Retail Customer Experience

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, podcast host Mandy Detwiler, editor Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb, chats with Blas Escarcega, VP of franchise development for Central American chicken chain Pollo Campero. Here, flavor is king and development is ripe for the picking. Escarcega, one of the first employees hired in the U.S., has been with the company for 18 years.Pollo Campero began in 1971 in Guatemala, mostly in central America. It came to the U.S. in 2002 in Los Angeles and is still operating today."It has a historic following not only in Guatemala but now it's starting to resonate in the U.S.," Escarcega said.Pollo Campero has had to work hard to differentiate itself from others in a chicken-heavy field. There's a lot of competition, but the brand has maintained its authenticity."We never forget our roots of the recipes that we've had as far as seasoning and the way that we prepare the food," Escarcega said. Using pressure fryers has given the chicken tender, unique flavors. They also want the customer experience to be unique.To learn more about how Pollo Campero is standing out in a crowded market, watch the podcast in its entirety. Don't forget to subscribe for the Restaurant Operator Podcast for interviews with all the top restaurant brand interviews.

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb, talks to Jason Sobocinski and Etkin Tekin, co-founders of Haven Hot Chicken out of Connecticut. While the chicken market may be saturated, Sobocinski and Tekin found a niche for hot chicken, and the rest is history.Tekin and Sobocincki have history when Tekin worked for Sobocincki at a restaurant he owned years ago. During his interview, Tekin told his boss he'd like to open a business with him someday. They stayed in touch as Tekin opened his own businesses and in 2018, Tekin contacted his former boss about a business opportunity he had.That business? A Nashville hot chicken concept."There was nothing like it in Connecticut," Sobocinski said. He wanted to do a brand, however, and initially said no. He was invited to meet the other two founders, and Sobocinski was "blown away" by them and the food. He was in.Tekin said there was a story created behind the brand they wanted to create, and at the same time they were doing rigorous recipe testing."After three or four months of work, I just felt like something was missing in the organization," Tekin said. That would have been Sobocinski, who Tekin said always created a brand with his restaurants.The brand has recently grown from four stores to nine in just 10 months.To learn more about Haven Hot Chicken's operations, listen to the podcast in its entirety at the top of the page.

The food truck industry has continued to expand at a rapid pace. In 2023, there were over 52,600 food trucks in the U.S., according to data from IBISWorld. However, it is not an easy business to enter, as it requires careful planning to select the right truck, equipment, and branding.In today's episode of the Restaurant Operator podcast, Jordan Schild, president and CEO at Premier Food Trucks, shared several tools to food truck success with moderator Bradley Cooper, editor of Food Truck Operator.He noted in the podcast that one common mistake food truck operators do is purchasing a used truck as an attempt to save money, only to face very expensive repairs and lost sales down the road. He instead said that it's very important to get a great truck up front, and the cost savings will come over time.He shared other insights including:The three biggest features every food truck needs.How to make a food truck stand out.Avoiding key early mistakes.How Premier Food Trucks helps operators.Listen to the podcast in full above.

In our latest episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb, talks to Jill Chapman, director of corporate partnerships with CORE Gives, an organization that helps restaurant employees in need."CORE is a national non-profit," Chapman said. "We provide financial support to food and beverage service employees in this industry. It's a crisis, whether it's an injury, health issue, a natural disaster, death in the family (or) domestic abuse. Really, honestly there is a need for this because there's so many times that service employees — if one of these things happens — they're working reduced hours or none at all, and quickly, stress, hopelessness and fear — they all quickly creep in."CORE steps in and helps employees financially so they can focus on what's important. It's about bridging the financial gap so employees can resume working "without leaving a trail of debt behind," Chapman said.To learn more about CORE Gives and how restaurant employees can apply, listen to the podcast in its entirety.Don't forget to subscribe to Networld Media Group's YouTube page.

In this day and age, offering a guarantee with your business plan is nearly a given. For kiosk brand GRUBBRR, the GRUBBRR Guarantee is an integral part of the brand's ethos.In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb, speaks with GRUBBRR Chief Revenue Officer Parrish Chapman about the brand's guarantee.Chapman said the GRUBBRR guarantee is simple: the kiosk brand guarantees its work and stands behind it."We know operators today have a lot of cost pressures, they have a lot of news about their business and operations, what they really need to do to improve their operations, how to automate and the GRUBBRR Guarantee at the highest level is saying if you do business with GRUBBRR and our kiosk platform, we will guarantee our results or you don't pay us," Chapman said. "It's that simple. We want operators to know when they go with GRUBBRR that they can trust us, that we're a great business partner and we're going to help their operations."Restaurant brands are lots of pressure, including the rising cost of goods, recruitment and retention, the economy and more. GRUBBRR kiosks shift labor pain points away from the POS and increases speed of service."The benefits are really huge and we wanted to echo this out to the marketplace and let operators know that we believe so much in it that we are standing behind our ability to be a successful technology platform for their business," Chapman added.To learn more about the GRUBBRR Guarantee, listen to the podcast in its entirely. Don't forget to subscribe to the Networld Media Group podcast channel.

