May 15, 2025 • 12 mins
In this episode, Paul Potvin, Chief Financial Officer of California Fish Grill, introduces himself and discusses the seafood chain’s mission, expansion plans, and innovative strategies. He elaborates on the company's focus on providing high-quality, sustainable seafood at affordable prices in a fast casual setting. Paul highlights how technology, such as digital menu boards and self-service kiosks, has transformed operations and enhanced customer experience, especially during the pandemic. He also shares insights on managing supply chain challenges and maintaining value for customers. The discussion ends with Paul's personal menu recommendations for new guests.
00:00 Introduction to Paul Potvin and California Fish Grill
00:20 Expansion Plans and Market Strategy
00:47 Brand Mission and Vision
01:19 Value and Innovation in Seafood
03:09 Digital Transformation and Kiosk Implementation
07:38 Impact of Digital Menu Boards
11:30 Paul's Recommendations and Conclusion
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jeremy Julian (00:00):
so for those that don't know who Paul is, can you
introduce Paul to the listenersand we can talk a little bit
about the concept and.
Kind of the state of theindustry.
Paul Potvin (00:07):
Sure.
Yeah.
My name's Paul Potvin.
I'm the Chief Financial Officerfor California Fish Grill.
We're a, 58 unit seafood chainout of, Southern California.
And we're in, three markets,both in the Phoenix and the
Nevada market.
And we're gonna be heading tothe East coast this year to,
Virginia and to Maryland.
Jeremy Julian (00:24):
And I'm still bummed that you guys are
skipping over Texas.
I'm still missing my Californiafish grill every time I'm back
home.
It's, it's definitely on mylist.
So
Paul Potvin (00:31):
Texas is one of the markets that's on our radar
screen.
We've actually looked at it andwe just haven't found the right
location.
So we had to pick a market wherewe figure we can cluster as much
as we can.
And the Mid-Atlantic is the onethat opened first.
and so that's where we'reheading in and we're gonna go
ahead and make, that our homebase.
Jeremy Julian (00:47):
Love it.
So for those that are notfamiliar with the brand, I
clearly am, but for those thatare not familiar with it, talk
us through what the brand is.
'cause I think it's reallyunique in my opinion.
It's a really high qualityproduct at an affordable price,
which I think is part of what Iwant our listeners to hear is
just how amazing you can getsuch high quality food for a
reasonable price.
And a lot of it has to do withthe innovation that you guys
have done and kept supply chainin check, which I know is part
(01:09):
of your role and part of thehard part that you get to deal
with.
So for those that aren'tfamiliar with it.
Yep.
Explain.
Paul Potvin (01:14):
the mission or the vision of the company is to
liberate the love of seafood.
We want it to be accessible toanybody.
And typically when you go to aseafood restaurant, it's super
expensive.
You're in the 25 to 35 to$45range.
just to get a, a piece of fishwith maybe if you're lucky, a
couple sides.
we came out and said, okay, wewant some high quality.
Sustainable.
And that is a very importantpillar in our, in our company's,
(01:37):
vision.
And we want it to be highquality and affordable.
And those were the missions.
And so in order to do that, wedid that in a fast casual
setting, And the fast casualsetting allows us to take that
labor cost out of the.
Outta that server base and giveit back to the customer in the
form of a great, healthy meal atan affordable price.
Jeremy Julian (01:55):
Yeah, no, and it's amazing.
And even the portion sizes, it'samazing to me, you guys have
give an eight ounce piece offish with two sides for 12, 13,
$14 at times.
I know it's, prices have creptup, but even less than$20.
It's unheard of.
Paul Potvin (02:07):
you're absolutely right.
and every day that we wake upand we work on.
New LTOs, we're alwaysconsidering the value equation
that the customer's gonna getout of it.
And it's harder and harder inthis time, right?
As prices keep going up, whetherit's input costs, now it's
tariffs potentially for us,which is a substantial impact to
our business'cause there's not alot of seafood being farmed or
(02:28):
caught around the US that willsupply the needs of our chain.
