March 3, 2025 • 36 mins
Innovating Consistency: Donato's Pizza with CEO Kevin King
In this episode of the Restaurant Technology Guys podcast, host Jeremy Julian is joined by Kevin King, the CEO of Donatos Pizza, a legacy brand based in Columbus, Ohio. Kevin shares his journey in the restaurant industry, including his return to Donatos, and discusses the company's unique value proposition and operational consistency. The conversation delves into Donatos' emphasis on high-quality ingredients and their strict adherence to consistency, aided by their proprietary technology and operating systems. Kevin also talks about the brand's innovative use of AI in ordering, automation, and their strategic partnerships, including with Red Robin. The episode explores Donatos' future plans, including automation in kitchens and expanding their footprint while maintaining core mission values of quality, service, and hospitality.
00:00 Audio Donatos Pizza
00:11 Introduction to Today's Episode
01:13 Meet Kevin, CEO of Donatos Pizza
01:47 Kevin's Career Journey
02:53 Returning to Donatos
07:23 Donatos' Unique Value Proposition
11:28 Mission and Values of Donatos
14:21 Customer Experience and Market Strategy
16:56 Technology and Innovation at Donatos
30:07 Franchising and Expansion
35:38 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
This is the RestaurantTechnology Guys podcast, helping
you run your restaurant better.
Jeremy Julian (00:11):
In today's episode, we are joined by the
CEO of Denatos pizza.
Which is a over 60 year oldbrand, out of the Columbus, Ohio
area.
They have a very unique valueproposition as it relates to
opening restaurants and thethings that they do, Kevin.
And I talk a lot about how theyuse their operating system, why
(00:31):
he came back to the brand afterbeing gone for a number of
years, as well as how theyutilize technology to
differentiate themselves againstsome of the bigger brands that
are out there.
Please join us in listening toKevin's story and all the
amazing things that he and histeam continued to do since she's
been back in 2022.
if you don't know me, my name isJeremy Julian.
(00:51):
I am the chief revenue officerfor CBS north star.
We developed the north starpoint of sale solution for
multi-units.
Please check uswww.Cbsnorthstar.com and now
onto the show.
Welcome back to the restauranttechnology guys podcast.
I thank everyone out there forjoining us as I say each and
every time I know you guys gotlots of choices.
So thanks you guys for hangingout with us today.
(01:13):
We are joined by a Newly mintedI think ceo and it's been a
couple of just a couple monthsBut i'm gonna let kevin talk a
little bit about kind of hiswork history where he's been And
then really we'll get tohighlight the brand that he's
getting to To spearhead rightnow at Donato's.
But Kevin, why don't youintroduce yourself to our
audience?
For those that don't know whoyou are, where's the work
background and some of the, someof that history, because I think
(01:34):
it'll go into, what you guys aretrying to do at Donato's now
going
Kevin King (01:37):
Jeremy, thank you for having me on today.
I really appreciate it.
Uh, again, uh, CEO of Donato'sPizza, Columbus, Ohio based
chain.
I've had the privilege of beinghere.
Uh, I'll explain that I guess ina little bit, but, I started my
restaurant career in a littleneighborhood pizza place, worked
there through high school andcollege and went to work for,
(01:58):
Domino's pizza out of college.
great time for them.
it was in the late eighties.
And a time of rapid growth.
I got to do a lot of greatthings as a really young guy.
came to Donato's in 1990, spent13 years here through, 2003.
Donato's went from really aColumbus, Ohio pizza chain, To a
pretty national presence becauseit was acquired by McDonald's in
(02:22):
1999.
I left in 2003, and, spent acouple of years in the banking
business, realized I reallymissed the pace and, people of
the restaurant industry wentback, went to Papa Murphy's in
Portland, Oregon.
was a part of that brand forover 10 years.
was a part of building about athousand restaurants, during
that time.
And 20, 16 I went to SmoothieKing.
(02:46):
had a great time there.
great, fantastic brand.
A part of, some transformationalgrowth there too.
And in 2022, came back toDonatos.
as the president and then theCEO in October of this year.
So excited about what the futureholds, but a lot of great, times
and some great brands I was withthroughout my career.
Jeremy Julian (03:07):
I love that.
And I say it often from thosepeople that bounce back.
it's amazing how many people getstarted in the restaurant
industry and they'll trysomething else and then come
back to it.
Any specifics as to why.
You came back, Kevin, other thanthe pace, you alluded to it.
But I, I teased that, I couldprobably be a multimillionaire
if I created some kind oftherapy session for X restaurant
tours that try and get out andcan't figure out how to get out,
(03:28):
type of thing, cause it is, it'spretty addicting and a pretty
amazing, amazing industry that'sgiven so much to so many people.
Kevin King (03:34):
Yeah, I think, when I left in 2003, I left in autos
and I, and just thinking aboutwhat I wanted to do in my
career.
I was, in my late thirties, but,I'd only ever worked in a
restaurant.
I'd never done anythingdifferent.
And I'm, I was like, what elseis out there?
And I went to work for, forChase.
And, it was relevant because Iwent to work for the retail
(03:56):
bank.
on the store development or thebranch development side.
So it was really relevantexperience.
It sounds like it was totallyoff base.
and what I would say is I metsome fantastic people and I work
with some really smart people,but the pace in a bank is so
different than the pace in therestaurant business.
(04:17):
And, And just being a part ofand, experiencing the people and
the customers and the guests andeverything that we do in the
restaurant business.
I did.
I missed.
I missed that.
And I sum it up with, I was on atrip to Detroit.
and we were, Looking at bankbranches and where should we
grow and how should this go?
And it turned five o'clock andeverything's over, right?
(04:42):
All the branches close,everything's done.
Everybody goes and scatters andgoes their own way.
And I'd spent my whole life inthe restaurant business and
things are just getting startedat that time.
And, it just, it epitomized whatI missed.
And that was that pace.
and you build throughout theday, especially in the pizza
category where I'd spent.
Up to that point, 100 percent ofmy time, you're building towards
(05:05):
that evening day part, fiveo'clock.
The day doesn't end.
It's just starting and, in abank, it's over and you're
thinking about the next day.
So that, that's really what Imiss.
It's the best way to describe itis I thought, wow, the day's
over.
what am I going to do?
Jeremy Julian (05:20):
That's hilarious.
and again, there's so manypeople that have been on the
show in the past that have saidOh, yeah, I tried this I tried
that and I just couldn't youknow, I needed to come back you
talked about coming back as thepresident and Donato's a couple
of years ago I guess towards thelatter part of the pandemic
2022, I guess maybe it was, notcompletely over.
There was still some stuffthere.
Help me understand that journeyand what brought you back, what
(05:41):
brought you back to Donatos andwhy did you think that you
wanted to be back to make adifference there with that
brand.
Kevin King (05:47):
Yeah, I think what brought me back totally is, I
wanted the opportunity to lead abrand and it was the role and
the opportunity.
but not only a brand I wanted tolead a brand that I was going to
be a hundred percent all in andbelieved, and, I've worked for
some great people and some greatbrands, and I wouldn't trade any
(06:08):
of that.
anything I did in my career foranything, I just think it was
great.
but I learned so much fromDonato's, in formative time in
my kind of management career orleadership roles.
And that was about whatprinciples and values and how
important they are to theorganization.
And so I knew the family, and soI knew where those values were
(06:30):
and I knew how much a part of itwas.
And, I could say similar thingsabout Smoothie King had a very
principled and values, mission,vision driven organization.
And I loved that, but this wasthe opportunity to lead an
organization that had samemission, vision, values that
were incredibly important to whothey are and what they do.
(06:52):
And I knew that I could, Takethose and build upon those and
have a great future.
that's really what brought meback.
It was, I wanted to be a part ofa brand that mission, vision,
and values were core to who theyare and what they were knowing
that was never going to change.
And cause then I knew I couldbuild on a solid foundation and
build and help grow the brandfor the future.
Jeremy Julian (07:14):
I'd love that.
And I'd love to dig into the, tothe, mission.
And for those that are watchingon YouTube, you'll see'em over
your shoulder.
But before we jump into that,Kevin.
For those that haven'texperienced a Donato's brand,
what sets them apart?
What makes them different than,I don't know, say I say the big
three or the big two, that areout there, the Pizza Hut,
Domino's and Papa John's of theworld that, people obviously
know because they're, they'reinternational and huge.
