FULL COMP: The Voice of the Restaurant Industry Revolution

What comes to mind when you hear the words “vegan food.” For many of us, it’s burlap clothing and plates made of cardboard, but Steven Salm is out to change that. Steven founded Planta, a vegan restaurant that transcends every boundary placed on that genre of food. The branding, the buildout, and the culinary program all speak to what it is: one of the most compelling restaurant concepts in the last 20 years–even for carnivores. In our conversation today, we unpack the strategy he developed and executed to bring veganism into the mainstream on a national level. For more information on Planta, visit https://www.plantarestaurants.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Before Cyrus Batchan became a bar owner and a Michelin-rated restaurateur, he was a lawyer and that’s what drew me to this conversation. How many nights have you laid awake wondering if tomorrow was the day you were going to get sued? We’ve all consulted with lawyers in the past but I wanted to see how a lawyer-turned-restaurateur would go about setting himself up for success and limiting his liability. Today we chat with Cyrus about the things to do and the things we should avoid in an effort to become a better restaurateur. For more on his latest project, visit https://www.camphor.la/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Jack McGarry has achieved the accolades most of us dream about. He’s been awarded the best bartender in the world and his NY bar, The Dead Rabbit, was awarded the distinction of Best Bar in the World, a few years after that. But that’s not the end of Jack’s story. Since hitting the top, Jack has redefined excellence through the lens of bar ownership and has spent the last several years working to become the best owner he can be. Today, we discuss what that looks like in theory and how it manifests itself in practical application. For more information on The Dead Rabbit, visit https://thedeadrabbit.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

A great business starts with a great plan but, in our industry, those plans can take many different forms. Today, we chat with Michael Jantz-Moon of DC Vegan, a catering company turned deli turned bar concept that’s revolutionizing the way people eat and think in the DC area. In our conversation, we unpack how this storybook ending began with a bulletproof plan and discuss the ways in which we can all plan to win. For more information on DC Vegan, visit https://www.dc-vegan.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Che Ramos is quickly becoming a household name within our industry. His efforts to create an inclusive environment within the beverage industry are what initially sparked my interest but, once he had my attention, I was floored by the amount of value he was providing across every digital platform. In today’s conversation we tackle diversity, inclusion, and what it takes to make a damn good drink and a memorable cocktail list. That’s Che Ramos. For more information on Che, visit https://blackbourbonguy.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

How do you become a restaurant expert? You take the time to learn from the experts themselves. Sam Fonseca received the education of a lifetime working at In & Out, Cane’s, and Dave’s Hot Chicken. In today’s conversation, we discuss the lessons he learned from the greats and how he’s leveraged that knowledge to scale Roll Em Up Taquitos into a national brand. For more information on Roll Em Up, visit https://rollemup.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

We’re back with part two of our interview with Jim and Sabin from Cousins Maine Lobster. We continue our conversation by diving deep into the skills needed, best practices adopted, and the lessons learned as the cousins navigated their way through the difficulties of scaling a restaurant concept to massive proportions. That’s Sabin and Jim from Cousins Maine Lobster. For more on the guys and their restaurant group, visit https://www.cousinsmainelobster.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Today’s conversation is part one of a two part series. I sat down with Sabin and Jim from Cousins Maine Lobster. Maybe you know them from Shark Tank, maybe you don’t. What you should know is that these two cousins have scaled one food truck into a $55 million dollar business over the last 10 years. Over the next two episodes, we’ll unpack the tactics, tools, and strategies they used to build a restaurant empire. For more on the guys and their restaurant group, visit https://www.cousinsmainelobster.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Ben Kaplan of Plnt Burger is taking the fight for burger supremacy to the streets. He’s a man that isn’t content with owning the vegetarian fast casual market. He wants to cannibalize the whole burger industry. Today’s conversation gets right to the heart of what matters most to our consumers. Ben’s idea is to win hearts and minds by winning their bellies first. For more information on Plnt Burger, visit https://www.plntburger.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

