Restaurant Operator

Networld Media Group
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This podcast series from the publishers of FastCasual.com, PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com provides restaurant owners and executives with the insights and inspiration they need to grow their brands. Each episode features interviews with experienced restauranteurs, industry experts, and thought leaders, who share practical tips and advice for running a successful restaurant business.

  1. 2d ago

    From kitchens to tech hubs: Inside fast casual’s digital revolution

    What happens when the fast-casual restaurant industry doubles in size over a decade? It stops just serving food and starts operating like a high-tech powerhouse. In the latest episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, Cherryh Cansler, publisher of FastCasual.com, sits down with Luke Wilwerding, Vice President of North America Sales at Elo Touch Solutions, to unpack the highly anticipated FastCasual Top 100 Movers & Shakers list. With forward-thinking brands like CAVA leading the charge, the conversation centers on an undeniable truth: tomorrow's industry leaders are winning through intelligent automation and sharp data strategies. "Restaurants are becoming a data center that serves food," Wilwerding said, emphasizing that surviving the next decade requires operators to truly get their arms around their customer data. From the blockbuster acquisition of Elo by Zebra Technologies to the deployment of AI-native platforms, this episode offers a masterclass in modern restaurant evolution. Cansler and Wilwerding dive deep into the practicalities of tech adoption for brands of all sizes, tackling the industry's burning questions: Where should an operator spend their very first AI dollar?Will conversational AI replace the human element, or are we moving toward a "beautiful orchestra of voice and touch"?How is Gen Z transforming self-service into a personalization tool?Whether you are curious about predicting demand or optimizing labor through smart kitchen displays, this episode is your blueprint for the future of hospitality. Listen to the full episode now on FastCasual.com

    20 min

  2. 6d ago

    Wonder, Dave’s Hot Chicken Real Estate VPs reveal growth strategies

    Crafting a solid real estate strategy is obviously central to growing any restaurant brand, but there those plans differ dramatically depending on the brand, a lesson I learned firsthand during a podcast during ICSC in Las Vegas. I sat down with Dannon Shiff, VP of Real Estate for Dave's Hot Chicken, and Abe Nasrallah, SVP of Real Estate at Wonder, to discuss how shifting consumer behavior, off-premise dining and changing market dynamics are shaping site selection. Wondering about growth Wonder, launched in 2021, has grown from a food truck concept to more than 120 locations. The company operates a multi-brand model, offering dozens of restaurant concepts under one roof, with roughly half of sales from delivery and half from in-person dining. Nasrallah told me that Wonder designs sites for two uses: Quick pickup and in-person discovery. Urban locations prioritize high visibility and foot traffic, while suburban sites focus on grocery-anchored centers with strong access and visibility. Wonder is targeting Texas as its next major growth market, planning about 100 locations across Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston Austin and San Antonio. Long term, the company estimates it could expand to 4,000 to 5,000 locations nationwide. The Dave's real estate plan Dave's Hot Chicken, meanwhile, has grown from a 2017 parking lot pop-up to more than 430 locations worldwide. Shiff said the brand has sold franchise rights in all 50 states and multiple international markets, with further global expansion planned, while also testing nontraditional formats such as airports and food courts, including a recent opening in a New York City food court. Delivery and off-premise dining have changed site-selection models, with decisions increasingly driven by customer data rather than traditional trade areas. About one-third of sales come from third-party delivery, while most customers still dine in. To hear more details on both brand's strategies, check out the podcast.