(07:37):
What makes Donato's differentfrom a, both a product, from a,
an experienced perspective,because I do think that goes
into what your guys brandpromises and why you guys have
such a strong brand.
steadfast mission to, to create,create joy and those kinds of
Kevin King (07:49):
Yeah, so Donato's is differentiated in really about
product quality, a step abovewhat you get from the
traditional national brands.
And Jim Grody, he startedDonato's in 1963.
he himself had only ever worked,he was a paper boy and he worked
in a pizza shop and, believe itor not.
(08:10):
His first opportunity to buy apiece of shop came to him as a
senior in high school.
and his dad said, no, you cannotdo this.
He's dad, I just need you tohelp out a little while on
Friday nights while I go playfootball.
Cause I, he was a part of thefootball team.
And he goes, then I'll comeright afterwards and I'll run
the businesses.
Dad's no, you're going to finishhigh school and you're going to
(08:32):
go to college.
And, but Jim at 19 years olddropped out of Ohio state and.
had his second opportunity tobuy a pizza company and it was
the remnants of what Donato's orit was the beginnings of what
Donato's is today, but notexactly.
And really Donato's is what JimGrody created and it's all about
(08:53):
quality and consistency.
it's the quality of theingredients.
It's about abundance and it'sabout that consistent.
product and that consistentexperience every time.
Jim knew by working with twodifferent owners in the first
place.
He was one who was all aboutconsistency and making sure the
customer got the other ownerwasn't, and he could see it.
(09:15):
Because he worked nights withboth of them, but he knew that
the nights that the one ownerworked, who was all about
quality and all aboutconsistency, kept growing and
the nights where the other ownerworked weren't kept declining.
And so as a teenager recognizedthe value and importance of
consistency.
So Donato's is.
Always thought you can't be highquality without being
(09:39):
consistent.
So we have a operating systemthat I would put up against any
operating system in the world tomake consistent product and to
make great tasting pizza.
and that's just a part of it.
It's really the combination ofthose two things, quality and
consistency.
So qualicity, it's not a word.
that's
Jeremy Julian (09:59):
I love that though.
That's a fun
Kevin King (10:00):
that, but it's like, how do we bring those two things
together so that we can delivera consistent experience for the
guest?
Because in Jim's mind is, Youcan't be high quality if it's
not the same every time.
and it's not about the pizzathat Kevin wants because Kevin
might want more pepperoni andless sauce, but it's about what
Donato stands for.
(10:21):
And that's making pizzas to ourrecipe.
So we have a whole operatingsystem built on that.
And Jim has been on a 81 yearsold.
He's still involved in thebusiness today, he, is he wakes
up every day thinking about howcan I make that Donato's
experience more consistent?
And if the equipment or thetechnology or the product wasn't
(10:45):
there to deliver on that, thenhe was going to figure out how
to do it himself.
And he's done that.
he did that when I was here inthe nineties, he did it while I
wasn't here in the two thousandsand the, and he's doing it in
the 2020s.
if the, it's all about how todeliver that experience and that
experience is built on quality,but it has to be the same every
(11:08):
time.
So that's really whatdifferentiates Donato's, and it
has differentiated Donato's fordecades, six decades, and it
will continue to as we moveforward.
Jeremy Julian (11:18):
That's a really cool story.
And I'm, I, I hope somebody iscapturing all of that stuff for
the founder, cause that'd be a,that'd be a really cool story to
put out into the world to justshare, talk about your guys
mission.
you talked about the fact thatyou came back based on your,
based on the mission of what itis.
And again, I'll read it overyour shoulder to, to promote
goodwill through products andservices.
You just talked a ton about theproduct and you talked a little
(11:39):
bit about the service,principles and people that being
your guys's mission to, topromote goodwill through
products and services,principles and people, why does
that resonate so much with youas a person, as well as how do
you see that play out in the
Kevin King (11:53):
what's fascinating to me is Jim Grody talked about
principles and values inbusiness before it was in vogue,
right?
So and he founded Donato's withthose basic principles, but
didn't necessarily have thewords to exactly.
put it all together and down onpaper.
And the heart of that, thosewords were always to promote
(12:15):
goodwill.
And there was a lot behind that.
And that is, founded in reallywhat people, what you would call
the golden rule, do unto othersthe way you want to be treated.
And so the goodwill was alwayspart of it.
And it sounds religious, butit's not, it's really about just
a base principle is treat othersthe way you want to be treated.
(12:35):
it doesn't have to be religious.
It can be religious.
if that's who you are or whatyou are, that's great.
And that's fantastic.
But who doesn't want to betreated, The way they want to be
treated, the way they, whodoesn't want to treat others the
way they don't want to, theywant to be treated themselves.
And, so it, it was all found onthat, but it is about our
product.
So we start with, we sell great,we sell pizza, we sell a ton of
(12:58):
pizza, we sell great pizza.
And, again, and when I talkabout that consistency service
and people are core to that,it's I can hand you a great
pizza.
But if I'm not treating you withrespect and dignity and saying
thank you and havinghospitality, it's not a great
experience.
(13:18):
It's not consistent, and none ofthose experiences can be
delivered without people.
So words became a part of whatit is, but it was always a part
of Donato's.
The words really came togetherin the nineties.
and then they've been thatconsistent missing mission as we
go forward.
the part I would really tell youis it never really changed.
That is who Jim was in thesixties and the seventies and
(13:41):
the eighties.
that words came together in theearly nineties.
But, and they've been a part ofwho Donato's is for the last, 30
years, but they were always partof who we were for the whole 60.
the, it, it does resonate withme.
I appreciate quality products inmy life.
I appreciate good service andnone of that is possible without
(14:02):
great people.
the people are integral toexecuting that mission.
So they gotta be inside themission.
They gotta be a part of thewords.
Jeremy Julian (14:10):
and clearly it resonated well enough with you
that you bounced back after somany years that you said, you
know what, they treated me well,they were helped me.
You talked about it being superformative, in your, professional
upbringing.
For those that again, haven'texperienced a brand, is it all
delivery, is it all dine in?
Is it, help.
Walk through a Donato'sexperience for the majority of
what it is that you guys do.
Because again, for those thateither haven't experienced it
(14:32):
or, on their rotation is not aDonato's so that they can
understand how do you guys go tomarket?
What's your primary go to marketand where do you see things
continuing to change within,within the
Kevin King (14:41):
For sure.
Donato's has always had multipleaccess points, delivery, dine
in, carry out.
we've had pickup windows sincethe early nineties.
the majority that More than halfof our restaurants have pickup
windows today.
so that's always been a part ofit.
How we really come to markettoday is that most consistent
(15:02):
customers want pizza offpremise.
so we definitely come to market.
with a pretty even mix of pickupand delivery and a small
percentage is dine in.
so we do play in all of those,characteristics, all those
access points, but it is today.
It is about how I get a greattasting, consistent product.
(15:22):
to a guest's home, whether theypick it up at our restaurant or
whether they, or whether wedeliver it to them.
So that's how Donato's comes tomarkets.
We sell mostly pizza.
We have sub salads, appetizers,wings, and other, products.
We are about the pizza that wemake and that we sell and we
have some great side items too.
(15:43):
we're a predominantly dinnerbusiness, but we are open for
lunch.
We do it every day.
We do, we do Really day parts,lunch, afternoon, dinner, and
late night.
what do people want?
People want pizza on Fridaynight.
And, this operating system isbuilt and executed about, being
able to deliver a ton of pizzaduring those peak hours on
(16:06):
Friday night.
and.
and always in an effort tounlock that bottleneck.
And, we could probably spend allday talking about how Donato's
has done that over time.
originally it was about theoperating system, how we make
pizzas.
It was about the dough systemthat we use.
We make all of our dough in acentral facility here in
(16:26):
Columbus, Ohio.
We ship it to the stores.
it's a live yeast product.
So the least the yeast is stillliving.
It is, it is flash, frozen topreserve that yeast during the
transportation.
it's proved here centrally togive it.
consistency and all of that wasabout Jim innovating and getting
that pizza more and moreconsistent to the restaurant so
(16:49):
we can deliver, we're able to beready for the rush so that we
can deliver a ton of pizza atthat peak period.
technology has always been apart of it.
In the early two thousands, Jimwanted a point of sale system
that would help deliver thatconsistency and that was about
printing out a ticket with the.
(17:10):
on the ticket.
We weigh every ingredient onthat pizza.
And so there was
Jeremy Julian (17:15):
That goes back to your consistency
Kevin King (17:17):
yeah, there was no point of sale system in 1990
that would print out our recipeon a chip or a ticket for the
store to make.
So Donato's wrote its own pointof sale software, put it out its
system.
every time you order a ticket isprinted out, the pizza is made
on a scale.
with those weights.