I’d say my life is divided into two parts. Here on the show, my job is to ask the questions that I believe you want to know the answers to and then listen to the answers. But there’s another side to my life. As a coach, folks just like you ask me questions and it’s up to me to provide the answers. I wanted the opportunity to share the other part of my life with you and, recently, the opportunity presented itself. In today’s episode you’ll hear me being interviewed by my close friend and colleague, David Scott Peters for his show. In our conversation, I unpack the frameworks and mental models I’ve developed to help restaurant owners and operators scale profitability in any season. To pick up some of the tools and templates I mentioned on the show visit https://joshkopel.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Chef Jamie Lynch still cooks. It was his skill in the kitchen that afforded him the opportunity to open his first restaurant. But that’s not how he scaled to five restaurants across two states. At some point we no longer work in a restaurant, we work in the restaurant business. In our conversation today, we chart his transition from esteemed chef to an acclaimed restaurateur. For more information on the chef and his projects, visit https://www.chefjamielynch.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

For over a decade, I ran my restaurants the way I was taught to run other people's restaurants. I led my teams the way others had led me and I never questioned it. But what if you never got that education? Andrew Dana owns more than half a dozen successful restaurants and he began his journey as a restaurateur with absolutely no operational experience. He just did what he thought was right and followed his gut instincts. Today we go through how an industry outsider is challenging the way we look at our restaurants and our industry. For more information on Call Your Mother, visit https://www.callyourmotherdeli.com.

We all hope to be successful, but how many of us plan to be successful? Susan Sarich of SusieCakes took the time to plan every aspect of her restaurant. The research and development that went into her business plan resulted in the success she had after opening. Having weathered two economic disasters and with dozens of locations under her belt, her plan seems bulletproof and, in today's episode, we walk through that plan step by step. For more on SusieCakes Bakery, visit susiecakes.com. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Ken Grossman is a craft brewing pioneer. In the late 1970's, he, along with about half a dozen other brewers, started the first craft breweries in the US. Over 40 years later, the other guys are no longer in business and Ken's company is worth over one billion dollars. Today, we discuss what it took to survive in those early days and the critical decisions he made that paved the way for him to become the king of craft brewing. For more information on Sierra Nevada, visit https://sierranevada.com. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Marketing is this big, intimidating thing for most of us. For many of us, marketing starts and stops with social media. For many more of us, we aspire to have the time needed to even get that far. That’s why I thought it would be incredibly valuable to chat with Kim Freer. Kim Freer is the Chief Marketing Officer of Wetzel’s Pretzels, an old brand innovating in very new ways. Today we discuss what marketing looks like in practical application–outside of social media–and how it can have a transformative impact on our restaurants. For more information on Wetzel’s Pretzels, visit https://www.wetzels.com. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Winning in a major market requires a very different approach than opening a restaurant in a secondary or tertiary market. That’s why I was so excited to chat with Michael Tipps. Michael and his company Invictus Hospitality do many different things, but the one thing they’re most known for is taking successful concepts from major markets and scaling them across the country. Perfecting that process has revealed universal truths to Michael and his team about what a formula for restaurant success look like and in this episode he runs us through that formula tip to tail. That’s Michael Tipps. For more information on Invictus Hospitality, visit https://www.invictushospitality.com. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Personally, I believe that the biggest hurdle for most of us when it comes to escaping day to day operations is finding the right person to replace ourselves. Aside from what it takes to find the right person, it’s the risk that holds most of us back. The risk of spending more than we’ve ever paid ourselves on someone that may not be right for the job. But, what if we could be sure that the person we’re hiring is the right fit for the role? Today we chat with Phillip Baltazar. Philip is a new kind of consultant using science and data driven methods to ensure the people we hire are perfect for the job. In this episode we cover everything from hiring your replacement to hiring a server. That’s Phillip Baltazar. For your complementary team diagnostic, visit Team Diagnostics / CI Survey. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

As business owners, we need to take a hard look in the mirror to determine what's working and what isn't. Today's guest, Robert Greene did just that, but, instead of tackling an industry, he chose to tackle the human condition. Robert is a NYT bestselling author who's researched the intricacies of power, mastery, war and human nature. In reading his work, I walked away with a better understanding of myself, my business, and my customers. In our conversation, Robert shares how he's internalized the lessons he's written about to help athletes, executives, and world leaders. For more information on Robert's projects, visit https://powerseductionandwar.com. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

The hardest part of ownership isn't owning the business, it's in owning the choices you've made and the impact they have on you and your team. Today, we chat with multi-million dollar culinary clothing maven, Ellen Bennett. Ellen wrote a book that's one part biography and one part action plan for aspiring entrepreneurs. In this conversation, we run though what the past 10 years has been like for Ellen, bringing to light the leadership lessons that have made her company so successful. You can pick up Ellen's new book Dreams First, Details Later at major retailers everywhere. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

