Restaurant Rewind

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The industry’s past is packed with tales of scoundrels and heroes, big thinkers and pinheads, colossal successes and dismal failures, breakthrough moves and self-inflicted destruction. Few soap operas pack as much color and drama. Yet those yellowed snapshots provide insights relevant to the challenges of today. Join Peter Romeo, a 41-year veteran of the business with a penchant for restaurant history, as he explores those pivotal moments from the past.

  1. 09.01.2025

    Kentucky Roast Beef? When KFC was in the concept creation game

    Editor's note: This will be the final episode of the Restaurant Rewind podcast. Thank you for listening. KFC recently opened Saucy, a chicken fingers concept that aims to compete directly with the fast-growing Raising Cane’s. But this isn’t the first time the fast-food chicken concept has created a new brand to compete with a quick-growing rival, and in this week’s episode of the Restaurant Rewind podcast, Peter Romeo looks at some of those brands.  For instance, did you know that it once tried Kentucky Roast Beef? Or The Colonel’s Kitchen? Or The Colonel’s Lady Dinner House?  None of the concepts amounted to much, but at least one restaurant from this era remains in operation. Yet they provide some interesting lessons as KFC embarks on its latest quest for a new concept.

    8 Min.

  2. 19.12.2024

    Restaurants have had their share of true-crime horrors, including these

    Restaurants are no strangers to violent crime, as any reader of local news would attest. Occasionally the offenses are so appalling that they snag national attention. And then there are the atrocities that can haunt the public for weeks because of the brutality. This week’s edition of Restaurant Rewind looks at two of those nightmarish events, the seven-person murder in the Chicago area that took nine years to solve, and the abduction and killing of four young crewmembers in Indiana. That case remains open after 46 years. The situations are a reminder of why restaurants in places like San Francisco and Washington, D.C., truly need the crime protection they’re seeking from local authorities. They’re chapters that everyone connected to the business hope to never witness again.  Press Play for a recount of what happened those many decades ago. But please be advised that some listeners could find the content disturbing.

    9 Min.

  3. 12.12.2024

    How much updating can Chi-Chi's stand without losing its soul?

    Before burritos became as commonplace on menus as sandwiches, Chi-Chi’s was selling the Mexican staple as something called a burro, a novelty to the consumer mainstream those many decades ago.  The option shared space on the bill of fare with a chili pie, an item that’s hardly a must-have today for Mexican chains. If a Chi-Chi’s customer wanted something more familiar nearly 50 years ago, they could always go for the french fries, maybe washing them down with a margarita, available at the time in a lunchtime-sized serving. Those menu listings seem like an anachronism today, when many consumers can cite the differences between Sonoran and Oaxacan cuisine. The public’s knowledge of Mexican fare, and its appreciation of quality executions, have come a long way since Chi-Chi’s introduced many Americans to South of the Border fare in the 1980s and ‘90s.   This week’s episode of Restaurant Rewind looks at how far consumers’ familiarity with Mexican food has come and why that education poses a challenge for Chi-Chi’s in its attempt at a rebirth. Can it catch up with popular tastes and find favor with fans of Chipotle or Taco Bell? Give a listen to decide for yourself.

    8 Min.

  4. 05.12.2024

    Meet the U.S. father of mac 'n cheese. You know him as Thomas Jefferson

    Enough with all the adulation of Thomas Jefferson as a Founding Father. Don’t people realize he was also the hero brought mac ‘n cheese to the American dinner table? The safe answer is an emphatic “no.” Yet as this week’s episode of Restaurant Rewind reports, the author of the Declaration of Independence came to love the dish while serving as the fledgling United States’ second ambassador to France, after Ben Franklin, and he was determined to share it with his countrymen. Jefferson brought the recipe and a machine to make the macaroni back to the States with him. The New World’s first exposure to the comfort staple likely came during dinner parties at our third president’s Monticello estate. And his effort to win a following for the dish didn’t end there. But see for yourself. This week’s podcast traces how mac ‘n cheese became a quintessential American dish. Press Play to learn how a selection intended for the fanciest of tables became the most democratic of meals on this side of the Atlantic.

    10 Min.

  5. 21.11.2024

    If past is prologue, what's next for Jersey Mike's?

