining options. The fast-casual experience combines the speed of traditional fast-food chains with the quality and customization of casual dining restaurants.

Millennials and Multi-Brands: Millennials, the largest generation in the workforce today, have played a pivotal role in shaping the fast-casual dining landscape. They are a demographic known for their adventurous palate and desire for diverse culinary experiences. Multi-brand restaurant operators have tapped into this market by offering a range of cuisines and concepts under one roof.

These operators understand that to connect with Millennials, they must offer food and an experience. From artisanal burgers to gourmet tacos, they provide a curated menu that appeals to a generation constantly seeking new flavors and Instagram-worthy moments. By blending innovation with tradition, these brands have established themselves as culinary destinations for Millennials.

The Challenge of Reduced Brand Loyalty: One of the fascinating aspects of the fast-casual segment is the reduced brand loyalty among consumers is growing in this segment more than QSR. Unlike the traditional fast-food giants, where customers often have longstanding loyalty, fast casual diners are more likely to explore various options. This trend presents both opportunities and challenges for multi-brand operators.

Listen to more podcasts from Savor.fm

~Sponsored by: Devour~
For more information about Devour, visit www.devour.io
Devour.io is a platform that helps restaurants create engaging and interactive loyalty programs that leverage the power of gamification. Through features like points, badges, and leaderboards, Devour.io makes dining out more fun and rewarding for customers while providing restaurants with valuable data and insights.

In the competitive restaurant industry, standing out is no easy feat. But for some breakout brands, the secret to success lies in unexpected places. In this episode, we dive into the tactics and ideas that restaurants could embrace in the next generation of technology adoption with Shelly Rupel CEO and Founder at Devour.io, a company on a mission to revolutionize restaurant loyalty programs through gamification.The Podcast Rundown
Gaming Culture and why it matters to restaurants * Next-Gen Consumer Adoption Trends * Breaking down the McDonald’s Loyalty Program Success * Introducing the Solana Saga Phenomenon and how hardware could related to rewards from restaurants for your best customers*

Listen to more podcasts from Savor.fm

For More Information about Devour, visit www.devour.io
Devour.io is a platform that helps restaurants create engaging and interactive loyalty programs that leverage the power of gamification. Through features like points, badges, and leaderboards, Devour.io makes dining out more fun and rewarding for customers while providing restaurants with valuable data and insights.

In today’s show, Paul Barron and Paul Molinari break down the insight of evangelists vs influencers and why this can make a difference in your restaurant.

We have a special guest, Wayne Mullins, author of the book Full Circle Marketing. Wayne is here to talk about how restaurants can turn customers into brand evangelists versus just influencers.
Wayne's book dives deep into the natural laws and psychology behind how a customer transitions into a raving fan who voluntarily markets your restaurant. As Wayne explains, strategic ways exist to create this customer journey that tap into fundamental human behaviors.

The Differences That Matter
A key difference Wayne outlines is that influencers may temporarily boost awareness, but evangelists organically spread positive word-of-mouth about your restaurant for the long term. This leads to sustainable growth versus short-term hype.

Some exciting tactics Wayne has seen work include surprise and delight rewards programs and referral campaigns. These encourage customers to share their exceptional experiences. Personalizing interactions and getting to know your regulars pays off tremendously.

Wayne notes that restaurants and hospitality businesses generally have great potential to create these evangelists. Touchpoints can be designed to excite, engage, and convert customers into fans by focusing on the entire customer journey from booking to follow-up.

Don’t Miss This Episode!
I'd highly recommend listening to the whole discussion as Wayne and our hosts dive deep into more examples of companies getting this right. The key takeaway is that designing intentional customer experiences creates that vital emotional connection that makes someone go from satisfied to loyal brand champion. That's the key to sustainable success.

Sponsored by: Devour

Reimagine Food Experiences With Devour!Venture into the unexplored realms of gaming, esports, entertainment, and the metaverse with Devour, your guide to a revolutionary food ordering and experience.Leveraging AI, web3, and cutting-edge technology, we’re crafting tokenized campaigns, creator tools, and social apps to fuel brand engagement with Gen Z and beyond.

Todays Guest: Caprice Kidgren - Caprice's most notable achievement was her groundbreaking approach to Urbane Cafe's loyalty program. With her strategic insight, she revolutionized the program by introducing non-discount rewards.

In today’s episode Paul Molinari of Devour.io and Paul Barron break down some key brand features when it comes to loyalty and app-based engagement. One key aspect gaining traction is using mobile apps to foster customer loyalty. Urbane Cafe, a Savor.fm Top 100 Fast Casual brand, has successfully harnessed the power of technology to build a loyalty-based brand, one app download at a time.

The Digital Transformation of Dining
Urbane Cafe, known for its delicious sandwiches and salads, recognized early on that the future of foodservice lies in creating seamless and convenient customer dining experiences. To stay ahead in the competitive restaurant industry, they embarked on a digital transformation journey by introducing their mobile app.

Urbane Cafe's Loyalty App Growth
Urbane Cafe's loyalty app has been nothing short of a success story. Since its launch, the app has experienced remarkable growth, with tens of thousands of downloads and a rapidly expanding user base. This growth can be attributed to several key factors:

Rewarding Loyalty: Urbane Cafe's app offers a compelling rewards program that encourages customers to download and use the app regularly. Points are earned with each purchase and can be redeemed for discounts and free items, creating a sense of value for users.
Exclusive Offers: The app provides users access to exclusive promotions and offers not available through other channels. This exclusivity entices customers to engage with the app and return to Urbane Cafe.
User-Friendly Interface: Urbane Cafe's app boasts a user-friendly interface that makes ordering quick and hassle-free. Customers can easily browse the menu, customize their orders, and pay securely, all within a few taps on their smartphones.
Personalization: Personalization is crucial in the age of AI and data analytics. Urbane Cafe uses AI algorithms to analyze customer preferences and recommend menu items tailored to individual tastes. This personalized touch keeps customers engaged and satisfied.
Engagement Strategies: Urbane Cafe actively engages with app users through push notifications, informing them about special promotions, new menu items, and upcoming events. This consistent engagement helps maintain customer interest and loyalty.

Sponsored by:
Urbane Cafe's Ranking in the Top 100 Fast Casual Brands
In an exciting development, Urbane Cafe has recently achieved recognition for its commitment to excellence and innovation. The restaurant chain has earned a coveted spot in the Top 100 Fast Casual Brands list, as curated by Savor.fm. This prestigious ranking underscores Urbane Cafe's dedication to providing exceptional dining experiences through its loyalty app and tech-savvy approach.

Urbane Cafe's journey from a traditional restaurant chain to a tech-savvy brand showcases the power of embracing technology, fostering customer loyalty, and using data analysis to drive growth. With each app download, Urbane Cafe takes a step closer to a brighter, more innovative future for the foodservice industry.

In today’s Rock My Restaurant episode, we take a deep dive into Voice Tech and the future of how it will affect the foodservice and marketing space. Our Guest is Ben Bellettini of Sound Hound. Ben has over a decade of experience working in restaurant technology with expertise in strategic leadership roles at Yelp and Postmates. His expertise lies in helping restaurants leverage groundbreaking technology to evolve and improve customer interactions.

Voice Tech in Customer Service:

Improved Customer Support:
- Voice assistants and chatbots equipped with natural language processing (NLP) can immediately assist customers, addressing queries and resolving issues efficiently.
- Historical data analysis reveals that companies implementing voice-driven customer support have seen a significant reduction in response times and increased customer satisfaction.
Personalized Recommendations:
- Voice recognition can identify customers based on their voice patterns, enabling businesses to offer personalized product or service recommendations.
- This personalization has historically led to higher conversion rates and increased sales revenue.
24/7 Availability:
- Voice technology allows businesses to offer round-the-clock customer support, reducing the need for human agents during off-hours.
- Historical data indicates that this increased availability has led to higher customer retention rates and enhanced brand loyalty.

Voice Tech in Marketing and Engagement:

Voice-Activated Marketing Campaigns:
- Voice-assisted devices can engage customers through interactive marketing campaigns, quizzes, and games.
- Analyzing past campaigns, we've seen higher engagement and brand recall among users interacting with voice-driven content.
Enhanced User Experience:
- Voice commands simplify the user experience, making it easier for customers to access information, purchase, and interact with brands.
- Historical data shows that businesses offering voice-optimized experiences have seen increased customer engagement and reduced bounce rates on their websites and apps.
Voice-Enabled Content:
- Voice technology enables audio content creation, such as podcasts and voice search optimization for websites.
- Analysis of voice-enabled content indicated a growing audience and extended reach, providing opportunities for businesses to connect with new customers.

Voice Tech in Training:

Interactive Learning:
- Voice-driven training modules and virtual assistants can offer employees interactive and personalized learning experiences.
- Historical analysis suggests this approach results in faster skill development and increased knowledge retention.
Real-time Feedback:
- Voice technology can provide real-time feedback to learners, helping them improve their skills and performance.
- Past data shows that employees who receive instant voice-guided feedback are more likely to excel in their roles.
Accessibility:
- Voice-based training is inclusive and accessible to individuals with different learning abilities.
- Examining previous instances, we've found that this inclusivity has led to a more diverse and skilled workforce.

Voice technology is poised to reshape customer service, marketing, engagement, and training profoundly. By leveraging the power of voice-driven solutions, businesses can enhance customer satisfaction, increase engagement, and empower their employees. Historical analysis demonstrates the promising potential of voice tech, making it a key focus for companies looking to stay ahead in the ever-evolving world of technology-forward media.

In today's podcast, we focus on three key areas of loyalty and frequency and some example from some brands you might recognize, like Nike, and Starbucks and the idea of how Mcdonald's could be approaching an entirely new way of connecting with consumers in the future.

In an increasingly digital world, brands are constantly seeking innovative ways to engage with their customers and foster loyalty. While self-directed technology has emerged as a promising tool for achieving these goals, its implementation has also raised concerns about data privacy and control. Web3-based loyalty systems, with their emphasis on decentralized data ownership and enhanced user control, offer a potential solution to these concerns while also opening up new avenues for brand engagement.

Get the full case study on our Substack.

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Welcome Back - Rock My Restaurant is a resurgence of our longest-running podcast next to The Restaurant Report, all focused on Restaurant Branding, Marketing, and the technology shift driving it. Time to Break Your Brain!

Next-gen consumers use tech, social, and Web3 to discover and purchase new brands. Here are a few examples:
Social commerce: Next-gen consumers increasingly discover and purchase products through social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram. These platforms offer a variety of features that make it easy for consumers to shop, such as in-app shopping carts and product tags. Additionally, social media platforms allow consumers to see recommendations from their friends and followers, which can help them to discover new brands. * Live shopping: Live shopping events, where brands partner with influencers to sell products in real-time, are becoming popular among next-gen consumers. Live shopping events offer several advantages, such as the ability to ask questions and interact with the influencer in real-time. Additionally, live shopping events often offer exclusive discounts and promotions, which can make them even more appealing to next-gen consumers. * Web3:* Web3 technologies like NFTs and the metaverse create new opportunities for brands to connect with next-gen consumers. For example, brands can create and sell NFTs that give consumers access to exclusive products or experiences. Additionally, brands can partner with metaverse platforms to create virtual stores and customer experiences.

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In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, hosts Michael Schatzberg, affectionately known as "The Restaurant Guy," and Jimmy Frischling, "The Finance Guy," sit down with the legendary Don Fox, Chairman of Firehouse Subs.

The Meteoric Rise of Don Fox

Starting his culinary journey scrubbing dishes at an Italian restaurant in New Jersey, Fox has seen it all. From his aspirations of being a trumpet player to a substantial 23-year tenure with Burger King, Fox's tale is nothing short of inspiring. The episode sheds light on his monumental contribution to Firehouse Subs, transforming it from a 65-unit brand in 2003 to a colossal chain of over 1200 restaurants under his leadership.

Lessons from Five Decades in the Restaurant Industry

Reflecting on his extensive journey, Fox underlines three key lessons for budding restaurateurs:
1. The importance of fostering teamwork and building robust relationships. 2. Embracing hard work, coupled with unwavering dedication and effort. 3. Prioritizing company culture, with leaders leading by example.

These insights, echoed by Michael and Jimmy, serve as valuable takeaways for anyone in the hospitality industry.

Shaq and the Digital Footprint

A hilarious highlight from the episode revolves around NBA superstar, Shaquille O'Neal. From Shaq inadvertently compelling Firehouse Subs to join Twitter to a memorable interaction at a franchise conference, these stories underscore the potent impact of celebrities on businesses.

However, diving deeper into technology's role, Fox emphasizes the need to merge technology with traditional hospitality elements. With a cautionary note, he warns of the risk of restaurants losing their unique identities if they entirely sideline the human touch that defines true hospitality.

Generation Z and the Future of Dining

The episode delves into the evolving restaurant landscape, particularly the integration of technology. As Gen Z becomes the primary customer demographic, Fox ponders over their heavy reliance on technology and wonders if a saturation point might lead them to seek more traditional dining experiences.

With a nod to the next generation, Fox also dispels some common misconceptions about their work ethic, holding a positive view of their contribution to the restaurant space.

Lighthearted Moments and Quickfire Questions

Between serious discussions, the episode is peppered with playful banter. From joking about popular burrito spots in "Food Service Feud" Don's quickfire revelations (he’s a fan of tomatoes on sandwiches and hails Chicago as his favorite food city!), the conversation keeps listeners engaged and entertained.

Hospitality Hangout's latest episode is a blend of profound insights, playful jests, and industry reflections. Don Fox’s extensive journey, coupled with the shared experiences of Schatzy and Jimmy, provides a holistic perspective on the challenges, growth, and future of the restaurant industry. Don't miss this insightful dive into the intricacies of the hospitality world!

In the latest episode of "Hospitality Hangout", industry insiders are treated to an enlightening conversation as hosts Michael Schatzberg, fondly known as "The Restaurant Guy", and Jimmy Frischling, dubbed "The Finance Guy", sit down with G.J. Hart. Currently at the helm of Red Robin as President, CEO, and Director, Hart's journey from the Netherlands to leading a renowned American food brand is nothing short of inspiring.

G.J. Hart: From Immigrant Dreams to Restaurant Reality

Arriving in the U.S. in 1963 with dreams of freedom, Hart's initial foray into the hospitality industry was with Howard Johnson's, toggling roles from a dishwasher to a short-order cook. His professional odyssey then took a detour into the poultry business, helping fund his college education. A move to New Orleans saw Hart working under Al Copeland of Popeye's fame, subsequently partnering with Texas Roadhouse's founder, which they took public.

Though Hart dabbled in the idea of retirement, his passion was unwavering. Drawn back to the restaurant cosmos, he took the reins at Red Robin, a brand he had admired for decades.

Revitalizing a Legacy: The North Star Comeback Plan

For over half a century, Red Robin has remained etched in the minds of patrons for its family-centric aura, captivating ambiance, and mouth-watering meals at fair prices. Under Hart's stewardship, the "North Star Comeback Plan" was birthed, aiming to rejuvenate the brand by emphasizing its time-honored attributes. In a span of just 12 months, Red Robin, with Hart's vision and a spirited team, witnessed commendable growth and resurgence.

Leadership: A Game of Authenticity

Hart, with his rich tapestry of experiences, extols the virtue of authenticity in leadership. He advocates for genuine concern for staff and believes that constructing a robust team in a conducive environment is pivotal. This episode offers listeners an intimate look into Hart's life, his strategic leadership methods, the essence of brand identity, and most importantly, his dream for Red Robin's future.

The Core: People and Food

Despite the tsunami of tech advancements swamping the restaurant industry, Hart, along with Schatzberg and Frischling, concurs that the core of the business is, and should always be, about people and the food. While technology acts as a facilitator, enhancing the guest experience, the culinary journey must remain at the forefront.

A Personal Touch to the Conversation

Rounding off the episode, in a jovial segment, Hart turns the tables by posing a personal question to the hosts, revealing their camaraderie and offering listeners a glimpse into their dynamic rapport.

In essence, this episode of "Hospitality Hangout" is a testament to the fact that while the restaurant landscape is continuously evolving with tech innovations, the heart and soul remain in the people and the dishes they serve.

Tune in to "Hospitality Hangout" for this and more episodes, as it continues to engage, enlighten, and entertain those in the hospitality and foodservice sector.

The Culinary Edge is a food and beverage innovation firm that was started by Noveshen over twenty years ago and Starbird is a fast-casual chicken chain that their team created after identifying chicken was about to grow significantly.

The guys talk to Noveshen about the success of marketing Starbird’s limited time offers, better known as LTOs including the Cali Bacon Dutch Crunch. The Dutch crunch bread is baked in house and the chicken sandwich has made it to the menu. Novenshen says that their secret sauce is their Star Sauce.

Starbird earlier this month made QSRs best brands to work for list. The company is known for developing talent and its people first culture as well as provides incentives and educational programs for their employees as well. “Good food can come and go, restaurant concepts can come and go but the people are what it’s all about,” says Noveshen. He adds, “our tagline is positively delicious chicken, it’s our goal everyday to create positivity, not only in the lives of the people walking in the door everyday but also the people who are working there everyday. We want to make a difference in their lives.”

Noveshen asks the guys how they prioritize everything they need to do everyday during the talking back segment. Frischling says how he loves to create lists and loves what they do. Schatzberg and Frischling both feel strongly about their hospitality community and said that their village helps them do what they need to do everyday.

Get ready to indulge in the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, where your hosts, Michael Schatzberg "The Restaurant Guy" (Schatzy) and Jimmy Frischling "The Finance Guy," turn up the heat with an extraordinary guest. Samir Zabaneh, CEO and Chairman of TouchBistro, joins the culinary conversation.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg "The Restaurant Guy" and Jimmy Frischling "The Finance Guy" host Kep Sweeney, CEO of PDQ Restaurants. The guys start with the Tuesday trivia, revealing three facts about Kep, two of which are true and one false.

Kep gives a brief background of himself and PDQ, sharing that the company has a presence in Florida and New York and is known for delivering non-QSR quality food quickly. He mentions PDQ's culinary ethos and its co-founders Bob Basham and Nick Reader.

They talk about Sweeney’s Wall Street days before delving into his career trajectory. Starting in restaurants, Kep worked with culinary legends and received an award from Julia Child before obtaining his MBA. He was then hired by Solomon Brothers and became a restaurant analyst, gaining experience with independent and multi-unit restaurants. He authored "The New Restaurant Entrepreneur" and has been involved in restaurant consulting, turnarounds, and process improvement.

Kep then talks about his transition to PDQ, reflecting on Solomon Brothers' legacy with the hosts. They discuss the origins of major restaurant brands like McDonald's, and Kep provides insight into PDQ's beginnings, detailing how the company grew from a single location to 62. The founding story is explored, including how PDQ was created out of a need for healthier food options for kids.
The discussion shifts to the specifics of PDQ's growth, including its corporate model and the unique challenges of franchising. Kep emphasizes the importance of developing operators who are passionate about their work and supported by quantitative analysis, aiming for a perfect day at PDQ with high-quality products and motivated staff.

Check out the entire conversation for a deep dive into PDQ's organizational structure, customer-centric approach, data-driven decision-making process, technology adoption, and product innovation. It provides valuable insights into how modern restaurant operations can thrive in a competitive landscape by embracing innovation, agility, and customer-focused strategies.

To hear the questions and the answers to Tuesday Trivia’s “Two Truths and a Lie,” tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg "The Restaurant Guy" and Jimmy Frischling delve into the innovative world of food with their guest, Andy Hopper, CEO of Hart House. Hart House, founded by comedian Kevin Hart, is revolutionizing the food industry with its mission to create craveable and nutritious 100% plant-based meals.

With over 20 years of experience in the restaurant business, Hopper takes listeners on a culinary journey, recounting his first gig washing dishes at a now-defunct eatery to leading teams at global franchised brands like Burger King. Today, as the CEO of Hart House, Hopper joins forces with Kevin Hart to create meals that are "better for you, your wallet, and the planet."

From Dishwashing to Leading

The story begins in a town called Gig Harbor, where a young Andy Hopper worked at a neighborhood bar and grill called the Harvester. Although he joked about possible child labor laws being skirted, his early days in the kitchen provided an irreplaceable education in empathy and understanding of different walks of life.

"I will tell you, you learn so much about yourself and about the world and about people from different parts of the world and walks of life by working in the kitchen of a restaurant," Hopper shared, acknowledging the influence of culinary icon Anthony Bourdain.

The Path to Hart House

After relocating to Miami for university, Hopper continued working in various hospitality jobs to pay for tuition at one of the country's most expensive schools. A scholarship and part-time work helped him stay at the University of Miami, often referred to as "the U." It was a time that would later prepare him for his partnership with Kevin Hart in crafting Hart House's compelling brand.

Hopper’s experience, from the humble beginnings of dishwashing to leading major food chains, culminated in his collaboration with Kevin Hart at Hart House, aiming to redefine the future of quick-service food. The duo's commitment to reinventing both the menu and employee experience positions Hart House as a potential game-changer in the restaurant industry, embracing plant-based cuisine for a sustainable future.

“So the brand positioning for this has been very deliberate. It's not a vegan brand. It's not a plant-based brand. It's a QSR brand that serves burgers, chicken sandwiches and shakes.” Andy Hooper, CEO of Hart House

To hear the questions and the answers to Tuesday Trivia’s “Two Truths and a Lie,” plus the deep dive insights into operating a plant-based business check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, hosts Michael Schatzberg, known as "The Restaurant Guy," and Jimmy Frischling, "The Finance Guy," deep-dive into the intricacies of restaurant marketing with industry insiders, Joe Reinstein, Executive Director of the Digital Restaurant Association (DRA), and Karim Webb, Buffalo Wild Wings Franchisee and Principal at Webb Investments.

Reinstein, who holds the dual role of CEO and Acting Chair of the Board of Directors at the DRA, spearheads the association's mission to guide restaurants in maximizing profitability and growth in the digital world. This encompasses advocacy for public policy, educational resources, and technological solutions, to name a few. He brings to the table his pivotal role in launching the DRA with the goal of it becoming the primary restaurant industry resource for online revenue generation, innovation, and growth.

Webb, on the other hand, leverages his background as a franchisee and civic leader to add a unique perspective to the discussion. As a multi-unit Buffalo Wild Wings franchisee, a board member of the DRA, the Airport Commissioners/LAX, California Community Foundation, and EveryTable, and a principal at Webb Investments, Webb shares insights from his rich experience in the restaurant industry and his focus on social equity ownership models. He also offers a voice for small business owners struggling to navigate an increasingly complex marketplace.

As the conversation unfolded, the guests discussed their experiences in a range of topics, focusing on the unique challenges and opportunities for restaurants in the current digital landscape. Webb shared his perspective on being a franchisee and small business advocate, emphasizing the importance of understanding and harnessing the right tools to compete in today's market.

Frischling and Schatzberg then turned the conversation toward restaurant marketing, outlining three key areas they planned to explore: third-party marketplaces (or DSP, Delivery Service Platforms Marketing), guest feedback marketing, and social advocacy marketing. Webb and Reinstein were invited to offer their unique perspectives on these topics, starting with third-party marketplaces.

Reinstein highlighted the importance of restaurants maintaining a presence on third-party platforms, describing them as "pay-to-play marketplaces" where restaurants need to invest to be noticed. He further advised restaurants to experiment and test their approaches to these platforms, while also stressing the need for a comprehensive online ordering and delivery approach beyond just third-party platforms.

The conversation continued with a robust discussion on these and other critical issues facing today's restaurants, offering listeners a unique blend of perspectives from various angles of the industry.

To hear all of the insights Webb and Reinstein shared during the discussion and the "Branded Quickfire" and the “Foodservice Feud,” check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” welcome special guests from the Texas Restaurant Association (TRA) - Ben Knorr, Director of Partnerships, and Joe Monastero, Chief Operating Officer. Broadcasting from Houston, Texas, the hosts revel in the larger-than-life experience that the Lone Star State offers.

Broadcasting from Houston, the conversation gets cooking with jaw-dropping statistics: Texas boasts a record-breaking 55,000 restaurant units, 1.4 million employees, and an eye-popping $90 billion in sales in 2022. That's an incredible 20% growth from pre-pandemic levels, making Texas the only U.S. state in the black.

The hosts dig into the vital role of trade organizations, providing a supportive voice for small restaurant operators. Monastero serves up the dual mission of TRA: Knorr's role of delivering partners, benefits, and services to supercharge operators' bottom line, coupled with the association's proactive advocacy. The TRA's advocacy team, headed by President and CEO Emily Williams Knight and Chief Public Affairs Officer Kelsey Erickson Streufert, have cooked up some significant wins, including legislation making alcohol to-go permanent and fostering transparency in third-party delivery partnerships.

TRA's secret sauce also includes a partnership with Adesso Capital, returning nearly $50 million in credits to its restaurant members and driving a whopping $300 million across the United States.

Frischling and Schatzberg grill the TRA team on the challenges of the PPP loan during the pandemic. Demonstrating the TRA's tenacity, they managed to whip up bipartisan support for a “skinny bill” to make PPP loans more efficient for business owners, cooked to perfection in just four weeks.

The conversation takes a deep dive into TRA's work in regulatory consistency, ensuring the smorgasbord of rules across Texas' 254 counties and over 1200 municipalities doesn't cause heartburn for business owners. The Regulatory Consistency Bill and the Restaurant Cleanup Act promise to cut through the red tape, from health code standards to labor laws.
They discuss how Texas operators are putting technology on the menu. While the restaurant industry has been slow to adopt digital solutions, the pandemic has underscored its crucial role. The journey to full integration is ongoing, but a new central marketplace for tech solutions is providing a recipe for digital transformation success. Pull up a chair and tune in to this episode of Hospitality Hangout!

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, hosts Michael Schatzberg, "The Restaurant Guy," and Jimmy Frischling, "The Finance Guy," sit down with Gregg Majewski, the CEO of Craveworthy Brands. Boasting an illustrious career of over 23 years in the food and beverage industry, Majewski holds a myriad of founder and senior executive roles under his belt.

Among his significant accomplishments is the founding of Wildcat Investments and his former position as CEO of Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches. During his tenure at Jimmy John's, Majewski significantly increased the chain's footprint, growing the number of outlets from a mere 33 to a staggering 300, with an additional 600 sold.

A key component of Majewski's leadership was his drive to implement and restructure company-wide operational standards. He is also credited with shifting the marketing strategies to emphasize the brand's "Freaky Fast" delivery.

Gregg's executive career has been characterized by a keen focus on conceptualizing and growing emerging brands and revitalizing legacy brands. In 2022, he founded Craveworthy Brands, leveraging his significant restaurant experience. The Craveworthy portfolio kicked off with four unique, scalable, and highly engaging brands, indicative of Majewski's continuous drive to cultivate more concepts.

Majewski's innovative leadership tactics and his unique approach to reviving troubled companies and turning them into profitable entities. One such success story being Mongolian Concepts, a company Majewski successfully turned around, selling 24 franchises and marking a first since 2011.

Craveworthy Brands, Majewski's latest venture, showcases his continuous drive to cultivate unique, scalable, and engaging concepts. Craveworthy Brands' portfolio includes Wing It On, The Budlong, Krafted Burger + Tap, Lucky Cat Poke Company, Genghis Grill, BD's Mongolian Grill and Flat Top Grill.

Majewski shares his strategic insights into the restaurant industry, from creating crave-worthy food to fostering a positive company culture. He also introduces his latest business strategy of aiming for the number two position in industry segments, offering better products, service, and operations, leaving the educational role to the number one.

Majewski announced that Greg Creed, former CEO of Yum! Brands, has taken an advisory role on the Craveworthy board, marking his first advisory position in the restaurant industry. This episode promises to intrigue and educate professionals in the restaurant and hospitality industry.

Don’t miss “Foodservice Feud” tune into the Hospitality Hangout!

Don't miss out on the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, where hosts Michael Schatzberg, fondly known as "The Restaurant Guy," and Jimmy Frischling, "The Finance Guy," dive deep into a compelling chat with food industry guru Rob Ertmann, CEO of Mo' Bettahs. This episode offers a delicious blend of insights and entertainment guaranteed to sate your curiosity about restaurant tech trends and Hawaiian food.

From humble beginnings at a pizza shop to leading the helm at Mo' Bettahs, Ertmann guides us through his flavorful journey in the food industry, coupled with the joy of serving mouth-watering Hawaiian delicacies. A true testament to their success, Mo' Bettahs is set to celebrate their 15th anniversary with the launch of their 44th store, signaling an impressive doubling in outlets over a mere 24-month period. Ertmann teases the expansion won't stop there, with Las Vegas, Houston, and Phoenix on the restaurant's horizon.

You won't want to miss the discussion about the transformative partnership between Mo' Bettahs and Savory Fund. Ertmann is enthusiastic as he recounts how, when Mo' Bettahs was just a six-unit operation, the Savory Fund stepped in to provide the expert support they desperately needed. From finance and IT to accounting and payroll, the Savory Fund offered them the tools to scale their operation effectively and efficiently, all the way to their 22nd store.

Ertmann highlights the warmth and intelligence of the Savory team, which allowed him to transition all operations in-house, now led by a dedicated Mo' Bettahs team. Nevertheless, the benefits of their partnership with the Savory Fund continue. Ertmann is grateful for the ongoing counsel, coaching, and support he receives from Savory's exceptional team. Their guidance has been instrumental in Mo' Bettahs' success and the continued evolution of the brand.

Unraveling the tech-infused operations at Mo' Bettahs, Ertmann describes their successful partnerships with tech heavyweights such as "Thanks," Ovation, and Olo. These collaborations have fueled significant customer engagement, a ballooning loyalty database, and streamlined third-party delivery integration into their POS system. However, while Ertmann embraces technology's role in the sector, he doesn't lose sight of the integral role of human capital. For him, tech should support but never supplant the core values of high-quality food, excellent service, and a well-trained team.

As the conversation whips to future trends, Ertmann voices his interest in the increasing influence of AI in the restaurant industry. Schatzberg, on the other hand, dishes out his excitement about the rising trend of automation and robotics, eager to see how these advancements can replace repetitive tasks.

Want a taste of this fascinating banter mixed with a dash of the "Food Service Feud"? Tune in to the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout. And remember, in the end, it's all about the people, the tech, and of course, the food.

In the newest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg, known as "The Restaurant Guy," and Jimmy Frischling, "The Finance Guy," host a riveting conversation with industry veteran Marc Bruno, the Chief Operating Officer at Aramark. Bruno, who leads ten of Aramark's U.S. food and facilities divisions, offers a deep dive into his personal journey, which took him from a summer intern to a driving force in the company's growth strategy and commitment to service excellence.