Exactly.
(17:38):
and why is that so complicated?
Because we do half and halves.
We do multiples.
We do all kinds of custompizzas.
We do light sauce, extra sauce,extra cheese, light cheese, no
cheese.
We make a pizza the way ourguest wants, but it has to be
the same every time.
Hey, Joe made me this greatpizza last week.
I'm hoping you can do it.
if Joe's not there, it's notgoing to be exactly the same
(18:00):
unless we do it the same.
We do it out on a, we do it on achit.
So we still have our own pointof sale system today.
It's evolved obviously a tonsince the nineties when it was
deployed.
Denados has explored multipletimes using somebody else's
point of sale system.
We've always come back to ourown.
The same is true today in an,our, in our online environment,
(18:23):
both our app, and our webordering system is proprietary
to Donato's.
We've continued to evolve it andwe'll continue to make it even
better and better every day.
Over 90 percent of our orderscome through our online engine.
whether it be a phone in througha call center or digitally
(18:44):
ordered or ordered through, thethird party platform today,
UberEats and DoorDash.
our, we've innovated along theway for a long time.
Jeremy Julian (18:52):
That's incredible.
Kevin King (18:53):
story.
Jeremy Julian (18:54):
and that was really where I was going a
little bit with it.
Kevin was just, you know what,you talked about one of your
previous employers, Domino's,like I remember talking to
somebody on the Domino's teamand they're like, we're a
technology company that sellspizza as much as they are a
pizza company that, that, thatwrites their own technology.
Cause in order to control.
Which again, goes back to thefounders controlling the
experience.
You got to control theexperience both from a, a tech
(19:16):
perspective, as well as what theproduct is that you've got in
there.
You talked about your operatingsystem quite a bit.
Where do you see the tech going?
we had a guy on the show earlierin the year, in the And 2024,
we're recording this in early2025, who's got voice ordering
coming into platforms.
Do you guys see that playing apart?
Do you guys see AI playing apart and kind of those things?
Cause you, you as now the CEOneed to decide where you're
(19:39):
investing time, money, andenergy as it relates to what
guests are looking for, becauseI think.
Guests continue to involveevolve.
They've continued to evolve thepandemic really accelerated
digital ordering.
Pizza has always been there, butdigital ordering now becomes one
of those things that whetherit's voice ordering, it's text
to order, it's using yoursmartphone or I'm not your
smartphone, but the smart AIbots that are out there, that
(20:02):
those things are continuing togo, where do you see that?
progressing for you guys as an
Kevin King (20:06):
first of all, I think the guest wants
instantaneous access to order,and so therefore it's going to
be, it has to be phone centric.
It is going to be about ourphones, but we want to be
wherever the guest wants toorder.
So we're going to be on the edgethere.
We implemented our first callcenter.
in the summer of 2022 with apartner, and we evolved that to
(20:32):
an A.
I.
Based order taking system today.
That's operator assisted A.
I.
So there's an operator thatlistens to every call.
And if the A.
I.
Stumbles, the operator steps ineso.
That's an important part ofwhere we are.
It's enabled a lot by being onthe forefront of that.
(20:52):
Is it perfect today?
Nope.
It's not perfect today.
And that's why we have anoperator assistant.
I had some, absolutes in that.
I want to be easy.
If the guest wants to talk tothe store, it's got to be easy,
for the guests to be able totalk to the store.
So that's an important part ofour.
call center system.
I've been stuck in phone treesas a guest of other brands and
(21:13):
there's nothing more frustratedthan, and you wind up yelling
into the phone operator,representative, whatever you
want me to call it.
And I didn't want that a part ofour experience.
So it had to be easy to get tothe restaurant and we'll
continue to do that.
so we leaned in heavily.
on call center in 2022.
and follow that right up with aI, and think that is the future
(21:36):
of phone orders.
As long as guests want to orderon the phone, we want that
option available for him, andwe'll continue to do that.
And then the rest of our, onlineplatform, yes, AI is ultimately
going to be a big part of it bysuggesting what the guest wants,
based upon their order history,based on whom they are based on
time of day, a week, whatever itis.
(21:56):
and we want to continue to makesure that's easy for them.
And then the A.
I.
On the backside is how do wereach the guest?
So loyalty mining the data thatwe have, and it is a great thing
to be in the pizza businessbecause we do.
Customers are predisposed togiving us their address, giving
us their phone number.
(22:17):
and so that we can track theirorder history and know who they
are when they order how theyorder.
And we gotta make it sure.
So technology is this category,this segment of the restaurant
category is on the forefront oftechnology.
Domino's has certainly done afantastic job of leading the way
there.
and we are going to continue tobe a part of that as well.
(22:38):
And where we can innovate, we'llinnovate where we can.
by technology that's already outthere and use it in outside our
system will be a part of that aswell.
So we don't have to build it.
I'm certainly not a person whosays, Oh, we have to build
everything that we use, we'lluse other pieces of technology
for sure.
but if we need it and it doesn'texist, we're going to go out
(23:00):
there and we're going to get itdone.
that, that's my philosophy.
technology is going to be amassive part of our category
going forward.
There's still a lot that can beautomated in the back of the
house technologically.
There still can be a ton,automated in the back of the
house with machinery that canmake the product more
consistent.
And the way I talk about that inour internally is if we can
(23:23):
eliminate repetitive tasks doneby associates, we'll do that
with technology, with equipment,with automation, so that we can
focus, Associates that we haveto maximize that experience with
the guests that they have.
And that's what we want to do.
I'm actually reading a bookright now, called zero to one
(23:46):
zero to one by Peter Thiel.
And he talks, this book waswritten in 2014, but he talks
about a I is not to replacehumans.
A I is to enhance what the humancan do in the experience with
their guests.
And that really super resonatedwith me.
It actually it captured what Ibelieve I didn't have the words.
(24:07):
So he obviously had more time tothink about the words.
And obviously he's a technicaltechnology innovator and been a
part of some huge technologycompanies.
But that's what was is going tohappen with AI for Donato's is
we're going to utilizeautomation.
in order to maximize thebenefits that humans can provide
to other humans, it's not toreplace humans.
(24:29):
It's not, yeah, we put a hundredpieces of pepperoni on a pizza.
That is not, it's not super fun.
Jeremy Julian (24:37):
Yeah.
And it's hard to find peoplenowadays that want to put 100
pieces of pepperoni on a pizzalike you and I might have when
we were teenagers.
it's tough.
I've got three teenagers livingwith me and they don't want to
go into the kitchen and go, godo that if they can help it.
They're fine with a robot doingit and being able to stand in
the front of the house and talkto a
Kevin King (24:54):
Yeah.
And we're working right now on afully automated kitchen that
we're going to install in theColumbus airport early here in
2025 with a company calledAppetronics.
so we're excited about that.
It's not going to replace humanstotally in our world because
there's going to be a ton ofhuman interaction between, the
guests and, what we do from anautomation perspective, but
(25:16):
automation is a huge part of ourfuture automation, innovation,
and technology.
Those three words are, I thinkthey fall under the word
innovation.
So we're going to be innovativeand we can be innovative.
On automation, we can beinnovative on technology and we
can be innovative on flavorsand, innovative on our menu and
making sure our menu is foodforward and, nutrition forward
(25:38):
as we continue to go forward.
So all those are part ofinnovation in my mind.
Jeremy Julian (25:43):
Hey, I appreciate you, you going so deep into
that, Kevin.
That's, that was great.
one of the things that, I know alot of listeners that are
restaurant people are superjealous about is the fact that
90 percent of your orders aredigital.
So you know who your guests are.
So many of those people arestruggling to figure out how do
I identify who's coming into mybrand day in and day out, and
it's, you pegged it perfectly.
For those that are naysayers, asit relates to voice AI, can you
(26:06):
give them just a little bit of.
A little bit of color on why youthought voice AI was something
that you guys could go dobecause Every time I bring it up
with brands, they go no way Idon't want to be stuck in the
you know in the tree And quitefrankly the more I start to play
with the technology the more i'mblown away With how much more
efficient it is than getting puton hold or sitting and
(26:27):
listening.
Hang on hold Please you get onhold and now you're you know i'm
calling to place an order whilei'm driving home from work and I
could have literally just driventhere and gotten to the point
Yes,
Kevin King (26:46):
with, you said you have teenagers at home, I think
you said three.
they don't want to talk on thephone.
do they ever want to learn howto answer the phone?
The answer is no.
And, I'm, I was all in on itbecause I know that the next
generation does not want to talkon the phone.
