Bar Hacks

David Klemt & Doug Radkey

You’ve heard of life hacks? How about #BarHacks? Created by KRG Hospitality consultants Doug Radkey (president, principal consultant) and by David Klemt (partner, senior consultant), Bar Hacks is a reflection of both high-level journalism & consulting experience within this industry. This informative and conversational podcast is the perfect listen for any aspiring or seasoned bar, pub, lounge, or even restaurant owner, operator, and manager who is looking for that competitive edge in industry driven trends, development, and operations. Have a listen and let us know what you think!

  1. I'm Your Huckleberry: Mike Bausch Wants You to Succeed with Pizza

    قبل ١٦ ساعة

    I'm Your Huckleberry: Mike Bausch Wants You to Succeed with Pizza

    Mike Bausch, one of the first certified master pizzaiolos in America, was also one of the first guests host David Klemt ever talked with on the Bar Hacks podcast. He dropped by five years ago for episode 18. Now, he returns for episode 151. If you operate a pizzeria or have pizza on your menu, and if you really want to cut through the BS and succeed in this highly competitive area of F&B, Mike can help. On this episode, he delivers the reality of running a pizza business straight, peeling back the complicated layers of pizza operations. It's possible your name is holding you back from being discoverable. Perhaps you should be calling your pizza something else. If you're in the pizza space you're not just battling other pizzerias, and you need to understand that. Your marketing may not be working because of what you're focused on and how you communicate. Mike unpacks the reality of pizza in 2026, and shows you the way forward. Cheers! Notes ⁠Mike Bausch IG⁠ Mike Bausch YouTube Unsliced Andolini's Pizzeria Andolini's Worldwide Prossimo Ristorante ⁠Bar Hacks IG⁠⁠ ⁠⁠KRG Hospitality IG⁠⁠ ⁠⁠KRG Hospitality website

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  2. 150 Episodes Later: The Side of Hospitality We’ve Never Explored

    ١٢ مايو

    150 Episodes Later: The Side of Hospitality We’ve Never Explored

    Episode number 150! Thank you for listening, subscribing, liking, and sharing. Without you, we wouldn't have reached this milestone. To celebrate, we're tackling a topic we haven't talked about on the podcast before: audio, lighting, and video. On this episode, David speaks with a friend of around 20 years, Josh Mierly. Josh is a freelance production manager for live touring acts, meaning nightclub, amphitheater, theater, festival, arena, and stadium operators will be speaking with him about the acts they've booked to perform. During this friendly but informative chat, Josh explains what it takes for an artist and the production team to work with a venue: the venue's capabilities on paper, what it's actually capable of delivering that day or night, building a positive working relationship with production managers and their teams, problem solving to ensure the show is a success and helps the venue make its sales, brands to consider, and why nightclub operators need to invest in the right audio engineer rather than just the most affordable. He also touches on what goes on in the booth or on stage, protecting your hearing, and some entertaining stories from the road (including tour bus etiquette). Cheers to 150 episodes! Notes Josh Mierly IG Bar Hacks IG⁠ ⁠KRG Hospitality IG⁠ ⁠KRG Hospitality website

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  3. Innovating in the Tequila Space to Balance the Taste with Responsibility

    ٢٨ أبريل

    Innovating in the Tequila Space to Balance the Taste with Responsibility

    Will Brooks, Global Ambassador for Tequila Herradura, returns to the podcast. This time, he and host David Klemt dig deeper into tequila as a category and Herradura as a producer. The two discuss Lowland vs. Highland agave, what gives Herradura its unique "fingerprint," sustainability efforts, ensuring innovation is a benefit rather than a branding exercise, and another tasting trick (last episode it was oranges). Cheers! Notes William Brooks IG Tequila Herradura website⁠ Tequila Herradura IG Bar Hacks IG KRG Hospitality IG KRG Hospitality website

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  4. Emma Janzen & Toby Maloney on The Classic Cocktail Sessions

    ١٤ أبريل

    Emma Janzen & Toby Maloney on The Classic Cocktail Sessions

    James Beard Award-winning cocktail authors, educators, and bar and drinks aficionados Emma Janzen and Toby Maloney drop by the Bar Hacks podcast to chat about their new book, The Classic Cocktail Sessions. The duo share how they first linked up to begin collaborating with one another, the motivation behind writing and shooting the photos for The Classic Cocktail Sessions, writing a book about classics we all know and love with the modern palate in mind, the "casualing" of bars, and their takes on the current state of hospitality. The Classic Cocktail Sessions will be available starting in June. Check out the links below to pre-order your copy! Notes ⁠Emma Janzen IG⁠ ⁠Toby Maloney IG The Classic Cocktail Sessions IG⁠ Book and pre-order details The Elbow Room IG ⁠⁠Bar Hacks IG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠David Klemt IG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KRG Hospitality IG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KRG Hospitality website

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  5. Never Stop Learning: Mastering the Margarita & Taking a Natural Approach to Hospitality

    ٣١ مارس

    Never Stop Learning: Mastering the Margarita & Taking a Natural Approach to Hospitality

    "Respect the ingredients and the cocktail will respect you back." Fresh off of the grand opening of Despacho Margarita in Mexico City, co-owner Oscar Valle drops by the Bar Hacks podcast to chat with host David Klemt. Oscar shares how the core team came together, the vision for Despacho Margarita, how they're focusing on finding people with a real thirst for learning to build out the team, and the philosophy behind Natural Hospitality that drives the team and concept. Oscar also addresses the explosive popularity of cristalino tequila, how Despacho Margarita started out as a bottle shop and small bar but has transformed into a modern social club and cantina, and the recipes for two of the team's incredible Margaritas. Cheers! Notes Despacho Margarita IG Oscar Valle IG ⁠Bar Hacks IG⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠David Klemt IG⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠KRG Hospitality IG⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠KRG Hospitality website

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  6. The Slow Travel Business Model: Hospitality that Keeps Guests Returning

    ١٧ مارس

    The Slow Travel Business Model: Hospitality that Keeps Guests Returning

    Not every hospitality story is about scaling, venture money, or the newest concept. Some are about staying power. In this episode, David talks with Kathy Quast, co-owner of Roman Spa Hot Springs Resort in Calistoga, a family-owned resort that has welcomed guests for 50 years. Built around the town’s geothermal mineral pools and Napa Valley wine country, the property has spent decades doing something simple but difficult: giving people a place to slow down, recharge, and reconnect. David and Kathy discuss what it takes to keep a hospitality business alive across several decades: encouraging "slow travel," updating rooms without losing the property’s character, building partnerships with local wineries and businesses, and creating the kind of experience that turns first-time guests into annual visitors. In hospitality, repeat guests aren’t luck. They’re the result of doing a lot of small things right for a very long time. Notes Roman Spa Hot Springs Resort website Roman Spa Hot Springs IG Roman Spa Hot Springs FB Roman Spa Hot Springs YouTube Bar Hacks IG⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠David Klemt IG⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠KRG Hospitality IG⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠KRG Hospitality website

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  7. Finian Sedgwick on Launching Black Emerald Irish Whiskey

    ١٢ مارس

    Finian Sedgwick on Launching Black Emerald Irish Whiskey

    Finian Sedgwick returns to the podcast with something he’s dreamed about for years: his own Irish whiskey brand. After years in hospitality and the spirits business, he has officially launched Black Emerald Irish Whiskey with partners Ernest Cantillon and Simon Zebo. Following its debut late last year in Ireland and Australia, Black Emerald is now arriving in the United States just ahead of St. Patrick’s Day. In this special Thursday release, Finian joins David to unpack the entire journey behind Black Emerald: selecting the liquid, developing the inaugural expressions, obsessing over every element of the label design, and the surreal moment of finally seeing the finished bottles in the real world. They also explore the two debut releases—a 7-year rum-cask finish and a 15-year cognac-cask finish—along with the profile of each expression and what may come next for the brand. Sláinte! Notes Black Emerald US website Black Emerald IG Black Emerald FB Black Emerald X ⁠⁠Bar Hacks IG⁠⁠ ⁠⁠David Klemt IG⁠⁠ ⁠⁠KRG Hospitality IG⁠⁠ ⁠⁠KRG Hospitality website

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  8. What Operators Need to Know Before Bar & Restaurant Expo 2026

    ٣ مارس

    What Operators Need to Know Before Bar & Restaurant Expo 2026

    The 2026 edition of the Bar & Restaurant Expo is right around the corner (March 23–25 in Las Vegas), and this year’s show couldn’t be more timely. Before heading to Vegas, David sat down with Brandy Rand, Vice President of Questex (the producer behind the Bar & Restaurant Expo, The Hospitality Show, and the VIBE Conference) to unpack what operators should really be focused on in 2026. If you’ve been feeling the weight of industry headlines, this conversation may recalibrate you. Inside this episode: Why the “hospitality is collapsing” narrative doesn’t align with the dataResearch shows guests still want to go out and are prioritizing bars and restaurants as a form of self-reward and social connectionWhat’s really happening with Gen Z and alcohol (spoiler: they are drinking, but they're opting for more premium, super-premium, and ultra-premium brandsThe importance of understanding that “value” means something different to every guestWhy experience design matters more now than everThis isn’t blind optimism, it’s perspective: Costs are real, pressure is real, and competition is real. But so is demand. If you’re an independent operator, a multi-unit leader, a hospitality professional building a career, or a hospitality marketer trying to interpret guest behavior, this episode is about replacing fear-based assumptions with informed strategy. And if you’ll be at the Bar & Restaurant Expo, don’t miss Doug Radkey’s session at 10 a.m. on March 23: “Top 8 Reasons for the High Failure Rate in Hospitality.” See you in Las Vegas. Notes Bar & Restaurant Expo website Bar & Restaurant Expo IG Bar & Restaurant Expo Facebook Bar & Restaurant Expo YouTube ⁠Bar Hacks IG⁠ ⁠David Klemt IG⁠ ⁠KRG Hospitality IG⁠ ⁠KRG Hospitality website

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You’ve heard of life hacks? How about #BarHacks? Created by KRG Hospitality consultants Doug Radkey (president, principal consultant) and by David Klemt (partner, senior consultant), Bar Hacks is a reflection of both high-level journalism & consulting experience within this industry. This informative and conversational podcast is the perfect listen for any aspiring or seasoned bar, pub, lounge, or even restaurant owner, operator, and manager who is looking for that competitive edge in industry driven trends, development, and operations. Have a listen and let us know what you think!

المعلومات

  • صناع العمل
    David Klemt & Doug Radkey
  • سنوات النشاط
    ٢٠٢٠ - ٢٠٢٦
  • الحلقات
    ١٧١
  • التقييم
    فاضح
  • حقوق النشر
    © David Klemt & Doug Radkey
  • موقع البرنامج على الويب
    Bar Hacks