Restaurant Decisions

Mike Speck talks us through the lessons he's learned throughout his career, including his time at Chuck E. Cheese, Boston Market, Halal Guys and FUSIAN. He covers the importance of people and culture, bringing a unique approach to the turnover seen in the restaurant industry, and explains what it means for restaurants to be both timely and timeless.

Gene Knippers, who was one of Norman Brinker's first partners at Steak & Ale, gives insights into the early days of Steak & Ale and explains why he decided to follow Brinker to Chili’s. He tells us how he managed to run hundreds of restaurants despite only receiving one night of formal training, what he looks for when opening a restaurant, and how he has successfully worked with restaurant chain founders at Steak & Ale, Chili's and Beef 'O' Brady's. 

In Part Two, we discuss the story behind Nextbite and virtual brands. We also cover the role of technology in restaurants, and how this may change going forward. 

In this episode, we're joined by Alex Canter to discuss the history of Canter's Deli, why the concept get into digital ordering and how that led to the founding of Ordermark. 

In this episode, we speak to Bob Basham, co-founder of Outback Steakhouse and PDQ. We cover Bob's entrance into the restaurant industry, why Outback initially skipped lunch and the Pillsbury board meeting that inspired Outback's managing partner program. Bob also details the original plan to build only 5 Outback locations and explains the differences between starting a restaurant chain in 1988 and 2011. 

In this clip, we preview our upcoming episode with Bob Basham, co-founder of Outback Steakhouse and PDQ. Bob provides his take on the casual-dining industry in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and shares the story of how to-go service came to be at Outback Steakhouse. 

In this two-part series, we're joined by Richard Frank, the former CEO of CEC Entertainment. In part two, we discuss the wave of eatertainment brands that emerged after Chuck E. Cheese's turnaround, the unique challenges these brands face and what the future of the category looks like. 

In this two-part series, we're joined by Richard Frank, the former CEO of CEC Entertainment. In part one, Richard discusses the state of ShowBiz/Chuck E. Cheese when he first joined in 1985 and details how he went about turning around the company. This included improving the company's finances, upgrading the menu, modifying the service model, improving the ambiance and targeting a new customer. 

We speak with Chuck Winship, who worked as an analyst at S&A Restaurant Corp, a Chili's franchisee and then CEO of Beef 'O' Brady's. Chuck discusses the emergence of casual dining, why it was so innovative to have Steak & Ale waiters introduce themselves, and why Norman Brinker decided to join Chili's. He also compares and contrasts how Steak & Ale and Chili's went about brand evolution and shares the franchising lessons he learned from Norman Brinker.  

We speak with Jim Mizes, who served as the CEO of Blaze Pizza during its historic growth phase in the early 2010s. With more than 1,000 restaurant openings under his belt, Jim discusses the importance of being first to market, the advantage LeBron James gave Blaze, his advice for site evaluation, and the role franchisees play in market expansion.

We speak with Lane Cardwell, who has served as an executive or on the board of more than 40 different restaurant companies. Lane walks us through Chili's first acquisition, Grady's Goodtimes, and gives his first hand account of what went wrong. Lane also offers his advice for what to consider after making an acquisition and discusses why Chili's next acquisition, Romano's Macaroni Grill, went well.

For episode one, we speak with Richard Gonzmart, a 4th generation member of the family behind The Columbia Restaurant, the oldest restaurant in Florida. Richard tells the story of The Columbia Restaurant, including how the original location managed to survive The Great Depression and the collapse of its neighborhood, Ybor City. He touches on the importance of innovating during tough times and shares the secret to staying open for over a century.