And so we rely on those peopleto be in our restaurants and,
(27:11):
frankly, they don't want to.
And it's a horrible place totake a phone call inside a pizza
restaurant.
We have a lot of things goingon.
We got a lot of things dingingand buzzing, and we've got a, a
really loud oven and, Hoods andall these, and then you're
asking somebody who doesn't wantto be on the phone to take an
(27:32):
order on the phone.
So that, that led me right tolet's see how we can get this
done professionally and thenright into AI and, AI done well.
Is great.
And I, I definitely agree withthe naysayers saying I don't
want to be stuck in a phonetree.
And that's why we leaned in witha I with operator assisted.
So as long as the A.
(27:52):
I.
Is learning, which is what it'sdoing right now.
And if I didn't see it learning,I'd say we're gonna have
operator assisted forever.
but I don't think we willbecause I don't think it's
necessary because the A.
I.
Is getting better and betterevery day.
We started with a pilot.
Of AI in December of 2022.
(28:15):
we rolled it out to 51 companyrestaurants in July of, no, we
started with ai, in December of23.
Rolled it out to companyrestaurants in the summer of 24
and then to our franchiserestaurants.
So I could see it learning.
I could see it getting better.
we get great feedback on the AIand you know what the number one
(28:36):
complaint on our AI is?
When the operator transferred meto the restaurant didn't answer
the phone.
that tells me we're on the rightpath and we're on the right
direction.
And you just got to make sureyou have those safeguards in
there that when the customer isgetting frustrated, that there's
a way for them to escape.
And for us right now, that'soperator assisted.
There's a person listening inonto that call and they're going
(28:58):
to transfer them to therestaurant right away.
Cause I don't want thatfrustration, but the technology
is improving so fast.
And, we don't have, generationthat wants to talk on the phone.
So if the computer can do it andlearn and grow and experience
it, then I'm going to lean inand I'm going to go that
direction.
So
Jeremy Julian (29:17):
Yeah, again, I'm in that same ilk, or I was in
that same ilk of, I don't wantto get stuck, when you call
American Express or you call,Delta Airlines, like you get
stuck in these phone trees fromtime to time.
but for me, the efficiency ofbeing able to do that.
And to your point, the techcontinues to grow and, I'm
pretty blown away with whereit's at and where it's going.
Cause I do think it'll be thefuture.
And it's amazing how muchfaster, even, I used, I use even
(29:39):
voice prompts within my own.
my own workflow, how much fasterI can get things done.
If I just say, Hey, I need topick up a pepperoni pizza on my
way home versus having to pullmy phone out of my pocket and go
to the app, which can be superefficient, but at the same time,
I love the fact that I can doit.
And more and more brands aregetting there because to your
point, if I call the restaurantand they're not answering it,
you lost that order.
(29:59):
sometimes you lose that customerfor that meal period.
Kevin, we're going to flip realquick.
You talked about your franchisegroups as you're talking about
rolling these things out.
how big is the brand whatpercentage of its franchise what
percentage of its corporate?
How do people engage if I'm now,you know get done listen to this
interview and I go Donato's I'vealways wanted to own a pizza
place.
Help me understand what thatlooks like for those that are
Kevin King (30:22):
Yeah.
So today, Donato's is about 180traditional restaurants which
makes, we own about a third ofthe restaurants.
We have 51 company stores.
we are an owner of the business.
we operate the business and notjust operate the franchise,
which is something that we'vethat I always look for.
I think franchisors alwaysshould continue to operate some
(30:42):
restaurants.
They don't have to operate allof them.
but we are.
So we are an operator.
We are a franchisor.
we're also, today.
We're in 280 Red Robinrestaurants across the country.
Eso we have a partnership withRed Robin.
It's branded Donato's on theirmenu.
They're a fantastic operator.
They do a great job.
We'll continue to grow thatpartnership over the next
(31:03):
several years.
Eso Donato's is now coast tocoast.
We're in Washington, California,in Red Robin.
We're in a bunch of states withRed Robin across the country,
even in the East.
but our traditional restaurantsright now are in the Midwest and
Southeast.
we just opened in Dallas, so ifyou're in Frisco or Flower
Mound, we have two restaurantsin Dallas.
(31:25):
As of, we opened in November.
brand new in the Dallas area andwe have restaurants in Oklahoma.
we're continuing to grow andexpand.
It's a fantastic franchise.
to me, the greatest thing abouta franchise is it starts with
the operating system.
It's gotta be replicable.
It's gotta be easy to execute.
It's gotta be values driven andvalues based.
(31:45):
So there's gotta be a purposebehind why the, company.
And I think from, operatingsystem from mission, vision and
values.
And then the third is just thebox economics have to work.
if you have those threeelements, you've got something
that, that is, franchisable andyou can really grow.
and so all those incrediblyimportant, as somebody looks at
(32:05):
franchising and growth, we are.
definitely leaning intechnologically, automation,
even in on menu and food, thefuture of food.
And we're going to talk a lotabout more about that as the
next number of years come, theautomation and where food is
going, where it comes from,what's in it.
It not only has to look greatand taste great, but there needs
(32:28):
to be, some foundation in theretoo.
So nutrition is going to be ahuge part of our future and,
excited about where Donato's cango.
Jeremy Julian (32:37):
one last question before we, we point, listeners
to where they can learn more,but, you talked about non
traditional, you talked aboutgoing to the airport.
Is that some other area you guysare looking to grow or is it,
cause you do have theseoperators from time to time that
are like, Hey, I don't have youknow, it's too expensive to get
into a strip mall It's tooexpensive to get into some of
these, traditional because i'mfighting with some of these
other bigger brands But arethere other non traditional
(32:58):
whether that be cafeteria style,other
Kevin King (33:00):
we think other venues are a huge opportunity
for Donato's to supplement ourtraditional restaurants.
and we see those, our vision isfully automated and semi
automated.
Yeah.
the fully automated is whatwe're going to do in early 25
here in the Columbus airport.
Can't wait to see it.
It's going to be leading edge.
I think you'll be able to hear,read and see all about it.
(33:22):
and, maybe a reason for you to,come back to Columbus, but,
that, but also I think semiautomated.
There's so much that we can dowith automating certain parts of
it that make it really work in anon traditional environment,
whether that's universities,small spaces.
All of these, the fullyautomated and the semi
(33:42):
automated, are going to need tobe supplied by a restaurant
because no matter what it is,there's restocking, there's
cleaning, there's, so I thinkthat even creates a franchise
opportunity unmatched out thereso that I can have a traditional
restaurant.
and then I can have a couplesemi automated or fully
automated, kitchens that Isupplement with it.
(34:04):
that, that's a huge part of ourvision going forward is we think
that there's this real bigopportunity for semi automated
and fully automated kitchens.
And, that Donato's can play akey role.
Those.
Fully or semi automated kitchenscould be fulfilled by, third
party Uber Eats of DoorDash orour own drivers.
so there's a lot of things.
(34:25):
We're looking at, drone deliveryas well.
And what does that look like inthe future?
it's just, those aren't our coreright now.
our core is our traditionalrestaurants and, but we're
definitely seeing a future thatfully automated, semi automated
could play in.
Jeremy Julian (34:42):
and even your comments earlier about your
partnership with red robin,that's non traditional
Obviously, you've got a burgerconcept and you guys got pizza
inside of the burger concept SoI love I love how innovative and
how much I guess you guysbelieve in the brand promise to
get the right product out to thepeople.
for people that want to learnmore, is it, Donato's dot com.
tell them where
Kevin King (34:59):
Yeah, it's an honest dot com from a guest perspective
for sure that we lead with that.
As we mentioned, 90 percent ofpeople go through our digital
engine.
So it's an honest dot com.
there's franchise informationavailable there too.
and, if you want to explorefurther, the fully automated,
Or, semi automated kitchens withus.
there's contact information thatyou can get off our website.
Donatos.
com is a great place.
(35:19):
Great place to order.
Today's Friday night.
It's the middle of winter.
Big snowstorm coming for a bigpart of the country.
great time to, hunker down,watch some playoff football,
and, get some great pizza.
Jeremy Julian (35:31):
love it.
love it.
I'll have to, flower amounts,probably the closest store to
me.
So I'll have to go, go figureout how to check that store out
and, And get some pizza,
Kevin King (35:37):
Awesome.
Jeremy Julian (35:38):
Kevin, thank you so much for, for joining us.
Yeah, I'll, I'll have to take aselfie with, with the pizza and
send it your
Kevin King (35:43):
can't wait to see it.