Hailing from a Chicago family with a restaurant background, Bruno's lifelong passion for the food industry led him to hotel school and ultimately an internship at Aramark. After spending three decades with the company, Bruno has climbed the corporate ladder, progressing from intern to COO.

Bruno shares anecdotes from his vast experience, which includes leading Aramark's dining and catering services for 17 Olympic Games, starting with the 1996 Atlanta Games, and providing everyday food service to millions worldwide. Bruno underscores the thrill of working in a sector marked by its diversity, complexity, and the chance to serve customers from all walks of life.

He also sheds light on Aramark's evolution from Automated Retailers of America, a vending firm, to a global service provider, serving an extensive client base across various industries. Aramark's offerings have broadened to include facilities management and uniform services, adding to their operation's complexity.

In a significant disclosure, Bruno revealed that Aramark is preparing to spin off its Uniform Services division into a separate public entity, a strategic decision he believes will benefit both the businesses and the shareholders.

The conversation also touches upon Bruno's debunking of a myth that credits him with discovering Seamless Web. Instead, he details how the online food ordering service was pitched to his then employer, later becoming integrated into Aramark's delivery services. He highlights the strategic success of Aramark's acquisition of Seamless Web in 2006, a move that significantly influenced the delivery market landscape.

Discussing Aramark's acquisition and partnership strategy, Bruno underscores the company's focus on scalable enhancements, technological innovation, and talent acquisition. He also emphasizes Aramark's role as a prominent franchiser and partner of well-recognized brands, aiming to enrich customer experience across their service locations, including college campuses, hospitals, and stadiums.

To hear the “Two Truths and a Lie” plus the “Branded Quickfire” lightning round tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, broadcast from The National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, hosts Michael Schatzberg "The Restaurant Guy", Jimmy Frischling "The Finance Guy", and special guest Sterling Douglass, Co-Founder & CEO of Chowly, interviewed Joe Donnelly, Group Director & Publisher of Informa’s Restaurant & Food Group. The discussion centered on Informa's recent acquisition of Winsight, a company offering services in data, analytics, events, and content marketing for the foodservice industry.

Winsight, with its portfolio of clients, is expected to enhance Informa's capabilities in delivering superior enterprise experience to all its restaurant clients, regardless of size. Donnelly explained that this acquisition would bolster Informa's position in the foodservice sector, especially as it already owns considerable assets in this industry across Asia. Combining these resources with Winsight and Informa's existing Nation's Restaurant News assets, they anticipate a substantial growth in their vertical.

The merger of Informa and Winsight is viewed as part of the ongoing trend of consolidation in the foodservice industry, where restaurant groups and tech companies integrate to drive synergies. Donnelly highlighted that the integration process would focus on two key aspects – creating improved experiences for their audiences and attendees and increasing ROI for their customers. Informa anticipates that bringing together the assets of Winsight and its own offerings will substantially benefit the industry.

Schatzberg, Frischling, and Douglass expressed their enthusiasm for the acquisition, appreciating the potential synergies between Informa and Winsight, and looking forward to this consolidation's future contributions to the restaurant and foodservice industry.

To hear the questions and Donnelly’s responses to “ Branded Quickfire” check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, hosts Michael Schatzberg "The Restaurant Guy" and Jimmy Frischling "The Finance Guy" sit down with Sherif Mityas, CEO of BRIX Holdings. BRIX Holdings is a Dallas-based franchising company that specializes in superior foodservice chains within the better-for-you segments. Their mission is to provide exceptional franchise opportunities and focus on brands that appeal to the expanding single-unit owner/operator franchise market, with the potential to become national and international award-winning chains. The current BRIX Holdings portfolio includes renowned brands such as Red Mango Yogurt Café Smoothie & Juice Bar, Smoothie Factory Juice Bar, Souper Salad, Orange Leaf, Humble Donut Co., Greenz, and Friendly's.

During the episode, Sherif Mityas shares insights into the iconic Friendly's brand, which is celebrating its 88th birthday this year. He highlights the emotional connection people have with Friendly's, recalling stories of customers' first dates over milkshakes and the enduring popularity of their signature treats like the Jim Dandy and Banana Royale. Sherif also discusses other brands within the BRIX Holdings portfolio, including frozen yogurt concepts Red Mango and Orange Leaf, super salad, the newly reconcepted Smoothie Factory Plus Kitchen, and Humble Donuts. He hints at the upcoming addition of another brand.

The conversation delves into Sherif's background, where he shares his experience in the retail industry, including his time running the Hollywood Video and Movie Gallery chain. He also explains how he transitioned into the hospitality sector, joining TGI Fridays as their Chief Experience Officer before joining the BRIX Holdings Group. Sherif expresses his excitement about leading an amazing team at BRIX Holdings and driving the growth of their portfolio.

The episode takes an interesting turn as Jimmy Frischling introduces breaking news about BRIX Holdings' latest concept, Pizza Jukebox. Sherif describes this fully automated dine-in experience, where guests can watch robots and automated machines craft personalized pizzas within minutes. The innovative approach aims to provide not just a pizza but a memorable theater-like experience for customers. Sherif emphasizes the importance of technology in enhancing the guest engagement and driving the dine-in experience.

The conversation concludes with a discussion about BRIX Holdings' partnership with Middleby and their collaboration with L2F to bring the Pizza Jukebox concept to life. Sherif highlights the focus on personalization, aiming to cater to individual preferences while maintaining consistency through robotics and automation.

Overall, the episode offers fascinating insights into BRIX Holdings' brand portfolio, Sherif Mityas' journey in the industry, and the exciting innovations shaping the future of hospitality.

To hear the questions and Mityas’ responses to “Two Truths and a Lie” check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the most recent episode of Hospitality Hangout, hosts Michael Schatzberg, "The Restaurant Guy," and Jimmy Frischling, "The Finance Guy," welcomed Adam Golomb, the Chief Executive Officer of Primanti Bros., as their guest. The podcast delved into the remarkable journey and ongoing success of Primanti Bros., a renowned restaurant known for its iconic sandwiches since 1933. Golomb shared valuable insights, shedding light on the brand's expansion, virtual brands, technology integration, and his personal experiences.

Primanti Bros., now celebrating its 90th anniversary, began its journey in Pittsburgh back in 1933. Today, the chain has grown significantly, with 41 open restaurants across four states and four more under construction, projecting 45 locations by year-end. Golomb emphasized the brand's fame, owing to its signature sandwich: a combination of choice meats, coleslaw, French fries, tomato, and provolone cheese, all packed between two fresh-baked Italian bread slices.

When discussing how Primanti Bros. ensures its long-standing brand remains attractive and relevant, Golomb emphasized the importance of staying true to their core identity while expanding the menu to cater to a broader audience. In addition to their renowned sandwiches, the restaurant now offers freshly baked New York-style pizza, spicy wings, salads, and burgers, acknowledging the diverse preferences of their customers. Golomb also highlighted their digital-first approach, utilizing technology to drive the business and adapting rapidly during the pandemic.

During the podcast, Golomb highlighted Primanti Bros. introduction of three virtual brands—18th Street Pizza, Wing Nut, and Get Loaded. These concepts diversify the menu and have become top-selling items alongside the famous sandwiches. The hosts inquired about the performance and demand for these virtual brands, to which Golomb expressed the positive response from consumers. However, he also acknowledged the challenges posed by third-party delivery companies, which often resist including virtual brands on their platforms. Golomb emphasized the need to find solutions that maintain sales and navigate the evolving landscape of the delivery market.

The conversation also touched upon Primanti Bros. limited-time offerings (LTOs), which occur every six to eight weeks. These LTOs introduce new cycles of culinary creations, keeping the menu fresh and exciting. While they previously experimented with monthly LTOs, operational challenges led them to adjust the frequency to ensure smooth supply chain management. Adam Golomb unveiled the current LTO at Primanti Bros., Hot Honey. This unique and enticing offering further exemplifies the brand's commitment to innovation and delighting their customers with distinct flavors.

Additionally, Golomb shared breaking news during the podcast, announcing Primanti Bros. first-ever amusement park location at Pittsburgh's renowned Kennywood Park. He expressed the brand's excitement about the venture, which involves remodeling an existing concession stand to celebrate both Primanti Bros. 90th year and Kennywood Park's 125th anniversary.

The conversation also touched upon Primanti Bros. strategic use of technology and their commitment to being a digital-first company. Golomb discussed their complex tech stack and the importance of selecting best-in-breed solutions that integrate seamlessly with their existing systems. The goal is to enhance sales, improve guest experiences, and streamline operations. The CEO emphasized their openness to exploring new technologies and evaluating their impact on driving sales and benefiting the team and customers.

Golomb further engaged in the segment of the podcast, where “Two Truths and a Lie” about his past were shared. Schatzberg and Frischling made their guesses, so be sure to tune into this episode to get the answer.

Through this conversation, listeners can gain insights into Primanti Bros. enduring success, innovative strategies, expansion plans, and Golomb's personal experiences. With their iconic sandwiches, virtual brands, and emphasis on technology integration, Primanti Bros. continues to evolve while staying true to its roots, providing a delightful dining experience for patrons worldwide.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, hosts Michael Schatzberg, "The Restaurant Guy," and Jimmy Frischling, "The Finance Guy," welcomed Doug Willmarth, President at MOOYAH Burgers, Fries, and Shakes, as their guest. Willmarth introduced himself as the president of MOOYAH and emphasized the restaurant's commitment to serving the best-tasting cheeseburgers. He highlighted their handcrafted approach, using great ingredients, hand-smashing burgers, and hand-cutting fries, along with made-from-scratch shakes. The key to their success is customization, offering a wide range of options for protein, toppings, sauces, and cheese choices, allowing customers to create their own unique burger experience.

During the conversation, Willmarth discussed his background and passion for leadership and airplanes. Having served in the Navy as a pilot, he transitioned into business leadership and marketing, eventually finding his love for the restaurant industry. Willmarth had worked with renowned brands such as Frito-Lay, Chili's, and Pizza Hut before joining MOOYAH. Willmarth shared his admiration for the restaurant business, emphasizing its ability to bring people together over food and help individuals become entrepreneurs, reflecting the core values of the American dream.

The episode also highlighted MOOYAH's new franchise owner incentive program, aimed at driving growth. Franchisees who signed agreements and leases in 2023 would receive three years of royalty relief and additional corporate support to ensure a strong launch. Willmarth expressed the importance of supporting new franchise owners and helping them achieve their dreams of business ownership. The program also includes matching the franchisees' marketing investment to ensure a successful start and create a strong customer base.

Another exciting development discussed in the episode was MOOYAH's relaunched rewards app. The new loyalty framework provides an improved ordering experience and rewards customers with free food. Willmarth explained that the focus is on making the ordering process easier and faster through intuitive and visually appealing technology. The shift to a food-based loyalty program aligns with customers' desire for free food and enhances their overall experience.

Regarding technology, Willmarth shared MOOYAH's approach of being tech-forward but not an innovator. They strive to be fast followers, adopting proven ROI solutions and leveraging technology as an enabler rather than the primary focus. The ultimate goal remains to deliver high-quality food and a great customer experience. The hosts appreciated MOOYAH's commitment to prioritizing the food and leveraging technology to enhance operations and customer satisfaction.

Willmarth emphasized the importance of customization, allowing customers to create their unique burger experience based on their preferences. The restaurant's focus on high-quality ingredients, handcrafted processes, and the complementary offerings of fries and shakes all contribute to the mouthful of awesomeness that MOOYAH aims to deliver.

The latest episode of Hospitality Hangout featured an informative conversation with Doug Willmarth, President at MOOYAH Burgers, Fries, and Shakes. They discussed the restaurant's commitment to quality, customization, and providing a safe and enjoyable dining experience for its loyal fans. To hear “Trivia Tuesday” and the “Branded Quickfire” answers tune into this episode.

In the vibrant city of Las Vegas, hosts Michael Schatzberg "The Restaurant Guy" and Jimmy Frischling "The Finance Guy" took their listeners on an exhilarating journey in the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout. Broadcasting from the Food On Demand conference, they were joined by a lineup of guests who are shaping the future of the hospitality industry. Kicking off the episode was Kevin King, the President of Donatos Pizza. A brand with a rich history dating back to 1963. Next, the dynamic duo welcomed Kristen Hawley, the Founder of Expedite, a cutting-edge newsletter that spotlights revolutionary news and big ideas transforming the hospitality landscape. And finally, they talk with Brita Rosenheim, the Managing Partner of Vita Vera Ventures and author of the highly acclaimed 2023 Restaurant Tech Ecosystem. With their expertise in advancing the food industry's resiliency, efficiency, and sustainability, Brita and her team are dedicated to supporting tech entrepreneurs who are defining the future of dining. Together, this engaging trio explored a wide range of captivating topics, leaving listeners inspired and eager to embrace the ever-evolving world of hospitality.

They were joined by their first guest, Kevin King, the President of Donatos Pizza, famous for their Edge to Edge® pizza. With a fascinating background in the restaurant business, Kevin shared his journey from working in a pizza shop as a kid to holding leadership positions at renowned pizza chains like Domino's, Papa Murphy's, and Smoothie King. Having rejoined Donatos as President in 2022, Kevin's passion for the pizza industry and dedication to the company's growth was evident throughout the conversation. Donatos, founded by Jim Grote in 1963, has since expanded to 375 locations across 22 states, with a strategic partnership with Red Robin further boosting its nationwide presence. The episode delved into various topics, including the challenges and opportunities of third-party delivery, the significance of technology in the industry, and Donatos' commitment to giving back to the community.

Kristen Hawley, the founder of Expedite, a newsletter in the restaurant industry, was the next guest. Known for her insightful articles and deep understanding of restaurant technology, Kristen shared her perspective on how technology is transforming the dining experience. She highlighted the importance of leveraging technology to enhance customer interactions, covering delivery, loyalty programs, and reservations. Kristen also emphasized the need for a nuanced understanding of the industry, challenging the prevailing narratives around technology's impact. Additionally, she shared her cautious optimism regarding chat GPT, acknowledging both its potential benefits and the importance of regulating its rapid development.

Brita Rosenheim, Managing Partner of Vita Vera Ventures and Author of the 2023 Restaurant Tech Ecosystem. They talked about Brita's recent panel discussion and her expertise in the industry. During the conversation, Brita discussed various topics, including the unique focus of Food OnDemand compared to other conferences. She also highlighted the importance of investing in the food industry's resiliency, efficiency, and sustainability. The discussion touched upon the growth and challenges of ghost kitchens and virtual brands, emphasizing the need for maintaining quality and consistency. Brita also shared insights on dynamic pricing and revenue management, advocating for a rebranding of the concept. Additionally, she discussed the saturation of single-point solutions in the market and predicted that automation would be a significant topic in the industry's future.

To hear “Branded Quickfire,” the “Crystal Ball Moment” and more industry insights check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, hosts Michael Schatzberg, "The Restaurant Guy," and Jimmy Frischling, "The Finance Guy," were joined by Marianne Radley, the Chief Marketing Officer of Smoothie King. The trio engaged in a discussion revolving around effective marketing strategies and insights within the food and beverage industry.

During the episode, Radley shed light on Smoothie King's recent marketing initiatives and shared valuable insights into the company's success. She emphasized the importance of understanding customer needs and tailoring marketing efforts accordingly. Radley pointed out that staying relevant in the ever-evolving marketplace requires continuous innovation and adaptation.

Smoothie King's CMO emphasized the role of data in guiding marketing decisions. Radley revealed that the company leverages comprehensive customer data to create personalized experiences and develop targeted campaigns. By analyzing consumer preferences, Smoothie King has successfully implemented strategies to drive customer loyalty and engagement.

They delved into third-party delivery services and the invaluable insights derived from their analytics. The trio eagerly discussed the challenges and opportunities that arise when partnering with external delivery platforms, emphasizing the importance of harnessing the power of data to enhance customer experiences and drive business growth. With Marianne's wealth of knowledge and expertise, they explored innovative strategies for leveraging third-party delivery analytics to make informed decisions and optimize operations.

The discussion also touched upon the significance of brand authenticity. Radley emphasized the need for businesses to genuinely connect with their target audience by aligning marketing messages with their core values. She explained how Smoothie King's commitment to providing nutritious and delicious smoothies resonates with health-conscious consumers, leading to a strong brand identity.

Hospitality Hangout once again proved to be an engaging platform for industry professionals. This episode delivers Marianne Radley's expertise and provides an enriching exploration of marketing strategies in the food and beverage industry.

To hear “Branded Quickfire” answers and all of Radley’s conversation check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, hosts Michael Schatzberg "The Restaurant Guy" and Jimmy Frischling "The Finance Guy" are joined by Christi Ravneberg, Director of Content Integration, Restaurant & Food Group, and Joe Donnelly, Group Director & Publisher, Restaurant and Food Group at Informa Connect.

Informa, a leading B2B global media exhibition company, aspires to become the foremost voice in content, connections, and intelligence. Generating approximately $2.2 billion in annual revenue, Informa is traded on the London Stock Exchange. Joe Donnelly and Christi Ravneberg are integral members of Informa Connect, the company's Knowledge & Networking division, which is spearheaded by CEO Andrew Mullins. With its extensive resources and expertise, Informa continues to drive innovation and foster connections across multiple industries worldwide.

The Informa team joins the conversation to discuss the recently released 2023 Market Leader Report for Transformative Tech Strategies for Restaurants. As foodservice operators seek tools and data to accelerate their growth, they are carefully considering technology's impact on operations, labor management, marketing, and scalability with their current tech stack and workforce. To help operators make informed investment decisions, Nation's Restaurant News Intelligence conducted a comprehensive investigation of the technology needs and upcoming initiatives of nearly 400 operators, representing a diverse range of service styles and brand sizes. The insights gleaned from this research are invaluable in guiding the industry toward successful and sustainable technology adoption.

Donnelly highlights how COVID-19 accelerated a technology revolution in the food service industry, which was bound to happen eventually. With over 15 years of experience in B2B technology, he aims to use Informa's platform to facilitate peer-to-peer recognition for best practices in technology adoption and application in the sector.

Ravneberg shares a key finding from a recent survey, revealing that 92% of operators are very likely to invest in technology within their restaurants and hotels over the next 12 months. Despite the industry's history of being slow to adopt new technologies, this statistic demonstrates the increasing understanding that embracing tech is now a non-negotiable factor for success. The challenges of cost and integration, as well as significant knowledge gaps and an overwhelming number of choices, still persist, but operators are more determined than ever to adapt and compete in this rapidly evolving landscape.

To hear “Tuesday Trivia, Two Lie’s and a Truth” check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout and to read the full 2023 Market Leader Report for Transformative Tech Strategies for Restaurants, you can click this here.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” chat with Amer Wahab, President of Kettlemans Bagels.

Founded over two decades ago, Kettleman's Bagels, led by CEO Craig Buckley and President Amer Wahab, has established itself as a veritable food institution in Ottawa, with a steadfast commitment to crafting the best bagels the old-fashioned way. Operating around the clock, every day of the year, Kettleman's Bagel is renowned for its traditional Montreal-style bagels, made with premium ingredients, hand-rolled, kettle-boiled in honey water, and baked in a wood-burning oven stoked with carefully selected hardwood. The business model is as unique as its bagels, offering a fully transparent, "no-wall" experience that lets customers witness the entire preparation and
baking process.

Wahab was asked about the expansion success, the right franchise partners and hiring employees. Wahab shares that Kettlemans has units that do more than $4.8 million in revenue.

In a bid to streamline service and meet customer demands for speed, Kettleman's Bagel Co. launched a mobile ordering app pre-COVID that has reshaped the customer experience. "The nature of quick service restaurants is to be quick," President Amer Wahab explained, "And in listening to our guests, we've tried to make our service quicker." Now, customers can place orders and receive their bagel sandwiches in as little as five minutes when ordering in-store.

The app's functionality allows for scheduled pickups, but understanding the unpredictable nature of daily schedules, the company integrated geofencing technology, in partnership with BlueDot, to ensure product freshness upon arrival. "People's schedules sometimes change. You may place your order to pick up at 11:30, but due to traffic or other delays, it's 11:45. We want your food to be just right," Wahab said. This technology triggers the kitchen to prepare orders as customers cross a specified threshold, ensuring a fresher, better product upon handoff at the drive-through or counter.

Additionally, Kettleman's Bagels has looked to technology to aid in its production process, specifically in dealing with the manual labor involved in producing about 3,000 pounds of cream cheese a week. "We're scooping it by hand," Wahab said. Recognizing the potential for technology and AI to improve this process, the company collaborated with a tech firm to automate the weighing and dispensing of cream cheese. "You tell the machine you want 175 grams, it spits it out. It doesn't matter the consistency of the product," Wahab added. These technological advancements are not only improving efficiency but also contributing to the overall quality of the Kettleman's experience.

To hear the questions and Wahab’s responses to “Two Truths and a Lie” check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” were on the road at Restaurant Leadership Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. Their guests include the President of Dunn Brothers Coffee, Kim Plahn, Alex Eagle, CEO of Freebirds World Burrito, Daran Han, Cargill, and Scott Taylor, President and CEO of Walk’Ons Sports Bistreaux.

Ed and Dan Dunn were on a mission to roast in small batches, serve freshly brewed coffee, and provide an experience and the community was front and center. Dunn Brothers Coffee opened in 1987.

Plahn has been with Dunn for 16 years and the brand currently has 55 locations and is continuing to grow. Gala Capital Partners recently acquired Dunn Brothers Coffee. Plahn said, “We're getting infrastructure all set, we're getting our pipelines going, and we're looking at new models for business. We have wonderful funding behind us and we are ready to grow and share our brand.”

Alex Eagle is the CEO of Freebirds World Burrito, the Austin-based restaurant chain. Eagle has worked for the ownership group, Tavistock Group for 11 years. Eagles said that they have 63 locations and 100 percent of the company is operated in Texas and focused on burritos and bowls. The guys ask Eagle where restaurant and technology will be in two years, and he said, Well I think people are still taking a look at the labor issue the most and how do we become more efficient and how do we create a better work environment for our employees at the same time.

Daran Han leads the food tech division at Cargill. Han said I think a big part of our long-term strategy and vision is that we realized to serve the industry better we have to start getting technology and understanding how digital and the technology solutions are impacting what we're doing across the industry. Cargill Digital Studios as we continue to build this out, the portfolio last time when on the show had four or five new products and now has eight in the portfolio.

Walk’Ons Sports Bistreaux CEO, Scott Taylor stopped by to chat with the guys. Walk-On’s operates 75 locations and is on the path to reaching 100 locations by the end of 2024. Taylor talks about the underdog mentality and how Walk-On’s embraces that and allows it to drive their culture.

To hear more from all of the guests that stopped by to chat with Schatzberg and Frischling at RLC and the crystal ball moments, check out this episode Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” chat with the authors of “Delivering the Digital Restaurant: The Path to Digital Maturity,” Meredith Sandland and Carl Orsbourn.

Sandland, co-author of two books, “Delivering the Digital Restaurant, Your Roadmap to the Future of Food”, as well as the new one “Delivering the Digital Restaurant, The Path to Digital Maturity.” Sandland says, “My background, I was at Taco Bell for many years, leading development there and building lots and lots of Taco Bells and started to wonder, why are we building all these Taco Bells next to malls when no one goes to malls anymore? That seems kind of weird. And that planted a seed which only grew when we tried to enter Manhattan and I thought, why are we paying the world's most expensive real estate prices when 40% of our sales are going out-the-door delivery.”

Orsbourn before meeting Sandland was working for a large oil and gas company but spent 15 years in the retail space. “I wanted to speak to folks that had made that transition from big company blue chip world into the startup environment and a mutual friend of Meredith and mine introduced us and it was through the conversation there that Meredith said I'm doing this thing in ghost kitchens now and at that time I thought well this is a doozy, isn't it,” Orsbourn said.

Sandland who had joined Kitchen United explained the logic about why ghost kitchens made sense and Orsbourn was immediately drawn in. Orsbourn also joined the Kitchen United team and helped them build out the operational model.

Orsbourn talks about every big restaurant chain in the U.S. that was looking to explore ghost kitchens and trying to understand the digital disruption that was happening, He says, “When you're doing something new, it's not easy to help people see that future, especially when there are hundreds of millions of dollars being plowed into this space and a lot of restaurants at that time were very begrudging towards the whole idea of this and that's where the genesis of the initial book came.”

They talk about digital maturity and how an operator can recognize where they fall on the digital maturity scale. Orsbourn says, “A digitally mature restaurant is, and there's a story that is told in this, Jimmy, as you go through it because, in many ways, a fully digitally mature restaurant is one that in many ways needs to reorient its entire business model towards what it's gonna take to become digitally mature.”

To hear about digitally native restaurants and holistic technology plus get the answers for Trivia Tuesday check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

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In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and guest host David "Rev" Ciancio chat with Betsy Hamm, CEO of Duck Donuts, Charles Watson, CEO of Tropical Smoothie, and Gregg Majewski, CEO of Craveworthy Brands while on the road at RFIS, Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit.

Hamm, chief executive officer of Duck Donuts, a made-to-order donut concept says that what makes them different is when you walk into a Duck Donuts there aren't any donuts already sitting there made. The customer customizes their donut order and gets to watch their donuts get made. Hamm shares franchising insights and says, “ you know life as a franchisor is very difficult and life as a franchisee is very difficult and I think everything has been tested the last few years and continues. We think every month maybe it'll be calmer.” She adds, “we want to be known for having a superior product with an exceptional customer experience.”

Watson, CEO of Tropical Smoothie Cafe a brand that offers fresh, made-to-order smoothies, wraps, sandwiches, and flatbreads stops by to talk with the guys. Watson says they have crossed the 1200 mark on cafe locations, opened 158 new stores last year, and will open 170 new locations in 2023. Watson attributes the success to their franchisees. He says, “we have some dedicated and passionate franchisees and combine that with a brand that is simple, that provides a healthier option for everybody that's on the go. We focus a lot on convenience and speed at Tropical Smoothie Cafe.”

Craveworthy Brands' chief executive officer Majewski stops to talk about the brands and RFIS show. Majewski has been working in the Food and Beverage industry for over 23 years. He worked for Jimmy John’s before putting together Craveworthy Brands. Majewskis says, “I was going to put together a group to do platforms properly and when I talk about platforms I talk about it being a group of restaurants that can work together and have shared services that the emerging brands can never achieve on their own.”

To hear more details and insights into franchising from Hamm, Watson, and Majewski, plus the Branded Quickfire Florida addition questions check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Otto Othman, Chief executive officer and Co-founder of PINCHO, a premium Latin street food concept.

Othman was born and raised in Brazil and moved to the United States when he was sixteen. He was a software developer for years, then design and advertising. Prior to PINCHO he was a creative director for a large advertising agency. Othman says, “I'm a big computer nerd and I got into design and I was working for this ad agency. But prior to that, I did a lot of work in the hospitality industry. So the biggest nightclubs in Miami, the biggest restaurants, I was part of a boutique agency that that's what we did for a living we branded them, we created campaigns for them, so I kind of fell in love with hospitality.”

PINCHO is a slang word for a kebab and the kebab recipe was his mom’s recipe, Othman says. He opened his restaurant and it quickly became a local favorite. PINCHO’s with ten existing locations in Florida now is expanding to Texas. The restaurant has won several awards for the best burger.

“We were smart enough early on to bring on the director of culinary when we had one store. So we are the fast-casual and had a chef since store number one. That really played a huge huge role. Adrian Sanchez is currently still with today, he is our director of culinary. He's an incredible incredible incredible chef and he is the guy behind all of the sauce,” Othman says.

Othman talks about PINCHO’s core values which are flavor, culture, and passion. He said flavor matters, they have had a chef from the beginning, flavor in the food, and the way they serve their food. The second is culture and it is not only the culture that they are building internally for their teams but is about being part of the fabric part of the culture of Miami. Othman adds, “if you're not passionate about hospitality, you shouldn't be in this game. It's not an easy gig. You got to have passion for serving people, you have to have passion for inviting folks into your home but internally as a team, we have to have passion about everything that we do.”

PINCHO due to Othman’s background in technology he says has the best tech stack for the size of the brand. Also, they are part of the Savory Fund brands and this allows them to benefit from the proprietary technology. Othman talks about the artificial intelligence that they use as well as PINCHO University.

To hear how PINCHO’s Savory partnership, more insights on technology and the talking back question check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and special guest host Sterling Douglass were on the road at MURTEC and spoke to Angela Diffly, Co-Founder of the Restaurant Technology Network, Carissa DeSantis, CTO of Brix Holdings, Frazer Nagy, CEO of Tablz, Geoff Alexander the President and CEO Wow Bao and Zerrick Pearson the CIO at Five Guys Enterprises.

The discussion begins with Diffly the co-founder of RTN, Restaurant Technology Network, a membership community that is dedicated to the restaurant technology industry. They have over 300 restaurant brands and about 100 vendor brands associated with RTN. Start-Up Alley, which is presented by RTN. This is the third Start-Up Alley and the focus is on the new start-up technology companies.

Next DeSantis, chief technology officer at Brix Holdings shares the new initiatives that they have brought to the brands over the last year. She talks about adding new POS as well as adding robotics. DeSantis is also serving as a judge for Start-Up Alley.

Nagy, Chief Executive Officer of Tablz an immersive 3D booking experience stops by and talks about being a participant in Start-Up Alley. Nagy points out that Tablz is the only participant that is the only tech that is dedicated to full-service restaurants.

Wow Bao’s president and chief executive officer, Alexander says that they have done over 700 virtual or dark kitchen locations and recently got involved with e-commerce direct-to-consumer with Walmart.com and Amazon.com. Wow Bao is now available in grocery stores and hot food vending machines.

The last guest from the MURTEC show was Pearson, CIO for Five Guys Enterprises and a Start-Up Alley judge. Five Guys can be found in 26 countries and Pearson manages IT for the brand. He says that he’s seeing several companies working on customer engagement.

To hear more from all of the guests that stopped by to chat with Schatzberg and Douglass at MURTEC, plus the Branded Quickfire Las Vegas questions and responses check out this episode Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Jacob Jaber, Co-Founder of Philz Coffee and Consumer Investor.

In 1978 Phil Jaber purchased a convenience store and in his off hours, he blended and tested coffee, looking to make the perfect cup. Philz Coffee was born and has gone from starting from one store to seventy-five. Jaber says, “I love people, I've been in business since I was nine years old. I started in a convenience store in my dad's convenience store in the Mission District in San Francisco standing on top of milk crates ringing up people at the register. I hated school because I felt like I was forced to learn stuff I wasn't interested in from people who weren't interesting. So I kind of put all of my energy into working with my dad and I learned a ton about business and people there and I fell in love with it and I've been doing that mostly ever since.”