And so therefore we gotta gointernationally and anything
that comes in internationally isgonna be a significant tariff
potentially.
So we'll see how it all playsout here shortly.
but so value is a constantequation.
And so we've been talking abouthow are we gonna do this if our
input costs go up so much.
and the ways we do it isobviously you can offer the
(02:50):
still the same great qualityproduct.
And for example, we introduced asalmon power bowl, which say
four ounce.
Piece of salmon, that instead ofthe eight ounce portion, and
that way we can keep the pricedown, they're still getting a
great value, great taste, greatmenu, meal at an affordable
price.
They can still come in and dothat.
So we're giving the, the key isto give the options to the
consumer.
Jeremy Julian (03:09):
and one of the other things I.
I love about your brand is thefact that you guys have
innovated not just on the menuside, which chef is amazing from
that perspective, but you guyshave also put tech at the
forefront of, and it's notnecessarily cutting labor out,
but it's, I've gotta be able tomeet your guys' vision, you've
gotta create digital channels.
I was talking to your IT guyjust this weekend.
He was telling me something,what are your numbers as far as
(03:30):
digital orders coming in,whether that be at the kiosk or
online or third party.
it's.
North of 50% I think at thispoint, right?
Paul Potvin (03:37):
Oh, absolutely.
So when you break down oursales, it's funny if you think
pre pandemic, which we all do,and then we all look at post
pandemic.
So pre pandemic, we were dinein, 65% of our sales were dine
in and the rest was leaving thebuilding.
So we had a fair amount ofbusiness that was already
leaving the building.
And the digital makeup of thatwas very low.
It was primarily online orderingof maybe seven or 8% who maybe
(03:58):
had five or 6% of third partydelivery.
And then all of the rest of thatwas in store transactions and it
was done with cashiers and wehad lions go out the door.
Initially we had paper menus.
Eventually we actually switchedto a digital menu board, so that
we can get out of that papermenu.
Gave some more opportunity tooffer pictures and, some visuals
that the guests can really get afeel for what they're gonna be
ordering that now pandemic hitsand all of a sudden we are faced
(04:24):
with.
It's quite frankly some laborshortages.
Jeremy Julian (04:27):
Yeah.
It wasn't because you wanted toget labor outta storage'cause
you couldn't hire people.
Paul Potvin (04:30):
So initially it was, we couldn't hire the back
of house.
During, in the middle of theheat of Covid, we couldn't hire
the back of the house.
But now, as our frontlineemployees, were having to deal
with some customers and thedifficulties of masks, no masks
and all that stuff.
We started seeing the front ofhouse employees not wanting to,
wanting to work in the industry.
It was just too stressful.
You were worried about gettingcovid from potentially the
guests walking in and whatnot.
(04:51):
so we found ourselves inpredicament.
We were, we opened a restaurantand we can only hire, I think it
was four cashiers in one of ournew openings.
And we're like, okay, we gottasolve this problem.
And so Kiosk became one of thosesolutions, right?
And you'll go into somerestaurants that are existing,
you'll have people walk right bythat.
and I literally had a customer,I was in our, one of our
locations and she's I hate thosethings.
(05:12):
They are killing jobs.
And I'm like sitting here,ma'am, first of all, we can take
you over here with this cashier,but understand sometimes.
we, we actually are shortemployees and it's a way to make
sure that guests can get throughand get their, their, their
fish, their healthy fish quickand get out of the building and
be able to enjoy lunch or beable to enjoy dinner.
So it, it's a, meets the needsfor everybody, but we'll still
(05:32):
take care of you at the cashier.
so we did add the kiosk and theplacement of the kiosk was a big
challenge for us.
Initially, we were leading in,in.
Initially we put it off to theside.
So you walk in the door, maybeit was right by the door, and
people would just walk right byit and go to the cashier.
So we weren't, we actuallydidn't get a lot of traction.
I think we were maybe 10% of ourin-store transactions were being
done at the cash register or atthe kiosk.