    25 min

  3. Jun 9

    Inside the tech stack: How Mattenga’s Pizzeria mastered SEO, 8-second reordering

    How does an independent pizza brand with zero initial restaurant experience scale to seven — and soon nine — locations while going head-to-head with venture-backed national chains? In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb, sits down with Enga Stanfield, co-owner of Texas-based Mattenga's Pizzeria, to uncover the tech stack driving their massive success. Stanfield shared how shifting from a grueling, hands-on survival mode to a tech-forward strategy completely changed the game, specifically highlighting their tech partnership with Owner.com. Discover how automated SEO, frictionless custom-branded apps featuring 8-second reordering and rapid text-based customer feedback loops helped Mattenga's capture passive local sales and maintain a steady 10% to 15% growth rate — proving that independent operators don't just have to survive against the big chains, they can out-innovate them. Stanfield said her favorite part of Owner.com is the reviews segment of the software. "Those reviews and those rankings, those are forever," she said. Her team responds to negative reviews quickly, but all of her restaurants have a 4.5 ranking or better. To learn more about how Owner.com is aiding restaurants compete in today's market listen to the podcast in its entirety.

    23 min

  4. Jun 2

    Navigating the tightest restaurant real estate market in 20 years

    It doesn't matter how good your food is if your restaurant is in the wrong place. That was the primary takeaway from a recent episode of The Restaurant Operator podcast, where I interviewed Ebere Anokute, head of retail research for CBRE, during the ICSC real estate conference in Las Vegas. We dove into the shifting dynamics of restaurant real estate, modern data trends, and the intangible elements that make a brick-and-mortar location successful. Here is a sneak peek at what you're missing if you haven't tuned in yet: The 20-year crunch: Retail availability has hit historic lows, creating the tightest market seen in two decades. Anokute explains how this supply constraint hands significant leverage to landlords — and what it means for your next lease negotiation.The power of 'co-tenancy': While data analytics drive modern site selection, human behavior and retail synergy remain the biggest indicators of long-term success. Discover why being close to your direct competitors might actually be the best thing for your brand.Debunking the hybrid office myth: Despite early fears that remote work would kill urban restaurant traffic, CBRE data tells a completely different story about where consumers are spending their dining dollars.AI vs. reality: Artificial intelligence is top of mind for everyone, but how is it actually being used in site selection and restaurant operations today? Hint: It's not what you think.To get the full breakdown on navigating today's hyper-competitive real estate market, tune in to the complete conversation on The Restaurant Operator podcast.

    8 min

  5. May 26

    How CORE provides financial lifeline for food, beverage workers in crisis

    In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of QSRweb.com and Pizza Marketplace, chats with Jill Chapman, senior director of corporate partnerships for CORE. CORE is a national non-profit that financially supports food and beverage service families in times of crisis. CORE was founded 22 years and was run by volunteers up into 2015 when it hired its first employee. Eleven years later, the non-profit has several employees and is growing as much as the need is growing. CORE is needed because in the food and beverage industry, there is no PTO — if you're not working you're not getting paid. "If anything happens, whether it be health, injury, death or natural disaster or domestic abuse, that's where CORE comes in. That's what our mission is about. We come in and help financially during those times," Chapman said. To learn more about CORE and how to apply for help, listen to the podcast in its entirety.

    17 min

  6. Apr 28

    How The Red Chickz brought true Nashville soul to the West Coast

    In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb, chats with Shawn Lalehzarian, co-founder of The Red Chickz, a West Coast Nashville hot chicken brand that opened its first unit in Los Angeles in 2018. Lalehzarian began his restaurant career as a dishwasher in a local restaurant in San Diego in 1998. He eventually moved on to be an assistant manager and moved upward into a senior ops position with HMS Host, opening more than 50 restaurants in airports around the nation and in Canada. He found two partners in 2014 and eventually opened The Red Chickz in 2018. "When we decided to get into a hot chicken concept, we flew out to Nashville and asked basically everyone from the Uber driver to the bellman at the hotel if they knew anyone in their family that knows how to make Nashville hot chicken," Lalehzarian said. "And some of those folks invited us to their homes and showed us the homestyle of Nashville hot. So what we serve in our restaurant today is exactly what we brought back from Nashville." What sets The Red Chickz apart from other chicken concepts? Lalehzarian said there are "bold" differentiators. "Our product is the crunchiest friend chicken in the hot chicken market, and frankly in the fried chicken market," he said. "From the start we have had a pretty innovative menu in the segment, and we are trying to keep it that way." That includes serving products like shrimp and chicken and waffles, salads, loaded veggie plates and French toast. To learn more about The Red Chickz aesthetic, menu development and out-of-the-box operations, click the link at the top to watch the podcast in its entirety.