Jaber talks about how he and his dad built Philz Coffee. He said that he knew how to treat people, how to make a personal cup of coffee, and how to work the business. They worked with people that knew how to create systems, processes, and organizational structures to help them open locations.

In terms of investing and advising Jaber says that he’s helped hundreds of entrepreneurs strategize, find product market fit, and build a team. He says this brings him the most joy. Jaber currently has almost twenty companies in his portfolio and they are out there looking for businesses.

Frischling asks Jaber what it takes to build a restaurant or venue today. Jaber says, “I think the most important thing is you got to love what you're doing, you got to love the product that you're selling, I see a lot of technology-first companies that sell food and it's very difficult to succeed because you have to love food if you're in the food business. Technology's an enabler it's not the starter.”

To hear more insights from Jaber about opening a business today and what he looks for when investing, plus get the Tuesday trivia answers check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with James O'Reilly, Chief Executive Officer of Smokey Bones.

O’Reilly has been in the restaurant industry for 25 years. Prior to joining Smokey Bones as CEO in 2019, he was President and CEO of Long John Silver’s. O’Reilly held leadership roles at other restaurant brands, including Sonic Drive-in, Pizza Hut, and KFC.

“Our tagline is meat is what we do and what that means is you cannot find a casual dining restaurant that has more cuts of meat, prepared in more kinds of ways than you can at Smokey Bones. So if you're thinking about steakhouses, we have more, if you're thinking about general casual dining restaurants, we have more and we have better. So we love what we do here. We're passionate about being a protein candy store,” says O’Reilly.

Smokey Bones has recently launched BitHall, an e-commerce site that is taking five brands, Smokey Bones, The Wing Experience, and Burger Experience, plus two virtual brands Bowl Market and Tender Box under one digital roof. O’Reilly says, “we started with a major commitment to off-premise in this company when I joined and built my management team because we really believe in the power of off-premise and casual dining.”

O’Reilly talks about realizing consumers who are in the traditional third-party marketplace space that wanted to order different things from different restaurants, would be looking at multiple deliveries, multiple commissions, and multiple fees. He says BiteHall was born out of this idea where the consumer has all of the bites in one site, one check, one order, and one delivery.

The guys talk to O’Reilly about being the first virtual brand that was offered on Uber Eats as well as Smokey Bones going all in on drive-thrus. O’Reilly shares that they have a fully equipped digital drive-thru with everything you would find in a limited service drive-thru from the menu boards, the loop detection, the audio, and the digital menu boards as well as the pull-up window. They built a dedicated expediting kitchen inside the restaurant with its own beverage equipment its own hot and cold equipment, a fry station, and dedicated packaging.

To hear more details about BiteHall, limited-time offers, Adventures in Candyland cocktails, and Tuesday trivia answers check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Anton Nicholas, Managing Partner at ICR.

ICR is an integrated communications firm. Nicholas says, “We do everything from public company investor and public relations to private company consumer public relations and brand public relations. We also do a ton in the transaction support world and crisis communications.” Nicholas is responsible for managing the firm’s consumer corporate and financial communications practice as well as the ICR Lifestyle Lab, ICR’s consumer and brand public relations practice.

Frischling asks Nicholas to share how the dramatic shift away from capital has expanded the focus on marketing and how this is affecting your business and your clients. Nicholas says that 2022 was something they have never seen before, the capital markets were shut, and getting capital for marketing was evaporated.

“So I think what happened was whether you're big or small you realize that you really got to focus on your core business and in particular for restaurants you know that's about trying to attract new and also get existing customers to repeat frequency and I think we've seen a ton of people shift back to those traditional ways to do that,” Nicholas says. He adds, “In today's world with digital in particular, PR tends to be higher ROI because it's less expensive upfront investment than advertising.”

Nicholas shares his thoughts on traditional media verse digital media as well as the trends and how you know people consume data. He says, “I think if you look at the way people consume media today, it's just more broad-based. They still read The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times of the world. They do it digitally probably mostly, but they still read those publications, and those publications still have influence just as much as some commentary blog.”

To hear how media can influence how we consume data as well as consume food, plus get the answers for Tuesday trivia check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Sterling Douglass, Co-Founder & CEO of Chowly.

Douglass says “Chowly is a leading point-of-sale integration company. We're enabling restaurants to expand and maintain different off-premise capabilities. So you know today we're seamlessly integrating orders from all the biggest platforms. So, Grubhub Uber Eats, DoorDash, and when Google food ordering came out last year and we've got a couple of hundred other integrations on different platforms.” He adds, “We've got over 12,000 restaurants on our platform and they're increasing their revenue. They're improving their operational flow and they're saving on labor costs.”

The guys tease with breaking news that will be shared on this podcast and Douglass shares it. He says, “So with great pleasure and excitement to announce we've closed the deal to bring Koala this is an online ordering company with an absolutely stellar best-in-class guest experience platform under the Chowly umbrella, we are combining forces. We are the same company and we're going to be bringing an amazing product to the space. I can't be more excited about what the future brings for these 2 companies and what we can do together.”

Douglass noted that Koala’s mission statement is what really spoke to him. He says, “their mission statement is to democratize premium online ordering for restaurants and so when I thought about what we could do in combination with them and you know they've done a great job with companies like Shake Shack and Mod pizza and P.F. Chang’s. If we could bring that experience and the revenue generators and the features that they have and we could bring that to the mom and pop and to the independent operator I thought what better way could we help accelerate that aspirational mission that they have.”

To hear more about the acquisition and the answers to the Tuesday trivia questions, check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Wade Alle, SVP and Chief Digital Officer for Brinker International for a special Super Bowl episode where they talk about kitchen automation and the importance of a back to the basics game plan on strategy.

Brinker International a leader in casual dining restaurant companies whose brands include Chili’s Bar & Grill, Maggiano’s Little Italy as well as virtual brands. Allen says, “Let me start with if you don't know Brinker you probably don't know casual dining because over the course of the last forty-five plus years we've owned 30 different brands. But today our core brands are Chili’s, Maggiano's Little Italy and then we launched a virtual brand called, It's Just Wings about two years ago.”

Allen’s role with the company is SVP and chief digital officer and his focus is on the on 1.2 billion dollars off-premise business. Over the last ten years Allen has had four different positions inside of the company, today he is running all of off-premise. In 2022 Kevin Hochman became the new President and CEO and his leadership is driving the team to be hyper focused on the things that reality matter.

They talk about how Brinker is bringing the kitchen of the future to life today with kitchen automation. Allen shares that they have two new pieces of equipment including a grill that cooks proteins to perfection with a touch of a button. The second is an oven that Allen says cooks foods really fast and their steaks in 3 - 4 minutes, cooked perfectly. Brinker focuses on bringing their own innovation solutions as well as working with companies to integrate good technology.

Allen gets to throw a question to Frischling and Schatzy during their talking back segment and he asks, how much technology is too much technology in the restaurant world? Is there a limit or is all technology great technology? Schatzy’s says, “I think the key is it's the integrations and the workflow and how does it work with everything you already have and your business so coming up with a solution for a problem is great, but every restaurant group is a little bit different. It's not the right fit for everybody or it's the right fit but it doesn't work into my flow.” Frischling adds, “I think there was an explosion of tech and to Schatzy's point and when he's talking about integrations I think the fact is the remainder of this year and even a lot of 24 are going to be about consolidation.”

To hear more about what to expect in restaurant technology and the foodservice feud question, check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Bo Davis, co-founder and chief executive officer of MarginEdge.

Davis before founding MarginEdge was the founder of Wasabi, a group of conveyor belt sushi restaurants currently operating in DC and Boston. Before Wasabi, he was in the US Peace Corps serving in Macedonia, earned an MS in Finance from London Business School, and founded an educational software company, Prometheus, which he sold to Blackboard in 2002. Davis had a restaurant in Northern Virginia and where he is based and primarily focuses on MarginEdge.

In December 2022 MarginEdge secured $45 million in a Series C funding. Davis says, “as far as deploying new capital, we're not pivoting, we're digging in, where we are here to help restaurant restaurateurs operate and make their back lives a little bit easier, solve some problems for them so they can focus on their customers and their food.”

Davis talks about the team and shares, “We're continuing to grow our product team now, we wrote most of the core product with five people and now we're growing to 45 people and dev, our sales team was a handful of people for a long time. We're now at about 50 people there, so we're just building out the team, we're going to market and we're pretty excited about it.”

MarginEdge primarily focussed on selling to restaurants will now be selling to accountants and accounting firms that work with restaurants. Davis talks about selling to accounting firms and he says, “You know it's one of those things where we were doing it before, not really realizing we were doing it because it wasn't intentional but bookkeepers and accounting firms working with restaurants found the software super helpful because it basically takes out part of the headache of just capturing the invoices, getting them into accounting, tying in the point of sales, getting that into the accounting system so they can focus on the higher value things that they do, the cash flow management and the strategic stuff. And so we found that some of our biggest clients were actually firms.”

To hear Davis’ answer for Tuesday Trivia and the new rollout for MarginEdge check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” were live from the Restaurant Marketing Summit where they talked with Robert Guarino, partner at Chef Driven and Andrew Nash, chief executive officer of Targetable.

Guarino is a New York City restaurateur that has been in the city managing and owning restaurants since 1996. Chef Driven is a multi-concept restaurant group with all of their locations in New York City. The company has thirty years of history and are currently running 14 restaurants, 13 are unique concepts with 2 new concepts in development.

Nash, an executive with over thirty years experience in technology, is the chief executive officer at Targetable, a done-for-you digital marketing platform for the restaurant and hospitality industry.

They talk about customer journey marketing and Nash shares it’s all about the venue and experience and you need to create awareness, acquisition or the pre-customer, repeat customer or ideal customer follows and a loyalist or whale.

Guarino jumps into the customer journey marketing topic and says as operators you need to get the customers into your restaurant as well as keep customers coming back by establishing initiatives.

The discussion goes to having the right technology in restaurants that will allow employees to better service the guest and create a better guest experience. Guarino talks about using the guest feedback to power marketing. He says that guest feedback should be the key to keeping all of your existing guests and getting them back in the door.

To hear the questions asked during the Talking Back, Marketing Addition and more about the importance of guest feedback from Nash and Guarino plus get the insights on how to treat customers throughout their journey as a guest in your restaurant check out this episode Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” were on the road at the ICR Conference 2023 in Orlando, Florida with guests Jim Balis, Managing Director, Capital Spring, Scott Lawton, CEO & CoFounder, Bartaco and Fred LeFranc, CEO, Results Thru Strategy.

Balis leads CapitalSpring’s Strategic Operations Group. He stops by to talk with the guys at ICR to discuss what’s new at CapitalSpring. Balis shares the news that they closed on a fund back in April. He says he is excited about it and that they are going to continue to invest in the restaurant space. Balis says, “we've invested out of that fund already in some very exciting ventures and opportunities. As I think you guys know, what makes us unique is that we invest both in debt and equity.”

Bartaco CEO and co-founder, Scott Lawton chats with the guys about having 24 company owned restaurants now and opening another 6 this year. Lawton says, “We're really excited, we've been kind of building up since covid and all these these are covid deals we're finally getting to launch the new fleet and we are super excited about it.” They are opening in Chicago and Charleston for the first time. They talk about Lawton’s view on 2023 biggest tech trends and he says, “Better ideas, better efficiency and we're going to have to figure out ways to drop more to the bottom line without adding to the top line.”

LeFranc, CEO at Results Thru Strategy talks about the company and says, “Results Thru Strategy started in 2007 some so my co-founding partners and I decided that the industry needed an advisory firm that was not just an unemployed exec trolling for a job and we got together with 4 of us and now have over 15 entrepreneurial experts with minimum 30 years experience in their area of expertise we help emerging restaurant brands with a pathway to growth, we help legacy brands that need to revitalize their brand because they've lost relevance with their customers and we do a tremendous amount of work with technology companies that are trying to sell to the space.”

To hear more from all of the guests that stopped by to chat with Schatzberg and Frischling at ICR, get branded quickfire Orlando addition responses and the crystal ball answers check out this episode Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Trevor Shimizu, co-founder and chief revenue officer of Brizo FoodMetrics. It is a data and analytics provider for the foodservice industry, analyzing 1.3 million eating and drinking establishments in Canada and the United States.

Shimizu played professional ball for a few years before getting into technology. Frischling repeats one of his favorite podcast topics and says, “That operators did not get into the restaurant industry to become data analysts and funny enough Brizo didn't start off in the data industry to be restaurant data miners. So you know we're all kind of in this together now.” He adds that the first two pilots were actually foodservice businesses that led Shimizu to become Brizo FoodMetrics specializing in food metrics and the foodservice space.

“We were taking some time, it took about a year to be quite honest with you. Doing a lot of research to understand where we might be able to bring our expertise, we just happened to come across two foodservice companies, technology companies within Québec City that asked us to do some projects with them on a pilot.” Shimizu shares about how Brizo started. He adds, “You know our expertise would be huge and so that's where the collection of the online data, organizing it and then presenting it through our all in one dashboard became extremely helpful and that's why we decided to put our focus right into the food service industry.”

Shimizu talks about capturing visibility and reputation scoring. He explains, “the more sources that we find you online the higher your visibility score is going to be and we're also comparing you to your peers within that particular area. As an example, if you've only got a Facebook page at this time in the industry then you know you're going to get an extremely low score because most people are on five to six 6 sources whereas if you're on Facebook, you're on Instagram, you've got a profile on DoorDash and Uber Eats and your website and all these other places obviously your visibility scoring is going to be higher.” Reputation scoring is where they capture ratings and reviews from different sources and analyze a restaurant compared to their peers to see if your reputation is higher or lower than businesses in your area.

To hear why technology companies are embarrassing Brizo, Tuesday Trivia, true or false answers and more about the NextBite partnership check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Tablz chief executive officer, Frazer Nagy. Tablz is an immersive 3D booking experience that is redefining the future of dining by enabling diners to select and to the table of their choice.

Nagy talks about getting started in the restaurant industry, he says, “I think like a lot of successful founders and a lot of people in our space that make this jump, it's because we started in the industry. I was 13 when a family friend got me working as a banquet server at a golf course for weddings.” He adds, “I've just been in the industry my whole life, from busing to dishwashing, a little bit of even prep cooking. But I always had the gift of the gab. So the minute I turned 18 it made a lot more sense for me to be on the floor.”

They talk about starting a tech company and Schatzberg says, “I just love when you have a restaurant operator turned techie because who better to know what restaurant operators need.” Frischling adds, “I love that they're the ones leading the technology revolution.”

Nagy shares the news about relaunching the brand. He says, “for us brand and design is just at the center of what we do and that's not always the case for restaurant technology, I think often it's overlooked. But we have really created a culture here of a design-centric culture.” he adds, “This is many months in the making and this is something that's really really important because we are taking the Tablz brand and really turning it into this beautiful mature website platform in the digital ecosystem.”

The discussion turns to the difference between the terms dynamic pricing and revenue management. Nagy shares, “Revenue management is the big thing. It's what all of those other terms you described fall underneath. So revenue management is really the combination of premium seating which is one element with dynamic pricing. When you add those things together you get revenue management and this is a big part of my life and our thesis and our belief about this industry is that we quite simply are the last industry in the world to do revenue management.”

To hear the Tuesday Trivia answers plus get more insights into revenue management and enhancing the customer experience check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Dave Harris, chief information officer as well as chief technology officer at Shake Shack about how technology can enable and enhance the guest experience.

Harris has been with Shake Shack for four years and has led technology teams across companies in retail, hospitality and consumer packaged goods. Some companies include Virgin Atlantic, Avis, JetBlue, Yankee Candle and more.

Shake Shake serves elevated versions of the classics using only the best ingredients, says Harris. He adds that they are known for great burgers, chicken, hotdogs, frozen custard, beer, wine and more. Core values that Shake Shack focuses on are elevated food, made with the best ingredients, gathering and enriching their neighborhoods, and delivering enlightened hospitality at every touch point, says Harris.

The original Shake Shack opened in New York’s Madison Square Park in early 2000. They have expanded to more than 400 locations across the United States and internationally. Harris talks about how Shake Shack will retrofit all locations with kiosks by the end of 2023. In 2017 they deployed their first kiosks in the Astor Place location and were able to use that data to develop the rollout program. Harris noted that about half of their locations currently have kiosks. He says that the kiosks are their highest profit margin channel and highest in check average check.

Harris talks about investing in technology, he says from a guest perspective they have invested the most. He says they have invested significantly in digital products, they have custom IOS and Android mobile apps, a custom web ordering platform and the kiosk solution. Over the last two years Harris says that Shake Shack had to become more accessible, focus on multichannel delivery and make it easier for the Shack team.

To hear Harris talk about the Shake Shack tech stack, including the tech that determines order wait time, plus find out what Harris’ talking back question is for the guys and the details of the foodservice feud check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Nick Stone, Founder and chief executive officer and Amy Hom, chief operating officer and chief people officer from Bluestone Lane.

Stone talks about Bluestone, an Australian-inspired coffee shop, cafés & lifestyle brand committed to providing a genuine daily escape for all our locals. They offer premium coffee and healthy and delicious food through an ‘Aussie’ approach to life. Stone comes from a financial background and said he created Bluestone out of necessity. Stone adds that he didn’t leave finance until he had twelve Bluestone Lane locations.

Stone offered advice when starting a new business saying, “I highly recommend to a lot of entrepreneurs you don’t have to go all in." He also adds that going all in is another degree of externalities and challenges.

Hom has worked for many brands including California Pizza Kitchen, Wolfgang Puck, Red Robin and Sweetgreen. Hom says she has been blessed to work with great brands. She met Nick last year and Hom says Bluestone is a sexy brand and it is all about hospitality. Frischling says that what separates Bluestone Lane they lead with hospitality and connect with their locals. He adds that you can count on your local barista to know your name and recognize you when you walk in the door at Bluestone.

They talk about the importance of hospitality and how it starts with great people. Hom shares that they take care of their employees and utilize heart checks. The locals are very important but they make sure their employees are taken care of too. She says it keeps them close and helps with retention.

To hear about Bluestone cafés concept, the guys talk about real estate, the answers to the Tuesday trivia questions and the technology they are using check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with R.J. Melman, President of Lettuce Entertain You, a fifty-one year old restaurant group that is privately held with over one hundred and twenty restaurants across the country in thirteen different states. It is based out of Chicago, Illinois.

Melman’s dad, Rich Melman started the company back in 1971 when he opened a restaurant with his best friend Jerry Orzoff. Melman’s siblings Jarrod and Molly are both part of the Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants team.

The guys share breaking news and say that Lettuce has just opened their first restaurant in Florida. It is Aba, a Mediterranean restaurant that brings cooking influences from the Mediterranean, including Israel, Lebanon, Turkey and Greece. Also the group is opening RPM Italian in West Palm Beach and Summer House in Orlando.

In Chicago in 2023 Melman talks about the new collaboration between Tao Group Hospitality. The partnership will bring a new private members club. The guys also talk about the Lettuce loyalty program that has been around for more than three decades. Now the program is free through the app. Recently they announced that Lettuce has partnered with DoorDash for a first of its kind loyalty program. The program powered by DoorDash will now allow guests to receive loyalty points and redeem gift cards for takeout and delivery.

Melman’s goal when he became President was to use tech to transcend hospitality in dining rooms, bringing hospitality and technology together. Melman says they are in the process of switching over our general ledger, HR solution and more.

Melman shares how the company continues to keep things going well with all of the expansion. They have been consistent on expansion over the last thirty years and said that the team has played a role in the growth.

To hear more about Lettuce’s tech strategy, the foodservice feud and the talking back segment plus get the answer to the trivia question, check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Aaron Noveshen, Founder and CEO of Starbird and Founder and Chairman of The Culinary Edge.

The Culinary Edge is a food and beverage innovation firm that was started by Noveshen over twenty years ago and Starbird is a fast-casual chicken chain that their team created after identifying chicken was about to grow significantly.

The guys talk to Noveshen about the success of marketing Starbird’s limited time offers, better known as LTOs including the Cali Bacon Dutch Crunch. The Dutch crunch bread is baked in house and the chicken sandwich has made it to the menu. Novenshen says that their secret sauce is their Star Sauce.

Starbird earlier this month made QSRs best brands to work for list. The company is known for developing talent and its people first culture as well as provides incentives and educational programs for their employees as well. “Good food can come and go, restaurant concepts can come and go but the people are what it’s all about,” says Noveshen. He adds, “our tagline is positively delicious chicken, it’s our goal everyday to create positivity, not only in the lives of the people walking in the door everyday but also the people who are working there everyday. We want to make a difference in their lives.”

Noveshen asks the guys how they prioritize everything they need to do everyday during the talking back segment. Frischling says how he loves to create lists and loves what they do. Schatzberg and Frischling both feel strongly about their hospitality community and said that their village helps them do what they need to do everyday.

To hear more about Starbird’s values and the foodservice feud question plus Noveshen's Tuesday Trivia story about being a Lyft driver check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” were on the road at the Restaurant, Finance and Development Conference in Las Vegas with guests Andrew Smith, Managing Director of Savory Fund, Andy Wiederhorn, Chief Executive Officer of Fat Brands and Tim McLaughlin, Chief Executive Officer of GoTab.

Smith is Managing Partner of Savory Management, a Mercato Partners value-add management company, that focuses on delivering outsized returns through strategic growth and replication strategies. They partner with high-potential restaurant concepts to deliver necessary capital, industry knowledge, and operational prowess to facilitate growth into multi-unit brands and they specialize in taking fast casual and polished casual food and beverage concepts with between 2 and 8 locations and scales them into 30 plus units. Smith talks about growth, brands and shares breaking news with the guys.

Wiederhorn has served as a director and Chief Executive Officer of FAT Brands Inc. since its formation. It is a global franchising company that acquires, markets, and develops fast-casual, quick-service, casual dining, and polished casual dining concepts around the world. They own seventeen restaurant brands including Round Table Pizza, Fatburger, Marble Slab Creamery, Johnny Rockets, Fazoli’s, Twin Peaks and more. Wiederhorn talks about growth and acquisitions and buying 9 new brands. They talk about Fat Brands looking at new acquisitions and having a one thousand store pipeline of stores to be built.

The idea of GoTab was started when co-founder McLaughlin started his first restaurant and brewery in 2015. GoTab, Inc., is a Restaurant Commerce Platform helping large and mid-sized restaurants, breweries, bars, hotels and other venues run lean, profitable operations while making guests even more satisfied. Recently the brand made Inc. Power Partner Awards. McLaughlin talks about the importance of integrations and what is next for GoTab.

To hear more from all of the guests that stopped by to chat with Schatzberg and Frischling at RFDC and Branded Quickfire, check out this episode Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Carin Stutz, president and chief executive officer at Native Foods. Stutz has been in the industry for five decades and worked with brands such as Red Robin, Wendy’s, Cosi, Applebee’s and more. Stutz said looking back at her career and her early start at McDonald’s, she loved being in the restaurant business.

Native Foods, the plant-based fast-casual brand launched back in 1994 before the plant-based restaurants were popular. They have twelve restaurants in three states, Colorado, California and Illinois. Stutz says that the brand is really leaning into vegan comfort food, delicious, nostalgic food with a twist. Recently they hired a new chef to bring innovation to the brand.

Frischling talks about plant-based foods and says, in the U.S. alone plant-based foods are a $7.4 billion dollar market and are growing three times as fast as overall food sales and grocery retailers nationwide. He says despite these numbers there are still some wary customers. Stutz talks about soy benefits as a protein and the myth around it as well as the innovation around vegetable proteins.

Stutz offers advice for operators that may not have plant-based foods on their menu, to introduce consumers to plant-based foods. She says, operators need to go all in to vegan if they are adding a plant-based menu item. Stutz says it is an easy sustainable message. She adds that there are usually three reasons you see the guest come to your restaurant for plant-based options, one is health, second is environment and lastly is animal compassion.

In addition to Native Foods, Stutz sits on several boards including Kura Sushi and Checkers & Rally’s Restaurants. She says it is an honor to be on a board and she looks at board service as her giving years. She wants people to look at the foodservice industry as a real career.

To hear more about Stutz’s insights on the industry, technology and innovation and her answer to her Trivia Tuesday question about George Clooney, check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy”chat with André Vener, partner and co-founder of Dog Haus. Dog Haus is known for its signature all beef Haus Dogs and handcrafted proprietary Haus Sausages, as well as its 100% genetically tested, humanely raised, hormone- and antibiotic-free Black Angus beef from Creekstone Farms.

The founding partners are three friends who share a passion for creativity, quality and commitment to community. They are Hagop Giragossian, Quasim Riaz and Andre Vener and they opened their first Dog Haus in Pasadena, California in 2010.

Frischling starts out the episode by asking the Trivia Tuesday segment question, “Was Vener a guest at Michael Jackson’s funeral?” Where the answer will be revealed at the end of the show.

Vener talks about Dog Haus and says they have about sixty locations in twelve states and the restaurant is known for dogs, sausage, burgers, hot national chicken sandwiches, plant-based foods, a kick-ass bar program and their virtual brands.

Vener is asked about his foresight to create virtual brands prior to the pandemic and the launch of The Absolute Brands. Vener talks about breaking down the Dog Haus menu to create five different companies by looking at items that were ordered for take out. During the pandemic Dog Haus was able to give their franchisees the opportunity to offer brands that had been created only for ghost kitchens. They would be able to have five concepts to offer for delivery since the bars and restaurants were shut down. Dog Haus went from minus 45% in April to being up 12.5% in the second half of the year with all of the shutdowns.

The virtual kitchens started running solely within their stores but have since partnered with Kitchen United, Kroger and CloudKitchen to grow their reach. Vener talks about the convenience of having Kitchen United brands in a grocery store. He shares how you are able to order from multiple brands all in the ease of placing one order. This is also a great way to introduce the name of brands to grocery store customers.

To hear Tuesday's Trivia answer and how Vener is bringing Bad-Ass Breakfast Burrito concept to a brick-and-mortar, check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Mani Kulasooriya, Co-Founder & CEO of Cut+Dry plus the guys introduce a new segment, Trivia Tuesday and share a fun trivia question about their guest at the end of the show.

Cut+Dry is an all-in-one commerce enablement platform for foodservice distributors. It was created to provide distributors, their customers, and their suppliers with a single digital platform to make food commerce a more enjoyable, more profitable, and less wasteful experience.

Kulasooriya has been working in tech for over twenty plus years. He started in consumer internet and fintech before fintech was even coined. Before founding Cut+Dry, in 2019, Mani co-founded CAKE, a restaurant technology startup, which was acquired by Sysco.

All founders start a company based on some experience they had, positive or negative. Kulasooriya shares how he took specific experiences from Citigroup, Yahoo and CAKE before he developed Cut+Dry.

Kulasooriya says that Cut+Dry has the largest structured data base in the industry. He adds that the big problem that they are solving can have significant benefits to the foodservice ecosystem and also to humanity in general. Kulasooriya notes that 30% of food getting thrown out has environmental and social consequences.

They talk about the role that data plays for the operators, distributors and the manufacturers. Cut+Dry does the heavy lifting with the data then gives the operators, manufacturers and distributors the applications that make their businesses run better.

To hear more about how the data can positively impact the total business, the use case for the restaurants and Kulasooriya’s Trivia Tuesday answer, check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Rajat Bhakhri CEO and Co-Founder of Boston-based Incentivio, Inc.

Incentivio is a fully automated intelligence-driven guest engagement platform for restaurants and virtual kitchens that increases retention, maximizes revenue and enhances the guest experience for both first-time visitors & loyalists.

Bhakhri is a graduate of Purdue University with a degree in electrical engineering. He delivered pizza for a short period of time until his first job as a software engineer. Bhakhri moved to Boston and worked for a startup. He then started Aeturnum, a technology services company with 250+ engineers and offices in the U.S. and Asia focused on building platforms for startups in the U.S. and Europe.

“We should build a single stack solution where we can capture all the guest data,” says Bhakhri . He adds, to help increase check sizes and help restaurants retain guests. The idea was how to democratize tech for all of their customers.

Frischling says, I love that you use the democratization of. I think that’s really important and I think long time listers of the podcast know the 2/3 of the restaurants in this country are small to midsize businesses, they are mom and pop, there’s a lot out there for the big boys and God bless, we love the big boys, we respect the big boys but I do love what Incentivio is doing for everyone else or almost 2/3 of the market.

They talk about Incentivio and Uber joining forces to offer restaurants first party ordering and commission free delivery. Uber will provide delivery drivers to restaurants using Incentivio’s order-ahead solutions. Restaurant guests can order delivery directly from a restaurant’s website or mobile app, and the Incentivio platform dispatches an Uber driver for the delivery.

To hear about Incentivio’s artificial intelligence product and more, check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and special host, Rev “The Marketing Guy” bring you this episode on the road from the Fast Casual Executive Summit in Indianapolis. They chat with Kathy Doyle, President and Publisher at Networld Media Group, Jim Bitticks, President and COO at Dave's Hot Chicken, Zack Oates, Founder and CEO at Ovation and André Vener, Partner at Dog Haus.

Kathy Doyle stops by to talk about the Fast Casual Executive Summit that is now in its seventeenth year. When they started this model it was about bringing fun networking and learning together to the industry. Doyle says, “I mean I don't care what you do for a living no matter how much you love it. Some days are longer than others. So when you can throw some fun in there and people are having a good time, a lot of things get done and deals get done and people learn and they move forward when they're on the road.” She adds, "so that's the real mission of the Fast Casual Executive Summit.”

Dave’s Hot Chicken president and chief operating officer, Jim Bitticks stops by to talk about the brand and its start. He says, “Dave's Hot Chicken is a concept that started in a parking lot just five and a half years ago with three guys, nine hundred dollars, an igloo ice chest, an E-Z Up and a portable frier.” Bitticks adds, “They got strategically lucky that a Farley Elliot, a blogger from Eater LA came in on the third day and loved it, posted a blog article on it. The next day they were wrapped around the block and it never stopped.” Dave’s Hot Chicken has 84 locations today.

Oates, the founder and CEO of Ovation, stops by to chat about the show and The Perfect Pitch, which was a global contest like Shark Tank for fast casual brands. Oates said the winner was Flake Pie, out of Utah. When asked why Oates comes back to Fast Casual Executive Summit each year he says, “This is such a good place to not just meet people but reconnect with people and this is something that's really fun, as I was looking through the agenda last night it's like every single panel has an Ovation customer on it. Which is really cool to see because when we came here two years ago we did not have a single customer that was here.”