(05:53):
So eventually we the light bellwent on and we said, okay, let's
put two of them.
In place of two cashier slots,we'll leave one cashier over to
the left and see if we can getthat improved and overnight.
we saw where now on average,we're about 60 to 70% of
in-store transactions areactually done at our two kiosks,
and typically it's.
(06:14):
Either the cash payer, thatwants to go ahead and get
themselves to the cashier.
'cause they, we don't acceptcash at the kiosk.
or it's people maybe where theyhave a discount offer.
and at a period of time wecouldn't accept discounts, at
the kiosk.
or something
Jeremy Julian (06:27):
super customizable where it's really
hard to do on the kiosk.
I know for me that when I dothat, it's like I'm calling or
I'm walking up to somewherebecause I want something
special.
That's hard off menu type ofthing.
And typically it's also, olderguests, right?
That, that aren't comfortablewith technology.
They'd rather just have somebodyinteract with them, help'em
through it, and make theirdecision to move on.
so I see that, anytime I'm inour restaurants, you can see
that.
But it's interesting.
(06:47):
So we took one of our.
one of our cashiers, whichwould've been in the back, and
sure we eliminated one, but wetook the other one and we
brought'em out in front and thegoal was, Hey listen, we can
create a hospitality opportunityhere.
Yep.
Let's interact with our guests,help'em with the kiosk if they
need help.
And, make it so that we have ahospitality'cause.
Up until then, we were ordertakers.
Man, you had lines, you justtried to get the order in, you
(07:09):
tried to get out.
And so the cashier had anopportunity to now to interact
the guests on a personal level.
and we found that to be, as longas we're executing that, on a
consistent basis, right?
It's typical restaurantoperations.
Sometimes someone calls out you,you can't execute that.
but as long as we're executingthat, I think sos the
difference.
Now, with that said, we've beenon kiosk for a year.
And we found that, people nowwalk up and they pretty much
(07:30):
know what they're doing.
Yeah.
So the asking for help is reallydialed down quite a bit.
And so now it becomes that interinteractive opportunity.
Love that.
prior to you guys putting indigital menu boards for those
operators who are out there, tospell the myth about digital
menu boards, because I, to me,while it was a strange thing
when I first walked into thefirst store that changed the
digital menu boards, it haschanged my ordering habits
(07:51):
because I'm, I've been madeaware of things that I might not
have seen or didn't understandwhat it was gonna look like.
So for those that haven't gonedigital menu boards and even
your guys' digital menu boardsthat used to be in front of the
cashiers, they get me with adamn shrimp skewer every single
time I was in the property.
So for those that aren't, Iguess at that space Yep.
help them understand, help ourlisteners understand why that
(08:11):
was such an effective thing andhow it even changed some of the
ordering patterns and thingslike that.
Paul Potvin (08:15):
So if you think about it, up until then we had
just words, right?
We had words on our menu andthat was the extent of it.
So we took blocks of, some ofthe screens and if we had an
LTO, we made sure there was anice, beautiful picture price
point on there and somethingabout the item.
And so they had an opportunityto go, Hey.
That's something new.
I haven't tried that.
I'm gonna go ahead and orderthat.
(08:36):
so that, that's on the main menuboard up at the top.
We also have another sectionwhere it has a rotating screen
of kind of our top selling itemsso that they can visibly see
what, what it is and it mightspark, you know what I'm
interested in, something spicy.
It just saw the dynamite shrimpbowl go by on the screen.
I'm gonna try that today and seewhat it's like.
Or maybe I wanna try a tacotoday.
'cause I saw the taco combos,flow by on there.
(08:57):
And then.
In addition to that, so we hadthe main menu of above, but in
front of the old cashier stands,we had what we call the shroud.
It's a little, just call it,think of a computer screen.
And on that, that featuredupsell opportunities.
So as you got suckered into the,every single time, the shrimp
skewer, for 3 99, that's one ofthe things we have on there.
It'll rotate through maybe withthe asparagus, which is a, which
(09:18):
is an upgrade to the side, whereyou pay a little extra for that.