    20 min

  7. Mar 24

    How Juice It Up leads the modern beverage boom

    Beverages have become big business as boba, dirty sodas, coffee and kombucha take center stage on the franchising market. Juice It Up, which has been selling cold and raw-pressed juices, smoothies, açaí bowls. toasts and bagels for more than 30 years, has been an industry leader. In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of QSRweb and Pizza Marketplace, talks to Susan Taylor, president and CEO of Juice It Up, based in Southern California, about how the brand has been leading the beverage market. Juice It Up recently opened its 100th unit in Gardnerville, Nevada. Taylor said the definition of a meal replacement has changed since the launch of the juice brand, and smoothies and juices are no longer sweet treats after a workout. Instead, they're nutritious and fill the needs of those looking for more protein, living vegan lifestyles or needing fuel for the day. "It's interesting the way that the segment has grown," Taylor said in the podcast. "Beverages as a complete segment (includes) everything from coffee to smoothies and juice bars. I think that consumers today are much more sophisticated and really looking for different things to be able to fuel their lifestyle that has kind of expanded the category. "Depending on where you are in your health and wellness lifestyle journey, you can come in and you can do a fresh-made order juice using beets, celery, carrots, ginger, turmeric, anything that you want to be able to have in that, or you can build your own. And there's a pretty dedicated core of customers that really look for that." Gen Z and millennial consumers have been shaping beverage trends as of late. The generations that are coming up now look at beverages in a totally different way from just want something right now," Taylor added. "There's an experience. They're just they're thinking about what it provides to them from a nutritional standpoint to just how they feel like they're treating themselves as well, too." To learn more about how Juice It Up is innovating the beverage industry, listen to the podcast in its entirety.

    20 min

  8. Feb 24

    Strategic sizzle: Why Houston TX Hot Chicken prioritizes smart growth over rapid expansion

    In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb, talks with Brian Simowitz, president, and Andie Smirl, director of franchise sales, for Houston TX Hot Chicken. The Nashville hot chicken concept launched during COVID in 2020 in Las Vegas. The brand now has 31 units. Part of what draws diners to the concept is its electric brand energy. With more than 400,000 social media followers, Houston TX Hot Chicken seems to be striking a nerve with consumers. "The energy that you get from that level of social media followers that are engaging with our brand on a daily basis is unbelievable. So, you know, and it gives us a lot of relevance with new franchisees coming in as well, because they look at it and go, man, this brand is crazy," Simowitz said during the podcast. "And I'll share with you, quite honestly, we get a lot of potential franchise leads just from our social media and how big that social media footprint is." Smirl joined the brand when it had already sold more than 100 units and said a lot of the brand's leads are truly organic. "A lot of our leads are truly organic," she said during the podcast. "They are coming in because (potential franchisees) either tried the food or they've seen our social media. They've seen our content, either on LinkedIn or Instagram, something like that. So we're really lucky that we don't really have to sell that part of it. It's already really exciting to just see the brand. So I think that we get to be pretty strategic in kind of how we decide to grow. "We don't want to just throw one restaurant across the country where our support is in Vegas. We want to be available and ideally in the same time zone for a little while at least where we can just kind of strategically grow to best support our franchisees. So we're pretty lucky in that and we don't take that for granted, but we want to be really smart about who we partner with." To learn more about how Houston TX Hot Chicken attracts top-tier franchisees, what the brand's leaders look for in franchise partners and what the future holds for the company, listen to the podcast in its entirety.

    21 min
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About

This podcast series from the publishers of FastCasual.com, PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com provides restaurant owners and executives with the insights and inspiration they need to grow their brands. Each episode features interviews with experienced restauranteurs, industry experts, and thought leaders, who share practical tips and advice for running a successful restaurant business.

Information

  • Creator
    Networld Media Group
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    129
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Networld Media Group
  • Show Website
    Restaurant Operator

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