Thank you.
Jeremy Julian (35:44):
I love that.
I appreciate you coming andsharing the story.
congratulations on all of thecontinued success to our
listeners, guys.
Like I said, at the onset, Iknow you guys got lots of
choices, so thank you guys forhanging out.
If you haven't alreadysubscribed, please do so on your
medium, player of choice.
Kevin, thank you so much.
And to our listeners, make it agreat day.
Thanks for listening to theRestaurant Technology Guys
(36:05):
podcast.
Visit www.
RestaurantTechnologyGuys.
com for tips, industry insights,and more to help you run your
restaurant better.
This is the RestaurantTechnology Guys podcast, helping
you run your restaurant better.
Jeremy Julian (00:11):
In today's episode, we are joined by the
CEO of Denatos pizza.
Which is a over 60 year oldbrand, out of the Columbus, Ohio
area.
They have a very unique valueproposition as it relates to
opening restaurants and thethings that they do, Kevin.
And I talk a lot about how theyuse their operating system, why
(00:31):
he came back to the brand afterbeing gone for a number of
years, as well as how theyutilize technology to
differentiate themselves againstsome of the bigger brands that
are out there.
Please join us in listening toKevin's story and all the
amazing things that he and histeam continued to do since she's
been back in 2022.
if you don't know me, my name isJeremy Julian.
(00:51):
I am the chief revenue officerfor CBS north star.
We developed the north starpoint of sale solution for
multi-units.
Please check uswww.Cbsnorthstar.com and now
onto the show.
Welcome back to the restauranttechnology guys podcast.
I thank everyone out there forjoining us as I say each and
every time I know you guys gotlots of choices.
So thanks you guys for hangingout with us today.
(01:13):
We are joined by a Newly mintedI think ceo and it's been a
couple of just a couple monthsBut i'm gonna let kevin talk a
little bit about kind of hiswork history where he's been And
then really we'll get tohighlight the brand that he's
getting to To spearhead rightnow at Donato's.
But Kevin, why don't youintroduce yourself to our
audience?
For those that don't know whoyou are, where's the work
background and some of the, someof that history, because I think
(01:34):
it'll go into, what you guys aretrying to do at Donato's now
going
Kevin King (01:37):
Jeremy, thank you for having me on today.
I really appreciate it.
Uh, again, uh, CEO of Donato'sPizza, Columbus, Ohio based
chain.
I've had the privilege of beinghere.
Uh, I'll explain that I guess ina little bit, but, I started my
restaurant career in a littleneighborhood pizza place, worked
there through high school andcollege and went to work for,
(01:58):
Domino's pizza out of college.
great time for them.
it was in the late eighties.
And a time of rapid growth.
I got to do a lot of greatthings as a really young guy.
came to Donato's in 1990, spent13 years here through, 2003.
Donato's went from really aColumbus, Ohio pizza chain, To a
pretty national presence becauseit was acquired by McDonald's in
(02:22):
1999.
I left in 2003, and, spent acouple of years in the banking
business, realized I reallymissed the pace and, people of
the restaurant industry wentback, went to Papa Murphy's in
Portland, Oregon.
was a part of that brand forover 10 years.
was a part of building about athousand restaurants, during
that time.
And 20, 16 I went to SmoothieKing.
(02:46):
had a great time there.
great, fantastic brand.
A part of, some transformationalgrowth there too.
And in 2022, came back toDonatos.
as the president and then theCEO in October of this year.
So excited about what the futureholds, but a lot of great, times
and some great brands I was withthroughout my career.
Jeremy Julian (03:07):
I love that.
And I say it often from thosepeople that bounce back.
it's amazing how many people getstarted in the restaurant
industry and they'll trysomething else and then come
back to it.
Any specifics as to why.
You came back, Kevin, other thanthe pace, you alluded to it.
But I, I teased that, I couldprobably be a multimillionaire
if I created some kind oftherapy session for X restaurant
tours that try and get out andcan't figure out how to get out,
(03:28):
type of thing, cause it is, it'spretty addicting and a pretty
amazing, amazing industry that'sgiven so much to so many people.
Kevin King (03:34):
Yeah, I think, when I left in 2003, I left in autos
and I, and just thinking aboutwhat I wanted to do in my
career.
I was, in my late thirties, but,I'd only ever worked in a
restaurant.
I'd never done anythingdifferent.
And I'm, I was like, what elseis out there?
And I went to work for, forChase.
And, it was relevant because Iwent to work for the retail
(03:56):
bank.
on the store development or thebranch development side.
So it was really relevantexperience.
It sounds like it was totallyoff base.
and what I would say is I metsome fantastic people and I work
with some really smart people,but the pace in a bank is so
different than the pace in therestaurant business.
(04:17):
And, And just being a part ofand, experiencing the people and
the customers and the guests andeverything that we do in the
restaurant business.
I did.
I missed.
I missed that.
And I sum it up with, I was on atrip to Detroit.
and we were, Looking at bankbranches and where should we
grow and how should this go?
And it turned five o'clock andeverything's over, right?
(04:42):
All the branches close,everything's done.
Everybody goes and scatters andgoes their own way.
And I'd spent my whole life inthe restaurant business and
things are just getting startedat that time.
And, it just, it epitomized whatI missed.
And that was that pace.
and you build throughout theday, especially in the pizza
category where I'd spent.
Up to that point, 100 percent ofmy time, you're building towards
(05:05):
that evening day part, fiveo'clock.
The day doesn't end.
It's just starting and, in abank, it's over and you're
thinking about the next day.
So that, that's really what Imiss.
It's the best way to describe itis I thought, wow, the day's
over.
what am I going to do?
Jeremy Julian (05:20):
That's hilarious.
and again, there's so manypeople that have been on the
show in the past that have saidOh, yeah, I tried this I tried
that and I just couldn't youknow, I needed to come back you
talked about coming back as thepresident and Donato's a couple
of years ago I guess towards thelatter part of the pandemic
2022, I guess maybe it was, notcompletely over.
There was still some stuffthere.
Help me understand that journeyand what brought you back, what
(05:41):
brought you back to Donatos andwhy did you think that you
wanted to be back to make adifference there with that
brand.
Kevin King (05:47):
Yeah, I think what brought me back totally is, I
wanted the opportunity to lead abrand and it was the role and
the opportunity.
but not only a brand I wanted tolead a brand that I was going to
be a hundred percent all in andbelieved, and, I've worked for
some great people and some greatbrands, and I wouldn't trade any
(06:08):
of that.
anything I did in my career foranything, I just think it was
great.
but I learned so much fromDonato's, in formative time in
my kind of management career orleadership roles.
And that was about whatprinciples and values and how
important they are to theorganization.
And so I knew the family, and soI knew where those values were
(06:30):
and I knew how much a part of itwas.
And, I could say similar thingsabout Smoothie King had a very
principled and values, mission,vision driven organization.
And I loved that, but this wasthe opportunity to lead an
organization that had samemission, vision, values that
were incredibly important to whothey are and what they do.
(06:52):
And I knew that I could, Takethose and build upon those and
have a great future.
that's really what brought meback.
It was, I wanted to be a part ofa brand that mission, vision,
and values were core to who theyare and what they were knowing
that was never going to change.
And cause then I knew I couldbuild on a solid foundation and
build and help grow the brandfor the future.
Jeremy Julian (07:14):
I'd love that.
And I'd love to dig into the, tothe, mission.
And for those that are watchingon YouTube, you'll see'em over
your shoulder.
But before we jump into that,Kevin.
For those that haven'texperienced a Donato's brand,
what sets them apart?
What makes them different than,I don't know, say I say the big
three or the big two, that areout there, the Pizza Hut,
Domino's and Papa John's of theworld that, people obviously
know because they're, they'reinternational and huge.
(07:37):
What makes Donato's differentfrom a, both a product, from a,
an experienced perspective,because I do think that goes
into what your guys brandpromises and why you guys have
such a strong brand.
steadfast mission to, to create,create joy and those kinds of
Kevin King (07:49):
Yeah, so Donato's is differentiated in really about
product quality, a step abovewhat you get from the
traditional national brands.
And Jim Grody, he startedDonato's in 1963.
he himself had only ever worked,he was a paper boy and he worked
in a pizza shop and, believe itor not.
(08:10):
His first opportunity to buy apiece of shop came to him as a
senior in high school.
and his dad said, no, you cannotdo this.
He's dad, I just need you tohelp out a little while on
Friday nights while I go playfootball.
Cause I, he was a part of thefootball team.
