Extra Serving: A restaurant industry podcast Nation's Restaurant News

This week on the Extra Serving podcast, a product of Nation’s Restaurant News, NRN editors Holly Petre, Sam Oches, and Leigh Anne Zinsmeister spoke about Red Lobster’s bankruptcy.
It may be the biggest news of the week, but it’s also the least surprising: Red Lobster has declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In court documents, Red Lobster CEO Jonathan Tibus said that Red Lobster’s seafood supplier, Thai Union, which is also its largest shareholder, may have had corporate mismanagement and possible shady dealings. A filled with rumor and speculation has, as we found out through court documents, become quite complicated and dramatic.
Read more about Red Lobster’s demise from Bret Thorn:
·     It wasn’t just ‘Ultimate Endless Shrimp’ that drove Red Lobster to bankruptcy
Also, the NRN editors once again spoke about marketing. Reminiscent of IHOP’s IHOb move a few years ago, BurgerFi changed its name to ChickenFi this week to promote its new chicken sandwiches. While it may seem silly, the name change worked for IHOP and led them to sell four times as many burgers. Will it work for BurgerFi and chicken sandwiches?
For some of our editors’ thoughts on the National Restaurant Association Show, check out these episodes of First Bite:
·     Joanna Fantozzi on the tech scene
·     Alicia Kelso on the labor picture
This week’s guest is Sherif Mityas, CEO of Brix Holdings.

This week on the Extra Serving podcast, a product of Nation’s Restaurant News, NRN editors Holly Petre, Leigh Anne Zinsmeister, and Ron Ruggless spoke about brand activations.
This week, the writers took a break from earnings because frankly they’re all exhausted. NRN senior editor Ron Ruggless is on the pod this week and he talked about his recent experience with North Italia in Miami. He was there for a brand activation at the Formula One Grand Prix and spoke with the brand’s marketing director about where it’s going next.
That led the writers to the only earnings content this week, Cheesecake Factory. It’s perfect since Cheesecake Factory purchased North Italia’s owner Fox Restaurant Concepts in 2019 and has since been trying to fold the brands into its larger strategy. During this quarterly earnings call, executives announced another Fox Restaurant concepts brand, Flower Child, would join the company’s supply chain.
Finally, the writers talked about where quick service stands. They have seen the impact of pricing at McDonald’s on consumers, something that has pushed many to fast-casual brands instead. Many brands are struggling to gain traffic from low-income consumers who say they want to dine out more. For QSRs, that’s a large part of their business. What can they do to win customers back? Is it as simple as fixing the value equation?
This week’s guest is Garrett Kern, VP of strategy and culinary at Portillo's.

This week on a bonus episode of Extra Serving, a podcast by Nation’s Restaurant News, there are three interviews with restaurant executives to fill your feed.
First is an interview with Erick McReynolds, VP of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Chick-fil-A. McReynolds has been in his post since 2021 and has been with the Atlanta-based chicken chain since 2007. Chick-fil-A has long been known for its Christian founding and had an image of being exclusionary. That has been debunked by Chick-fil-A’s support of both LGBTQ+ causes as well as Black-owned businesses and charities over the years. McReynolds, who has faced conservative backlash for his position, spoke with NRN executive editor Alicia Kelso about the role of DEI in Chick-fil-A’s future.
Then, Candace Watkins, director of operations at Chili’s, spoke with NRN’s senior editor Joanna Fantozzi about mentorship. Chili’s has seen success where some of its other casual-dining peers haven’t. In 2023, the chain saw an increase in sales and unit count, according to Technomic Ignite data while competitors lost both units and revenue. For over a year, Chili’s has been focused on value-based messaging which has become especially important in this economic environment. The chain is seeing the results. Fantozzi and Watkins also spoke about how Watkins was able to move up in her career.
Finally, the president of international and North America at Taco Bell, Scott Mezvinsky, joined Kelso to discuss the future of the brand. Mezvinsky has been with Taco Bell’s parent company Yum Brands for over 20 years, working in the finance departments at KFC both domestically and internationally. Mezvinsky, known in the franchise community as a leader, newly oversees Taco Bell’s international division, which is picking up the development pace. Prior to his current role, he was chief strategy and financial officer at Taco Bell, making him the right fit for the new expansion, something he and Kelso spoke about during their conversation.