To call Paul Pruitt a restaurant consultant fails to describe the depths of his contributions to our industry. Paul is a hospitality futurist who, in the decade I've known him, has predicted every major evolution that our industry has experienced. In this episode, Paul and I discuss the future of our industry and how holistic hospitality could be the solution to all that ails us. For more information on New School, visit http://newschoolconsulting.com. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

What if the labor crisis is a result of a leadership crisis? Could we build a better industry simply by becoming better leaders? Celebrity Chef Robert Irvine specializes in overcoming the impossible. Today we discuss how this career soldier from a modest background built an empire and the lessons in leadership he learned along the way. For more information on the chef, visit https://chefirvine.com. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

In this episode, we chat with Kim Malek, the founder of Salt & Straw. Kim's ice cream company abides by every foundational business principle while breaking every rule in the restaurant industry. Tune in to learn how to thrive using the new rules of the restaurant industry. For more on Salt & Straw visit https://saltandstraw.com. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Who do you look to for inspiration? For me, it's always been Wolfgang Puck. Not only is he a talented chef and restaurateur, he's proven himself to be a world-class entrepreneur. Even without a formal business education, the chef has built an international empire. In today's conversation, we unpack the critical decisions he made to get to the top and how he overcame overwhelming obstacles along the way. For more on the chef, visit https://wolfgangpuck.com. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

We always talk about leading with value and Candace and Andrew from Carbonate are a shining example of this. In service to our industry, they’ve produced a free trend report for the last 15 years. In our conversation we not only cover what’s now and what’s next, we discuss practical ways to implement these trends in your restaurants. For more information on the company, visit https://www.carbonategroup.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

What transforms a single unit family owned and operated restaurant into a regional giant with nine locations? Today we chat with Eric and Alex Adler, cofounders of the Puesto restaurant chain in Southern California. They, like so many other families, built a restaurant to share their love of food and culture with their community. But, unlike so many others in our industry, they’ve thrived, building 10 restaurants in 10 years. Today we discuss the strategies and tools that they used to scale their family restaurant. For more information on Puesto, visit https://www.eatpuesto.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Thomas Harvey is a big city guy that chose to open his restaurant in a small town. When everyone else was thinking big, he thought small, in a powerful way. Thomas has made a name for himself nationally by using the proven tactics and strategies he learned in larger markets in Falls Church, Virginia. In our conversation, he shares how using your restaurant to build community is a universal solution to a persistent problem. For more information on his restaurant, visit https://harveysva.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Are you sitting on a great lease for your restaurant? Is your restaurant’s lease about to come up for renewal? Are you grinding away with a lease that’s destroying your profitability? A great lease will make or break a young restaurant, setting you up for long term success or sucking the profit margin out of an already difficult industry. Today we chat with Dale Willerton, the lease coach. In our conversation, Dale lays out best practices and mistakes to avoid when it comes to choosing the right location, signing your first lease, and renegotiating your lease renewal. To get a free copy of his book, visit https://www.theleasecoach.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

What do I preach on this show? Business fundamentals and proven tactics, tools, and strategies that provide repeatable results. Today, we throw all of that out the window. Meet Ahmet and Anastasia of Mandolin. This married couple listened to their gut and shot from the hip and, over the last 13 years, created an iconic brand so powerful it’s become bicoastal. We’re discussing how to build community, a business, and a marriage out of love of culture and each other. For more information on Mandolin, visit https://www.mandolinmiami.com. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Grant Kneble is a restaurateur…now. But he didn’t start out that way. Grant is one of the many that, through luck and random circumstance, found his way into the hospitality industry from, of all places, tech. Grant is an SEO wiz and, I’d argue, that is probably the single greatest factor in his success. Today we chat about how his restaurant’s online presence has dominated his brick and mortar competition. For more information on Freddy J’s, visit https://freddyjs.com. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