And he goes, then I'll comeright afterwards and I'll run
the businesses.
Dad's no, you're going to finishhigh school and you're going to
(08:32):
go to college.
And, but Jim at 19 years olddropped out of Ohio state and.
had his second opportunity tobuy a pizza company and it was
the remnants of what Donato's orit was the beginnings of what
Donato's is today, but notexactly.
And really Donato's is what JimGrody created and it's all about
(08:53):
quality and consistency.
it's the quality of theingredients.
It's about abundance and it'sabout that consistent.
product and that consistentexperience every time.
Jim knew by working with twodifferent owners in the first
place.
He was one who was all aboutconsistency and making sure the
customer got the other ownerwasn't, and he could see it.
(09:15):
Because he worked nights withboth of them, but he knew that
the nights that the one ownerworked, who was all about
quality and all aboutconsistency, kept growing and
the nights where the other ownerworked weren't kept declining.
And so as a teenager recognizedthe value and importance of
consistency.
So Donato's is.
Always thought you can't be highquality without being
(09:39):
consistent.
So we have a operating systemthat I would put up against any
operating system in the world tomake consistent product and to
make great tasting pizza.
and that's just a part of it.
It's really the combination ofthose two things, quality and
consistency.
So qualicity, it's not a word.
that's
Jeremy Julian (09:59):
I love that though.
That's a fun
Kevin King (10:00):
that, but it's like, how do we bring those two things
together so that we can delivera consistent experience for the
guest?
Because in Jim's mind is, Youcan't be high quality if it's
not the same every time.
and it's not about the pizzathat Kevin wants because Kevin
might want more pepperoni andless sauce, but it's about what
Donato stands for.
(10:21):
And that's making pizzas to ourrecipe.
So we have a whole operatingsystem built on that.
And Jim has been on a 81 yearsold.
He's still involved in thebusiness today, he, is he wakes
up every day thinking about howcan I make that Donato's
experience more consistent?
And if the equipment or thetechnology or the product wasn't
(10:45):
there to deliver on that, thenhe was going to figure out how
to do it himself.
And he's done that.
he did that when I was here inthe nineties, he did it while I
wasn't here in the two thousandsand the, and he's doing it in
the 2020s.
if the, it's all about how todeliver that experience and that
experience is built on quality,but it has to be the same every
(11:08):
time.
So that's really whatdifferentiates Donato's, and it
has differentiated Donato's fordecades, six decades, and it
will continue to as we moveforward.
Jeremy Julian (11:18):
That's a really cool story.
And I'm, I, I hope somebody iscapturing all of that stuff for
the founder, cause that'd be a,that'd be a really cool story to
put out into the world to justshare, talk about your guys
mission.
you talked about the fact thatyou came back based on your,
based on the mission of what itis.
And again, I'll read it overyour shoulder to, to promote
goodwill through products andservices.
You just talked a ton about theproduct and you talked a little
(11:39):
bit about the service,principles and people that being
your guys's mission to, topromote goodwill through
products and services,principles and people, why does
that resonate so much with youas a person, as well as how do
you see that play out in the
Kevin King (11:53):
what's fascinating to me is Jim Grody talked about
principles and values inbusiness before it was in vogue,
right?
So and he founded Donato's withthose basic principles, but
didn't necessarily have thewords to exactly.
put it all together and down onpaper.
And the heart of that, thosewords were always to promote
(12:15):
goodwill.
And there was a lot behind that.
And that is, founded in reallywhat people, what you would call
the golden rule, do unto othersthe way you want to be treated.
And so the goodwill was alwayspart of it.
And it sounds religious, butit's not, it's really about just
a base principle is treat othersthe way you want to be treated.
(12:35):
it doesn't have to be religious.
It can be religious.
if that's who you are or whatyou are, that's great.
And that's fantastic.
But who doesn't want to betreated, The way they want to be
treated, the way they, whodoesn't want to treat others the
way they don't want to, theywant to be treated themselves.
And, so it, it was all found onthat, but it is about our
product.
So we start with, we sell great,we sell pizza, we sell a ton of
(12:58):
pizza, we sell great pizza.
And, again, and when I talkabout that consistency service
and people are core to that,it's I can hand you a great
pizza.
But if I'm not treating you withrespect and dignity and saying
thank you and havinghospitality, it's not a great
experience.
(13:18):
It's not consistent, and none ofthose experiences can be
delivered without people.
So words became a part of whatit is, but it was always a part
of Donato's.
The words really came togetherin the nineties.
and then they've been thatconsistent missing mission as we
go forward.
the part I would really tell youis it never really changed.
That is who Jim was in thesixties and the seventies and
(13:41):
the eighties.
that words came together in theearly nineties.
But, and they've been a part ofwho Donato's is for the last, 30
years, but they were always partof who we were for the whole 60.
the, it, it does resonate withme.
I appreciate quality products inmy life.
I appreciate good service andnone of that is possible without
(14:02):
great people.
the people are integral toexecuting that mission.
So they gotta be inside themission.
They gotta be a part of thewords.
Jeremy Julian (14:10):
and clearly it resonated well enough with you
that you bounced back after somany years that you said, you
know what, they treated me well,they were helped me.
You talked about it being superformative, in your, professional
upbringing.
For those that again, haven'texperienced a brand, is it all
delivery, is it all dine in?
Is it, help.
Walk through a Donato'sexperience for the majority of
what it is that you guys do.
Because again, for those thateither haven't experienced it
(14:32):
or, on their rotation is not aDonato's so that they can
understand how do you guys go tomarket?
What's your primary go to marketand where do you see things
continuing to change within,within the
Kevin King (14:41):
For sure.
Donato's has always had multipleaccess points, delivery, dine
in, carry out.
we've had pickup windows sincethe early nineties.
the majority that More than halfof our restaurants have pickup
windows today.
so that's always been a part ofit.
How we really come to markettoday is that most consistent
(15:02):
customers want pizza offpremise.
so we definitely come to market.
with a pretty even mix of pickupand delivery and a small
percentage is dine in.
so we do play in all of those,characteristics, all those
access points, but it is today.
It is about how I get a greattasting, consistent product.
(15:22):
to a guest's home, whether theypick it up at our restaurant or
whether they, or whether wedeliver it to them.
So that's how Donato's comes tomarkets.
We sell mostly pizza.
We have sub salads, appetizers,wings, and other, products.
We are about the pizza that wemake and that we sell and we
have some great side items too.
(15:43):
we're a predominantly dinnerbusiness, but we are open for
lunch.
We do it every day.
We do, we do Really day parts,lunch, afternoon, dinner, and
late night.
what do people want?
People want pizza on Fridaynight.
And, this operating system isbuilt and executed about, being
able to deliver a ton of pizzaduring those peak hours on
(16:06):
Friday night.
and.
and always in an effort tounlock that bottleneck.
And, we could probably spend allday talking about how Donato's
has done that over time.
originally it was about theoperating system, how we make
pizzas.
It was about the dough systemthat we use.
We make all of our dough in acentral facility here in
(16:26):
Columbus, Ohio.
We ship it to the stores.
it's a live yeast product.
So the least the yeast is stillliving.
It is, it is flash, frozen topreserve that yeast during the
transportation.
it's proved here centrally togive it.
consistency and all of that wasabout Jim innovating and getting
that pizza more and moreconsistent to the restaurant so
(16:49):
we can deliver, we're able to beready for the rush so that we
can deliver a ton of pizza atthat peak period.
technology has always been apart of it.
In the early two thousands, Jimwanted a point of sale system
that would help deliver thatconsistency and that was about
printing out a ticket with the.
(17:10):
on the ticket.
We weigh every ingredient onthat pizza.
And so there was
Jeremy Julian (17:15):
That goes back to your consistency
Kevin King (17:17):
yeah, there was no point of sale system in 1990
that would print out our recipeon a chip or a ticket for the
store to make.
So Donato's wrote its own pointof sale software, put it out its
system.
every time you order a ticket isprinted out, the pizza is made
on a scale.
with those weights.
Exactly.
(17:38):
and why is that so complicated?
Because we do half and halves.
We do multiples.
We do all kinds of custompizzas.
We do light sauce, extra sauce,extra cheese, light cheese, no
cheese.
We make a pizza the way ourguest wants, but it has to be
the same every time.
Hey, Joe made me this greatpizza last week.
I'm hoping you can do it.
if Joe's not there, it's notgoing to be exactly the same
(18:00):
unless we do it the same.
We do it out on a, we do it on achit.
So we still have our own pointof sale system today.
It's evolved obviously a tonsince the nineties when it was
deployed.