André Vener, Partner at Dog Haus shares what to expect in his session, he says they will be talking about ghost kitchens and what is going on in that space including Dog Haus’ Kroger partnership they have with Kitchen United. They talk about it being a unique opportunity in a grocery store. Dog Haus was created by three friends in 2010 with a passion for hot dogs. Vener says they have about 75 locations, in 20 states.

To hear the branded quickfire with the guests, technology that Dave’s Hot Chicken has added and more check out this episode Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael0Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” chat with Jeff Handler, chief executive officer and President at Hopdoddy Burger Bar & HiBar Hospitality Group.

Handler grew up in the business, he has been in the industry for more than thirty years. He shared, “My dad was a tavern owner and growing up, if I wanted to spend time with my dad that meant kind of sometimes early mornings and weekends hanging out at the tavern picking quarters out of booth seats and cleaning the grill and cleaning beer lines and emptying pool tables.” Handler joined Hopdoddy Burger Bar in 2016 as CEO and in 2021 he was also named CEO of HiBar Hospitality, a growth-focused umbrella company owned by L Catterton that in 2022 completed its first acquisition, Grub Burger Bar.

The guys ask Handler about Hopdoddy and he says, “I don't care what you call us as long as you call us the best burger place you've ever been to.” He adds, “That's what we aspire to do. Hopdoddy plays in the better burger space. We look to be disruptive and really rethinking, reshaping kind of what a better burger joint looks like and acts like.” Hopdoddy is based out of Austin, Texas and currently has 50 locations really from coast to coast.

Handler talks about what differentiates Hopdoddy and says, “So what makes Hopdoddy different I think it's that we really are open minded to what a burger is. Most people just think it's a bun and meat and some toppings and we look at it as a vessel for flavors. Anything that we can grind, grill, we're going to make a burger out of it and so we've done some pretty cool creative things with different proteins.”

Off-premise is a focus topic on this show and Handler shares his tips and some recommendations for operators that may still be struggling since the pandemic. Handler said, what they learned quickly was they could be profitable, they could take care of the guests and they could take care of the team members by getting them back to work. Hopdoddy’s off-premise business was about 12% and post-pandemic is now at 40%.

To hear about the founders of Hopdoddy and how Hopdoddy’s tackled engineering the food for takeout plus experience, check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” bring you this episode from FSTEC. They chat with Daran Han, Cargill Digital Business Studio Lead, Stacey Hey, Digital Product Owner of Kitchen Blueprint, Jessica Stanchfield, Digital Product Owner of Hot Take and Nate Shrader, Digital Product Owner of Chekt.

Cargill Digital Business Studios is a startup studio backed by Cargill investment and expertise, designed to incubate and scale digital businesses within Cargill that address the most urgent problems facing our global food and agriculture system, now and into the future. Han says, “over the last couple decades we've really kind of doubled down around investing in new solutions and integrating the way that we bring our entire offerings to our customers.” He added, “so we're kind of found on the history of entrepreneurship over the last 165 years as we think about what's ahead for us and we look at the environment that we serve and agri-food everything we're seeing is a digital disruption starting to come in and impact the environment that we operate in and as Cargill we're investing in a digital business studio.” Han explains that it is a place where they incubate and build new businesses from the ground up, meshing the capabilities, expertise and the resources at Cargill, doing good work to impact the environment.

Stacey Hey, the digital product owner of Kitchen Blueprint stops by to talk with the guys. Kitchen Blueprint creates transparency with data and insights to show where costs are going, where loss is happening and how processes can be more efficient across the back-of-house. Hey says that, “there's a whole host of new opportunities that come to bear whether that be optimization of profits. Whether that be reduction of labor reliance. Whether that be whole new opportunities to automate areas of the restaurant they otherwise would not have gone or would have gone undiscovered so that's really the heart of what we focused on.”

Digital product owner, Jessica Stanchfield of Hot Take, the food-focused research platform that connects businesses to their customers stops by to chat with the guys. Stanchfield says that Hot Take is an innovation and insights platform. They bring the consumer voice and insights into the innovation process and that they are critical to making better business decisions.

Checkt’s digital product owner Nate Shrader stops by to talk about Chekt, a contactless food pickup system designed to meet the demands of high-volume foodservice environments. Shrader says, “it's a modular smart food locker solution designed to transform take out and pick up for restaurants and really anyone who is a really high congested food service provider. So stadiums, colleges, and universities as well.”

To hear customer stories from each of the guests plus the quickfire questions from Texas, check out this episode Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” were on the road and with a special edition live from FSTEC in Dallas.

Andy Freivogel is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Science On Call. He has over twenty-five years experience in both technology and retail. He also spent years creating specialized data networks and systems for end-user support in the residential digital services arena. Freivogel stops by to talk to the guys about the show, Innovation Alley and Science On Call, a tech support platform for restaurants. Freivogel says that the theme of the show is optimism and enthusiasm, people are happy to be back.

CEO of Copia, Kimberly Smith stops by and chats with the guys. Copia’s technology allows businesses to safely donate their excess food to nonprofits and access tax deductions. Copia is helping the industry track food waste. Smith shares that Copia has just closed a Pre-Series A with Branded Strategic. Smith says from an operation standpoint they are continuing to grow. She adds that operators that are not focusing on solutions to donate their waste are missing out on tax benefits.

Stephanie Sollers, CEO at Virtual Dining Concepts, stops by and talks about the new brick-and-mortar launch of MrBeast Burger. Virtual Dining Concepts creates large virtual brands with celebrities, media companies and influencers, helping them expand their businesses into the food category. Sollers says the ethos of the company is to bring these concepts into restaurants and kitchens that have extra capacity.

Chris Keating, EVP at Winsight comes by to talk about this year's FSTEC. The show had over 700 operators. They talk about the panel CEO’s in the hot seat, and Keating says that chief executive officers are technology professionals now.

To hear more from all of the guests that stopped by to chat with Schatzberg and Frischling at FSTEC, check out this episode Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” chat with Jay Fiske, President of Powerhouse Dynamics, a Middleby Company while in Dallas at the FSTEC Conference.

As president Fiske is responsible for leading all strategic and day-to-day company operations. He is a technology executive and investor with over twenty years of experience building businesses and innovative technology products to market.

Fiske says, “Powerhouse Dynamics, we are a Boston based technology firm and we are the folks behind the open kitchen internet of things platform. We help large multi-site restaurant operators manage their critical infrastructure more efficiently, save money on energy, reduce risk on food safety, help make sure all their cooking equipment is up and running and producing high- quality products.” He adds, “So think about this as the internet of things. The critical back of house infrastructure and you know driving those kinds of efficiency that this visibility and control and connectability suddenly affords these multi-site operators.” Restaurants can use Open Kitchen to connect, analyze, and control equipment like refrigeration, HVAC as well as a large range of kitchen equipment brands to automate essential facility functions.

The guys ask Fiske, “can you share with our listeners about what Open Kitchen is doing to help operators maintain their equipment before they even break and have issues? And the importance of what we're learning from you is the smart kitchen.” Fiske says as Open Kitchen integrates with different types of equipment and makes and models, the business case for connectivity really varies by the kind of equipment. There is a common theme across all equipment for uptime and maintenance. Fiske says Open Kitchen can give operators insights to the data and all you to be proactive on prioritizing any issues.

Schatzberg makes a point and says that what he really loves about Open Kitchen is that it can integrate with equipment from many manufactures, not just Middleby. Fiske says that when operators are integrating with Open Kitchen that their data can not be shared with anyone else.

Frischling talks about how data is a hot topic and asks Fiske, “Can you share the role that the Internet-of-Things (IoT) generated data is playing with Powerhouse Dynamics Open Kitchen and how is it helping everyone?” Fiske says that they provide the infrastructure to get all the raw data to the cloud and it is creating the business tools around the data for effective outcomes.

To hear about the foodservice feud plus Frischling and Schatzberg answer to the talking back question, where they see automation going in foodservice, check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” chat with Robert Irvine, world-class chef, fitness authority, philanthropist and restaurateur. Irvine has appeared or hosted in several shows on television, including Food Network’s Worst Cooks in America, Next Iron Chef, Restaurant Express, Chopped: Impossible, Guy’s Grocery Games: Impossible, A Hero’s Welcome, Food Network Star, ABC’s Body of Proof, ABC Family’s Melissa and Joey plus more. Irvine is known for his support for our nation’s military and believes that his success would not be possible without the men and women that so bravely defend our freedoms.

Frischling asks Irvine to share how he got started in food and he says, “so basically eleven years old I started to cook in home economics class at school because there were thirty girls and me and I thought what a great way to get a girlfriend.” He adds, “I made my first Quiche Lorraine, I took it home and realized that pastry, egg, a little bacon, onion, some garlic and cheese made a meal that somebody would be really happy.” Irvine at fifteen years old said he joined the military. When Irvine was nine years old he said he had become a sailor, now he cooks. He says, “food to me is the ultimate passion job, a lifestyle, whatever you want to call it because it affects so many other people.”

Irvine for many years was involved with the Gary Sinise foundation. Schatzberg asks Irvine about the Robert Irvine Foundation which Irvine founded in 2014 to support the veterans and veteran causes that need the most help. Irvine says,” I wanted my focus to be so strategic on food fitness, mental fitness and physical fitness. So pretty much everything to do with physical and mental health. He says about the foundation “that there's just a whole bunch of things that we do but mainly to give freedom back to those that have lost it.”

Irvine talks about not being a fan of virtual kitchens but after a meeting with Robert Earl of Virtual Dining Concepts, he has converted. Virtual Dining Concepts and Irvine teamed up to create Robert Irvine’s American Heroes, a virtual sandwich brand that will have a direct impact on supporting our nation’s military heroes.

The guys ask Irvine about Irvine Spirits in partnership with Boardroom Spirits, creators of handcrafted vodka, rum, whiskey, and more. He talks about hand picking the botanicals himself for Irvine Spirits.

To hear more about Irvine’s many successful businesses, his dedication and passion for supporting the military and his FitCrunch Campaign, check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

This month on Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” are taking a break from their usual interview episodes and bringing you a Best Of season of all your favorite segments. They bring back “Best Of” old favorites such as “Which Came First” and “The Crystal Ball Moment.”

In this episode they feature a Best Of Who Would You Beat Quickfire question with special guest and Co Founder & CEO at Chowly, Inc., Sterling Douglass. Schatzberg and Frischling would ask each guest who they would choose to have better odds of beating in a selected game. Frischling says, “It is by far the funniest question, and one where I will say, I hold the record as the stronger competitor over Schatzy. We’ve had funny answers throughout the season such as Schatzy being compared to a skinny can of shaken soda waiting to pop.”

Schatzberg asks Douglass, “If you were to challenge Jimmy or I to a game of Paintball, who do you have the better odds of beating?” Douglass answers definitely Jimmy.

You can check out the best of episode to hear Steven Simoni who at the time was the chief executive officer at Bbot choose who he would have the better odds in beating at Scrabble. Michael Jacober, CEO of Blanket gets asked about Clue, Clockedin’s chief executive officer, Eric Smith’s question was a round of bowling. Smith sounds like he was going to choose Frischling but picks Schatzberg.

To hear all of the best of who would you beat answers to the questions they asked CEO of Ingest, Daniel Meth’s challenge response to Slip N’ Slide, Targetable, CEO, Andrew Nash pick his odds for Gin Rummy, Minnow’s CEO, Steven Sperry’s choice for Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, who Mighty Quinn Barbeque’s co-ceo, Micha Magid picks for Pin The Tail On The Donkey, Josh Goodman, chief executive office of PourMyBeer answer for thumb war and Dispatch Goods CEO Lindsey Hoell gets asked who she has better odds of beating at Yahtzee. Ivan Matkovic, CEO of Spendgo gets asked who he would have better odds of beating in a game of risk. Matkovic picks Schatzberg.

Tune in to hear the challenges and learn who Scott Siegel, chief executive officer from Curbit, Clayton Wood, CEO of Picnic, Rob Carpenter of Valyant AI, Kimberly Smith, chief executive officer of Copia, Taj Adhav CEO of Leascake, Zack Oates, Ovation CEO, Brandon Barton, CEO of Bite, Gary Goodman CEO of Yumpingo and Agot.AI CEO, Evan DeSantola on this best of episode on Hospitality Hangout.

This month on Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” are taking a break from their usual interview episodes and bringing you a Best Of season of all your favorite segments. They bring back “Best Of” old favorites such as “Best of On The Road” and “Top of the Tech Stack.”

In this episode they feature a Best Of Which Came First with special guest and Co Founder & CEO at Chowly, Inc., Sterling Douglass. Frischling says, “the idea for this segment came about over a common joke that the only other industry slower to embrace technology behind hospitality is coal mining. This got them thinking, is hospitality that far behind or actually ahead of the game? Each guest on Season 6 got to take their very best guess on whether hospitality was ahead of the game, or not, in a string of fun questions.

Here are a few of the Best of Questions:

Which came first, the first online pizza hut delivery order or the first online amazon order?
Which came first, the digital menu board or the first digital billboard?
Which came first, the restaurant drive-thru or the bank drive-thru?
Which came first, the automated baggage claim at airports or the supermarket conveyor belt checkout lane?
Which came first, the ability to make a restaurant reservation online or the ability to make an airline reservation online?
Which came first, the car wash or the dishwasher?

The first question went to Evan DeSantola, CEO of Agot. Which came first, the restaurant drive-thru or the bank drive-thru? The answer is the bank drive-thru. Schatzberg says the first drive-thru in America was Hillcrest State Bank out of Dallas, Texas in 1930. It was Harry and Esther Snyder, of the In-N-Out Burger chain that built the first drive-through restaurant in 1948. Fun fact, so In-N-Out because the restaurant name promised exactly what it delivered: In-N-Out.

The guys close out the Which Came First episode with Robert Earl, Co-founder of Virtual Dining Concepts and Chairman of Earl Enterprises. Earl’s question was which came first, the clothing iron or the waffle iron? The answer is the waffle iron. The waffle iron was created in 1869, by Cornelius Swartwout of Troy, N.Y. The Clothing Iron was not invented for another 13 years when Henry W. Seely patented his electric flatiron on June 6, 1882.

To hear the questions they asked Lindsey Hoell, Founder & CEO of Dispatch Goods, Alonso Castañeda, VP of Brand Development & Strategy at Savory Restaurant Fund, Scott Siegel Co-Founder & CEO of Curbit, Tim McLaughlin, CEO of GoTab, Jon Sherman, Co-Founder and CEO of Sticky’s Finger Joint, John DiLoreto, President of Flipdish US, Danny Klein, Editorial Director at Food News Media, Scott Gladstone, SVP Strategy & Innovation at Dine Brands and Kimberly Smith, CEO of Copia , check out this best of episode on Hospitality Hangout.

This month on Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” are taking a break from their usual interview episodes and bringing you a Best Of season of all your favorite segments. They bring back “Best Of” old favorites such as “The Crystal Ball Moment” and “Top Of Tech Stack.”

In this episode they feature a Best Of On The Road with special guest and Co Founder & CEO at Chowly, Inc., Sterling Douglass. The guys said they have been fortunate to have been able to record the show on site at industry trade shows like Winsight, EnsembleIQ, The Spoon, Franchise Times, and Networld Media Group. Schatzberg says that the show offers a wonderful opportunity to catch up with friends and gain insights plus create new connections.

Frischling gives some takeaways for this Best Of On The Road episode, saying technology, innovation, virtual and ghost kitchens are here to stay, it is incredible to be back in person and connecting for the first time with clients and co-workers, off-premise is still a big topic plus food tech and the way we eat is heading to a new era.

They kick off with Wade Allen, SVP Head of Innovation at Brinker International and Derek Canton, Founder of Paerpay for the first on the road episode at 2021 FSTEC. Allen, when asked about what he is looking to learn from the show replies he is looking to find inspiration and to see who is doing something different. He is also looking for the evolution of tech and how it changes his environment. Canton says how it is like being in the middle of the action being on the floor of the marketplace with innovation alley.

Next Schatzberg talks about the 2021 Food on Demand Conference in Las Vegas where they ask Trish Giordano, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at Earl Enterprises what she has learned from the show and what’s everyone talking about. Giordano says, the big thing is relationships. She said that the most important thing is all of the new technology companies that have come to market, especially with the labor shortages. Through tech you can create efficiencies for restaurants. She added, everyone is talking about virtual brands.

In this Best Of Talking Back Series you hear from Steve Heeley, CEO of Poke Works and Dirk Izzo, President & GM of NCR Hospitality at the the 2021 Restaurant Leadership Conference, Michael Wolf, Founder & CEO & Editor in Chief at The Spoon from CES show, Phil Crawford, CTO at CKE Restaurants and Astric Isaacs, CTO at Bloomin’s Brands both judges of the MURTEC Start-Up Alley all offering insights to the shows. Plus check out what Laura Rea Dickey, of Dickey’s BBQ and Josh Halpern, CEO of Big Chicken and Beer Park have to say from the Restaurant Franchise and Innovation Summit.

They wrap up the On The Road episode with Alyssa Abraham, Digital Innovation Lead at Cargill and April Rogers, Director of Off-Premise and Guest Relations at Ruby Tuesday. To hear all of the insights and recaps from the industry trade shows, check out this best of episode on Hospitality Hangout.

This month on Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” are taking a break from their usual interview episodes and bringing you a Best Of season of all your favorite segments. They bring back “Best Of” old favorites such as “Top of the Tech Stack” and “The Branded Quickfire.”

In this episode they feature a Best Of Talking Back with special guest and Co Founder & CEO at Chowly, Inc., Sterling Douglass. When Schatzberg and Frischling started Hospitality Hangout podcast to talk to people in the industry, they quickly learned that their guests had questions for them as well. They created Talking Back to give their guests the opportunity to ask them questions.

This episode shares several great questions from many industry leaders. David Bloom, Chief Development and Operating officer at Capriotti’s and Wing Zone had a three part question. He asked, “What are you the most excited about for the future of tech?” Frischling answered he was most excited and loves the optionality and the large “menu” of tech available to operators. Bloom also asked, “What is the biggest lever a brand can pull to position themselves ahead of the curve?” Frischling said that the biggest lever would be to leverage AI and automation to address the issue of labor shortage and that he’s interested in a combination of data and analytics dominated decision making.

Marty Hahnfeld, Chief Customer Officer at Olo was a guest on season 4 and he asked, “What is one thing that is a normal part of the restaurant experience today that will be gone in 5 years?” Schatzberg answered, Handwriting menus and written reservation books will be a thing of the past. Everything will be done on mobile. Also the idea of walking into a McDonalds and an employee asking what you would like, that will become fully automated.

When Anand Gala, Managing Partner at Gala Capital Partners asked, “What does Branded think about restaurant companies buying tech companies?” Frischling believes no one size fits all and that there are opportunities for restauranteurs to be good investors in tech companies, as well as good clients in tech companies. It depends on the company goals. Schatzberg said being a good customer is key, but maybe as a defensive measure, a restaurant could invest in a company to stop it from going exclusively to a competitor.

To hear Dan Rowe, CEO of Fransmart ask about trends, CEO of Piestro, Massimo Noja De Marco’s question about helping smaller operators and Steven Elinson, Head of Worldwide Business Development, Restaurant, Catering and Food Service Industries for Amazon Web Services ask about opening a new restaurant during the pandemic plus get the guy’s answers, check out this best of episode on Hospitality Hangout.

This month on Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” are taking a break from their usual interview episodes and bringing you a Best Of season of all your favorite segments. They bring back “Best Of” old favorites such as “Top of the Tech Stack” and “Which Came First.”

In this episode they feature a Best Of Top Of The Tech Stack with special guest, Sterling Douglass, Co Founder & CEO at Chowly, Inc. Top of the Tech Stack first made an appearance in season 2 and held up strong through season 6. Branded is all about the tech stack, each guest who played “Top of the Tech Stack” was asked, what areas of hospitality technology would they recommend that operators have on the top of their tech stacks?

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” are bringing their listeners a “Best Of” season series with all of your favorite segments. Frischling says, “ We are bringing back Best OF old favorites such as Top of the Tech Stack and Which Came First as well as tried and true favorites Talking back and The Crystal Ball Moment. And of course – we can’t leave out the most popular segment (at least according to Schatzy…) The Branded Quickfire.” This episode features the Best of The Crystal Ball moments, with special guest, the Amazing Kreskin. They ask their guests to put on their “Kreskin Hat” and predict the future as it relates to hospitality and technology. And now I’m going to ask you the same question. Where do you see hospitality and technology in 2 years from now?

Hospitality Hangout kicks off the Best Of with Brian Anton, Managing Director at Citi, who was the first official guest to get the official Crystal Ball moment on season one, episode ten. Anton’s response to the question was, “People will want to go back to dining in person… and experience more valuable 2 years from now. People will want to be with their friends and share terrific experiences. BUT behaviors for dining in person will shift as customers now value convenience and technology. Friction points around health and speed will shift – fewer menus will be printed… it will be easier to pre-pay… and more menus will be on the phone.”

The next guest Andrew Smith, Managing Director of the Savory Fund, answered the question and said, Restaurants will strengthen their foundation, have a better tech stack, more touchless, less interaction with humans. On the menu side…food qualities will improve and we’ll see more foreign ingredients. On the experience side…. People will enjoy being together in person…. He believes everyone wants to get back in person and restaurants will thrive better than ever.

Kimberly Grant who is now with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts as the Global Head of Restaurants and Bars at the time of the episode she was with FAST Acquisition Group, said during her crystal ball moment, there will be continued blurred lines between fast casual and dining. Think of a food hall with a diverse business model. Her prediction is that hotels, movie theaters and retail are going to move to new models in how they serve food – whether that is operating something similar to food halls, or host virtual kitchens or allowing outside food via delivery. Lines blurred in how we consume and source our food and experiences. Also hopefully that restaurants can still provide beverage experiences through delivery.

To hear all of the guests' crystal ball moments, including Robert Earl owner of Earl Enterprises, Brita Rosen Partner at Culterra Capital and Bryan Solar, General Manager of Restaurants at Square check out this best of episode on Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” chat with Taj Adhav, chief executive officer at Leasecake, a platform that lets tenants, brokers and landlords manage location-related services, ranging from lease management to lease accounting to insurance agreements.

Adhav shares his background and says, “So you know, first generation kid, youngest son of an immigrant family. My parents said hey you better get into business so I was a CPA for fifteen years, big four, spent a decade at Disney as an imagineer being involved in lots of large scale commercial projects, hotels, restaurants and business launches. One of them was the Disney Cruise line billion dollar project and launching a couple of cruise ships with that business. A phenomenal kind of experience and I decided I needed to repot myself so I joined a small tech company.”

Leasecake was started over a cup of coffee at a diner, says Adhav. “After a great ride of successes and failures in life I met a gentleman in the commercial real estate space and he looks at me and he's managing this really large commercial real estate portfolio $50 million probably 50 tenants and nine buildings and he said to me, he's like listen you're a business guy and you're a tech guy, I'm losing track of things. I'm losing track of rent increases and lease expirations renewals and month-to-month rents. And he's like we should build an app,” Adhav shares. Jim Banks, the co-founder and Adhav’s idea while meeting over coffee created Leasecake, an operating system for location management and the reason it’s called Leasecake is because it is so easy.

Frischling says, what they love so much about Leasecake is that Adhav was highlighting the fact that they have applied a tech solution to an otherwise antiquated model. He adds, “So many small and mid-sized property owners for all intensive purposes forgotten about when it comes to creating a solution to organize tenant leases and get ready folks. Nearly 80% of the one trillion dollar global rental market falls into that category.”

Adhav is asked about how Leasecake is truly a solution for the multi-unit restaurant and food service operator. He says, “It's having the most accurate accessible answers in something that's easy to use and that allows them to stay focused on running an amazing restaurant experience not to be sidetracked by some time wasting effort because some permits have not been established or understanding.”

To hear more about managing your commercial lease portfolio, learn about the other tools Leasecake offers and winning Techstars, check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Stratis Morfogen, Book Author and Co-Founder of Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, to discuss Dons, dumplings, and disruption.

Frischling asks Morfogen about his background in the industry. Morfogen shares that although he has owned Chinese restaurants for the last 17 years he actually grew up in a typical Greek family. He talks about his family of restauranteurs running 14 different restaurants when he was a child, including the Chelsea Chop House which his father owned. The guys talk about Morfogen’s concept for Brooklyn Chop House and his commitment to creating a menu that he says, “married Beijing Chinese food to an American steakhouse and I made both cultures true to each other.” He talks about innovating the restaurant's appetizer selection by reinventing and reimagining two subcategories: dumplings and sandwiches. He says, “Everything that was once a sandwich I converted it into a dumpling.” He adds, “When we opened in 2018, we doubled our projections, the restaurant just went gangbusters and everyone was ordering a bunch of dumplings.”

The guys talk about Morfogen’s new book and his unique pastime as a child. Morfogen shares that as early as age 6, he was hanging out with mobsters at the Fulton Fish Market. He talks about even declining trips to Disney with his siblings so that he could spend time with his dad a the infamous fish market which happened to be run by Alphonse "Allie Shades" Malangone of the Genovese crime family, or “uncle” as a young Morfogen would come to know him by. Morfogen talks about seeing the hustle and bustle of the scene and learning a lot there that he says, “they’re just not gonna teach you in school.” He adds, “My father didn't hide it from me, you know, and I believe that was one of the greatest things he did for me because he really grew me up quickly and basically showed me the real world at a very early age.” Morfogen's experience includes running nightclubs, and 40 restaurants on his own, and becoming a published author. When asked about his new book, he says, “I got to tell you for the last twenty years people would say, “you got to write a book, you got to write a book” and this is what I did with Simon and Schuster, I wrote ‘Be a Disruptor.’”

Morfogen talks about the recent MURTEC conference where he was a guest speaker. He tells the guys that one of the members of the audience addressed him with profanity and accused him of stealing jobs. Instead of shying away from the subject, Morfogen decided to use the platform to provide education and insights. He shares that the person was referring to automation. Morfogen explains that he didn’t create automat for safety, it was created for economics and efficiencies because the number one reason a majority of restaurants go out of business is due to excessive payroll costs.

He says, “If 7 out of 10 restaurants are failing because of 30 to 40% payroll and we have a method and it's proven now, it's not just hype, that you could bring this down to 14 to 18%, you got a chance of not just surviving but thriving.”

To hear more from Morfogen about his new book, his thoughts on the rise of technology, and news on franchising the Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, check out this episode of The Hospitality Hangout on iTunes!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Buck Jordan, Founder and CEO of Wavemaker Labs, to discuss his early fascination with automation, scaling brands through robotics, and why he thinks franchising is dead.

Frischling asks Jordan to share a little about his background and Wavemaker Labs. Jordan talks about first being exposed to automation 20 years ago, when he was an armor officer going through tank training in Fort Knox, Kentucky. He vividly recalls seeing four, unmanned, armored, personnel carriers whizzing by at 40 miles per hour and how that moment planted a seed that would blossom into a career in automation, which ultimately led him to found Wavemaker Labs. He shares that the company’s mission is to automate the supply chain of food, from seed to fork, with the outcome being higher quality food, with less cost to the masses. He explains that they take the highest consumption food categories in the United States and automate them. He says, “We believe that our business will end up kind of along two tracks, one, supplying the existing brands with automation solutions and helping them, you know, kind of modernize and reinvent themselves. And then two, we are also building a suite of digitally native brands that we'll be operating.”

The guys talk about ways Wavemaker Labs is solving some of the biggest problems in the restaurant industry. Jordan tells the guys that he has always liked the idea of robots doing jobs that are too dangerous for humans to do or simply tasks that they don't want to do. As an example, many operators, clients, and friends complain about dishwashing. Jordan talks about not only automated dishwashing but also, fryers as well as other robotic kitchen assistants. Jordan shares that while he is excited to build his brand, it’s also about, he says, “Really enabling existing brands to scale faster and better.”

When Jordan is asked to elaborate on a quote that he made about franchising being dead, he talks about the logistics and challenges around the franchise model. Jordan says, “Well, let me just walk you through the logic, right? So in the ’60s and ’70s, every QSR went 99% franchising as fast as they possibly could. Why’d they do that? Because it costs anywhere from half a million to three million to build a restaurant. And then you gotta manage dozens and dozens of people on and off a shift, and so just offload that expense and that management headache to the franchisees. That’s what the brands did.” He adds, “But the future, if the future really is 100% fully automated and if the future successful brands are going be digitally native brands, meaning that their menus have been designed to be a hundred percent automated, then do you really need franchising again?” He talks about how vending machines will be able to make and deliver Michelin-level, incredible food. Jordan asks, “Do you really need to have a franchisee do that? Especially when you're a big brand and you can finance the cost of that machine.”

To hear Jordan share more about, automation, robotics, and his thoughts on the democratization of venture investing, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout on Spotify.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with John Davie, CEO and Owner of The Buyers Edge Platform, to discuss his mission to help local restaurants, the importance of clean data, and how he is leveraging tech to help the environment.

Frischling asks Davie about his background. Davie shares that he has spent his entire career helping small, independent, local, mom-and-pop restaurants, get some of the same advantages as the larger chains. He talks about recognizing a need in the industry because smaller restaurants simply could not compete when it came to real estate, technology, software, and buying power. Davie, along with some insights from his father, decided to “even the playing field”, by developing a company, 25 years ago, that would give those businesses the same leverages and collective buying power as the big brands. Their concept evolved into Buyers Edge Platform, which is a digital procurement network, that leverages over $2 billion in collective food spend.

The guys talk about the company’s culture and how it helped them not only navigate the pandemic but rise to a new level together as a team. Davie talks about working with his own family at Buyers Edge Platform. His father, siblings, inlaws, and cousins, make up part of the team, but the family-oriented feel extends throughout the entire company and is a key to their culture. He shares that during the pandemic, both he and his father suspended their salaries and several employees voluntarily took temporary pay cuts to protect each other and the company as a whole. Davie shares that they were able to keep nearly the entire 700-person staff employed throughout that pandemic and collectively they spent that time building tools and software to make everything they did easier from a remote scenario. Davie shares how those efforts paid off. He says, “We added over 30,000 new restaurant locations in 2020.” He adds, “Then in 2021, last year, we came roaring back and we were 50% up over pre-Covid, but it was all due to our team really seizing the moment and sacrificing, voluntarily and then over-performing tremendously, to where now the company is just more than double up, versus pre-Covid.”