We often have such a clear vision for what our lives and our businesses will look like before we open. And then the flood comes and we’re so busy trying to survive that we forget to thrive. We forget why we got into this to begin with. And that “why”, for most of us, was love. Love of community, love of food, and love of revelry. Meet Mark Bitterman, a man who’s never forgotten his why and, no surprise, it’s served him well. Today we chat about finding our true North, holding on to it, and building a business to last. For more information on The Meadow, visit https://themeadow.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Every problem has the same source and same solution: people. But, in the midst of a labor crisis, can we afford to be choosy in restaurant hiring? How hard can we push teams before we push them out the door? Greg Provance is a restaurant hiring expert and he’s come to chat about how to transition from managing employees to leading leaders. Today we talk tactics, tools, and strategies to level up ourselves and our teams. For more information on Greg, visit https://www.gphospitalitypartners.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Think about all of the promises you’ve made to yourself. When you hit a certain revenue goal, that’s when you’re going to take that vacation. Think of all the plans you have to support and inspire your teams once you can afford it. Today’s guest, Kwini Reed, believes those intentions can become actions today. In our conversation, she shares exactly how she transformed building a restaurant and her life into that future vision in the present moment. For more information on her restaurants, visit https://www.poppyandrose.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

When you have 30 years of restaurant consulting experience, you learn a lot. You get better over time, and what becomes clear are the truths that stand the test of time. Today we chat with Izzy Kharasch, an expert in restaurant consulting who’s had a front row seat to the evolution of our industry over the last 30 years. Our conversation runs the gamut from marketing gold to robot employees. That’s Izzy Kharasch. For more on Izzy’s company, visit https://hospitalityworks.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

In the restaurant industry, booze is our best friend and our worst enemy. It drives profitability, but the misuse and mishandling of booze can just as easily drive us out of business. In today’s episode, we speak with acclaimed mixologist and bar owner Derek Brown who’s advocating for a new take on an old vice. For more information on mindful mixology, visit positivedamageinc.com. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Our guest today is Troy Hooper, a restaurant coach and consultant, who’s put his money where his mouth is and created eight different restaurant concepts, all under one roof. In this episode, Troy shares the blueprint he’s used to scale countless restaurant concepts as well as grow his own. For more information on Troy’s company, visit https://www.krpusa.com. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Repetition is key to mastery. Today’s guest, Mark Braver has worked for some of the best concepts in the country and has personally opened over 30 restaurant locations. The lessons he’s learned through this process have led to a formulaic view of our industry that have not only made him a better operator, they can make us better too. For more information on The Fifty/50 Restaurant Group, visit https://www.thefifty50group.com. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

What does it take to acquire one million followers on instagram? In this episode we sit down with Jabin Troth of Licensed to Distill to discuss the step by step process he used to create a massive audience on social media and the tactics he used to transform that audience into a loyal community. If you’ve been struggling with what to say and how to say it on social, this is the episode for you. That’s Jabin Troth. For more information on Licensed to Distill, visit https://www.licensedtodistill.com. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

One of the blessings that was born from the pandemic was the Independent Restaurant Coalition. A group of less than two dozen restaurateurs came together to advocate for all of us, and it was through their efforts that over 20 billion dollars was distributed to independents that desperately needed the funds. But, as the fight for survival ends, the fight to thrive begins we sit down with the IRC’s CEO, Erika Polmar, to discuss what’s next for the coalition and for the industry at large. That’s Erika Polmar. For more information on the IRC, visit https://www.independentrestaurantcoalition.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

How do you get better at doing anything? Practice makes perfect and, today’s guest, Aaron Noveshen has over 30 years of experience in building big brands. It began with his own brand, World Wrapps, and evolved into a restaurant building engine for entrepreneurs looking to win from day one. We sat down to discuss Starbird, his latest venture that fuses together the lessons he’s learned from building countless brands for others and the latest restaurant tech available. For more on Aaron Noveshen and Starbird, visit https://www.starbirdchicken.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

What’s up with big chefs opening restaurants in small markets? The quest for that answer led me to Chef Quentin Garcia, who left successful restaurants in Napa to open a fine dining restaurant in Merced, California. His restaurant is literally the only fine dining restaurant in the area and today we sat down to discuss how his big city cuisine is faring in a small town. For more on Quentin’s restaurant, visit https://www.rainbirdrestaurant.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

World-famous restaurateur Will Guidara is back with his latest project — and it’s not a restaurant, it’s a book. Will was made famous by the over the top service he provided at Eleven Madison Park and, as it turns out, there was a method to the madness. In this episode, Will and I sit down to discuss the formulaic way that he set expectations for his guests' experience and the process he created to exceed those expectations. Be sure to pick up a copy of Will’s book, “Unreasonable Hospitality”, when it releases on October 25th. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Chef Ray Garcia is known for far more than his successful restaurants, he created an entirely new category of cuisine. Being a culinary pioneer isn’t without its difficulties though, and today we discuss how challenging his community’s perceptions around food created a landmark restaurant. For more on Chef Garcia and his upcoming projects, visit https://chefraygarcia.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