Denados has explored multipletimes using somebody else's
point of sale system.
We've always come back to ourown.
The same is true today in an,our, in our online environment,
(18:23):
both our app, and our webordering system is proprietary
to Donato's.
We've continued to evolve it andwe'll continue to make it even
better and better every day.
Over 90 percent of our orderscome through our online engine.
whether it be a phone in througha call center or digitally
(18:44):
ordered or ordered through, thethird party platform today,
UberEats and DoorDash.
our, we've innovated along theway for a long time.
Jeremy Julian (18:52):
That's incredible.
Kevin King (18:53):
story.
Jeremy Julian (18:54):
and that was really where I was going a
little bit with it.
Kevin was just, you know what,you talked about one of your
previous employers, Domino's,like I remember talking to
somebody on the Domino's teamand they're like, we're a
technology company that sellspizza as much as they are a
pizza company that, that, thatwrites their own technology.
Cause in order to control.
Which again, goes back to thefounders controlling the
experience.
You got to control theexperience both from a, a tech
(19:16):
perspective, as well as what theproduct is that you've got in
there.
You talked about your operatingsystem quite a bit.
Where do you see the tech going?
we had a guy on the show earlierin the year, in the And 2024,
we're recording this in early2025, who's got voice ordering
coming into platforms.
Do you guys see that playing apart?
Do you guys see AI playing apart and kind of those things?
Cause you, you as now the CEOneed to decide where you're
(19:39):
investing time, money, andenergy as it relates to what
guests are looking for, becauseI think.
Guests continue to involveevolve.
They've continued to evolve thepandemic really accelerated
digital ordering.
Pizza has always been there, butdigital ordering now becomes one
of those things that whetherit's voice ordering, it's text
to order, it's using yoursmartphone or I'm not your
smartphone, but the smart AIbots that are out there, that
(20:02):
those things are continuing togo, where do you see that?
progressing for you guys as an
Kevin King (20:06):
first of all, I think the guest wants
instantaneous access to order,and so therefore it's going to
be, it has to be phone centric.
It is going to be about ourphones, but we want to be
wherever the guest wants toorder.
So we're going to be on the edgethere.
We implemented our first callcenter.
in the summer of 2022 with apartner, and we evolved that to
(20:32):
an A.
I.
Based order taking system today.
That's operator assisted A.
I.
So there's an operator thatlistens to every call.
And if the A.
I.
Stumbles, the operator steps ineso.
That's an important part ofwhere we are.
It's enabled a lot by being onthe forefront of that.
(20:52):
Is it perfect today?
Nope.
It's not perfect today.
And that's why we have anoperator assistant.
I had some, absolutes in that.
I want to be easy.
If the guest wants to talk tothe store, it's got to be easy,
for the guests to be able totalk to the store.
So that's an important part ofour.
call center system.
I've been stuck in phone treesas a guest of other brands and
(21:13):
there's nothing more frustratedthan, and you wind up yelling
into the phone operator,representative, whatever you
want me to call it.
And I didn't want that a part ofour experience.
So it had to be easy to get tothe restaurant and we'll
continue to do that.
so we leaned in heavily.
on call center in 2022.
and follow that right up with aI, and think that is the future
(21:36):
of phone orders.
As long as guests want to orderon the phone, we want that
option available for him, andwe'll continue to do that.
And then the rest of our, onlineplatform, yes, AI is ultimately
going to be a big part of it bysuggesting what the guest wants,
based upon their order history,based on whom they are based on
time of day, a week, whatever itis.
(21:56):
and we want to continue to makesure that's easy for them.
And then the A.
I.
On the backside is how do wereach the guest?
So loyalty mining the data thatwe have, and it is a great thing
to be in the pizza businessbecause we do.
Customers are predisposed togiving us their address, giving
us their phone number.
(22:17):
and so that we can track theirorder history and know who they
are when they order how theyorder.
And we gotta make it sure.
So technology is this category,this segment of the restaurant
category is on the forefront oftechnology.
Domino's has certainly done afantastic job of leading the way
there.
and we are going to continue tobe a part of that as well.
(22:38):
And where we can innovate, we'llinnovate where we can.
by technology that's already outthere and use it in outside our
system will be a part of that aswell.
So we don't have to build it.
I'm certainly not a person whosays, Oh, we have to build
everything that we use, we'lluse other pieces of technology
for sure.
but if we need it and it doesn'texist, we're going to go out
(23:00):
there and we're going to get itdone.
that, that's my philosophy.
technology is going to be amassive part of our category
going forward.
There's still a lot that can beautomated in the back of the
house technologically.
There still can be a ton,automated in the back of the
house with machinery that canmake the product more
consistent.
And the way I talk about that inour internally is if we can
(23:23):
eliminate repetitive tasks doneby associates, we'll do that
with technology, with equipment,with automation, so that we can
focus, Associates that we haveto maximize that experience with
the guests that they have.
And that's what we want to do.
I'm actually reading a bookright now, called zero to one
(23:46):
zero to one by Peter Thiel.
And he talks, this book waswritten in 2014, but he talks
about a I is not to replacehumans.
A I is to enhance what the humancan do in the experience with
their guests.
And that really super resonatedwith me.
It actually it captured what Ibelieve I didn't have the words.
(24:07):
So he obviously had more time tothink about the words.
And obviously he's a technicaltechnology innovator and been a
part of some huge technologycompanies.
But that's what was is going tohappen with AI for Donato's is
we're going to utilizeautomation.
in order to maximize thebenefits that humans can provide
to other humans, it's not toreplace humans.
(24:29):
It's not, yeah, we put a hundredpieces of pepperoni on a pizza.
That is not, it's not super fun.
Jeremy Julian (24:37):
Yeah.
And it's hard to find peoplenowadays that want to put 100
pieces of pepperoni on a pizzalike you and I might have when
we were teenagers.
it's tough.
I've got three teenagers livingwith me and they don't want to
go into the kitchen and go, godo that if they can help it.
They're fine with a robot doingit and being able to stand in
the front of the house and talkto a
Kevin King (24:54):
Yeah.
And we're working right now on afully automated kitchen that
we're going to install in theColumbus airport early here in
2025 with a company calledAppetronics.
so we're excited about that.
It's not going to replace humanstotally in our world because
there's going to be a ton ofhuman interaction between, the
guests and, what we do from anautomation perspective, but
(25:16):
automation is a huge part of ourfuture automation, innovation,
and technology.
Those three words are, I thinkthey fall under the word
innovation.
So we're going to be innovativeand we can be innovative.
On automation, we can beinnovative on technology and we
can be innovative on flavorsand, innovative on our menu and
making sure our menu is foodforward and, nutrition forward
(25:38):
as we continue to go forward.
So all those are part ofinnovation in my mind.
Jeremy Julian (25:43):
Hey, I appreciate you, you going so deep into
that, Kevin.
That's, that was great.
one of the things that, I know alot of listeners that are
restaurant people are superjealous about is the fact that
90 percent of your orders aredigital.
So you know who your guests are.
So many of those people arestruggling to figure out how do
I identify who's coming into mybrand day in and day out, and
it's, you pegged it perfectly.
For those that are naysayers, asit relates to voice AI, can you
(26:06):
give them just a little bit of.
A little bit of color on why youthought voice AI was something
that you guys could go dobecause Every time I bring it up
with brands, they go no way Idon't want to be stuck in the
you know in the tree And quitefrankly the more I start to play
with the technology the more i'mblown away With how much more
efficient it is than getting puton hold or sitting and
(26:27):
listening.
Hang on hold Please you get onhold and now you're you know i'm
calling to place an order whilei'm driving home from work and I
could have literally just driventhere and gotten to the point
Yes,
Kevin King (26:46):
with, you said you have teenagers at home, I think
you said three.
they don't want to talk on thephone.
do they ever want to learn howto answer the phone?
The answer is no.
And, I'm, I was all in on itbecause I know that the next
generation does not want to talkon the phone.
And so we rely on those peopleto be in our restaurants and,
(27:11):
frankly, they don't want to.
And it's a horrible place totake a phone call inside a pizza
restaurant.
We have a lot of things goingon.
We got a lot of things dingingand buzzing, and we've got a, a
really loud oven and, Hoods andall these, and then you're
asking somebody who doesn't wantto be on the phone to take an
(27:32):
order on the phone.
So that, that led me right tolet's see how we can get this
done professionally and thenright into AI and, AI done well.
Is great.
And I, I definitely agree withthe naysayers saying I don't
want to be stuck in a phonetree.