And so it gave an opportunity,again, to visually see, Hey,
that looks really good.
I wanna give that a try.
And so it, it does changecustomer behavior and that's
what was important.
The second major benefit, all ofus had paper menus, or menu
boards.
Every time you wanted to changea price, even if it was like,
one or two items, you had to gothrough the cost.
(09:41):
The reprinting, you had to getit all shipped out to the store.
Did the store get the menu, thenew menu up, and did they, did
it time with the time that yourPOS changed over the price
points?
So this gave us an opportunitythat was basically controlled
all by the IT department, andthey were able to change menu
prices when it needed to bedone.
All the menu boards had it.
And because we integrated withour POS, if something was 86
(10:03):
during the day, the store can goahead and 86 it.
And it would reflect up on themenu board, so the guests knew
before having to walk up and go,Hey, I'll have the ma mine.
You're like, oh, I'm sorry.
We're outta that right now.
They already knew that.
And so they can make theirdecisions and it made everything
speed up a little faster.
Yeah.
Jeremy Julian (10:18):
Huge.
huge.
Sorry, I'll let you finish.
But that's, to me, especially inthe volatility of where supply
chain is at today, without it,it makes operating a business
incredibly difficult.
Paul Potvin (10:27):
yes it does.
And so having flexibility iswhat it's all about.
Obviously, it's gonna cost you alittle extra.
We don't have a lot of scenarioswhere the screens break down
'cause we all worry about that.
All of one screen's out.
we, it just doesn't happen veryoften.
So that's, that is not a bigrisk that you really need to
worry about.
but it is certainly a concernand, you wanna have backup maybe
in the region so that someonecan come out and, replace that
(10:47):
screen or do whatever you needto do.
but one other thing on the kioskthat I wanted to talk about.
So we found, kiosk have anopportunity at pictures of every
item.
And that digital, that's yournext digital billboard.
And they gives an opportunityfor the guest to really look at
it.
Now with that said, it does slowdown the queue line a little
bit.
We found that.
An average order through acashier is about two and a half
(11:09):
minutes.
You actually put it over to theto the kiosk.
It's about three and a halfminutes.
So the guest is using that timeto scroll through, figure out,
look at different things, maybechoose one now I want that
instead.
So there is a little bit ofthat, but it gives them a better
experience'cause they knowexactly what they're getting.
Now you gotta make sure yourfood that comes outta the
kitchen looks just like that.
'cause they'll hear about itotherwise.
Jeremy Julian (11:29):
Absolutely.
So for those that are going toexperience California Fish
Grill, whether it's in theirlocal market or they're in
California.
What is your go-to, suggestionfor a new guest, and then what's
your favorite item?
Paul Potvin (11:40):
So it all depends on what you're in the mood for.
So I bounce around quite a bit.
some, salmon is typically thego-to.
That's what everybody wants.
I would suggest step away fromthat.
Bronzino is an amazingMediterranean sea bass.
It comes outta Turkey.
We imported in here.
Skin on, you get the wholefilet.
So you get in two pieces of thebronzino and it's just
delectable.
(12:01):
And so it's a really good item.
it's one, now it's moved up intoone of our top sellers.
and it's at a great price point,that you really, if you're gonna
go there, you're gonna see thatusually in an Italian restaurant
for 35 bucks, and you're gonnabe able to get it for us, for a
lot less that's what I wouldrecommend if I'm in a low carb
mood, which a lot of times I am,I worry about my health and my
fitness.
I will pair that with, ourzucchini or our, Roma tomatoes
(12:23):
with the seasoned olive oil onit.
And I'll also throw on anupgrade of the cauliflower rice,
so I keep that low carb, so I'mout of there for less than 500
calories.
And I had a complete meal.
Jeremy Julian (12:32):
Yeah.
I replicated the zucchini theother day at the house for
dinner and the kids loved it.
So that's one of my go-tos isthe zucchini as the side.
Those things are amazing,Awesome.
thanks for taking time, Paul.