There are folks out there who see the world differently, and those visionaries are building very different restaurant concepts. In reinventing the model, they have no competition and there’s a ton we can learn from the trail they’re blazing. Today we chat with Chef Melissa Martin of Mosquito Supper Club, a new kind of restaurant located in a very old place. In our conversation, Melissa shares the inspiration behind the unique concept and how she’s built a national audience off the back of a local restaurant. For more on Mosquito Supper Club, visit http://www.mosquitosupperclub.com/. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

If we want to run a better restaurant business, we need to become better businesspeople. Today we chat with Vitaliy Katsenelson about improving our lives and our businesses by getting our soul in the game. This isn’t about self help or aligning your chakras, this is practical advice built on real life experience. Vitaliy’s decades of experience as a value investor provide a unique perspective into what makes a business sustainable and how business owners can evolve into founders. Check out Vitaliy Katsenelson’s book “Soul in the Game, Volume One” wherever you buy books. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

I don’t know today’s guest, Timm Chiusano, personally…but I do. I do because I follow him on TikTok where he crafts daily stories that walk you through his life. Timm’s not a daredevil or a world traveler, he’s just a regular person. A corporate executive with a wife, a child and a penchant for protein bars. So why do I tune in daily to see what he’s up to? Honestly, I’m not sure and I thought that was worth a conversation. So I’m sitting down with Timm to figure out what makes him interesting enough that I and half a million other people follow him daily. You can check out all things Timm by visiting www.timm.work. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Maybe we’re trying too hard with all of the discounts and specials. Think about it, what would your favorite restaurant need to do to convince you to come back? Very little, right? More than anything, you just need to remind your best guests that you still exist and that’s where a guy like Sergio Perez comes into play. Sergio is the head of omnichannel for Bojangles and he’s taken this regional brand and given them a national audience. If you’re looking get more digital face time with your guests, this is the guy to listen to. For more on Bojangles visit https://www.bojangles.com ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Great restaurants stem from running great businesses and today we’re going to talk about the business of running restaurants. Our guides on this exploration of what a successful business plan looks like will be Karl and Sarah Worley, a married couple who turned their love of biscuits into a thriving restaurant brand. They’ve built their business on the back of foundational principles and bleeding edge management strategies that have revolutionized their lives and their restaurant. Today we unpack the tactics, tools and strategies they’ve used to scale Biscuit Love from a food truck into a regional brand. For more on Biscuit Love visit https://www.biscuitlove.com ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Brad Metzger has been the glue binding our industry together for more than a decade. He and his team have helped set the trajectory for countless chefs, owners and operators, helping them build the teams they need to thrive. He’s one part career counselor, one part therapist and one part big brother, and when he decided to bring our industry together by creating a first of its kind conference in Los Angeles, everyone was impressed but no one was surprised. Today we sit down with him, his partner in crime Jacqui and celebrity chef Burt Bakman to discuss what it takes to create community and why it’s desperately needed at this moment. For more on LA Chef Con visit https://www.lachefconference.com ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Bruce Nelson never dreamed of becoming the Chief Financial Officer of a restaurant group, he wanted to be a restaurateur just like the rest of us. But, when he achieved his dream of restaurant ownership, his life became a nightmare. Coming off hard years and the closure of the restaurant, he took the time to figure out why. It was the math. On a foundational level, his business was doomed to fail from the beginning because he was using bad math. In today’s conversation Bruce walks us through what a sound financial strategy looks like to create a wildly profitable restaurant. ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars

David Morton is a restaurateur and a student of the game. His ambitions go beyond making food or money, he’s trying to make a difference. David is blazing new trails in our industry, establishing partnerships and opening restaurants in ways that haven’t been done before. In this episode, I sat down with him to discuss his family’s restaurant legacy and how the businesses he’s building today will influence the restaurant industry of tomorrow. For more on his restaurants, visit https://www.dmkrestaurants.com ____________________________________________________________ Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time. We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows: Restaurant Marketing School Restaurant expert videos & webinars