This week on the Extra Serving podcast, a product of Nation’s Restaurant News, NRN editors Holly Petre, Sam Oches, and Leigh Anne Zinsmeister continued to speak about this quarter’s earnings.
Since the editors last gathered for the pod, several companies have reported, including Bloomin’ Brands, El Pollo Loco, and Texas Roadhouse.
The editors mentioned Texas Roadhouse last week, anticipating the brand’s positive returns, and that’s exactly what was reported. The chain saw 4% traffic growth, slightly less than at Chipotle, and same-store sales growth of almost 8% across the system.
Much like KFC, Wendy’s is looking to its international market for help during this rough financial time.
Meanwhile, Shake Shack and El Pollo Loco are investing heavily in kiosks and seeing returns.
And much like the editors talked about last week, speed of service is key for many brands, and that includes family-dining chains. First Watch is now investing in technology to speed up service time for customers.
This week, there are three interviews from the Restaurant Leadership Conference, with executives from Dave’s Hot Chicken, Newk’s Eatery, and Union Square Hospitality Group.

It’s earnings season, and the editors will be talking about it a lot over the next few weeks. So far, the outlook is mixed.
Brands like KFC and Pizza Hut have taken a big fall, while Wingstop and Chipotle are seeing big gains.
McDonald’s also had a tough quarter. While still up, the chain saw its value player status fall even further.
Starbucks also had a hard quarter. It experienced a decrease in same-store sales for the first time since the pandemic, as did Yum Brands as a whole.
Catch up on NRN’s earnings stories:
·     Chipotle
·     McDonald’s
·     Texas Roadhouse
·     FAT Brands
·     Wendy’s
·     Shake Shack
·     Wingstop
·     Starbucks
·     Yum Brands
·     Denny’s
·     RBI
·     Brinker International
·     Domino’s Pizza
There’s also been a bit of interesting news to come out of earnings season. We finally have an idea of how California’s AB 1228 is impacting restaurants. Denny’s reported this week that the minimum wage increase helped retention at the family-dining chain because of strategies the brand has implemented previously while also not raising the minimum wage for its workers.
This week’s interview is Anne Mejia, senior VP of brand development for Mellow Mushroom.
For more on Mellow Mushroom’s rebrand, read the articles below.
·     Mellow Mushroom kicks off its largest-ever rebrand
·     a href="https://www.nrn.com/casual-dining/look-some-mellow-mushroom-s-new-branding-elements"...

This week on the Extra Serving podcast, a product of Nation’s Restaurant News, NRN editors Holly Petre, Sam Oches, and Alicia Kelso talked about the state of the financial market in the industry.
While some brands are thriving, there are plenty of others that have been struggling. Many have either declared bankruptcy or are rumored to be. Tijuana Flats and Oberweis Dairy both declared Chapter 11 this week and the rumors behind Red Lobster are strong amid its new CEO. There’s also the Boston Market saga.
Next, the editors talked about the sale of Tropical Smoothie Cafe. Rumors began in December 2023 that the brand could be sold for $2 billion, and that’s just what happened. Blackstone, the private equity company that was rumored to be buying Jersey Mike’s, bought the smoothie chain for that exact amount on Wednesday. This is the first big sale of 2024; are we heading for a big year?
The editors were initially going to talk about the Starbucks Supreme Court case but ran out of time. Here’s a link to an episode of First Bite featuring Joanna Fantozzi, who detailed exactly what the case means for Starbucks and unions at large.
This week’s guest is Skye Anderson, president of global business services at McDonald’s.