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of QSRweb and Pizza Marketplace, talks with Fred Burmer, CEO of roast beef brand Lion's Choice.Lion's Choice got its start in 1967 and is a legacy brand in St. Louis with 30 restaurants. The brand uses top round roast beef that is hand-trimmed and slow roasted for at least three hours in the restaurant every day."It's really butcher-shop quality," Burmer said. The roast beef is sliced razor thin which gives it a "great flavor and texture that really sets us apart."There's also a secret seasoning on the roast beef for added flavor.Burmer said consistency can be a challenge with so much done in-house."That's very, very important," he said, adding the same type of ovens at all the stores helps keep the recipe the same no matter the store.To learn more about the secret to Lion's Choice's success, click the link at the top. And don't forget to subscribe to the Networld Media Group YouTube channel.

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb, chats with Darren Spicer, co-founder of Carolinas-based Clutch Coffee, which has 13 locations.Spicer said customer experience is one of the things that sets Clutch Coffee apart from competitors."It's from the moment you drive onto the property, and the environment we have and the music that's playing outside, the runner who's outside taking that order face to face, all the way through picking up that drink," he said, adding "and taking that first sip before you leave. That's a huge element for us."The brand doesn't compromise on quality, Spicer said, and works with an award-winning roaster out of Washington state whom he said is fantastic at what they do.To learn more coffee secrets from Clutch Coffee, listen to the podcast in its entirety above. Don't forget to subscribe to the Networld Media Group YouTube channel here.

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of QSRweb and Pizza Marketplace, talks to Craig Haley, president of barbecue brand Smokey Mo's TX BBQ.The brand launched in 2000 to fanfare from local residents and has 20 restaurants across central Texas with several more under construction."We're just getting started spreading barbecue out to the rest of the world," Haley said.With Texas such a barbecue-competitive state, how does Smokey Mo's compete in a saturated market?"I think for us, it's really about just caring about the product, so we're a neighborhood barbecue," Haley said. "We're a smaller format barbecue than a lot of the other chains that are out there. We're more similar in size to, really, some of the craft barbecue locations, and what we do is we're incredibly consistent. We have a training process and recipes, and we're not relying on one person's expertise. We've really learned how to get the understanding of how to create the barbecue and spread it out to our store managers and our cooks and pitmasters and cutters in the store."To learn more about how Smokey Mo's creates its tasty barbecue and how it operates, listen to the podcast above. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of QSRweb.com and PizzaMarketplace.com, chats with Scott Deviney, CEO of Chicken Salad Chick.The brand was started by two entrepreneurs in Auburn with one making varieties of chicken salad out of her home. The first Chicken Salad Chick location opened in Jan. 2008 with drive-thru and carryout only. The founders made 40 pounds of chicken salad to sell, opened at 11 a.m. and by 1 p.m. were sold out."The business took off. It had a cult following," Deviney said. "Eventually they expanded that first location from just drive-thru and takeout."Franchising began in 2012.To learn more about Chicken Salad Chick, click the link above to listen to the podcast in its entirety.

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb, talks to Rush Bowls founder Andrew Pudalov, who started out in finance before trading dollar signs for menu items.Pudalov said 9/11 was a trigger for leaving the financial world. His wife worked in the Twin Towers and her first day back from maternity leave was the day the towers came down. He moved his family to Boulder, Colorado, and looked for something "dynamically different," he said."I loved entrepreneurship and I was pretty darn good at what I did," he said, "so it afforded me the opportunity, quite frankly, to try something very different and kind of fine tune my skillsets."He said living in Manhattan 20 years ago, there was little thought to health and wellness in the restaurant industry. He launched Rush Bowls in Boulder."When I started this idea of a meal concept, I wanted to go somewhere near a college where students would be more adept at testing and trying new things than a more mature clientele," Pudalov added.To listen to Pudalov's journey as he launched Rush Bowls, click the link above.

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com talks to Geoff Henry, president of bubble tea brand Gong Cha."The bubble tea category has been around for quite some time," Henry said in the podcast. "It kind of started back in Asia, typically in Taiwan in the early 1990s. Taiwan is known for its night markets where people can walk around and try different food cuisines that are up and coming."Gong Cha is in 27 countries around the world. To learn more about Gong Cha's focus on quality, its employees and customers, click the link above.