When asked about the company’s efforts regarding building incentives for restaurants to use, and switch to more sustainable solutions, Davie shares that it all goes back to data and analytics. He says, “The core thing that I learned early on with trying to bring restaurants together, is that you got to have clean, normalized data to be able to do any of the cool stuff with software and really help operators, manufacturers, and distributors.” He shares that as the company has grown they have been committed to giving back and doing great things for the environment. He shares that from an ESG perspective, they are able to leverage their massive amount of data to find products that are better for the environment. He acknowledges that while eco-friendly packaging tends to be more costly, Buyers Edge Platform offers rebates and assistance to help operators make the transition away from products like styrofoam. The goal is to find eco-products that hold the food temperature better and perform better for the operator. He says, “They will hopefully see the value in going into a little more expensive packaging, that ultimately gives them a better experience for their guests, especially in the takeout and delivery space.”

To hear more from Davie about clean data, his predictions on BOH rapid technology adoption, and breaking news on the company's new partnership, check out this episode of The Hospitality Hangout on iTunes!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Tom Gordon, President and CEO of Slim Chickens Restaurants, to discuss, launching a fast-casual chicken concept, robotics, and why technology is key to survival.

Gordon talks about the early days of his career. He shares that after college, armed with a finance and real estate degree, he was on the stockbroker track, but he quickly learned that he loathed the path. He decided to leave the world of Wallstreet for the restaurant industry, where he started waiting on tables and bartending. Gordon tells the guys that in 2001, he and his business partner, Greg Smart, began conceptualizing Slim Chickens, a fast-casual chicken tender restaurant. He shares memories of developing recipes in Smart’s garage, along with their friends, who provided feedback on everything from breading, sauces, and sides. Gordon says, “You know we really are still tracking with the majority of stuff we put together back then in the garage. From the garage, we found our first spot, and the rest is, you know, 19 years of history.” Gordon shares some growth metrics around Slim Chickens, which officially launched in 2003. He says the brand currently has 170 units, including 23 International locations, and has plans to scale to 600 units by 2026.

Frischling asks Gordon about the company’s early adoption of technology and why it is a key to survival. Gordon talks about recognizing the importance of technology early on and embracing it. He says, “We were early adopters of better POS systems, digital menu boards, and being able to change products and LTOs on a quick pace and a quick run.” He adds, “I think the most consequential investment we made, and the thing we did was, we invested in a really robust app and loyalty system about a year before Covid showed up.” He talks about technology being table stakes for the future and shares how tech helped the brand sell, maintain comps, and communicate with their guests through Covid. He admits that without the technology being implemented early on, Slim Chickens would have been in a much different position today. He adds “That embracing of technology, app-based ordering, online ordering, curbside delivery through the app and then all the ancillary parts and pieces, I mean made the year 2020 for us, and made sure 2021 stayed on track and here we are in 2022.”

Schatzberg talks about tech and innovation and asks Gordon to share more about the reactions employees are having to the food-running robots popping up in some of the Slim Chickens locations. Gordon shares that some franchises are testing the food-running robots and that they have been very open to embracing this type of technology. He says that while it’s been fun for everyone to see the new robots, there were concerns from some team members who worried about the robots making mistakes, such as delivering food to the wrong table. However, once they saw the robot in action, working successfully over and over again, they realized the usefulness of such technology. Gordon is quick to point out that while robots are helpful, they aren’t currently a complete replacement for people. He says, “Hospitality is hospitality. You got to take care of the guests, you got to seat people, and look them in the eyes and make sure they're happy. But I think this is an adaptable technology with the right footprint in a restaurant.” He adds, “It's a useful piece of the puzzle.”

To hear Gordon’s thoughts on automation, robotics, and more from his chat with Schatzberg and Frischling, check out this episode of The Hospitality Hangout on iTunes!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Gary Goodman, CEO and Founder of Yumpingo, to discuss his early fascination with the industry, the necessity for customer feedback and the importance of creating a healthy company culture.

Goodman and the guys chat about Goodman’s background. Goodman shares that he was born in Manchester, England, where he would go to restaurants with his family as a child. He talks about how, even as a toddler, he had an absolute fascination with the industry and he recalls fond memories of seeing food on tables, looking into the kitchen and watching the food being cooked. He mentions that although he is qualified as a lawyer, he knew that wasn’t the right path for him. He decided to go into marketing and then onto a career of building digital platforms, where he has spent the past 20 years connecting people with processes and data.

When Schatzberg asks Goodman about his customer experience management platform, Yumpingo, Goodman says, “We deliver real-time guest insights at unique scale for restaurants across all service styles, and we're transforming how they're making key decisions in the business.” He shares that when it comes to the market, the Yumpingo app answers three questions better than anyone else. He explains how they do that as he breaks down the company’s name. He says, “The ‘Yum’ is related to how happy your guests are eating food, so we basically track happiness at a greater scale than anyone else. The ‘Pin’ is to do with what's driving that happiness, so effectively the kind of why behind happiness, and the ‘Go’, critically, and for as uniquely is, what you do about it.” He adds, “Our view is that feedback is really just opinions if you're not sure what to do about it.”

Frischling talks about the incredible expansion of Yumpingo and congratulates Goodman on the company’s growth, which now extends into twenty-two countries. The guys talk about the current labor market woes, the key to happy employees and why a healthy company culture is critical. Goodman talks about experiencing an incredible company culture when he worked abroad as an 18 year old, and why he has a mission to create a similar environment at his company. He says, “When you work in a restaurant environment, that is a family that you've just built out around you, right? To put that into a technology company is not easy, but for me and the team, it's all about a common purpose.” He adds, “We have a broad church of people that have come from either hospitality or just have a passion for the cause of helping people, the servers, connect better with the people that are eating their food.”

To hear more from Goodman on customer experience, the importance of feedback, and how Covid forced change in the space, check out this episode of The Hospitality Hangout on iTunes!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Meredith Sandland and Carl Orsbourn, Authors of Delivering the Digital Restaurant: Your Roadmap to the Future of Food, to discuss their new book, ghost kitchens and how to win at off-premise.

Sandland talks about her background in the industry. She shares that she has spent over 10 years in the space, initially at Taco Bell, where she worked on brand turnaround, and then in real estate development. As she continued to scale the brand and opened locations in more expensive markets that had deliveries accounting for 40% of sales, she thought to herself, “It would be so awesome if there was just a commissary that we could deliver tacos out of.” Her forward thinking became a reality a few years later with the launch of ghost kitchens. Sandland connected with and joined the team at Kitchen United. She says, “They were making the thing, that I, as the customer, the Chief Development Officer of a big national chain, wished existed, and so I went and joined them.” She teases that this part of her story intersects with that of her co-author, Carl Orsbourn.

Orsbourn, who held a senior level position at a major convenience retail leader, where he was accountable for $1.3 billion in sales of all in-store products, shares that during his experience in that role, he started to see a change in dynamics of food, and the way in which customers were becoming increasingly more demanding about convenience and better foods. He talks about his interest in getting involved in the start-up environment, which led to a mutual friend introducing him to Meredith Sandland. He shares that although he was new to the ghost kitchen concept when Sandland first mentioned it, but once he realized the opportunity in building out a customer success model and being able to scale it, he knew it was the right next step for his career.

Schatzberg asks Sandland and Orsbourn to talk about what led to them writing their book, Delivering the Digital Restaurant: Your Roadmap to the Future of Food. Orsbourn shares that between the two of them, they had been working and communicating with “pretty much every major restaurant chain in America”, and as they spoke to many independents, those conversations all had a similar thread, restaurants were having an immense challenge in trying to figure out how to win when it came to off-premise. Operators wanted to know, “How do we succeed in a ghost kitchen? What are some of the ways in which we need to be better, or what we do to succeed?” Sandland shares that they decided to buy a book to help navigate operators through those uncertainties, but after doing some research, no such book existed, so they decided to write one. Sandland recalls saying, “Let’s write that book. Let's help the industry. Let's try and take all the various different players that are doing some really exciting things in this space, and tell their story.” They discuss the process of interviewing numerous players in the space, such as technology and restaurant leaders, to gain the insights and strategies to winning the off-premise game. They acknowledge that although some operators have shared their fears about this being “a very scary time to be in the restaurant industry.” Orsbourn says, “It's also one of the most optimistic and exciting times as well, and the future is bright and hopefully anyone that reads Delivering the Digital Restaurant will get that feeling.”

Frischling says, “I think your book is not just for the industry, but it's also I think, for the consumer and our guests to understand what is going on in this transformation and how all these different generations are interacting with the food service and hospitality industry.”

Sandland adds, “It has been really well received. We're very pleased about that.”

To hear more from Sandland and Orsbourn about their book, their thoughts on the rise of curbside and what’s next with ghost kitchens versus virtual kitchens, check out their full chat with Schatzberg and Frischling, in this episode of Hospitality Hangout on Spotify.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with David Bloom, Chief Development and Operating Officer at Capriotti’s and Wing Zone, to discuss his passion for the industry, strategies for scaling brands and the adoption of technology.

Bloom and the guys chat about Bloom’s background in the industry. He talks about his humble beginnings growing up in New York and how restaurant life is a family affair. Bloom shares that he worked in the back of the house growing up, and that he has a brother who is an Executive Chef and a sister who is a Pastry Chef. Bloom reflects on realizing the tremendous opportunity he saw within the restaurant field, not only for himself, but for anyone wanting a chance to achieve their goals in the industry. He says encouragingly, “First and foremost is, one of the things I love about the restaurant industry is, you know, just talent and hard work go a really long way; if you stick with it, learn from the best and go wherever the opportunity is.”

Schatzberg asks Bloom about his extensive experience working with and scaling major brands, and why he decided to join Capriotti’s. Bloom talks about the significance of working with people he admires, which drew him to Capriotti’s, and how much he enjoys working with an incredible team while creating success together. Bloom talks about his passion for scaling brands and shares some insights into the growth of Capriotti’s, and the acquired brand, Wing Zone. Both brands are experiencing considerable growth domestically and internationally, and when considering current development, Wing Zone will be reaching 170 units while Capriotti’s will be hitting an impressive 500.

Frischling talks about Bloom’s company being one of the most tech-forward operators in the space. Frischling says, “You have this incredible, and I'd say enviable philosophy to try out major tech, so by the time it becomes mainstream you're already ahead of the curve.” He asks Bloom to share more about the brand’s adoption of technology. Bloom shares that it comes from their investors and board members in terms of a mandate for the brand and what they feel is a differentiator for them, because they own and operate their own stores as well. He adds that having a platform in which they are able to try technology, “on our own dime and figure it out and take the risks”, is not a luxury everyone has, but it’s a critical investment that sets his company apart. He says, “I've had the opportunity to work with some, what I would call technology-enabled companies, and they grew at a rate that others just couldn't, both here and abroad, so we feel like it's sort of table stakes anymore.”

To hear more from Bloom on the adoption of technology, including his thoughts on drone deliveries, and the relationship dynamic between employees and robotics, check out this episode of The Hospitality Hangout on iTunes!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” chat with Daniel Meth, chief executive officer at Ingest and take a deep dive into restaurant data.

Meth talks about his education saying, “I wanted to be a doctor and so I went to college a little bit later in life double majored in molecular biology biochemistry and cell biology neuroscience. Not because I was so smart but I found out that if you double major in science. It's typically a conversation stopper.” Meth shares that he started tutoring and eventually growing an academic services business.

Frischling asks Meth if he could share how he has seen the shift in operators who now understand the numbers are the data. Meth says, “Getting people to understand that data isn't this you know, what's historically been this esoteric concept right? It's all of these things that they've already been paying attention to, just better contextualized so it can paint a more complete picture of what's going on in their business.” Adding, “We need to put this incredibly complex information into a more relevant, easily digestible format and language for the operators so they can better understand it. Meth says what they are trying to do is improve the viability, sustainability and profitability of the business.

Ingest helps operators look at the data from all areas including point of sale system, reservation management system, cogs data coming out of purchasing tools, guest sentiment, marketing and loyalty. Meth says that Ingest asks three questions, what happened, why did it happen, and what would happen if. He says, Ingest fully contextualizes the entire data story.

Meth talks about what’s next for Ingest, he says they are focused on growing the team on all fronts, they are actively growing Ingest’s footprint in fast-casual and QSR space, and working towards telling better stories with data.

To hear how Covid has accelerated the Ingest road map, and how Ingest can use the data to forecast for operators check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” were on the road and live at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, where they chat with Dan Rowe, CEO of Fransmart, about the show, the benefits of multi-unit franchises, and the importance of landscape when considering new brands.

Fransmart CEO, Dan Rowe and the guys chat about how Rowe got started in the industry. He talks about deciding as a teenager that he wasn’t going to go the traditional route and attend college to find his career path. He says that he wanted to figure out how to become successful, and while at a motivational seminar, he was faced with the question, “What do you want to do with your life?” His answer was, “I want to get wealthy helping people get wealthy.” He shares that his goal for attaining riches was not to be at the expense of others, and that’s something that drew him to the franchise space. He says, “What I like about franchising is that basically the model is that, you know the franchisors only make money if the franchisees are making money, franchisees are only making money if they've got a good team and their people are making money.” He adds, “Honestly, I find a lot of joy in this space. It’s the kind of job that even if I wasn't getting paid, this is exactly what I'd be doing.”

Rowe, who was also a successful multi-unit franchisee, shares his insights on why it’s better to invest in multi-unit franchises rather than just buying a single unit. He talks about the Fransmart formula for success, that includes finding the right emerging franchise opportunities, which are less expensive to build and are more likely to be able to leverage conversions. He says, “It's the ultimate wealth builder to me, when you get into a brand when they're young, they're just less expensive to build, you get your money back fast and then you roll that into another store, and at some point those self-fund multiple locations, making millions of dollars.” He adds, “You've got an asset now that you can sell for a life changing amount of money. Frischling provides some data, sharing that Fransmart has sold over 5,000 franchises worldwide.

Schatzberg talks about the company’s current restaurant portfolio which includes, The Halal Guys, Brooklyn Dumpling Shop and Savannah Seafood Shack. He asks Rowe what Fransmart looks for when considering an emerging brand. Rowe shares that it involves a lot of unit economics, because high volume indicates that customers like the restaurant. He says, “High volume tells you customers like the concept, you know customers vote with their wallets. So if they've got really, really good sales, that's a good indication.”

Rowe talks about the importance of landscape and the tremendous success of The Halal Guys, largely due to the huge opportunity he saw there. He shares that while opening more that 50 American brands in the Middle East, he found himself falling in love with the local Mediterranean street food, and he realized that no big brand in America was offering this concept. He says, “It dawned on me. You've got a billion and a half Muslims, Middle Eastern food, Mediterranean food is amazing and I just saw there's a huge opportunity if somebody gets this right, you're going to have a monster on your hand, and that's exactly what we did.” He adds that the chain is already at 100 units and on its way to 500.

To hear more from Rowe’s chat with Schatzberg and Frischling at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, check out this episode Hospitality Hangout.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Bryan Solar, Restaurants GM at Square, to discuss his unique journey into the industry, the rebranding of Square, and the importance of POS innovations.

When asked about his start in the industry, Solar talks about his background and coming from a family of restaurateurs. He tells the guys about his journey to working at a strategy consulting firm that helped really big companies turn around in the recession. He shares that during that time frame, he learned that his aunt’s restaurant was struggling. He says, “One day my aunt called me and she said “hey you know the family restaurant is struggling,” and I thought to myself, if we can do this for really big companies, why can't we do it for restaurants?” Solar decided to start a nonprofit to help restaurants turn their businesses around. He adds, “Working with those restaurant owners, I mean it felt like working with family.”

Solar shares that he decided to attend business school and started a new business with the goal of helping restaurants. Google soon took notice and partnered with Solar, which led to the development of Reserve with Google. Other companies were also starting to take notice of Solar’s work as well. He talks about receiving a call from Square, a company that he deeply admired, and being offered a job with them. He says, “They said, “hey do you want this job” and I was like, you know I would absolutely love that job because in my mind you know the point of sale is the future.” He adds, “For me, this is the dream job, I get to help all the folks that you know, look like my aunts, uncles and cousins.”

Frischling asks Solar why Square recently decided to change their name to Block. Solar shares that the name change was derived from several different components. He shares that the name Square became synonymous with walking into a store and interacting with a payment system. The change to Block acknowledges the company’s growth, considering new things like bitcoin, and the company adding Cash App and TIDAL, the name change creates room for further growth. Solar adds, “Having the name Block kind of captures the 3-dimensional aspect of like what Square is trying to do.”

The guys chat about the relevance of POS. Solar, who recently spoke on a panel to discuss POS being its own ecosystem, talks about the importance of building really important technologies and the need to constantly make updates on a weekly or sometimes even daily basis. He says, “I actually think the kitchen is the heart of the restaurant. I mean everything flows in and out of the kitchen, that's how the business runs. The POS is the brain. It is the thing that directs everything, makes it better, faster.”

To hear Solar’s thoughts on labor costs, the future of technology, and more from his chat with Schatzberg and Frischling, check out this episode of The Hospitality Hangout on iTunes!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” were on the road and live at Food On Demand in Las Vegas, where they chat with Laura Michaels, Editor in Chief at Franchise Times, Alyssa Abraham, Digital Innovation Manager at Cargill, April Rogers, Director of Off-Premise and Guest Relations at Ruby Tuesday, and Maia Tekle, Co-Founder of Dispatch Goods about the conference, strategies for increasing off-premises efficiency and the tremendous growth within the virtual brand space.

Franchise Times Editor in Chief, Laura Michaels stops by to discuss being a moderator on several panels at the conference. She shares that the big topic driving a lot of conversations is how operators are navigating their approach to improving accessibility for customers, whether that means through delivery, adjustments to their physical store footprints with pickup windows, introducing AI technology within drive-thru service, and geofencing so restaurants can better anticipate guest arrivals to create a better customer experience. She says, “There are an entirely different set of considerations for what sort of interactions consumers want to have with their restaurants right now.”

Abraham stops by to talk about the exciting innovations happening at Cargill and attending Food On Demand live for the first time, where she was able to hear directly from operators and see first-hand interactions with the different start-ups. She shares that her two key takeaways from the conference panel discussions are focus and problem-solving. She talks about the importance of operators using technology to solve both problems and enhance user experience. She says, “What I'm hearing more about is focus and problem first. It's hearing them really refreshing and thinking, ‘Hey, we’re not just gonna push technology to push technology, let's again figure out what we're doing to make the guest experience better, make the employee experience better and drive that forward.’ ”

Ruby Tuesday Director of Off-Premise and Guest Relations, April Rogers stops by to chat with the guys about launching new virtual brands, ghost kitchens, and embracing the latest technology and innovation. Schatzberg asks Rogers which innovations she’s most excited about. She says, “For me, it's the virtual brands, I love the impact they're having on restaurants, especially restaurants with some additional kitchen capacity. And just the fact that everybody's kind of going out and doing some different things and really thinking outside the box. It's very new, very fresh.”

Dispatch Goods Co-Founder, Maia Tekle, and the guys chat about her panel, “Packaging Up A Better Experience”, focusing on transporting food from the in-dining experience to the at-home consumer. She says, “I’ve been amazed to see how much innovation and thought is going into packaging, as well as the thoughtfulness for their own circulatory.” They talk about reusable packaging, and what is new at Dispatch Goods. “Our east-coast partners are bringing this drive for change.” She says, “If there is a better and newer system, we want it, and we want it now.”

To hear more from all of the guests that stopped by to chat with Schatzberg and Frischling at Food On Demand in Las Vegas, check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Tony Smith, CEO and Co-Founder of Restaurant365, to discuss rising food costs, labor shortages and how his company is using technology to combat both of those challenges within the industry.

Smith co-founded Restaurant365 over ten years ago and works with over thirty thousand businesses. The restaurant management software developed by Restaurant365 allows operators to experience the only cloud-based, all-in-one restaurant accounting, payroll and HR, inventory, scheduling and reporting software that can also seamlessly integrate to their POS, vendors, and banking partners.

When asked about launching Restaurant365, and how he got his start in software development, Smith shares that he never had any intention of going into the field and that he actually didn’t even have a computer in his home growing up. Smith also shares that he was rather intimidated by them. He talks about his time at college and deciding that he should probably become familiar with computers, as he assumed he might be working with them at some point in his career, this led to him studying both business management and information systems. He says, “My first job out of college was working in software and I was doing that with a couple of other guys, John Moody and Morgan Harris, and the 3 of us were the ones that eventually decided to start Restaurant365 together.”

The guys chat about the importance of operators embracing technology but how that can lead to tech fatigue. Smith shares that from day one, the goal at Restaurant365 was to make connecting restaurants with the best technology as simple as possible. He says, “We really wanted to solve that for restaurants. We looked at this huge industry, and there were so many tools, it was crazy for a restaurateur to be buying 10 tools to run their business because they're not tech people, so they didn't really understand how to connect them together. And so that was really the goal for us, was to make this simple and make data immediately accessible, and so in order to do that, you need all your data in one place.”

Frischling asks Smith about upcoming industry conferences and which subjects he thinks will be the hot topics. Smith shares that unfortunately the issues of food costs and labor shortages continue to drive conversations. He shares that while he’s seen restaurant sales up 10%, he has also noticed food costs up 12% and labor up by 10%.

Smith shares some insights on how Restaurant365 can provide some relief for such challenges with the company’s software forecasting feature. He says, “You've got to be able to forecast what you're going to be doing in your restaurant in the coming days, weeks, by daypart.” He adds. “You want to know those things and the better the forecast, the more accurately you can shoot for your employee schedule as well as the menu items you're going to be selling. When you get down to honing in on those order quantities, getting suggested quantities because you're forecasted, you're gonna keep that food cost low, you're gonna have less waste and the same thing on the labor side, and those are things that we help restaurants squarely within our tool.”

To hear Smith’s thoughts on the company’s culture, his predictions on future technology, and more from his chat with Schatzberg and Frischling, check out this episode of The Hospitality Hangout on iTunes!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Robert Earl, Co-Founder of Virtual Dining Concepts and Chairman of Earl Enterprises, to discuss virtual brands, how influencers bring value to operators, and the company’s latest concept.

Earl talks about growing up in the United Kingdom and how being the son of a very famous singer exposed him early on to show business, talent and brands. Earl jokes that he was reluctant to go into show business or to work at all, but he soon realized that he needed to find something that would benefit his future. He shares that once he discovered hospitality, he decided to study the field at University.

When asked about his career path following school, Earl talks about working at two of London’s most famous hotels. He shares that he worked in every department, gaining lessons and insights which he says gave him the foundational experiences that he still calls upon to this day. By the age of 22, Earl shares that he was developing a Medieval concept that would become the most successful restaurant in London. Earl’s impressive resume includes founding Planet Hollywood, expanding brands, such as Buca di Beppo, and launching new concepts like Chicken Guy!. He says, “I realized that hospitality was for me, and I've had the beauty of working all around the world with every type of level of restaurant food operation, and that makes me who I am now.”

They discuss the massive growth in the virtual brands space. Earl predicts that within the next few years, every restaurant will have a virtual brand, and he believes that consumers will not only know about these brands, but they will actively seek them out.

He talks about founding Virtual Dining Concepts and how the company is able to help operators increase their revenue streams by utilizing what they already have existing in their restaurants. He says, “When we talk to a restaurant and we identify their equipment, their labor, which corners of the kitchen are quieter than others, what skus do they have, what produce do they have that has a limited shelf life, and with all of that knowledge, as restaurateurs, we come back to those restaurants and say, ‘Boy do we have a brand for you.’ “

Earl shares what’s next for the company and he teases a bit about an upcoming collaboration with TikTok, and talks about why working with influencers and celebrities can bring tremendous value to a restaurant’s virtual brands. He shares breaking news about a new concept launching, Steve Harvey’s Family Food, which will feature a menu of both healthy and indulgent recipes, as well as a signature drink developed with the restaurant’s namesake. Earl shares the exciting news about a mega, multi-concept opening the heart of New York City. The four story concept will included Planet Hollywood, Chicken Guy!, and an entire floor of constantly changing brands, completely dedicated to curbside pick-up, to-go and third party delivery partners.

To hear Earl share more about virtual brands, the company’s new aggregated app and his take on where the hottest restaurants are opening, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout on Spotify.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Kimberly Smith, Chief Executive Officer at Copia, to discuss food insecurity, how restaurants can track food waste and what Copia is doing to help the industry reduce carbon emissions.

Smith talks about her background in the advertising tech industry and having nearly 20 years of experience in data and analytics. She shares that becoming a parent gave her a new perspective on the world regarding how we would be leaving it for future generations and why that led her to join the team at Copia. She says, “Copia was like the culmination of everything that I wanted to do, the impact I wanted to make. And I knew that I could bring my experience in the data and tech world, to leading this company into solving a lot of problems.”

When asked about what Copia is and how it works, Smith shares that Copia’s technology allows businesses to safely and efficiently donate excess food and ingredients to feed people in need. She talks about how easy it is for businesses to sign up and use the platform. She says, “It should take no more than three minutes of your team's time to be able to track your waste for the day, or submit a donation.” She adds, “Our matching algorithm tells us exactly where your donation should go, to the local nonprofit that's most in need of that food. It not only finds a home but the right one.”

They talk about the benefits to businesses that partner with Copia. Smith shares that in addition to helping out the community and the environment, operators receive other advantages from Copia as well, including providing the business with audit-proof donation receipts and tax deduction dashboards. She says, “Your accounting team loves you at the end of the year, your program analytics help inform waste reduction plans, impact reports tell businesses all about the nonprofits they fed, the carbon emissions they reduced by diverting this perfectly edible food from landfills and the gallons of water saved. She adds, “We're making it as easy and beneficial to reduce and prevent your food waste, as well as donate any surplus that you have.”

To hear Smith share more about streamlining your operational processes, onboarding a national brand, and partnering with Project Drawdown, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout on Spotify.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” were on the road at the Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit in Nashville. Schatzberg and Frischling chat with Laura Rea Dickey, CEO of Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc., Josh Goodman, Founder & CEO, of PourMyBeer, Cherryh Cansler, Editor of FastCasual.com and VP of Events at Networld Media Group, and Josh Halpern, CEO at Big Chicken, about the summit and latest innovations in technology being highlighted at RFIS.

Dickey, stops by and talks about being back in person at the Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit, being a presenter at the summit and how data is driving the restaurant industry. She talks about the importance of being able to pull data, clean it, and present it back in a way that is simple and actionable. She says, “If you can do that with your data, then you're not drowning in that data lake, you could really use that data to drive the business forward.” She shares that Dickey’s built and launched its own proprietary data analytics platform 10 years ago. Dickey shares that because of their in-house technology, the restaurant's management is able to run their own POS, loyalty initiatives and scale the business, which now has 550 locations.

PourMyBeer, Founder & CEO, Josh Goodman, stops by for his second time on the podcast. He chats with Frischling and Schatzberg about how the other attendees and operators are reacting to the self-serve revolution that PourMyBeer is leading. Goodman talks about partnering with Coca-Cola. He says that by implementing the technology developed by PourMyBeer within the European market, at places like amusement parks, Coca-Cola has seen gains between 140% to 180% in both increased revenue and traction. Goodman shares that whether the company is collaborating with a Mom & Pop shop or at the enterprise level, technology is paramount. He says, “Your technology has to evolve.” He adds, “That's really where we've been focusing our energies, is getting our technology aligned with the various point of sale systems through direct integrations with them, because it all comes down to checks and balances.”

Cansler checks in to chat about moderating the summit’s session, ‘Getting into the Self-Service Game’. She talks about how operators are eager to enter the self-service space but have questions regarding things such as, how to determine which system is best for their business, what set-up costs look like and ROI. She says, “We're going to let each panelist tell their story about why they've entered self-service, how they're using it, whether it is a kiosk, or a beverage wall, how much it costs, ROI. Everybody wants it, but is it cost effective?” Cansler talks about the overall success of RFIS, adding that over 350 guests are attending this year. Cansler adds, “It’s our biggest year yet, even before COVID”. She says that the talk of the summit has been all about innovation, from ‘what’s new’, to ‘what’s going on’, to ‘what does the future hold’. Regarding the future, Cansler gives a sneak peek into details for the upcoming Fast Casual Executive Summit, happening this October, in Indianapolis.

Big Chicken, CEO, Josh Halpern, talks about his summit session, ‘Executive Perspectives: Inspiration for Today’s Restaurant Leaders’. He shares his insights on the importance of working together to mitigate each other's pain points. He says, “We learned there's five pain points; driving traffic, driving check size, being innovative, having well engaged staff and a capable supply chain”. He adds, “So if we work together to mitigate those pain points as an entire community, to make sure the guest has a great experience, franchisees are profitable and suppliers have what they need, beautiful things could happen fast.”

To hear more from all of the guests that stopped by Hospitality Hangout at the Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout on Spotify.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Scott Gladstone, SVP of Strategy and Innovation at Dine Brands, to discuss the state of the industry, virtual brands, and how new technologies and innovations are going to drive sales moving forward.

Gladstone talks about the state of the industry and shares that consumers are returning to Dine Brands restaurants in record numbers. In addition to consumers dining in again, Gladstone shares that the company’s restaurants IHOP and Applebee’s have seen considerable growth in off-premise sales which the brand hopes to scale. “We've also been making significant investments in technology and the things to drive the off-premise experience”.

When asked about the brand's latest concept, FLIP’D by IHOP, Gladstone says, “FLIP’D is a fast casual version of IHOP. Not every consumer has time to to sit down and enjoy a great IHOP meal with the family or significant other, sometimes they got to get it on the go.” Gladstone shares that although the concept was built for speed with features like digital menu boards and kiosks, the menu items are still prepared with the high quality ingredients consumers associate with the brand.

They talk about the latest trends in virtual brands. Gladstone shares that Applebee’s has launched a nationwide virtual brand, Cosmic Wings, which the company is very excited about. Gladstone talks about Dine Brands new partnership with Nextbite and the introduction of two new IHOP virtual brands, Thrilled Cheese and Super Mega Dilla.

He says, “I think virtual brands are important. They're a big and important piece for full-service restaurants.”

To hear Gladstone share more about Dine Brands newest concepts and his take on robotics and automation, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout on Spotify.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Danny Klein, Editorial Director at Food News Media, about his unique leap into the industry and the debate regarding pizza and tech.

