Dana Delivers by Aprio Dana Zukofsky

Frank Pellegrino Jr., co-owner of Rao’s restaurants in East Harlem and Hollywood, shares how Rao’s Restaurant was established on this episode of Dana Delivers. Since 1896, Rao’s Restaurant has given diners a taste of the family’s passion and genuine love for food and the people they serve. Rao’s is even described by Forbes as “the single toughest restaurant reservation to get in the United States, bar none.” Listen now to learn about Rao’s recipe for success.

In this episode of Dana Delivers, Dana sits down with Sam Bakhshandehpour, the president and now global CEO of the José Andrés Group. Sam talks about how the José Andrés Group has grown from its humble beginnings to a restaurant empire that stretches over seven states (and the Bahamas), and how he is working to change the world with the power of food. 

On this episode of Dana Delivers, former CEO and current Chief Development Officer of Rock N’ Roll Sushi, Chris Kramolis, shares his entrepreneurial journey from working as a busboy in Arkansas to opening Tropical Smoothie franchises to leading the exponential growth of Rock N’ Roll Sushi. He discusses how the brand has made sushi approachable through its fun, rock music atmosphere and unique flavors (we’re looking at you, Sweet Home Alabama roll!) expanding rapidly across the U.S. Chris shares how technology can further streamline sushi preparation and how once you’re in the restaurant business, you’re in it for life.

On this episode, Dana is joined by Anand Tumuluru, the co-founder of Loop. Anand tells Dana about founding Loop after realizing how many headaches third-party delivery services were creating for restauranteurs. High fees, opaque payment schedules, chargebacks, and differing policies added costs and complications that made it hard for restaurant owners to keep track of their delivery businesses, let alone turn a profit – until Anand and his team stepped in Consumer behavior has shifted rapidly and decisively towards third-party delivery in the past 3 years, but restaurants continue to be underserved in handling revenue and operational complexity from off-premise orders. Taxes, marketing, refunds, order errors and accrual based workflows are challenges restaurants have to tackle in order to turn a profit – until Anand and his team stepped in.

In today’s episode Dana sits down for another conversation with Emily Heintz, founder of the top-shelf nonalcoholic beverage brand and retailer Sèchey. Emily fills Dana in on Sèchey’s growth and incredible success in 2023 and the exciting prospects facing them in 2024 as demand for nonalcoholic beverages continues to grow. More interest means more sales, and more sales mean Sèchey can grow faster, offer more products and pursue ambitious partnerships and promotions with major retailers like Target. That’s right, Sèchey’s isn’t just on target, it was in Target for an exclusive curation for Dry January – the first of many.

On this episode of Dana Delivers, Atlanta-based McDonald’s franchise owner and rising star DonteCleaves stops by to share his inspirational story. He tells Dana about his childhood dream of owning aMcDonald’s (and a Chuck E. Cheese!), and how he made that dream a reality thanks to his family, hisfaith and his indomitable spirit. As a successful multiunit owner/operator, Donte believes it’s now histurn to support kids in his community and give them the confidence to make their own dreams cometrue.