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb, talks to Tom Gordon, CEO of Slim Chickens. The brand launched in 2003, has more than 280 units and is based in Fayetteville, Arkansas."We open about a store a week," Gordon said. "We do 50 to 60 domestic stores every year, and we do international stores every year, too. We do business in the U.K., and 54 of those stores are in the U.K."The brand recently opened its first store in Berlin as well.Gordon said the food is the hero at Slim Chickens, and is paramount to the brand's success as it grows."The food has to be the thing that draws people in," he said.

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler interviews Rob McColgan, brand president and co-founder of Modern Market Eatery, at the Restaurant Franchising and Innovation Summit about how the brand has evolved since its launched in 2009 in Boulder, Colorado. The brand now has just over 30 units in six states.McColgan admits launching a brand was more difficult than he and his partner thought, "but we were passionate about eating well, and we felt like there wasn't a brand out there — certainly not at scale — where we felt like we could eat at every day," he said.

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler talks to Amanda Millikan, vice president of chicken chain Bonchon. Millikan oversees the growth strategy for the United States and has been with the company for a year and a half.The Korean fried chicken brand has been in the U.S. since 2006. The chicken is double fried and hand brushed, making it a standout in the competitive chicken market. "It's amazing and addictive, but then we also have Korean comfort food dishes to complement our fried chicken. It's very approachable to the American palate," Millikan said.The brand has 137 locations in the United States and 445 globally.

The food truck industry isn't an easy one. Food truck operators need capital to get a truck, get it set up for food production, get branding set up and more. That's not to mention meeting all regulatory rules and finding the best place to park. And lastly, they need to be able to generate a customer base willing to follow their trucks and purchase their food. How can food trucks generate profits in light of all of this?Bradley Cooper, editor of Food Truck Operator, spoke with Chris Ruff, CEO and president of Glympse Inc. to discuss more about how food trucks can generate profits, with a particular focus on location tracking in today's episode of the Restaurant Operator podcast.In order to create a loyal customer base, food trucks need to communicate their location clearly with guests, especially when they are constantly moving around to different events and locations. During the podcast, Ruff shared insights including:Business insights from Glympse.How Glympse' location tracking services can help food trucks.What makes it different from Google.Success stories with clients.

It's not easy operating a food truck. You have to get your trailer in order, get the right equipment to prepare food and make sure your truck is up to code. That's before you begin to figure out where you're allowed to park your vehicle. In today's episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, Patrick Bolanos, co-founder of Trail King Builders shared insights into how to get started in the food truck business and how to be successful.Bradley Cooper, editor of Food Truck Operator discussed with Bolanos a number of key points surrounding the food truck industry, such as navigating regulatory issues and how to properly handle marketing. Some of the topics covered include:Bolanos' journey in the food truck industry.How food trucks can build for the future.First steps for food truck operators.How Trailer King Builders can help food truck operators.You can listen to the podcast in its entirety above.

Conversational AI is a type of artificial intelligence that can chat with guests. It uses natural language processing to understand what you say and respond in a way that mimics human conversation. This technology is used in chatbots and virtual assistants like GivexAI's ordering kiosk used in coffee shops, QSRs and more.In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of QSRweb and Pizza Marketplace, talks to Dan Hawkes VP of product design for Givex, to learn how Givex's conversational AI programs is helping restaurants reduce labor and increase order efficiency.

Recently, Erle Dardick, the catering guru, and fastcasual.com have partnered to create the Restaurant Catering Workshop, happening October 15-16, 2024 in Denver CO. Erle joins us for a candid conversation on hits and misses in the catering business. #catering #restaurant #podcast

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Wolf Detwiler, managing editor of Networld Media Goup, talks to Lauren Coulter, integrator and chief biscuit eater at Biscuit Belly, a Louisville, Kentucky-based biscuit fast casual chain about the brand's catering program.Many restaurants are expanding their reach with dedicated catering programs. These programs offer restaurant-quality food for events, from corporate lunches to social gatherings. Diners can expect menus tailored to their needs, with options ranging from boxed lunches to full buffets. This trend benefits both restaurants and customers. Restaurants gain a new revenue stream, while customers enjoy delicious food for their events without the hassle of cooking. Catering programs are also becoming increasingly user friendly, with online ordering and customizable menus. This convenience is fueling the popularity of restaurant catering, making it a delicious option for busy lifestyles.At Biscuit Belly, the brand started catering as an added convenience for their customers and because there aren't many breakfast catering choices in the area.Coulter said they were initially hesitant to add catering because the brand is built around a large biscuit sandwich."It's fine to order a couple here and there, but it's hard to replicate that in mass," she said, "and so we knew that we wanted to go down this path (and) that it was going to take us to entirely clearing out heads" about catering.To listen to Coulter's catering journey, click the link above.