Klein shares why Food News Media offers free magazine subscriptions to industry professionals. He talks about the outlet covering both QSR and FSR segments. Klein says the company’s day one goal was to help operators run their restaurants. In addition to not charging for the magazine content, Klein shares that the outlet also offers a free e-newsletter which keeps track of the news day to day. Klein says, “Our e-letters are free. We don't have paywalls on any of our content. We're really here to help people run their restaurants.” He adds, “That's been kind of the day one goal.”

Klein talks about restaurant growth and industry shifts in a post pandemic landscape. He shares that independents and ‘mom and pop shops’ are really struggling to get back on their feet and how recovery for them could take years, but on the opposite side, the quick service space has become one of the hottest retail sectors in all of the country in terms of growth with brands like Chipotle and Wingstop each adding another 1000 units. He says. “You know the state of things right now is you have one side, who I think is going to be on basically the precipice of embarking on what might be the greatest growth stretch that they've had in probably 30 years versus another side that's going to be a lot slower to adapt.”

Klein shares his thoughts on industry trends. He shares that the number one trend he is seeing was virtual brands, particularly in virtual wing chains. He talks about the segment slowing slightly but being a force within the space that was scaling at an incredibly rapid pace. He says, “There was a period there though where in terms of us trying to keep track of who was introducing a virtual brand, it was just outrageously out of control, and I get why it was happening.”

To hear Klein’s thoughts on the future of pickup and curbside growth and more from his chat with Schatzberg and Frischling, check out this episode Hospitality Hangout.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” and Sterling Douglass “The Technology Guy”, were on the road and live at MURTEC Las Vegas, where they chat with Michael "MJ" Jacober, Founder / CEO at Blanket, about the show, participating in Start-Up Alley and restaurant-technology being highlighted at MURTEC.

Blanket Founder and CEO, Michael “MJ” Jacober stops by for his second time on the podcast to discuss Blanket’s mission to help multi-unit operations and frontline teams to thrive, and bring joy to their everyday work. Jacober says, “By thrive, you know, it's about communicating tasks and any and all things that need to be communicated all the way from the C-suite down to the frontline store level.” He adds, “We wanna make sure that we create a very meaningful and enjoyable experience for the frontline teams.”

Jacober talks about his career in the industry and how his more than 20 years of experience as an owner operator helped him to understand the difficulties that came along with communication with the frontline staff. He shares how he was able to utilize this knowledge to develop the Blanket platform and provide solutions to store teams and operators.

Jacober shares his thoughts on being one of the 17 participants in this year’s exciting lineup at MURTEX 2022 featuring the industry’s hottest start-up technology companies. He talks about the contest, and how it has been an interesting process but also a humbling one. He talks about his chances of making it to the final, he says, “I think, you know, we're not solving a highly abstract problem. I think the problem that we're solving every operator can relate to.”

Jacober talks about what’s next at Blanket. He says the company is investing heavily in IoT solutions and integrating those solutions in an open way. Jacober shares that the company is heading increasingly up and up in the market. He talks about spending marketing efforts to bring in clientele with 10 to 50 units as well as larger organizations with unit numbers in the 200-300 range. He shares that while Blanket has seen a lot of traction for larger customers, he also understands the need to make sure all his clients feel supported. He says, “I think really diving in deeper to continue to try to solve larger organizations' problems while also not entirely forgetting about our midmarket clientele as well.

To hear more from Jacober’s chat with Frischling and Douglass at MURTEC Las Vegas, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout on Spotify.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” and Sterling Douglass “The Technology Guy”, were on the road and live at MURTEC Las Vegas, where they chat with Phil Crawford, Chief Technology Officer at CKE Restaurants, Inc., Tom Seeker, Chief Information Officer at Earl Enterprises and Astrid Isaacs, Chief Technology Officer at Bloomin’ Brands Inc., about the show and restaurant-technology being highlighted at MURTEC.

Crawford stops by for his second time on the podcast to discuss CKE Restaurants [https://www.ckr.com/] getting involved in MURTEC with the focus of restaurant technology. They talk about the impact that covid has had on the industry and how that has forever changed how operators engage with new technologies from day to day operations to goals and objectives.

Tom Seeker, Chief Information Officer at Earl Enterprises stops by to discuss how the pandemic has put technology into play in new ways and why it has shaped the industry to do more with less thanks to new technologies. “It's about technology, I think everybody's finding out. You cannot do anything without technology and our industry.”

Bloomin’ Brands Chief Technology Officer, Astrid Isaacs stops by to chat about valuable lessons and key learnings prompted by the pandemic. Particularly with regards to efficiency. “We're in a world now that has changed because of the pandemic and so having solutions that solve and drive efficiency is critical.”

To hear more from all of the guests that stopped by to chat with Frischling and Douglass at MURTEC Las Vegas, check out this episode Hospitality Hangout.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with John DiLoreto, president and general manager North America at Flipdish about digitally connecting restaurants to their customers.

DiLoreto leads the business for North America at Flipdish. It is a digital technology company focused on the hospitality industry. DiLoreto says, “Specifically what we focus on at Flipdish is what we call the digital consumer experience and what that means is we focus on everything between the brand meaning the restaurant and their customers and helping restaurants better engage directly with their customers and so what that can mean is, we build websites, we build mobile apps, we build kiosks, we run digital advertising for our customers. We've got loyalty programs, marketing programs, engagement, you name it everything that exists that connects the restaurant and their customers. That's our specialty and our focus. We do that in about thirty countries today and are proud to work with thousands of business around the world.”

Frischling shares that Flipdish just completed a one hundred million dollar raise in their Series C round led by Chinese tech giant Tencent. Flipdish reached a valuation of $1.25 billion, making it a “unicorn” in startup speak. It follows a $48.5 million investment. DiLoreto said when asked what Flipdish will do with that investment, “I think you know it's just a testament to our mission and our focus on building the technology that our industry needs and that ultimately that consumers are looking for. When it comes to interacting and engaging with their favorite brands and restaurants in terms of what we are going to do, we're going to do what we've always done which is strictly just focused on our customers.” He adds, “what we're going to do is continue to invest in our customers.”

DiLoreto talks about what convenience technology is bringing to hospitality and says, “ultimately the way I think of it is as an operator, you know what's most important to you is your customer in meeting your customer where they are and where their needs are and I think from a macro perspective there have been significant investments that have shaped and changed the way that the customer views convenience.”

To hear DiLoreto talk more about Flipdish meeting the customer’s demands, QR codes growing in the United States, and his thoughts on where ghost kitchens are heading, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout on Spotify.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chats with Jon Sherman, chief executive officer and co-founder at Sticky's Finger Joint about becoming an entrepreneur, developing a new brand, and the lessons learned.

Sticky’s Finger Joint was founded in New York City ten years ago in 2012. Sherman says Sticky's makes boneless, fried and grilled chicken and it is paired with eighteen different dipping sauces with different flavor profiles.

Sherman was in finance for years before founding Sticky’s. He says, “but I always had a bit of an entrepreneurial itch and I also always had a love for food and I didn't even realize that I could put the two of those together and that it was even a possibility or an option.” He talks about there not being a great option for chicken fingers in New York City and his love for chicken fingers when coming up with food ideas.

Sherman was living on the lower east side and saw the original Meatball Shop open. He said they had a great vibe and just had meatballs. It resonated with Sherman that people, especially living in New York City, want to go get the best of something and everybody likes chicken fingers.

Sherman was asked about where the sticky’s came from, he says, “from early on we realized that sauce is going to be an incremental part of this. The beauty of chicken fingers is part of making this differentiated best in class chicken finger, you got to make a great piece of chicken.” He also says, all of the different sauces is what makes the experience the next level.

When Sherman was asked about lessons he had learned, he said there were so many and the first three to six months they had to figure out what the real business model was. Sherman says he was able to use his past finance experience to overcome some of the early hurdles he faced at Sticky’s and what the unit level economics needed to be. Sherman adds, he really learned that they are in the people business.

To hear Sherman talk about Sticky’s operating model, how long it took to develop his core team and opening their first drive-thru location, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout on Spotify.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chats with Alonso Castañeda, vice president of brand development and strategy at Savory Restaurant Fund about finding emerging concepts and helping to develop the brand for fast growth.

Castañeda says “the Savory Restaurant Fund is a fund that works and identifies brands in their infancy stage and when I say infancy I don't mean that the brand is brand new. They could be in business for ten years but as an emerging concept. They are starting to think about growth, and that's where we come in and we identify these brands that are loved in their communities that are financially healthy and that have a great product and we come in and we support them.” He adds, “We help them grow from five to fifty, we've identified that we are experts at that stage. We know how to come in and set up a good foundation for growth and build a team and then start scaling. We grow those companies from five to fifty in anywhere from three to five years depending on the concept. So it's fast growth.”

The Savory Restaurant Fund has built a team of sixty food and beverage veterans with diverse backgrounds to help each of their companies to succeed. Their team consists of experts from real estate, payroll, sales, accounting, marketing, operations, training and development, says Castañeda. They don’t just provide the money they provide the team that helps build their partner's brand.

Castañeda shares the names of a few brands that Savory Restaurant Fund partnered with including Hash Kitchen, Pincho Burgers + Kebabs, and The Crack Shack. He says that they are currently looking at brands and they have seven brands that are opening eighty-five stores.

They talk about the current climate of the real estate market, Castañeda says, that the perception is that due to the pandemic that there would be available real estate but on the contrary, a lot of brands did very well especially fast casual. He adds that everyone is looking for the same drive-thrus and the same corners, and there are not many great opportunities available.

Castañeda talks about what the company does when they take on a brand and says, “it's a lot about identifying where the opportunities are and we can come in and make an impact.” Adding, “yes, we're onboarding the brand but our real estate team is already going strong because we all know it's going to be ten or twelve months before they find something but they're moving right away.”

To hear Castañeda share how the Savory team helps a brand grow, the tools to retain talent, and how new technology is constantly evolving, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout on Spotify.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Tim McLaughlin, co-founder chief executive officer of GoTab, Inc., about technology that can optimize daily operations, while improving communication between restaurant operators and their guests.

McLaughlin talks about his background, he says he has been developing software since he was young and then he went to school for mechanical engineering. McLaughlin says, “I co-founded GoTab in 2016. We've taken many turns and twists as hospitality has in the last five years for those who know, started in payments ordering and then we're a full system now. Our real focus instead of being like most POS, we are focused on making the guests have a better experience as well as the operators.”

McLaughlin shares the evolution of GoTab, saying that in 2016 you were able to pay your tab by entering a code, in 2017 you were able to do it with a QR code. He adds, “our whole goal was to turn tables faster. As many hospitality tech companies want to do is get guests in, get them out, take their money as fast as you can. It turns out we couldn't really get enough traction with that but that's what we've seen overall is it just doesn't solve enough problems.” GoTab then added ordering and they kept expanding and filling in the gaps.

QR codes have been around for some time, McLaughlin says GoTab thinks of QR codes as a point in space. He says, “a QR code is unique all throughout your restaurant. It could even be in a hotel next door but that lets us know where you're standing or where you're sitting or maybe laying. I don't know but the point is that we know where you are which means we know what menus you can access, who you are and what's available at that time. How long it's going to take to get it to you and as a result we can then start optimizing a lot of things in the kitchen.”

Frischling asks McLaughlin to explain what he means when he says to think of the kitchen like a factory. He says that you should optimize for production, speed, quality and efficiency and have a process. GoTab eliminates a lot of the work with the software, letting chefs and cooks focus on making food.

To hear more about the solutions GoTab can bring to the operators, including wrong orders and communication, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout on Spotify.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Nabeel Alamgir, chief executive officer and co-founder of Lunchbox about the current state of delivery and what the future will look like for restaurants.

Alamgir who is on the 2021 Forbes list 30 under 30, is the co-founder of the digital ordering and marketing platform Lunchbox. The operating system for managing a restaurant's entire digital experience. Alamgir talks about starting as a busboy at Bareburger when he came to the United States and how he loved the industry, working his way up to chief marketing officer before he launched Lunchbox.

Alamgir discusses how Lunchbox recently has raised fifty million dollars in Series B funding so his food technology company can accelerate product research and development as well as expand teams. Alamgir says he wants to do three things with the capital, one is to push the Lunchbox agenda, building a digital storefront and make sure it’s incredible looking, two is to build more engagement tools that can convert third party sales into first party, three is to bring in the best talent in the world to the Lunchbox team. The company brought on a new executive to the team, chief operating officer, Kieran Luke from the General Assembly. Lunchbox is about to release the first Metaverse restaurant, fully walkable. You can go anywhere and order food, it will be sold on OpenSea on the blockchain, says Alamgir.

Alamgir talks about the partnership between Lunchbox and Olo saying he is excited to partner with them and be part of their ecosystem. Adding, they are excited to elevate their design and elevate their marketing as well. They've paved a way for companies like us to exist so we're pumped to work together.

Frischling asks Alamgir what the current state of the delivery market is looking like from a growth perspective and he says, they are studying companies in China, specifically BingoBox. It is a convenience store with no staff that is entirely automated and compares it to Amazon Go. He adds, “our prediction is it'll be seventy five percent delivery and the rest will be in store. The number of seats you have within your restaurant is limited. You know it's fifty to hundred but the number of people you can feed around your community is a lot more. More importantly, right now, it's a sign of shame if you have a second brand out of your kitchen. It means you're not doing well.” Alamgir goes on to say that it is a stigma that is not real and in the future that will be how you run and optimize a kitchen to be efficient.

To hear more from Alamgir about branding, marketing and the Lunchbox vision, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout on Spotify. Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Scott Siegel, co-founder and chief executive officer at Curbit, about the continued critical component of pickup and takeaway in the restaurant business.

Siegel talks about his background in commercial real estate, representing restaurant owners and how finding locations for their business inspired the development of Curbit. He realized that drive-thrus were a difficult asset to come by and he wanted a solution that would allow his clients to compete and level the playing field. Siegel says, “You know that my mind was racing. It was like I was thinking about all the challenges with curbside pickup, you know you get dedicated parking spaces, there's all this negotiation around getting the spaces and it was like why can't a car just arrive in a parking lot, show up, and have somebody walk food out to their car in less than two minutes.” He adds, “I've had this sort of burning desire to solve, to address a problem and help the industry and it was a light bulb moment for me.”

Siegel shares the original idea of Curbit saying, “so the the sort of the genesis of Curbit occurred before the pandemic, a lot of people think wow, you guys, you came up with timing so great, you know with with what's happening and sort of this demand for curbside, this was in 2019 when the company formed.” Siegel addresses order timing and says Curbit takes the signals from the kitchen display system, digests everything that is happening in real time. Curbit will now communicate that information to the guest. This system makes it a guided journey from checkout to handoff, managing the guest’s arrival expectation and experience.“If I have a crappy pickup experience, I'm not going to return, but if all of a sudden, it's seamless, it's smooth, it's easy, it's frictionless, I'm going to come back,'' says Siegel. He adds that Curbit is really loyalty, it is about creating an experience that the guest wants to return more frequently.

To hear about Curbit’s partnership with QSR Automation and the data that they use, and the demand consumers have for curbside pickup, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout on Spotify. Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Lindsey Hoell, founder and chief executive officer of Dispatch Goods about how restaurants can help reduce waste with reusable packaging.

Hoell had a career in cardiac surgery first on the clinical side and then started selling the equipment in Hawaii. She is a surfer and was confronted by plastic pollution in her favorite surf breaks. Hoell got involved with Surfrider Foundation’s program called Ocean Friendly Restaurants where they helped restaurants transition to more sustainable practices. She says Dispatch Goods was created because of her love for surfing.

Hoell describes Dispatch Goods by saying “we are a reverse logistics infrastructure that's supporting circular packaging. What that means is we're kind of like recyclers just we reuse instead of send stuff to another country to hypothetically be recycled but probably not.” She adds, “And what we started to build is essentially a curbside and business collection system for reusable goods and that we process more locally and which also reduces the carbon footprint of travel and process and then we basically redistribute packaging and other items back to businesses. We started with the restaurant industry because that's generally consumers' number one waste related pain point is food packaging so that's how we got there.”

Dispatch Goods has launched on the East Coast. Hoell says, “we're not doing home collection yet. That's something that will be building out but navigating the kind of complexities of apartments is a new challenge. And I would say that there's probably just more people eating kind of on the go and where they put things on the go than in San Francisco where food's generally going to either offices or homes. So the home collection piece we're going to need a much more kind of robust collection system, so that's one piece that we're working on right now.”

Dispatch Goods partners with restaurants to offer food to customers in completely reusable packaging. Hoell says, “so Dispatch really, we've thought about this from both the end of life as well as like the beginning of life, the entire process. And why reuse is really the clear solution and not just from a sustainability standpoint but we think about the customer experience, restaurants take so much work and care into preparing meals and we just don't think that the trash that you're eating out of represents the quality of the food. So that's another place where we think reuse really has an opportunity to have an off-premise experience that's much more closely in line with what the dine in experience would be for customers.”

To hear Hoell’s insights on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and Dispatch Goods’ partnership with DoorDash, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout on Spotify.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' kick off season six and chat with Evan DeSantola, Co-Founder & CEO at Agot AI about using AI to achieve consistent service.

DeSantola and his co-founder Alex Litzenberger met at Carnegie Mellon University when they had come up with the idea for Agot AI. They had noticed the advances in computer vision perception technologies were not being commercialized. DeSantola says, “so when we left CMU we figured hey we know that this is a really ripe area for innovation in the computer vision space and we just kicked it off.” He adds, “we're just excited to bring this technology to scale across multi-unit foodservice.”

DeSantola explains how it works, “So our system, we just put cameras over the line and we watch what's being prepared.” He adds, “we just flag different operational issues that could potentially emerge in foodservice whether this is an employee getting to send out an extra chalupa, to perhaps certain operational practices not being performed to the best way that they could be.” Agot AI’s Kitchen Awareness platform captures meal orders from in-store, online, or drive-thru and their Interventional Order Accuracy technology identifies items being prepared and issues real-time correction alerts to line workers ensuring items are ingredient accurate and bagged correctly.

“We're tracking from the beginning to the end of every single meal item. As they're going in the bags as all the ingredients are going on these individual meal items as they go out to the customer and that really allows us to provide a ton of different effective points to provide value for the restaurant,” says DeSantola.

Frischling asks DeSantola how accurate Agot is in picking up order discrepancies and he says, “so with our technology franchisees can reduce the majority of their order errors with almost no changes to the current off flow. So the exact reduction is going to differ brand to brand and it's mostly dependent on compliance of fixing these errors as they go out the door. But we're talking near zero employee error rates as opposed to the current error rates that we're having and that's for napkins, that's for pickles, that's for drinks.” Adding, “It's just about what's in camera view.”

To hear how Agot AI can improve labor performance, employee training, plus recruitment and retention, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout on Spotify. Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality, and foodservice operators.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” were on the road and live at CES Las Vegas, where they chat with Michael Wolf, founder, chief executive officer, and editor in chief at The Spoon, Picnic’s founder and chief executive officer, Clayton Wood, Steven Sperry, co-founder and chief executive officer at Minnow and Ritukar Vijay, founder and chief executive officer at Ottonomy, Inc., about the show and food-technology being highlighted at CES.

Wolf stops by to discuss The Spoon getting involved in CES with the focus of food technology. They talk about the three panels, how food and cooking will change the future, the future of meat, and welcome to our food robot future. Wolf says, “I think there's lots of whitespace opportunity with bringing innovation to food.” As far as the future, Wolf says, we will see food becoming a platform and it will be getting bigger and bigger over time.

Picnic founder Clayton Wood stops by for his second time on the podcast. Wood talks about Picnic’s food automation system preparing pizza at the show with their partner Sodexo. Wood is a panelist on the welcome to our food robot future panel and addresses automation for restaurants. Wood says there are a lot of new entrants in the space and it is still not well understood but it is not about stealing jobs. The Picnic system and the systems like it allow operators to operate profitability and make working conditions better.

Sperry checks in to chat about the show and people’s reaction to the Minnow Pod. He says, we are in the middle of a revolution in the food industry, and the entire food ecosystem is being redesigned from food production to how food is prepared and more. Sperry talks about the opportunity in terms of delivery and robots. “If food is cheaper to have delivered and it’s better quality than you can make yourself, a lot of people are not going to make their own food,” says Sperry.

Ottonomy founder Ritukar Vijay stops by to chat about contactless deliveries with autonomous robots, and about being the world’s first to offer autonomous deliveries at airports. They talk about Ottonomy’s partnership with Presto to offer robot-powered curbside pickup. Vijay says the buzz on the floor at CES is that labor shortages are redefining how food tech is happening and this is an exciting time for food technology.

To hear more from all of the guests that stopped by to chat with Schatzberg and Frischling at CES Las Vegas, check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” chat with Rob Carpenter, founder and chief executive officer at Valyant AI about automated order taking for quick service restaurants.

Carpenter says, “There's a little bit of a labor crunch out there, one point seven million unfilled positions across the hospitality industry right now. So what we do is stick revolutionary cutting edge technology into your restaurant, greets customers, answers questions, takes the customer's order and then submits it directly into the point-of-sale system. Making the operators and the employees' lives easier and along the way what we see is anywhere between a five percent to twenty percent increase in top line revenue. So if you're doing one to two million a year you can add twenty percent to your top line overnight. While solving the labor problem.”

When asked about where the idea of Valyant AI came from, Carpenter says, “so the core initial idea for Valyant which we will eventually get to is the idea of automating customer service in physical locations. So what the very first version of Valyant’s product was effectively a holographic employee. So imagine a transparent OLED display which is effectively a piece of glass merged with a flat screen tv and we render a five and a half foot tall digital person and her name was Holly and she could blink her eyes and lean in and the idea was that she could carry on a conversation with you.”

Carpenter talks about there not being holographic employees or automated customer service available in many places because the technology is extremely hard. They pivoted the business saying they would need to solve the problem of conversational AI in order to bring a holographic employee to market. Carpenter says, “we've effectively spent the last four and a half years hyper focused on solving conversational AI and right now it's for restaurants. Eventually we want to roll it to hospitality in general and then we would look to in the future to take it to additional industries beyond that.”

To hear Carpenter breakdown how the AI translates for the customer in a drive-thru, and how Valyant AI can help address the labor crisis that hospitality is facing, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout. Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” chat with David Rolston, president and chief executive officer at Hatco Corporation about automation and efficiency in foodservice equipment.

Rolston has an engineering background and has been with Hatco for twenty seven years. Hatco was the first to recognize the need to sanitize dishware and developed the technology to do so. Hatco, now one hundred percent employee-owned company, designs equipment for foodservice, including warming, holding, and cooling equipment.

Shatzberg asks about the company getting into automation and efficiency, Rolston says, “now it's all about labor savings and so these electronic eyes really aren't much of a labor savings but they were meant to be an energy savings device, so that we're basically looking across the surface of a heated surface, see if there's any food there and if there's no food there we turn the heaters down. It's a very simple concept.”

Rolston says when asked about Minnow, “We got into lockers before Covid, we were fortunate that we had started focusing on this area prior to Covid hitting because it became a big deal and during that process we started to see ads for Minnow lockers and we thought oh my gosh, there's another competitor from outside the industry and you know, just one more person we got to deal with as far as competition.” “We realized there was tremendous synergy here because they had great depth in both industrial design and the software that was going with this system.” Rolston shares that Hatco is manufacturing Minnow lockers.

In terms of robotics, Rolston says, “you know you can have an actuating lever that pushes a burger off a conveyor or onto another conveyor and these days I think more about automation than I do robotics and to me automation is a broader category that includes software and I see software adoption tremendously throughout our business and restaurants. When you think about something as simple as POS adoption I mean, what restaurant doesn't have a POS these days whereas you go way back they didn't have that and the savings that has brought us is tremendous. So I think software adoption is a no-brainer for restaurants and for manufacturers.”

To hear Rolston’s insights on the hospitality industry's adoption of technology, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout. Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” were on the road at the Restaurant Leadership Conference in Arizona. Schatzberg and Frischling chat with Steve Heeley, chief executive officer at Pokéworks, Dirk Izzo, president and general manager at NCR Hospitality, Sterling Douglass, co-founder and chief executive officer at Chowly,Inc., and Alan Hickey, co-founder of VROMO.

Heeley from Pokéworks stops by and talks about being back in person at the Restaurant Leadership Conference. He talks about technology innovation and technology consolidation. Pokéworks started in 2015 in New York City, the company started franchising in year two and has eight company stores, seventy franchised locations and is in twenty states plus Mexico. Fresh seafood sales have increased by sixty percent and Heeley says that Pokéworks has felt that momentum. He says, “I think people are eating more plant-based, more clean proteins, and you know seafood particularly, raw seafood is very clean protein and people are more conscious of their health but they also want to know where their food comes from.”

Izzo has been running the restaurant business for the last two years at NCR Hospitality. He chats with Frischling and Schatzberg about servicing over one hundred thousand restaurants as well as NCR’s Aloha restaurant POS system and their cloud-based solution product Silver. Izzo talks about being back at RLC, what’s new in the hospitality space for NCR, and where the restaurant industry will be in two years.

Chowly’s co-founder and CEO, Sterling Douglass stops by to talk about what’s new. Douglass says, “it’s whatever is new that’s helping restaurants adopt new technology, so you know we talked a lot about virtual restaurants at our last show, our partnerships with C3 helping restaurants get more brands and more concepts generating more dollars in their unutilized kitchen space.” Adding, “That's been awesome for us the last couple of months. We've been able to launch tons of new restaurants on this, and it's really helped a lot of these restaurants increase that monthly revenue five, ten, twenty, thirty thousand dollars a month which has been great.”

Hickey, CCO and co-founder of VROMO, a software built to optimize delivery operations, talks about the conference and the adoption of technology. He also chats about what's new at VROMO saying, the big news is that VROMO has been working on building an ecosystem and an infrastructure that’s going to support restaurants and they will be putting their software into restaurant delivery companies.

To hear more from all of the guests that stopped by Hospitality Hangout at the Restaurant Leadership Conference check out this episode. Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Sam Oches, Editorial Director at Informa's Restaurant & Food Group.

Oches, who started out as a reporter but had never worked in the restaurant space, this past May became the Editorial Director at Informa where they cover restaurants, supermarkets, food management, hospitality news, and recently added podcasts. Oches talks about how he ended up in the restaurant space saying, “I'm a drummer, I've been drumming since I was twelve, I was a musician and you know look when I went to college I wanted to be a journalist. I went to Ohio University, it's got a great journalism program and look you know at that age everybody wants to be the next you know, great Rolling Stone’s contributor.” Adding, “I was the luckiest man in the world to find a job at a restaurant trade publication which was QSR and a week after I graduated college, I joined the team.”

Oches shares his thoughts on hospitality and says, “I think the best part of my job is the people. I think you know the reason I'm the luckiest man in the world to end up in this industry as you guys well know and this is hospitality. The best part of hospitality is the people and the work you get to do in meeting new people, interesting people and interesting people who have big ideas.”

Frischling asks Oches about the current state of the industry and he says, “I think about the state of the industry is its creativity. I said I got into this industry in the great recession and so I watched firsthand as the fast casual industry emerged back then, added this need to adapt to the state of things back in 2008, 2009, and 2010, you know there was an incredible amount of creativity that came in that season which was primarily I think around culinary and menu and it was this idea that fast casual is going to do something a little bit better.” He adds, “because of the pandemic I think what we're seeing is that same sense of creativity. But it's really more oriented around operations and this was obviously by necessity. It was forced innovation that restaurants had to adapt or die and I've been just blown away by the flexibility of the industry of restaurant operators to be able to ride with all the changes that have come in the past eighteen months.”

To hear from Oches about technology in the restaurant industry, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify. Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” chat with Joel Montaniel, chief executive officer and co-founder of SEVENROOMS about helping operators build their direct and personalized relationship with guests.

SEVENROOMS is a guest experience and retention platform that works on helping operators utilize guest data to provide experiences that boost business. Montaniel says, “So many many years ago we tried to figure out why hospitality technology systems didn't have any guest data in them and we really were surprised by that because we were like this is the hospitality industry. It is all about understanding the little things, it is all about making people feel special. How can operators do that when the very ingredient you would need is not available in the systems they're using to run their business?” He adds, “we got our start as a guest data CRM company and that we've now evolved ourselves into a guest experience platform with a mission of helping operators make their guests feel at home.”

When Frischling asks Montaniel where he thinks we are in the lifecycle of technology, Montaniel says, “if we take hospitality technology as the starting point I believe we're still in the early innings at the very beginning of this cycle.” He adds, “And I think the cloud has enabled a lot of opportunities, in addition of course the mobile, so it feels like we're still in the very very early days.”

Montaniel says when asked about the new functionalities SEVENROOMS added, “as we were building the company we started with this idea of guest data and so how do we help the restaurant capture as much guest data as possible and how do we make it as easy as possible for them to capture it. And actually when we first started we had restaurants that were using our CRM system side by side with their reservation seating system, that's how important it was to them and then what we realized is if we wanted to help the restaurants, how could we actually also build the reservations and the seating so that they could have one system to look at everything together.”

SEVENROOMS is giving the operators a personalized picture of their consumer on-premise and off-premise. Montaniel talks about delivery, saying in the United States before the pandemic forty-two percent of consumers had done delivery, now delivery is more than fifty percent and growing. He says, “what's interesting is we thought that when covid was stabilizing that dine-in would pick back up and delivery would slow down a little bit, but actually what you're seeing is both are accelerating so dine-in is up, delivery is up, and so what that means is now a restaurant needs to be able to understand and work across both of those different channels.”

To hear more from this episode with SEVENROOMS, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout. Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Massimo Noja De Marco, chief executive officer at Piestro and a founder at Kitchen United about robotics in the food industry.

Noja De Marco talks about how he grew up in hospitality, his mother was a chef and his grandfather ran seven hotels making him seventh generation in hospitality. He says, “this is what I live and breathe and I’m having so much fun doing it.” Noja De Marco talks about launching Piestro, a fully automated pizzeria a year ago. He says, “we are doing tremendous progress on getting this machine in the hands of our corporate partners. Right now we are not in the market yet, but we are testing these machines with the private recipes of each one of these pizza brands and things couldn't be better.”

Noja De Marco says the company produces a number of robotic solutions and Piestro is one of them and they are creating the machines that will fit the needs of a number of brands. He talks about Kitchen United, saying the original idea came from Jeffreey Kalt and they wanted to find a way to optimize the space for their friend’s restaurants and do it better. He says, “They had all these issues executing in their restaurants especially because all the orders were coming in at lunch and dinner time, crunch time and they would turn down all the platforms so they were leaving a lot of money on the table.” He talks about the first Kitchen United location in Pasadena where they rented out to a bunch of restaurants, some big and some small brands.