And that's why we leaned in witha I with operator assisted.
So as long as the A.
(27:52):
I.
Is learning, which is what it'sdoing right now.
And if I didn't see it learning,I'd say we're gonna have
operator assisted forever.
but I don't think we willbecause I don't think it's
necessary because the A.
I.
Is getting better and betterevery day.
We started with a pilot.
Of AI in December of 2022.
(28:15):
we rolled it out to 51 companyrestaurants in July of, no, we
started with ai, in December of23.
Rolled it out to companyrestaurants in the summer of 24
and then to our franchiserestaurants.
So I could see it learning.
I could see it getting better.
we get great feedback on the AIand you know what the number one
(28:36):
complaint on our AI is?
When the operator transferred meto the restaurant didn't answer
the phone.
that tells me we're on the rightpath and we're on the right
direction.
And you just got to make sureyou have those safeguards in
there that when the customer isgetting frustrated, that there's
a way for them to escape.
And for us right now, that'soperator assisted.
There's a person listening inonto that call and they're going
(28:58):
to transfer them to therestaurant right away.
Cause I don't want thatfrustration, but the technology
is improving so fast.
And, we don't have, generationthat wants to talk on the phone.
So if the computer can do it andlearn and grow and experience
it, then I'm going to lean inand I'm going to go that
direction.
So
Jeremy Julian (29:17):
Yeah, again, I'm in that same ilk, or I was in
that same ilk of, I don't wantto get stuck, when you call
American Express or you call,Delta Airlines, like you get
stuck in these phone trees fromtime to time.
but for me, the efficiency ofbeing able to do that.
And to your point, the techcontinues to grow and, I'm
pretty blown away with whereit's at and where it's going.
Cause I do think it'll be thefuture.
And it's amazing how muchfaster, even, I used, I use even
(29:39):
voice prompts within my own.
my own workflow, how much fasterI can get things done.
If I just say, Hey, I need topick up a pepperoni pizza on my
way home versus having to pullmy phone out of my pocket and go
to the app, which can be superefficient, but at the same time,
I love the fact that I can doit.
And more and more brands aregetting there because to your
point, if I call the restaurantand they're not answering it,
you lost that order.
(29:59):
sometimes you lose that customerfor that meal period.
Kevin, we're going to flip realquick.
You talked about your franchisegroups as you're talking about
rolling these things out.
how big is the brand whatpercentage of its franchise what
percentage of its corporate?
How do people engage if I'm now,you know get done listen to this
interview and I go Donato's I'vealways wanted to own a pizza
place.
Help me understand what thatlooks like for those that are
Kevin King (30:22):
Yeah.
So today, Donato's is about 180traditional restaurants which
makes, we own about a third ofthe restaurants.
We have 51 company stores.
we are an owner of the business.
we operate the business and notjust operate the franchise,
which is something that we'vethat I always look for.
I think franchisors alwaysshould continue to operate some
(30:42):
restaurants.
They don't have to operate allof them.
but we are.
So we are an operator.
We are a franchisor.
we're also, today.
We're in 280 Red Robinrestaurants across the country.
Eso we have a partnership withRed Robin.
It's branded Donato's on theirmenu.
They're a fantastic operator.
They do a great job.
We'll continue to grow thatpartnership over the next
(31:03):
several years.
Eso Donato's is now coast tocoast.
We're in Washington, California,in Red Robin.
We're in a bunch of states withRed Robin across the country,
even in the East.
but our traditional restaurantsright now are in the Midwest and
Southeast.
we just opened in Dallas, so ifyou're in Frisco or Flower
Mound, we have two restaurantsin Dallas.
(31:25):
As of, we opened in November.
brand new in the Dallas area andwe have restaurants in Oklahoma.
we're continuing to grow andexpand.
It's a fantastic franchise.
to me, the greatest thing abouta franchise is it starts with
the operating system.
It's gotta be replicable.
It's gotta be easy to execute.
It's gotta be values driven andvalues based.
(31:45):
So there's gotta be a purposebehind why the, company.
And I think from, operatingsystem from mission, vision and
values.
And then the third is just thebox economics have to work.
if you have those threeelements, you've got something
that, that is, franchisable andyou can really grow.
and so all those incrediblyimportant, as somebody looks at
(32:05):
franchising and growth, we are.
definitely leaning intechnologically, automation,
even in on menu and food, thefuture of food.
And we're going to talk a lotabout more about that as the
next number of years come, theautomation and where food is
going, where it comes from,what's in it.
It not only has to look greatand taste great, but there needs
(32:28):
to be, some foundation in theretoo.
So nutrition is going to be ahuge part of our future and,
excited about where Donato's cango.
Jeremy Julian (32:37):
one last question before we, we point, listeners
to where they can learn more,but, you talked about non
traditional, you talked aboutgoing to the airport.
Is that some other area you guysare looking to grow or is it,
cause you do have theseoperators from time to time that
are like, Hey, I don't have youknow, it's too expensive to get
into a strip mall It's tooexpensive to get into some of
these, traditional because i'mfighting with some of these
other bigger brands But arethere other non traditional
(32:58):
whether that be cafeteria style,other
Kevin King (33:00):
we think other venues are a huge opportunity
for Donato's to supplement ourtraditional restaurants.
and we see those, our vision isfully automated and semi
automated.
Yeah.
the fully automated is whatwe're going to do in early 25
here in the Columbus airport.
Can't wait to see it.
It's going to be leading edge.
I think you'll be able to hear,read and see all about it.
(33:22):
and, maybe a reason for you to,come back to Columbus, but,
that, but also I think semiautomated.
There's so much that we can dowith automating certain parts of
it that make it really work in anon traditional environment,
whether that's universities,small spaces.
All of these, the fullyautomated and the semi
(33:42):
automated, are going to need tobe supplied by a restaurant
because no matter what it is,there's restocking, there's
cleaning, there's, so I thinkthat even creates a franchise
opportunity unmatched out thereso that I can have a traditional
restaurant.
and then I can have a couplesemi automated or fully
automated, kitchens that Isupplement with it.
(34:04):
that, that's a huge part of ourvision going forward is we think
that there's this real bigopportunity for semi automated
and fully automated kitchens.
And, that Donato's can play akey role.
Those.
Fully or semi automated kitchenscould be fulfilled by, third
party Uber Eats of DoorDash orour own drivers.
so there's a lot of things.
(34:25):
We're looking at, drone deliveryas well.
And what does that look like inthe future?
it's just, those aren't our coreright now.
our core is our traditionalrestaurants and, but we're
definitely seeing a future thatfully automated, semi automated
could play in.
Jeremy Julian (34:42):
and even your comments earlier about your
partnership with red robin,that's non traditional
Obviously, you've got a burgerconcept and you guys got pizza
inside of the burger concept SoI love I love how innovative and
how much I guess you guysbelieve in the brand promise to
get the right product out to thepeople.
for people that want to learnmore, is it, Donato's dot com.
tell them where
Kevin King (34:59):
Yeah, it's an honest dot com from a guest perspective
for sure that we lead with that.
As we mentioned, 90 percent ofpeople go through our digital
engine.
So it's an honest dot com.
there's franchise informationavailable there too.
and, if you want to explorefurther, the fully automated,
Or, semi automated kitchens withus.
there's contact information thatyou can get off our website.
Donatos.
com is a great place.
(35:19):
Great place to order.
Today's Friday night.
It's the middle of winter.
Big snowstorm coming for a bigpart of the country.
great time to, hunker down,watch some playoff football,
and, get some great pizza.
Jeremy Julian (35:31):
love it.
love it.
I'll have to, flower amounts,probably the closest store to
me.
So I'll have to go, go figureout how to check that store out
and, And get some pizza,
Kevin King (35:37):
Awesome.
Jeremy Julian (35:38):
Kevin, thank you so much for, for joining us.
Yeah, I'll, I'll have to take aselfie with, with the pizza and
send it your
Kevin King (35:43):
can't wait to see it.
Thank you.
Jeremy Julian (35:44):
I love that.
I appreciate you coming andsharing the story.
congratulations on all of thecontinued success to our
listeners, guys.
Like I said, at the onset, Iknow you guys got lots of
choices, so thank you guys forhanging out.
If you haven't alreadysubscribed, please do so on your
medium, player of choice.
Kevin, thank you so much.
And to our listeners, make it agreat day.
Thanks for listening to theRestaurant Technology Guys
(36:05):
podcast.
Visit www.
RestaurantTechnologyGuys.
com for tips, industry insights,and more to help you run your
restaurant better.
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