Brand leaders spoke to Restaurant Operator Podcast host Mandy Detwiler at the Restaurant Franchising and Innovation Summit held in Kansas City in March.Detwiler spoke to leaders at Longboards Wraps and Bowls, Kansas City International Airport, Hawaii Brothers and more."The Restaurant Franchising and Innovation Summit offers a wealth of information for restaurant leaders and brands," Detwiler said. "The annual event highlighted some of the most pressing issues in restaurants today, including growth, technology and innovation, restaurant delivery, marketing and more."Listen to what these brands had to say about attending the summit here.

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb, talks to Charles Wetzel, CEO of Kalibrate, a company specializing in data, software and consultancy to restaurants.Kalibrate, which began in 1970, started on the fuel and convenience side and eventually moved to location intelligence, specifically within the hospitality, retail and restaurant domains."Today, a large portion of our business looks to the restaurant community and looks to identify from a global perspective who your customers are, where they're located, and the value of those customers and how that translates into a location intelligence offering," Wetzel said.

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, Networld Media Group Editor Mandy Detwiler chats with Don Smith, director of business development for Givex North America, about the state of the restaurant industry and what's affecting it today. Givex, a best-in-class POS solution, services a number of high-profile brands.Online ordering has grown since the pandemic, and Smith said it has been a "seesaw battle" for many operators. "The more orders they get obviously drives more money to their bottom line," he said. "But the challenge is trying to get more of that dollar for online ordering."Ordering sites take a great percentage of online orders, up to 30% for Uber Eats, Skip (a Canadian delivery service) and GrubHub. Givex's clients are working to try to regain some of that percentage, Smith said."How they're doing it now is through a many-faceted approach," Smith said. "It combines some loyalty, it combines some private apps, and if they made the right combination, they can claw back some of that 30%"

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, managing editor of Networld Media Group and editor for QSRweb.com and PizzaMarketplace.com, talks to Chris Lybeer, chief strategy and marketing officer for Revel Systems, a cloud-based technology provider, about how tech is changing the restaurant industry today.Lybeer said it's an exciting time for technology brands in the restaurant space as more restaurants rely on it in both the front and back of the house."Costs are going through the roof," Lybeer said when asked what some of the industry's biggest challenges are today. "The cost of everything — the cost of food, the cost of real estate, the cost for labor and so that's putting a lot of stress on the industry and really, in almost any industry — even if you go outside of restaurants — usually when there's pressure on an industry technology is used to make it more efficient."Lybeer said restaurants have traditionally been behind the curve, but the opportunity and the challenge for restaurants is to figure out how to use technology to battle some of the pressures they're facing.To listen to the podcast in its entirety, click here.

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Daily podcast, Mandy Detwiler, editor of PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com, talks with Emily Gorman, marketing and communications manager for CORE, a national non-profit dedicated to serving restaurant employees with children financial relief when facing a life-altering health crisis, injury, death or national disaster.Gorman said CORE's mission is "to be there for all parts of the restaurant industry." A group of beverage executives met at the National Restaurant Association and a conversation was struck up about the lack of support for the restaurant industry. That discussion led to CORE, now it its 20th year.

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com, interviews Mike Adolph, partner and vice president of business development for Doyle HCM, about keeping the human element in back office management.Adolph co-founded Doyle HCM, a back office solutions and payroll company, with two partners in 2018. The restaurant space was always in the back of Adolph's mind, and when COVID hit, restaurants needed extra help, especially in the back office space. Doyle HCM was there to pick up the pieces. That hard work allowed Doyle to scale, "and got us to where we are now," Adolph said.

 On this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Wolf Detwiler, managing editor of Networld Media Group, talks to L&L Hawaiian Barbecue CEO Elisia Flores about the brand's diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that Flores says are built into her staff as a whole. 

 Podcast host Mandy Detwiler talked to Burks about her start as a food truck owner and what it took to open her first store. 

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, QSRweb Editor Mandy Detwiler talks with Greg Willman, chairman and CEO of Naf Naf Middle Eastern Grill, about how the brand has helped pave the way for ethnic cuisine in the fast casual industry. 

QSRweb and Pizza Marketplace Editor Mandy Detwiler talked to Jamie Richardson, vice president of White Castle, to learn how the brand incorporated AI into its ordering process and how it's easing labor issues and increasing efficiency. 

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler talks to Zak Omar, CEO of Atomic Wings, an emerging wing brand out of New York City.

In this episode of Restaurant Operator, podcast host Mandy Wolf Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb, and Don Robinson, CEO and president of Louisville, Kentucky-based Parlour, take a look at how the brand's creative craft cocktail menu raises check averages and sets the pizzeria apart from its competition.

Detwiler and Wasdin share practical tips for reducing waste in restaurant kitchens and explore how large-scale industries can adopt sustainable practices. Restaurant Operator invites you to become a part of the movement toward a more conscious and harmonious food world.