When Noja De Marco is asked about technology and automation in the food industry, he talks about the challenges in the industry, saying it is one of the toughest industries and so many things can go wrong at any given day. He says, “So if you can take a chunk of those issues and put them away by using technology and automation, I mean who better than you guys know how much technology has helped these operators right?”

Noja De Marco says, operators and restaurant brands need to do all they can to get educated on groundbreaking technology, automation, and robotics before they end up running into challenges like the pandemic brought.

When asked about robotics and automation, Noja De Marco says, there are a bunch of robots that actually can go to the line and pick up that package and take it outside to the drivers. Some of the drivers don't even have to get out of their cars. He added, “You don't have any more runners running back and forth in the ghost kitchen space, so that's one of the ways, that's one of the solutions but we are bringing co-robotic solutions. It's not a full robotic solution into a kitchen, because we still want one person that can actually oversee.”

To hear more about Piestro and the technology, automation and robotics advancing into the foodservice industry, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” take the show to Food On Demand in Las Vegas. Schatzberg and Frischling chat with Michael Beacham, president of Reef, Zack Oates, chief executive officer at Ovation, Tom Kaiser, senior editor at Franchise Times Magazine, and Trish Giordano, chief sales and marketing officer at Earl Enterprises.

Beacham talks about how ghost kitchens have grown as a category over the last year and the best ways for operators to get involved. He says that now he is seeing local chefs and regional brands trying to expand. Beacham says, “Reef is a platform in the marketplace of proximity and so we believe the closer that you can get to where people are working, we can deliver goods and services to them quicker, better, cheaper.” Beacham shares his background, the launch of DJ Khaled’s one hundred and fifty restaurants, and Dubai-based cloud kitchen iKcon.

Zack Oates stops by to talk about Ovation’s growth since 2020, he says, “we’ve just been exploding, it's been tons of fun and honestly it’s been really incredible to build a value.” You can tune in to hear Oates talk about what's new at Ovation and more.

Kaiser from Franchise Times talks about the early stages of ghost kitchen innovation and the growth that is still coming to the category. To hear his thoughts on speakers and panels from the show, as well as what's new with Franchise Times and Food On Demand tune into this episode.

Trish Giordano of Earl Enterprises says “the most important thing is technology companies that have come to market and with the industry having so many issues with staffing and supply chain, we as an organization have to figure out how you create efficiencies for your restaurants and how you create efficiencies for your customers.” To catch what Giordano has to say about loyalty, buying distressed companies, ghost kitchens, and MrBeast burger launch listen to the show.

To hear more from all of the guests that stopped by Hospitality Hangout, check out this episode. Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Anand Gala, managing partner at Gala Capital Partners to explore what insights a well experienced investor can bring to your business.

Gala shares his early introduction at nine years old to the restaurant industry while working for his family's business at Jack In The Box as a franchisee. After college Gala talks about becoming a franchisee of Applebee’s, Del Taco, and Famous Dave’s BBQ and eventually changing over to a full time investor after 2014.

Gala, who has almost five hundred restaurants, says that going through a lot of different experiences in his life like starting so early in the business, the dot-com bust, 9/11 and now covid, teaches you to find opportunities and find ways to do a better job. He realized that everybody in the industry was going through the same thing and they needed a good partner and somebody they could trust.

When Gala was asked about his super power, he says, “I'm a jack of all trades,” “learning enough across a lot of different disciplines whether operations, finance, HR, real estate development, accounting I’ve essentially done a little bit of everything for a couple of years minimum each time.”

Gala says his team can help with finance, site selection and modeling, as well accounting or even automating accounting technology. Gala Capital Partners can also provide support in operations and marketing. Gala adds, “there’s always something all of us can learn about operations and how are you using technology, how are you simplifying things and the same is true with marketing.”

To hear what Gala has to say about best in class unit economics and growing a brand, tune into this episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify.

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Kevin Tan, co-founder and chief executive officer at Snackpass to explore a social ordering platform for restaurants and the customer experience.

Snackpass is the company Tan co-founded with Jamie Marshall while they were students in college. Tan says, “It’s a social ordering platform for restaurants, you can skip the line and the wait, it’s much more convenient for consumers.” Adding, “we have a social commerce layer where you can get reward points with friends, send gifts to friends, group buy, and see what people are ordering making the experience personalized, social, and fun.”

Tan talks about when they got started, they would hand out fliers around campus and immediately got traction with their fellow classmates. He says, “within a few months over eighty percent of the student bodies started using Snackpass and became kind of like a household name.” Adding, “ it became the default way for students to order instead of going and standing at the cash register.” Snackpass started launching multiple campuses and today they are at twenty campuses in multiple states. Tan points out that Snackpass just raised their Series B financing which is going to help expand around cities and beyond the college campus.

When asked about delivery and third party, Tan says, delivery will just be an API call and it will be commoditized. He says, “the opportunity for us is definitely on-premise and you know that's a huge chunk of a pie.”

To hear how Snackpass came about while Tan was sitting in a dorm room, the experience of going through the Series B round, and how the name Snackpass originated, tune in to this episode of Hospitality Hangout Podcast. Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” chat with Atul Sood, Chief Business Officer at Kitchen United to explore the multi-restaurant ordering experience.

Sood shares his background that included leading global food delivery partnerships for McDonalds during a time Doordash and Postmates were just getting off the ground and UberEats didn’t exist. He had the opportunity to set up global partnerships in the United States, Singapore, Canada, Australia and more.

When asked what makes Kitchen United unique, Sood says, “we are front and center where people live and work. We have a front of house in each physical location. So consumers can walk in place an order on a kiosk and take their food to go. We allow for multi-concept ordering.” He adds, “We are excited because we've been around for four years now and we've learned a lot.”

Sood says when asked about Kitchen United acquiring ghost kitchen developer Zuul, “The ability to acquire a team that was that knowledgeable in the space and that had been pioneers in their own right in New York City was an opportunity that we just couldn't afford to pass up.” Adding, “In addition to getting their technology stack which is very complimentary to ours and really the driver behind this infrastructure business.”

Sood talks about food halls and Kitchen United’s partnership with Westfield Malls, he says, “It's been in a test for nearly nine months now ten months now and really what we're doing is we're enabling two different groups of customers to get access to the food court and other restaurants around them all.” He adds, “the first group is people who live close by who used to have to commute into the mall to get the food, now they can get it through delivery and by the way we make the delivery process a lot easier for the driver instead of having to park go into the mall go up the escalator.”

To hear about Zuul Market consolidating group ordering technology, how the delivery process was streamlined and Kitchen United’s partnership with Kroger supermarkets tune in to this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” chat with Geoff Alexander, President and chief executive officer, to explore using dark kitchens to generate revenue. .

Alexander talks about how he started back in 1993 with the privately held restaurant group Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants that Rich Melman launched in 1971. He says that Lettuce Entertain You has created over two hundred and twenty different brands in its fifty years, currently operating about one hundred and sixty restaurants among sixty different concepts.

“I’ve worked on twelve different concepts, give or take, in my tenure with Lettuce. It’s coming up on twenty-nine years in May.” Adding, “In 2009 I took over the concept of Wow Bao, a three unit brick and mortar store in Chicago serving steamed asian buns, potstickers and rice bowls.” Alexander goes on to talk about introducing self ordering kiosks, mobile desktop ordering, food trucks, and then getting involved with consumer packaged goods.

Alexander talks about Wow Bao’s growth, saying how the brand opened up fully automated restaurants with no front of house people, where the food came through automatic LED computer monitors. Since April 2020 through today they have opened over four hundred and fifty dark kitchens across the country and are on track to break five hundred by the end of October 2021.

When Alexander was asked about ghost kitchens, he defines them as a space that does not have a storefront and a dark kitchen is the areas in a restaurant that are dark right now, an area in your kitchen that you are not utilizing. Alexander says about how Wow Bao’s model was built that they have the ability to allow restaurants to turn the lights back on or start using that area of the kitchen that was dark before. He adds, based on the revenue that they can help operators generate and the profits they can bring to the bottom line. “They’re able to keep the lights on, keep people employed and that’s how we use the term dark.” says Alexander.

To hear about Wow Bao’s early insight to grow the brand, what Alexander has to say about technology, and third party delivery, check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout. Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Clayton Wood, Chief Executive Officer at Picnic, to explore solutions for solving labor shortages and automation in food preparation.

Wood says when asked to share about himself, “So my background I'm a mechanical engineer by training, I've worked in a bunch of industries including Aerospace renewable energy agriculture, robotics and after a series of startups, Picnic is really where I want to be.” He adds, “you know Picnic is a combination of my passions, robotics creating new businesses and really helping customers be more successful.”

Picnic is very focused on our customers and that's why it exists, says Wood. He explains that Picnic is not building technology for technology's sake and that they really want to help customers, knowing everybody in food service needs help these days.

Wood says, Picnic is the intersection of how you can apply technology in a way that improves customers' operations that helps them be more successful. In Addition, they are really focused on food service, the jobs are hard, and Picnic is here to make it easier for the workers.

When asked to share more about Picnic, Wood says they are in food preparation automation and there are not too many companies in this space. Adding that Picnic started with pizza, it is one of the most popular foods on the planet and they are discovering that restaurants are having a hard time finding workers.

To hear about how Picnic is transforming the world of food preparation to automation innovation, check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout. Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” chat with Carissa De Santis, chief information officer at Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants to explore hospitality technology and what’s in the pipeline for Dickey’s Barbecue.

De Santis talks about building Dickey’s virtual brands, the interest from franchisees around Wing Boss, and the decision to bring it to brick-and-mortar. They recently opened their first location in Dallas, where they have their virtual food menu and a full bar.

Dickey’s Barbecue is currently operating in forty-four states and De Santis talks about expanding internationally. When asked if Dubai is loving barbecue, De Santis said, “they’re 100% loving barbecue over there” adding “they were actually our first international debut as a franchisee and partner there.” De Santis says Dickey's just opened a second location in Japan and first in São Paulo, Brazil.

De Santis talks about Dickey’s early hospitality tech foresight, saying that part of their original tech stack started out with reporting and analytics, collecting all of the data on their customers and transactions. Smoke Stack is Dickey’s Barbecue custom data platform, it was started almost a decade ago. De Santis shares what their tech stack looks like today on this episode.

To hear about Dickey’s Barbecue successful loyalty program, the growth since its launch, her thoughts on technology and scams, and what is next for Dickey’s check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

Dickey’s is offering a special deal to the Hospitality Hangout Listeners. Use code HHFREE3 at checkout and get 3 free Sausages with any $100 purchase on this link at Barbecue at home by Dickey’s.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” chat with Brita Rosenheim, Partner at Culterra Capital and Venture Partner at Better Food Ventures to explore restaurant technology.

Rosenheim got started with an interest in the food world and left banking, she went to Italy to get a Masters in food communications. She is an investor and advisor, sharing her excitement for the innovation in technology. Rosenheim talks about the Restaurant Tech EcoSystem map and how the selection is made for the map.

When Rosenheim was asked about the rise of technology in regards to new categories being added to the map, she says food safety and quality was given recognition, which had historically been part of operations. Rosenheim adds, most of the pandemic trends are more of the same, it’s not completely new innovation and the biggest shift is really adoption versus full on new technology.

Rosenheim addresses the ghost kitchen trend saying it is here to stay much like meal kits. “It’s a new concept and it is disrupting the way things are done, it’s shifting peoples minds about how operations can be managed,” adds Rosenheim. “It still needs to figure out the right business model and the right users.”

When asked about categories losing steam, Rosenheim says it’s not becoming less important but search and discovery, reservations, and event management has a little slice on the wheel because there has been consolidation. She adds that five years ago those were the largest categories...now most of the efforts have turned to optimizing back of house.

To find out what category Rosenheim thinks will be the shrinking next and her thoughts on robotics, tune in to this episode of Hospitality Hangout. Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” take the show to the first in-person trade show, FSTEC 2021 where restaurants and technology connect. Schatzberg and Frischling chat with Wade Allen, senior vice president, head of innovation at Brinker International, Inc., Derek E. Canton, chief executive officer and founder at Paerpay, Sterling Douglass, co founder and chief executive officer at Chowly, Inc., and Marcus Viscidi, VP, Enterprise Sales - National Restaurant Association Show & Foodservice Conferences at Winsight, LLC.

Allen talks about what he is looking to learn from the show, saying that he looks for organizations that inspire him and are doing things not in the traditional way, adding companies that can truly change their business. Allen says he is looking at new technology in loyalty programs to delivery drones to the future of POS. He talks about Brinker International’s development of virtual brands and launching them.

Derek Canton from Paerpay stops by to talk about being on the market place floor at FSTEC. Paerpay is a contactless payment platform for restaurants and Canton shares what’s new at the company. He says the number one thing he wants the audience to know about Paerpay, can get their customers up and running in an hour. Tune in to hear Canton’s quick fire answers.

Sterling Douglass of Chowly, who has been on the show before chats with the guys about technology change for restaurants and consumer adoption having an impact. A lot of technology that has been around has finally been picked up, like QR codes and delivery technology. Douglass says that he is excited to see the maturity in virtual restaurant space as well. To learn more about Chowly’s partnership with Google, listen to the show.

The last guest to stop by to chat, Marcus Viscidi from Winsight, LCC, he talks about putting together the first in-person restaurant trade show, FSTEC 2021 since the pandemic and answers quick fire questions.

To hear more from all of the guests that stopped by Hospitality Hangout at FSTEC 2021, check out this episode. Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Chris Campbell, CEO at Review Trackers to explore the importance of restaurant reviews.

Campbell founded Review Trackers over ten years ago and helps over fifty thousand restaurants in thirty-five countries track and manage their customer feedback from websites like Google, Facebook, and Tripadvisor.

When asked about what he thinks of restaurant operators that don’t pay attention to customer reviews, Campbell says “operators are crazy, if you think about things that can influence your business and have major ripple effects, reviews is one of the biggest things.” Adding “Ninety-one percent of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.”

Campbell was asked in reference to Yelp and according to Review Trackers, where a majority of reviews are coming from today, he shares that it depends on the market you are in, but adds the reality is Google is winning. Campbell says, Google, Facebook, and Tripadvisor, all just growing multiples faster then Yelp. “Ninety Five percent of people start their search on Google,” says Campbell. You can listen to Campbell address Yelp’s importance in today's competitive review platforms on this podcast.

In regards to sales, when Campbell was asked how reviews and responding reviews help search engine optimization, he says that reviews are the leading factor in influencing how you appear on a google map ranking. Adding reviews is the thing that influences your ranking the most.

To hear Campbell’s advice for restaurant operators that don't have a review tracking system in place and how you can start making your business better, tune in to this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on iTunes!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Tom Pickett, Chief Revenue Officer at DoorDash, to explore delivery and virtual cloud kitchens.

Pickett is responsible for building out restaurant partnerships from big chains to mom and pops helping them become successful. Pickett says, “for the last year and a half we really have been working very closely with merchants to help them navigate the challenges of the pandemic.” He adds a stat saying that restaurants that have been on DoorDash are eight times more likely to still be around today than those not on DoorDash.

In terms of what DoorDash is seeing, Pickett says, “a big acceleration in delivery, delivery has become a more prominent part of business and they find the most successful are treating it like a new line of business.” Another highlight is the operations experience of getting delivery in and out of your restaurants and Dashers love to go to the restaurants that are efficient and get them out of there quickly because they are able to make more money when operators are moving out deliveries.

Pickett talks about Storefront, a DoorDash product that takes their online ordering capability and makes it available for restaurants for free to put on their own website.

Underutilized kitchen capacity is a great opportunity for virtual brands and the cloud kitchen space. Pickett says that virtual brands and kitchens are a way to expand in a very cost effective way, using the power of delivery platforms. Delivery is at the center of these and DoorDash works very closely as a consultant for restaurants.

To learn more about all of the new partnership programs, daily payouts for merchants, and DashPass, a subscription program for consumers, tune into this episode.

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Paul Allen, President and Cofounder at NextBite, to explore delivery only brands for restaurants across the country and how they can add value for these operators.

Allen breaks down Ordermark and NextBite saying they are obsessed with developing technology and brands to help restaurants thrive, and that is their focus. He adds, what makes the company distinct from ghost kitchen and commissary model businesses is that NextBite exists solely to help existing restaurants.

Allen discusses the differences in working with traditional and non traditional kitchens in reference to celebrities versus chefs. NextBite focuses on authenticity, brand authenticity and says that the celebrities need to be committed to the success of the brand, be involved, and care about the food. “It really has to be a partnership and there has to be something genuine beyond it when it comes to a celebrity,” says Allen. He adds, “that you can’t replace a restaurant that has built a reputation over the years with a new celebrity brand.”

When Allen was asked how NextBite addresses marketing the brands, he talks about it being stage dependent and how it changes as the brands grow. He says, the secret sauce for NextBite exists in the technology, the operations, and its relations to marketing.

Hear what Allen has to say about operations, training, supply chain, and technology being the meat and potatoes that drive efficiency and profitability. Plus, why data operations and technology drive marketing efficiency.

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” chat with Marty Hahnfeld, Chief Customer Officer at Olo, to explore the future of delivery.

“The things that are happening within our business right now happened a decade ago in the hotel industry,” says Hahnfeld, and the industry felt like they needed to deliver without understanding all of their options to have food delivered, letting an oversized number of consumers shift off direct business and shift off to the market places, adds Hahnfeld.

Hahnfeld says, for any brand that doesn’t invest in serving their loyal customers directly, it could be rough days. Citing two-thirds of all restaurant transactions are consumed off premise, of that two-thirds only sixteen percent of those transactions are delivery.

When discussing what types of things an operator can do to make sure they are set up correctly, Hahnfeld talks about what Olo can offer. He shares how Olo’s platform has a solution called Expo, a tablet-based software focused on enhancing the front-of-house workflow in restaurants.

Hahnfeld talks about how Olo addresses deliveries in regards to urban vs. suburban markets, and says suburban delivery has been proven to work, although there is a cost problem, investments will continue to improve handoff and delivery. Olo focuses on their platform supporting delivery long term and Hahnfeld gives his take on ghost kitchens, virtual kitchens, delivery kitchens, and the idea of restaurants aggregating.

To hear about Olo’s success and it’s process of going public, check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout. Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In this episode of the twelve-part Accelerate series for the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, host Sam Stanovich and guest host Kathleen Wood chat with Atul Sood, the chief business officer of Kitchen United, to explore successfully creating and implementing a growth strategy in the restaurant and hospitality industry.

“We focused the business quickly on restaurants… and then we realized we needed to have a facility for onsite ordering,” says Sood. “We’ve gone from there to having six sites, and we’ll be opening another twelve to fourteen sites this year.”

Founded in 2017, Kitchen United was designed to support restaurant takeout, delivery, and catering via dark kitchens. The GV-backed startup has helped countless restaurants expand their consumer base for off-premise dining.

“You only staff the cooks. We take care of everything else: cleaning, sanitation, running of food to the delivery driver or customer, manning the front of house, receiving food products, managing technology, managing the co-marketing,” adds Sood. “It’s really a CapEx, time, and labor-light way to expand.”

Listen to the episode to learn more about Kitchen United’s expansion plans!

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Tom Recine, the founder of Recine Hospitality, to explore the latest innovations in point of sales tech.

“It’s not just a restaurant, it’s an experience,” says Recine. “And that’s what you have to create these days to attract attention. No one wants the same-old same-old.”

Recine was a partner and the chief operating officer for Sugar Factory for eight years. While there, he helped build the business and craft a strategy that emphasized the restaurant’s unique experience of candy, excitement, celebrities, and fun drinks. According to Recine, Sugar Factory was ranked the number one venue in the world for social media posts.

Recine recently developed a new cash register system inspired by ATMs. Called the automated till register (ATR), the register has no drawer that opens or closes. Transactions are fully automated and closed from the moment they are initiated.

“At the point you put the cash in, it’s deposited to your bank. No employee or manager will have to touch it,” adds Recine. “It’s a simple idea that’s never been done before. I truly believe cash drawers as you see them now will be replaced forever.”

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Brandon Barton, the chief executive officer of Bite, to explore digital hospitality and improving the online ordering process.

“We see an incredible amount of information that we’re helping restaurants to take and learn about their guests, and then personalize ordering experiences for them,” says Barton. “There’s more visibility into what options you have when you get to a restaurant before you get there. Now, you can give people digital experiences in-store or at home—and what’s going to flip here is the concept of hospitality.”

Bite offers restaurateurs solutions for making their restaurants better. It is an omni-channel digital ordering platform for restaurants, providing restaurants with every digital ordering channel they can have: websites, apps, contactless ordering, kiosks, QR codes, curbside pickup, and even drive-thrus.

“Take labor out of the equation when it comes to the order. Every single person knows how to order food digitally. Let’s just let people do it—in the lobby, at home, or in the restaurant,” adds Barton. “If you want us to know who you are, and you want us to use that data, we’re more than happy to provide you with a better guest experience.”

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the first episode of the new 12-part Accelerate series for the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, host Sam Stanovich and guest host Kathleen Wood explore how owners, leaders, and operators can effectively accelerate their business in a post-pandemic world to push for more success, more profits, and more opportunities to rebuild the industry.

“Operators are busier than ever. There’s pent-up demand in the marketplace and a huge lack of labor,” says Stanovich. “If we’re not being strategic, and if we’re not getting ready, we can’t accelerate our business to where the most amount of profit is because we’re being reactionary versus proactive in our business.”

Despite appearances, the industry is moving at a rapid pace. With the pressure of the labor shortage, the pressure of supply changes, and new competitors entering the marketplace, many formerly successful businesses will be left behind if they don’t start investing in and accelerating their business now.

One group that businesses need to start investing in is Gen Z—the 72 million people born between 2000 and 2015. “These Gen Zs are digital natives. Everything about their world is technologically infused,” notes Wood. “COVID really brought their voices to the forefront. These Gen Z are becoming our customers and our workforce… and they are driving all of us to be more flexible, agile and technologically advanced.”

Listen to the episode to learn more about embracing the uncertain future of the industry amidst the ongoing pandemic, and successfully implementing new, relevant technology!

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Zachary Goldstein, the chief executive officer and founder of Thanx, to explore marketing and elevating the digital experience for consumers.

“Generic, unpersonalized guest engagement just doesn’t cut it anymore,” says Goldstein. “You’ve got to know who your guests are, you’ve got to give them an easy sweep of digital tools to make those purchases, and you need to treat them personally using the data you have to give them a reason to return. And that’s what we do at Thanx.”

Thanx specializes in supplying best-in-class guest engagement technology for brick-and-mortar brands. For Thanx, the goal is to make the consumer digital experience accurate, efficient, and truly seamless.

“Digital sales are rapidly becoming the lifeblood of the industry,” adds Goldstein. “Ease of use for the customer always wins. Placing an order online or from an app or phone is just easier… we’re going to see the mass majority of sales move to digital.”

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Joshua Sharkey, the founder and chief executive officer of meez, to explore an exciting new tech solution for chefs.

“The genesis of meez was the result of something terrible… I lost my [cooking] notebook,” says Sharkey. “As chefs, we don’t have the time to adopt these technologies that aren’t built to how we’re used to doing things. When I first created meez, it sucked. Chefs told me everything that sucked about it—and that was one of the most valuable things we had that first year before we launched.”

Meez is a professional recipe tool created by and for professional chefs. Chefs can use the operating system to upload their recipes and access them via an interactive database. Meez allows chefs to organize the recipes, determine costs, connect to their inventory, and much more.

“Everything we design is from the vantage of: how is this actually going to work in the kitchen? How is the chef going to hold this? Where is this thing going to live?” notes Sharkey. “That’s the most important part of the product: it has to be something that’s really easy or the chef won’t use it because they don’t have time.”

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On the last episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Nick Vojnovic, the president of the Little Greek franchise, to explore brand building and how businesses have shifted since the onset of the pandemic.

Little Greek specializes in fresh, grilled Greek cuisine. The chain prioritizes quality, handcrafted food that is as flavorful as it is affordable.

“Keep your footprint as small as you can,” says Vojnovic. “We’ve not seen a correlation between store size and sales… the future will be smaller boxes, and drive-thrus will be a key element going forward.”

Little Greek currently maintains 44 locations, adding four or five restaurants each year. The company dropped about 30 to 35 percent when the pandemic first hit, but was able to rebound and become even with the previous year by summer 2020. For the chain, the main priority is to offer a wide selection of authentic food.

“From a marketing standpoint, I think we’re the only franchise in the country that does not collect a marketing fee,” adds Vojnovic. “We try to let our food speak for itself. We use our catering to market the brand… for the most part, it’s all been organic growth.”

Listen to the episode to learn more about mentorship and cultivating a successful work culture!

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Giancarlo Fiorarancio, vice president of Hospitality Technology/IT for the Howard Hughes Corporation, to explore technology and redevelopment in hospitality.

Giancarlo Fiorarancio oversees the technology behind Howard Hughes Corporation’s hospitality division. Properties include hotels, restaurants, and event venues in The Woodlands, Las Vegas, and New York City.

“We approach each one of these communities differently and unique to the environment that they are in,” says Fiorarancio. “In New York, part of our strategy is to enable [the property] to become a destination for shopping, retail, and entertainment.”

Howard Hughes Corporation specifically focuses on master plan communities—long-term investments on acres of undeveloped land. The goal is to build out that land in a thoughtful way over many years.

“When you’re trying to restore full traffic to an area that currently doesn’t have it, you have to take a different approach,” adds Fiorarancio. “Not many restaurants would decide that they want to open up in an area that has no foot traffic… so instead of trying to get somebody there, we decided to create our own concept, and operate it on our own.”

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Josh Goodman, the founder of PourMyBeer, to explore the latest in self-serve trends and developments in self-pour technology.

With over 8,000 taps in 24 countries, PourMyBeer is an industry leader in self-pour technology, offering a next-generation system that facilitates quick, efficient access to beverages. Consumers simply pour their beer, wine, cocktails, cold brew, or kombucha and pay by the ounce.

“One of my prerequisites for my partners in Austria was that it had to be so simple that my six-year-old son could install it and support it,” says Goodman. “We’ve doubled in revenue almost every year… it’s all about integrations and making it a seamless process.”

The company has enjoyed immense success and attention—Coca-Cola European Partners just invested in PourMyBeer last year. For Goodman, quality construction remains the primary goal: every system is restaurant-grade with long-lasting screens designed for 24/7 use.

“We are going to be transitioning more to PourMyBeverage over the next year or two because our number one selling product across all of our taps was margaritas,” adds Goodman. “Cocktails on tap is where everything is going.”

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Micha Magid, the co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Mighty Quinn's, to explore virtual restaurants, nationwide delivery, and making the transition to digital.

Mighty Quinn’s is a restaurant franchise that specializes in authentic, slow-smoked barbecue. The team prioritizes high quality ingredients, all-natural meats and poultry, and carefully cultivated spice blends for seasoning.

“As we moved through the pandemic, we realized we needed a seamless platform—one system that was accessible via web, app, or catering that customers could use for ordering. So we switched over to a new platform that enables a more seamless guest experience,” says Magid. “These systems live side by side with third party delivery. We think having a solution for our guests outside the third party world was important.”

Mighty Quinn’s works with Goldbelly to ship frozen barbecue nationwide within two days. The food is fully smoked and ready to go, crafted in the chain’s large central commissary area.

The company also recently partnered with Otto’s Tacos to create a virtual taco restaurant via Mighty Quinn’s kitchen space. Otto’s was unable to keep its network of stores open after the struggles of the pandemic.

“We saw an opportunity to really utilize the kitchen space in our operation and relaunch them as a delivery-only brand,” adds Magid. “Similar to Mighty Quinn’s, Otto’s does a few things but does them really well. That was right up our alley.”

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Abhinav Kapur, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Bikky, to discuss the best way for restaurants to understand, engage, and retain their guests.

Bikky is the first CRM for restaurants that helps them power digital hospitality by providing the system of record for all of the restaurant's guest data. Bikky maps the guest footprint across all of their channels, from point-of-sale to delivery to loyalty, helping restaurants to know their guests.

Bikky provides your restaurant with a picture of how your guest is ordering across every single channel. Giving restaurants the capability to take that data and use it to precisely market directly to the guest. “Bikky is your system of record, your source of truth for every way you engage your customers,” says Kapur.

Prior to covid third party delivery was about twenty percent of a restaurant’s business, after covid hit restaurants went one hundred percent digital. During the pandemic Bikky built their in store POS and reservation integrations, thinking about what restaurants will need when customers want to be back in store.

Bikky built an automated email campaign that they can plug in and restaurant owners can use it to engage new customers every single day. Kapur says, this set it and forget it automated marketing tool will make restaurants money, allowing them to focus on food and service.

Kapur talks about the future for Bikky, and their main focus is how they can help restaurants map their entire customer journey and put it on autopilot. Bikky wants to provide the tools to engage customers based on behavior.

When it comes to must-have tech, Kapur thinks that all contactless ordering and payments is the best investment that operators can make. It allows restaurants to focus on hospitality.

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Simon de Montfort Walker, the senior vice president and general manager of the Oracle Food and Beverage Global Business Unit, to explore how restaurant operators can leverage their tech to build and expand their business.

Oracle Food and Beverage provides point of sale systems to restaurants as well as sports and entertainment venues across 160 countries, handling 330,000 points of sale and processing 5.9 billion transactions annually. The company specializes in giving operators fully customized and integrated solutions designed to fit their unique business needs.

“For a lot of people consolidating right now, we see it as an answer to the questions customers are asking—how are you creating integrated solutions for them? How are you tying together loyalty and point of sale?” says de Montfort Walker. “Our core priority is having an incredibly open system that allows us to touch as many other vendors as possible for real-time integration so our customers have a lot of choice.”

Oracle offers systems for online ordering, curbside pickup, and delivery, and supports menu expansion ventures via cloud kitchens and virtual brands. Your front of house, kitchen, and back-office operations are easily connected via the most secure cloud point of sale in the industry.

“Customers and clients we’ve seen be successful throughout COVID and all the changes in the marketplace are those that have invested in flexibility,” adds de Montfort Walker. “Technology has failed for a long time because it was innately not flexible… you have to build flexibility into the model without breaking the core of your business. There’s going to be a lot more experimentation and change to come.”

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Solomon Choi, the founder and chief executive officer of 16 Handles, to explore the digital side of hospitality.

16 Handles is a frozen dessert chain that specializes in innovative frozen yogurt, ice cream, and smoothies. Established in 2008, the New-York based chain offers a wide variety of fresh, quality, better-for-you flavors and toppings.