    Even after a year of hints that a deal might be in the works, Monday’s announcement of a change in control at Jersey Mike’s was a stunner, particularly for anyone who’s kept close watch on the sandwich chain. Few decisions of import have been made without the active involvement of owner Peter Cancro, the sixtysomething who’s been running the operation since he was 17. What happens now, with a sharp-penciled co-owner having a loud say on the brand’s direction? The answer is suggested in both Jersey Mike’s history and accounts of past private-equity mega-deals. This week’s edition of Restaurant Rewind, a podcast that plumbs the past for color on what’s happening in the industry today, zeroes in on those indicators.  The episode looks at Cancro’s leadership style and speculates about how that might mesh with oversight from the world’s largest private-equity firm. Give a listen for a deeper understanding of one of the biggest deals in the industry’s history.

    10 Min.

  6. 14.11.2024

    Is that the Big Boy driving my Uber?

    These haven’t been the easiest of times for the restaurant business, with chains closing hundreds of units and bankruptcy providing a last lifeline for former powers like TGI Fridays and Red Lobster. But those tribulations are nothing compared to what’s befallen the marketing icons who’ve filled such big shoes for the trade in the past. And we mean literally big. Like Ronald McDonald’s 29EEEs.  The career trajectory of restaurant mascots and spokes-beings has taken a decided turn for the worst. It’s a wonder they’ve not pivoted to writing blues songs, given how little marketing work is coming their way these days. If it weren’t for the big smiles painted on their faces, we’d likely see more than a few tears rolling down the cheeks of the former media stars. With tongue firmly embedded in cheek, we devote this week’s episode of Restaurant Rewind to the career slide of onetime A-listers like Ronald, the Big Boy, Jack and Wendy. Grab a tissue and listen to why characters who once rivaled Santa Claus in recognition value are now calculating their chances of driving for Uber.

    9 Min.

  7. 07.11.2024

    TGI Fridays needs to get its bad rep back

    Plenty of restaurant upstarts pin their hopes on building a better mousetrap. They’re not so much bringing something new to the market as promising an improvement over what consumers already know and love. Look at the better-burger pack, or the now-wheezing fast-casual pizza market.  TGI Fridays took a sledgehammer to that approach. It owed its initial success to mating rituals and sheer irreverence. No entrepreneur had dared mine that potential before. Young consumers had never seen anything like it, and they embraced the rebellion with zeal. Then the concept spent the next six decades trying to scrub its image and temper its points of difference for the sake of mainstream success and scalability. This week’s episode of Restaurant Rewind provides a condensed version of the journey, starting with the now-forgotten days when Fridays raised parents’ eyebrows—along with young adults’ hopes for a hookup.  It’s also a reminder of the challenges that face heavily themed restaurant operations as they age.  So pull up a barstool, top off the Harvey Wallbanger and give a listen.

    8 Min.

  8. 31.10.2024

    Decades later, Jack in the Box's E. coli outbreak is still being recalled. Here's why

    More than three decades have passed since the Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak, yet it’s still the yardstick used to gauge the impact of a food-safety crisis. Hours after McDonald’s revealed its problems with Quarter Pounders, commentators were already recalling the contamination in the Northwest that left four children dead, another 200 persons permanently impaired and nearly 750 sickened in total. The numbers, though daunting, don’t capture the full import of the catastrophe. Indeed, more consumers were stricken in the series of food-safety calamities that badly tarnished Chipotle starting nine years ago. The Jack in the Box crisis was an industrywide wake-up call, the catalyst that elevated food safety from a mild concern to a top priority for the business.  What exactly happened at the 73 Jack in the Box restaurants in the Pacific Northwest? This week’s episode of Restaurant Rewind looks back at what’s near-universally seen as a turning point for the industry. Give a listen for a deeper understanding about why the whole business gulped when a deadly bacteria made its return.

    12 Min.
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The industry’s past is packed with tales of scoundrels and heroes, big thinkers and pinheads, colossal successes and dismal failures, breakthrough moves and self-inflicted destruction. Few soap operas pack as much color and drama. Yet those yellowed snapshots provide insights relevant to the challenges of today. Join Peter Romeo, a 41-year veteran of the business with a penchant for restaurant history, as he explores those pivotal moments from the past.

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