“Discovery for our brand in our markets was being made online. It was a digital experience first,” says Choi. “I realized this is huge—it’s not just the billboard that’s driving people in… I realized we needed to start investing into our digital presence. The entire guest experience could live online only.”

Over the past decade, 16 Handles has expanded to over forty international locations. The chain prioritizes expansion, menu development, and meeting the needs of a millennial lifestyle. Right now, Choi is focused on rebuilding the business as the pandemic comes to an end.

“We’re just trying to manage consistency across the brand. We don’t have real people out there visiting stores—it’s been over a year since we’ve had that,” adds Choi. “I do think Times Square will be busy this summer… I do think domestic travel to New York City will go up.”

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Solomon Choi, the founder and chief executive officer of 16 Handles, to explore the digital side of hospitality.

16 Handles is a frozen dessert chain that specializes in innovative frozen yogurt, ice cream, and smoothies. Established in 2008, the New-York based chain offers a wide variety of fresh, quality, better-for-you flavors and toppings.

“Discovery for our brand in our markets was being made online. It was a digital experience first,” says Choi. “I realized this is huge—it’s not just the billboard that’s driving people in… I realized we needed to start investing into our digital presence. The entire guest experience could live online only.”

Over the past decade, 16 Handles has expanded to over forty international locations. The chain prioritizes expansion, menu development, and meeting the needs of a millennial lifestyle. Right now, Choi is focused on rebuilding the business as the pandemic comes to an end.

“We’re just trying to manage consistency across the brand. We don’t have real people out there visiting stores—it’s been over a year since we’ve had that,” adds Choi. “I do think Times Square will be busy this summer… I do think domestic travel to New York City will go up.”

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Steven Sperry, the founder and chief executive officer of Minnow, to explore the ins and outs of food safety.

Minnow is committed to creating a better food delivery and pickup experience. Established in 2017, the company offers contactless Pickup Pods to ensure the process is safe, secure, and convenient for everyone.

“Minnow is solving the last-mile problem in food delivery,” says Sperry. “There’s nothing to prevent food from being picked up [late] when it’s no longer safe to consume, or someone with a food allergy could easily pick up the wrong order with potentially disastrous consequences. Minnow gives our customers complete control over access to the food.”

All orders through Minnow are given a pickup window. The default time is two hours, but it can be customized to a longer or shorter time. Customers are notified via text or by email when their food is ready. If you do not pick up your food in that window, you will receive two reminders before your order is discarded for food safety reasons.

“Over the course of the pandemic, there has been an 80 percent increase in deliveries to multi-family locations. It’s restaurant and grocery deliveries, and it’s the most immediate pain point that the Minnow Pickup Pod can solve,” adds Sperry. “We believe there is an opportunity to make food delivery more efficient and less expensive by making it look more like packaged delivery… we’re working with other companies so that food can be more accessible and more affordable for more people.”

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Kelly MacPherson, the chief technology officer of the Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG), to explore technology strategy in the restaurant and hospitality industry.

Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group is best known for creating some of New York’s most acclaimed restaurants, cafes, and bars. The company is committed to providing outstanding food with exceptional warmth and hospitality services. Since its founding in 1985, USHG has added operational consulting services and built a catering and events business.

“The connected restaurant is a robust ecosystem that enables a seamless flow of data to all the components of the restaurant,” says MacPherson. “There’s all these pieces that enable a restaurant’s operation. The connected restaurant is making sure that they all talk to each other in the same language—otherwise everything is disjointed and draining from a managerial perspective.”

For USHG, communication is key. For your staff, make sure to explain both the what and the why behind any changes you make. And know your customer—build out a robust CRM that reflects your customer’s priorities.

“We’ve made strides in tech in the restaurant industry, but consumer tech has outpaced the other industries,” adds MacPherson. “We’ve really underinvested as an industry, and I think the pandemic exposed that in a big way… there’s been so many advances in forecasting and analytics. There’s a huge opportunity in forecasting. Machine learning should be driving forecasts. Let technology do most of the science.”

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Phil Crawford, the chief technology officer of CKE Restaurants, to explore the ongoing digital revolution in the restaurant industry.

CKE Restaurants is a Tennessee-based, privately held company that runs and operates Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s. The two regional brands combined represent over 3,800 franchised or company-operated restaurants in 44 states and 43 foreign countries and U.S. territories.

Crawford moved from New York City—having previously served as the chief technology officer for Godiva—to Nashville to join CKE in the fall of 2020.

“Nashville and New York City are two parts of the spectrum. But the exciting part is that when it comes down to hospitality and technology, there’s a lot of synergies within both cities and corporations,” says Crawford. “They both have a desire and drive to be the best they can possibly be… it’s all about scale and size, and ensuring that we have the guest experience in mind.”

Restaurants—looking to adapt to evolving operational and consumer needs—are moving away from POS systems. Most systems and processes have entered the realm of mobile technology, leading to the creation of more cloud-based systems, direct-to-consumer interactions, analytics, and artificial intelligence to better reach customers.

“Any kind of digital ecosystem that’s out there that you can infuse the guest experience is where everything’s going,” adds Crawford. “It’s all about trying to bridge that gap between what we think our consumers know and what they do know, and making it a personalized journey. That’s the kind of tech incorporation that we need to be thinking of to become technology evangelists and to have that competitive edge in our industry.”

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Elizabeth Baxter, the chief people officer of Torchy’s Tacos, to explore the taco business, crafting products and merchandise, and building a culture of caring.

Begun in a food trailer—with some advertising conducted on a Vespa—Torchy’s Tacos specializes in high quality, cooked-to-order tacos. With over 75 locations, the chain is committed to responsible sourcing, constant menu innovation, and hiring employees that reflect and reinvest in their communities.

“Every taco we serve, you’re not going to see in another kind of taco shop,” says Baxter. “Our focus has really been about the best ingredients and fun, memorable names. The Brushfire has fresh mango on it, and the fact that we source that mango and make sure that it’s ripe and cut perfectly—that’s what gets people coming back.”

For Torchy’s, the goal is to make the food original and keep the customers engaged. They have a secret menu that customers can only learn about through the grapevine, and a taco of the month special to continuously surprise guests with new tacos as well as tacos from the vault to try.

“Food trucks are relevant because it’s just another form. Right now, people don’t want to sit in a restaurant, so we’ve shifted to this off-premise idea,” adds Baxter. “It’s another way of people getting food in an easier, different way. And people like different, innovative, and easier.”

Listen to the episode to learn more about taco trucks and best practices for recruiting!

This episode is sponsored by DAWN® PROFESSIONAL - Pot and Pan

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Victoria Vaynberg, the chief marketing officer of Resy, to explore how the company is rethinking and revolutionizing the hospitality experience with technology.

Resy is a global dining platform that leverages state-of-the-art technology to better the restaurant and hospitality industry. Established in 2014, the app services over 5,000 restaurants globally in over 200 cities, overseeing restaurant reservations via back-end management software. The company was also acquired by American Express in 2019.

“The product is built by restaurants and for restaurants—what we built is informed by our partners. It truly comes from a place of how we can best provide what restaurants need to thrive,” says Vaynberg. “Restaurants shouldn’t have to pay for the guests who are trying to come to them.”

Resy endeavors to be an ally to restaurant operators. According to recent Resy data, this past April was the strongest month for reservations since before coronavirus hit. The company was determined to help Resy operators survive the financial troubles of the pandemic and get back on track.

“Fee relief was no question in our minds. Being part of American Express helped make that a reality very quickly. It wasn’t a debate. We’re here for the industry, and the most important thing we can do first is alleviate them of things they can’t do right now,” adds Vaynberg. “It was all about, what can we do to help your restaurant not go out of business?”

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Tom Foley, the founder of Indigo Group, and Tiffany Derry, the chef and owner of Roots Chicken Shak, to explore packaging, catering, community, and planting roots for the future.

Roots Chicken Shak is famous for its duck fat fried chicken, courtesy of celebrity chef Tiffany Derry. Options range from wings and tenders to sandwiches and salads, all freshly prepared in the chain’s limited 300 square feet of space. Indigo Group helped found Roots Chicken Shak in 2017, and the management consulting company continues to oversee the chain’s operations.

“We call the front of the house the restaurant, where Tiffany is amazing both from a chef’s perspective and a guest’s engagement,” says Foley. “The back of the house is all the operational components. Anything that smells legal comes my way.”

Roots Chicken Shak has a culture of buying local. The chain endeavors to keep the menu narrow and focused—emphasizing chef Tiffany’s southern upbringing and preference for dishes with local, fresh ingredients and spices—to keep ordering and packaging processes simple and seamless. Roots found the ideal packing partner in H-E-B.

“We’re quick service. We knew that in order to make the numbers that we needed to make, it wasn’t just about everyone coming in and eating—we needed our pickup and delivery to be a large part of our program,” says Derry. “I wanted to make sure that we had proper materials… not everything works for chicken.”

Listen to the episode to learn more about the making of duck fat fried chicken, as well as how to successfully invest in your community!

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Mike Bell, the chief executive officer of Miso Robotics, to explore how robot technology is transforming the restaurant and hospitality landscape.

Miso Robotics is a robotic restaurant platform powered by artificial intelligence. The platform was created to support high-volume restaurant operators by making back of house processes safer, simpler, and seamless. Clients include CaliBurger, White Castle, and Levy Restaurants at Dodger Stadium.

“There hasn’t been any real automation since the dishwasher,” says Bell. “Computer vision… is now available to the restaurant industry and it performs really well. The next wave of adoption for this technology is upon us.”

“Flippy” is the platform’s autonomous robotic kitchen assistant. At present, the latest iteration of “Flippy” is a robotic arm that hangs from a frame right over a fry station at an existing restaurant, managing the dirty, repetitive, and often dangerous tasks that humans generally do not want to do.

The goal for Miso Robotics was to humanize the robot for restaurant staff and make it like a colleague.

“Flippy does a lot more than flipping burgers,” says Bell. “It is really hard for operators to recruit and retain people to do this job. It’s just not a job people generally want to do… it’s about $2500 for one shift—for one human being to stand over a fry station. So we thought, we’re going to provide our robots for the same amount of money.”

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, host Sam Stanovich sits down with Lewis Rudd, the president and chief executive officer of Ezell’s Fried Chicken, to explore chicken, food trucks, and marketing transparency.

This episode is sponsored by DAWN® PROFESSIONAL - Pot and Pan

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with John Rigos, the founder and co-chief executive officer of Aurify Brands, to explore the culinary, marketing, and technology behind building a brand.

Aurify Brands is committed to conceiving, building, and growing original concepts that last for the long-term. Their brands include Melt Shop, Little Beet, Table, Fields Good Chicken, and Five Guys. The goal is to foster brands with a great culture and lasting value that stay true to each business’s mission.

“One of the nice things about how we’re structured as a platform is that we can pretty readily do a bolt-on acquisition to leverage the platform and integrate it into our portfolio more readily than a typical restaurant company,” says Rigos. “A typical restaurant company has a management team that supports the growth of the brand. We have that at each of the brand levels, but we also have this platform above them that supports the brand.”

Aurify recently secured a major acquisition: Le Pain Quotidien. The popular chain was going to go bankrupt before the purchase.

“We did pivot very strategically… we proactively started looking in the marketplace for brands that were great brands but were struggling on the liquidity side,” adds Rigos. “The company was sold to a private equity firm in 2016. In the ensuing years, some of the decisions at the management level crushed a lot of what made the brand special.”

For Aurify, the bankruptcy was an opportunity for them to acquire the brand.

“Either the company was going to go bankrupt or the company needed capital to take it through the bankruptcy process,” says Rigos. “The beauty of the bankruptcy process is it enables you to revisit your contracts. We started negotiating with all the landlords, as the bankruptcy process enables you to shed all the leases you don’t like… we felt really good being part of the solution that was going to be bringing back jobs and paying landlords and start paying suppliers.”

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Corey Manicone, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Zuul, to explore the growing popularity of ghost kitchens.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Troy Henikoff, the managing director of MATH Venture Partners, to offer best practices for investing, as well as advice for young entrepreneurs fundraising for their new business.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Carin Stutz, president and chief executive officer at Native Foods, to explore earth-friendly eating, investing in your community, as well as the ins and outs of packaging and catering.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Jordan Boesch, the chief executive officer of 7shifts, to explore how the restaurant and hospitality industry has evolved over the course of the pandemic.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Brandy Blackwell, the director of new business at Dunkin’ Brands, to explore third party deployment, building loyalty, and managing the influx of drive-thru customers.

This episode is sponsored by DAWN® PROFESSIONAL - Pot and Pan

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Gerry Fernandez, the president and founder of the Multicultural Foodservice and Hospitality Alliance (MFHA), to explore building culturally intelligent brands and leaders, and developing multicultural solutions that help raise the top line, improve the bottom line, and strengthen your brand.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Steve Elinson, the worldwide head of restaurants and foodservice for Amazon Web Services (AWS), to explore what Amazon offers restaurants today.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

This episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering offers a mixed lineup featuring some of the notable clips of and trade secrets discussed in the podcast series. If you are a bit behind on episodes, this collection can catch you up on the best moments of hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich’s interviews this past year with:

Brian Duffy, a chef, traveler, consultant, host, and restaurateur

Megan Danielson, the head of industry, food, beverage, and restaurants at Google

Jim Knight, the owner and chief executive officer of Knight Speaker

Kathleen Wood, the founder of Kathleen Wood Partners and the co-founder of Suzy’s Swirl

Don Fox, the chief executive officer of Firehouse Subs

This episode is sponsored by DAWN® PROFESSIONAL - Pot and Pan

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Don Fox, the chief executive officer of Firehouse Subs, to explore the latest in off-premises and packaging trends, as well as the importance of giving back to the community.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Andrew Feigenson, the new chief executive officer of Personica, to explore the relationship and connections between hospitality, tech, and finance.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Scott Taylor, the president and chief operating officer of Walk On’s, to explore recent off-premises trends and the importance of building culture and community.

This episode is sponsored by DAWN® PROFESSIONAL - Pot and Pan

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Aaron Noveshen, the founder and chief executive officer of The Culinary Edge and Starbird, to explore ghost kitchens and the latest off-premises trends.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Andrew Nash, the chief executive officer at Targetable, to explore two-for-one branding and rethinking your digital advertising strategy.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Kathleen Wood, the founder of Kathleen Wood Partners and the co-founder of frozen yogurt company Suzy’s Swirl, to explore catering desserts, handling digital hospitality, and cultivating dynamic, collaborative leadership.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Geoffrey Goodman, the chief executive officer of Fresh Brothers, to explore restaurant trends, off-premises basics, and ghost kitchens.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Chris Webb, the chief executive officer and co-founder of ChowNow, to explore how restaurants today are enhancing and elevating their online ordering system.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Geoff Alexander, the president and chief executive officer of Wow Bao, to explore the ins and outs of the dark kitchen space.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Monty Moran, an author, filmmaker, and the former co-chief executive officer of Chipotle Mexican Grill, to explore the importance of leadership and how to help brands thrive.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Kimberly Grant, the co-sponsor and chief strategy officer at FAST Acquisition Group, to explore her rise in the restaurant industry, and what lies ahead for FAST.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Shawn Walchef, the founder of Cali BBQ Media, to explore how restaurants can use technology and digital advertising to drive off-premises sales.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Rom Krupp, the chief executive officer and founder of OneDine, to explore off-premises ordering and how restaurants can leverage technology to drive sales and capture more self-delivery.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Alex Canter, the chief executive officer of Ordermark and Nextbite, to explore the rise of virtual restaurant concepts in the industry.

Where Ordermark helps brick-and-mortar stores make the transition to digital, Nextbite focuses on an altogether different type of clientele: virtual restaurant concepts.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Ivan Matkovic, the founder and chief executive officer of Spendgo, to explore the ins and outs of cultivating customer loyalty.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Thom Crosby, the president of Pal's Sudden Service, to explore how to handle hiring, employee training, and managing your off-premise business.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Bill Birgen, the chief technology officer at SAVRPak and the founder and chief executive officer of Soggy Food Sucks, to explore how the restaurant and hospitality industry can improve to-go food quality.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Andrew Smith, the managing director of Savory Fund, to explore the ins and outs of fundraising in hospitality.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Jim Knight, the owner and chief executive officer of Knight Speaker, to explore takeout and the future of hospitality amidst the pandemic.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Darien Terrell, the president of DeliverThat, to explore the current status of delivery and catering, balancing in-house and third party delivery, and helping the industry thrive.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Bo Peabody, the Co-Owner of Mezze Restaurant Group and Executive Chairman of Seated, to explore the ins and outs of digital hospitality.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Zack Oates, the founder and chief executive officer of Ovation, to explore the ever-evolving guest service model, and measuring consumer feedback.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Carl Howard, the president and chief executive officer of Fazoli's, to explore menu innovation, food safety strategies, and how to thrive in a crowded market.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Zack Oates, the founder and chief executive officer of Ovation, to explore how operators can improve the guest experience at their restaurants.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Noah Glass, the founder and chief executive officer of Olo, to discuss online ordering and the burgeoning era of digital hospitality.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Mo Asgari, the president at MonkeySoft Solutions, an ezCater Company, to explore the ins and outs of catering amidst the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Barry Herbst, the vice president of The Elliot Group, to explore hiring and retention as it relates to executives and other key members of your staff.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Eric Greenwald, the president of Grimaldi's Pizzeria, to explore menu innovation, social media marketing, and the future of third party delivery.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Tristen Larsen, the founder of OrderingAds, to explore how strategic investments in digital marketing can help your takeout, catering, and delivery businesses grow.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Eric Smith, the founder and chief executive officer of Clockedin, to explore how the gig economy can move forward after the pandemic.

Clockedin is a labor network platform designed to connect workers with organizations so as to cultivate short term and long term employment relationships. Workers can unearth opportunities and build their career, while companies can optimize interactions, convert human capital, and simplify operations.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with John Isbell, the director of learning and development for Portillo’s, to discuss self-delivery and menu innovation amidst the coronavirus crisis.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Michael Jacober, the founder and chief executive officer of Blanket, to discuss finding human capital solutions in the digital world for restaurant operators struggling amidst the coronavirus crisis.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Chef Brian Duffy to explore menu innovation, sales mix, self-delivery, social media marketing, and data management.

Duffy is a lifelong Philadelphia native with over twenty years of chef experience. He has owned and operated restaurants, served as a consultant, and made a number of television appearances on the television series Bar Rescue. He now has his own company, the Duffified Experience Group, and a travel podcast called Duffified Live.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Megan Danielson, the head of industry, food, beverage, and restaurants at Google, to explore how restaurants can implement Google systems and innovations to assist with takeout, delivery, and catering.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Brian Anton, the managing director of Citibank, to explore the financial future of restaurants.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Stas Matviyenko, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Allset, to discuss making pickup contactless and implementing new technology in the midst of a pandemic.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Sterling Douglass, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Chowly.

On this episode of the new Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich explore recent packaging changes, and discuss why operators should continue to invest their time and resources in their catering business.

On this episode of the new Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Steve Bigari, the founder and chief executive officer of takeout order processing and restaurant call center Synq3.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Christian Rivadalla, the chief information officer and co-founder of SoftPoint, to discuss how—in the midst of the pandemic—the company has worked to transition businesses into a contactless or off-premise sales model.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Steven Simoni, the chief executive officer of on-demand ordering platform Bbot, to discuss the growing popularity of contactless technology in light of the pandemic.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Jason Sherman, the founder and chief executive officer of TapRm, to explore the revolutionary rise—and potentially lucrative future—of beverage e-commerce in the wake of coronavirus.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In this first part of the two part series around the rise in beverage e-commerce of the Hospitality Hangout Podcast, Michael Schatzberg Schatzy “The Restaurant Rabbi” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Nick Buzzell, chief executive officer and chairman of NBTV, to discuss new means of navigating digital ordering and virtual beverage and food experiences during and after the Coronavirus crisis.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, podcast host Valerie Killifer chats with Risa Rappaport, the director of off-premise operations for Firehouse Subs. Rappaport joined the Firehouse Subs team in 2016.

In the final part of this four part Coronavirus series of the Hospitality Hangout Podcast, Michael Schatzberg Schatzy “The Restaurant Rabbi” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Sterling Douglass, founder and chief executive officer of Chowly, to discuss innovative ways around operating during the Coronavirus crisis.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

In part three of this four part Coronavirus series of the Hospitality Hangout Podcast, Michael Schatzberg Schatzy “The Restaurant Rabbi” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Alan Hickey, chief executive officer of Vromo, to explore insights and ideas around new ways of operating during the Coronavirus crisis.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On this episode of the former Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, podcast host Valerie Killifer sits down with Aaron Hoffman, the co-founder of popular third-party delivery service DeliverThat.

Aaron Hoffman and John Zinno founded DeliverThat in their Ohio University dorm room in 2013, hand-delivering countless orders to their classmates for two years. The company has since evolved into a catering delivery solution for over 500 restaurants and brands in 45 major metropolitan areas.

In part two of this four part Coronavirus series of the Hospitality Hangout Podcast, Michael Schatzberg Schatzy “The Restaurant Rabbi” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Yaniv Nissim, chief executive officer and founder of GoParrot, to explore insights and ideas around new ways of operating during the Coronavirus crisis.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, podcast host Valerie Killifer chats with Elyse Boule, the director of catering for casual “real food” restaurant Next Door American Eatery.

Valerie Killifer chats with James Walker, the senior vice president of the beloved Nathan’s Famous. Walker joined the restaurant industry as a chef back in the 1990s, and moved to the management and operations side by the end of the decade. With previous experience overseeing such brands as Baja Fresh, Cinnabon, and Subway, he joined the Nathan’s Famous team earlier this year and aims to grow the chain’s catering and delivery sales channels.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, podcast host Valerie Killifer sits down with Daring Solutions founder and CEO Jeff Chasney.

Daring Solutions uses artificial intelligence to optimize restaurant kitchens and directly help staff improve sales, profits, and customer satisfaction. In this episode, Chasney shares how industry operators can leverage data to grow long-term sales in a marketplace that has been trending toward off-premise—according to Chasney, a reported 22 percent of delivery drivers tamper with orders.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, podcast hosts Valerie Killifer and Erle Dardick chat with Mark Avalos and Rafael Robinson, the co-owners of SLAB BBQ.

Avalos began SLAB in a barbecue trailer as a catering business in 2006. He subsequently opened a food trailer at the University of Texas in Austin, and established the company’s first brick and mortar restaurant location in 2014 with Rafael Robinson. A second SLAB BBQ location was opened in 2016.

On this episode of The Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, podcast hosts Valerie Killifer and Erle Dardick chat with Tad Low to discuss the importance of menu differentiation within off-premise.

Tad Low is the Director of Off-Premise for Moe's Southwest Grill, an Atlanta based fast-casual restaurant chain with over 725 domestic and international locations. Low is leading a team that is working to bring delivery to the forefront of the guest experience.

On this episode of The Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, podcast host Valerie Killifer chats with Anthony Russo and Betsy Craig to discuss food safety concerns in the restaurant industry.

Anthony Russo is the Director of International Sales and the Domestic Regulatory Affairs Officer for Lava Gel Technologies. Lava Gel is a non-toxic solution made from natural minerals that, when activated by water, is able to create a long-lasting heat in food products. Betsy Craig is a national professional speaker and the founder and CEO of MenuTrinfo. MenuTrinfo provides certified, FDA-compliant menu labeling services.

On this episode of Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, our hosts Valerie Killifer and Erle Dardick sit down with Tracy Avolio, Vice President of The Catering Institute to discuss how to train sales employees for the modern catering landscape.

Ever wondered how a great on-demand strategy can differentiate your concept from the rest? On this episode of Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, our host Valerie Killifer sits down with Mark Toth, Founder and CEO of Urban Wok, founded in 2018 in Minneapolis, to figure out just that.

Having a proven strategy for your catering channel can take your restaurant from just making the margins to expanding your concept. The variables for creating a profitable catering channel are rapidly evolving, so best to learn from the best.

Over the last half-decade, the restaurant industry has experienced a paradigm shift from dine-in experiential dining to off-premise dining in the form of catering, takeout, and delivery. Third-party marketplaces like Uber Eats and GrubHub have proliferated and the pressure on the restaurant and foodservice operations to "buy-in," is heavy. But for many, the cost has outweighed the benefit.

On this episode of The Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, Valerie and Erle speak with Jennifer Crawford, director of off-premise sales at Fazoli’s System Management, an Italian quick-service restaurant, and Ernie Davis, National Account Manager for Accurate Box, a box manufacturing plant that produces high graphics boxes. The group discusses what is quickly becoming a true differentiator for brands as more and more product is going the way of takeout, catering, and delivery.

We are nearing the end of the first season, so in this episode, we decided to answer some of your questions. From food safety issues in the delivery channel to social media marketing, we cover the gambit of the most significant problems facing operators today.

Today, off-premise driven by technology, and a generation that grew up on convenience is changing the restaurant model again, likely forever. By now, we have all heard the term ghost restaurants or virtual restaurants, and that this is the next big thing. The definition of a ghost restaurant depends on who you talk to but basically it is defined as a restaurant that only offers delivery — no store front. The savvy restaurants are using this model to their advantage and more innovation around ghost restaurants is happening all the time.

On this episode of The Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, Valerie and Erle speak with Gracie Prasanson, director of sales for Jason’s Deli, about how restaurant operators working with third-party delivery providers can make sure that the appropriate measures are in place, and known risks are mitigated so that your restaurant does not get outmaneuvered by the third-party provider.

It is estimated that the average restaurant misses 6 - 12 calls a day that could be leading to additional sales and revenue in your catering channel. Enter Intel and Voice Teleservices who provided centralized call center operations to make sure that your restaurant is not losing out on potential customers.

We meet Mike Axiotis, CFE, President & CEO, Lehigh Valley Restaurant Group, who is the franchise operator for Red Robin, we will explore how one franchise system launched an off-premise program, maintains their program, trains the staff, and markets themselves to keep customers coming back.

In this episode of The Takeout Delivery and Catering Show, Valerie and Erle talk with Ted Cohn, Co-Founder, and CTO at Orderscape Inc, to talk about AI in food service. AI is predicted to be a major player in economic growth over the next decade in food service.

On this episode of The Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, our host, Valerie Killifer, interviews Courtney Smith, VP of Off-Premise at Newk’s Eatery, Ed Keller, Director of Off-Premise Development at Corner Bakery, and James Clark, Director of Food and Beverage at Mama Fu’s.

There are so many option and so many players, it's a challenge to figure out what is the right blueprint for off-premise success. The fundamentals of your off-premise strategies are crucial to your future success. In today's episode, Valerie and Erle speak with Richard Hodges, Vice President of Operations Services at La Madeleine. La Madeleine has had 6 years of consecutive growth in the off-premise space. Richard Hodges shares their industry leading strategies like how to leverage third-party partnerships, using the technology to reach customers on multiple platforms, and streamlining the technology to maximize efficiency and profitability.

In this episode of The Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show we talk with Jim Vinz, CEO of Genghis Grill, about the systems and strategies Genghis Grill developed to become a model of success by empowering their franchisees to succeed in the tumultuous off-premise ecosystem.

Whether you’re are in the UK or the US, technology is driving innovation. But where are we all going and are these technological solutions helping our restaurant businesses? In off-premise, delivery services and 3rd-party marketplaces are the disruptors everyone is talking about, at least over the last five years. Restaurant operators think they have little choice except to jump on the delivery brandwagon or be left behind in its wake. On this episode of The Takeout, Delivery, and Catering show, Valerie, and Erle sit down with Peter Backman, a U.K.-based consultant who specializes in the eating out market overseas. Peter, Valerie, and Erle discuss how the 5 Pillars of Successful Takeout, Delivery & Catering can reposition brands across the world to take the wheel. This discussion includes the onslaught of independent, aggregated, and third-party delivery providers, and the new paradigm of off-premise operations in restaurants at home and abroad.

Today's restaurant chain has many channels of foodservice offerings like brick and mortar, takeout, delivery, and catering. Many times, all of these channels are centralized under one facility. One challenge for these restaurants is creating a sales and marketing plan that increases awareness for all offerings. For example, an off-premise offering is a local proposition to the consumer and for national chains that have all-encompassing sales and marketing strategies, awareness around their local offerings are generally underdeveloped. On this episode of The Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show Valerie and Erle speak with Alex Nocifera, founder of Field Day; a platform and marketplace for brand ambassadors helping big brands drive local marketing efforts, such as catering sales outreach.

Takeout and catering are completely different businesses, and the secret to making them work successfully is in the design of different consumer solutions for each channel, including unique transaction workflow, menus and product selection, packaging, centralized services, and workflow — and each have entirely different strategies. In this episode of The Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show we speak with Trudy Jones - Director of Alternative Platforms for Red Robin, to explore the different elements required for takeout and catering, and why each one is important for delivering a brand experience that keeps customers coming back for more.

In part one of this four part Coronavirus series of the Hospitality Hangout Podcast, Michael Schatzberg (Schatzy) “The Restaurant Rabbi” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Alex Blum, chief executive officer of Relay Delivery to explore a new means of operating amid the Coronavirus crisis.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

The 5 Pillars of Successful Restaurant Takeout, Delivery and Catering, authored by Erle Dardick, is the foundation of building a strategic profitable off-premise sector of your business. Centralized service strategies, sales and marketing, smart and effective operations, and strong leadership from the C-suite are paramount when it comes to building a scalable and profitable off-premises business. In this episode of The Takeout, Delivery, and Catering show hosts Erle Dardick and Valerie Killifer discuss actionable steps that can change the way your restaurant handles its off-premise business.

Technology is the number one operational enabler that connects all the dots on the multi-channel, on-demand customer experience. It also simultaneously opens up the back-end world of restaurant operations for the entire enterprise. But due to the breakneck speed of technology innovation and uncertainty over standards and norms in off-premises operations, the segment is earning a reputation as ‘the wild west’ of the restaurant industry. However, technology roadmaps that create a seamless customer experience are not only possible, they’re the only way to survive the battles that await operators. In episode three of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, we sit down with Mo Asgari, President of MonkeyMedia Software, to break down the barriers operators face and will highlight the best technology design for modern-age full-scale deployments.

In this episode, we talk with Darren Tristano, a foodservice trend expert and 24-year veteran of Technomic Research and Consulting, where he co-founded Technomic Information Services and continues to provide industry insights and perspectives on restaurant, consumer and menu trends. With a pulse on the industry, we look into what the data is telling us about takeout and catering operations.

In this first episode, we discuss the off-premise paradigm shift and how operators need to distinguish the business logic behind catering, takeout and delivery, and why it is important for restaurants to also distinguish between the three.