I'm excited, quite frankly, forour listeners to hear about the
concept.
I, I love it.
It's one of my favorite placesto go, so congratulations on the
continued success.
Paul Potvin (12:49):
Thank you very much.
Awesome.
Perfect.
so for those that don't know who Paul is, can you
introduce Paul to the listenersand we can talk a little bit
about the concept and.
Kind of the state of theindustry.
Paul Potvin (00:07):
Sure.
Yeah.
My name's Paul Potvin.
I'm the Chief Financial Officerfor California Fish Grill.
We're a, 58 unit seafood chainout of, Southern California.
And we're in, three markets,both in the Phoenix and the
Nevada market.
And we're gonna be heading tothe East coast this year to,
Virginia and to Maryland.
Jeremy Julian (00:24):
And I'm still bummed that you guys are
skipping over Texas.
I'm still missing my Californiafish grill every time I'm back
home.
It's, it's definitely on mylist.
So
Paul Potvin (00:31):
Texas is one of the markets that's on our radar
screen.
We've actually looked at it andwe just haven't found the right
location.
So we had to pick a market wherewe figure we can cluster as much
as we can.
And the Mid-Atlantic is the onethat opened first.
and so that's where we'reheading in and we're gonna go
ahead and make, that our homebase.
Jeremy Julian (00:47):
Love it.
So for those that are notfamiliar with the brand, I
clearly am, but for those thatare not familiar with it, talk
us through what the brand is.
'cause I think it's reallyunique in my opinion.
It's a really high qualityproduct at an affordable price,
which I think is part of what Iwant our listeners to hear is
just how amazing you can getsuch high quality food for a
reasonable price.
And a lot of it has to do withthe innovation that you guys
have done and kept supply chainin check, which I know is part
(01:09):
of your role and part of thehard part that you get to deal
with.
So for those that aren'tfamiliar with it.
Yep.
Explain.
Paul Potvin (01:14):
the mission or the vision of the company is to
liberate the love of seafood.
We want it to be accessible toanybody.
And typically when you go to aseafood restaurant, it's super
expensive.
You're in the 25 to 35 to$45range.
just to get a, a piece of fishwith maybe if you're lucky, a
couple sides.
we came out and said, okay, wewant some high quality.
Sustainable.
And that is a very importantpillar in our, in our company's,
(01:37):
vision.
And we want it to be highquality and affordable.
And those were the missions.
And so in order to do that, wedid that in a fast casual
setting, And the fast casualsetting allows us to take that
labor cost out of the.
Outta that server base and giveit back to the customer in the
form of a great, healthy meal atan affordable price.
Jeremy Julian (01:55):
Yeah, no, and it's amazing.
And even the portion sizes, it'samazing to me, you guys have
give an eight ounce piece offish with two sides for 12, 13,
$14 at times.
I know it's, prices have creptup, but even less than$20.
It's unheard of.
Paul Potvin (02:07):
you're absolutely right.
and every day that we wake upand we work on.
New LTOs, we're alwaysconsidering the value equation
that the customer's gonna getout of it.
And it's harder and harder inthis time, right?
As prices keep going up, whetherit's input costs, now it's
tariffs potentially for us,which is a substantial impact to
our business'cause there's not alot of seafood being farmed or
(02:28):
caught around the US that willsupply the needs of our chain.
And so therefore we gotta gointernationally and anything
that comes in internationally isgonna be a significant tariff
potentially.
So we'll see how it all playsout here shortly.
but so value is a constantequation.
And so we've been talking abouthow are we gonna do this if our
input costs go up so much.
and the ways we do it isobviously you can offer the
(02:50):
still the same great qualityproduct.
And for example, we introduced asalmon power bowl, which say
four ounce.
Piece of salmon, that instead ofthe eight ounce portion, and
that way we can keep the pricedown, they're still getting a
great value, great taste, greatmenu, meal at an affordable
price.
They can still come in and dothat.
So we're giving the, the key isto give the options to the
consumer.
Jeremy Julian (03:09):
and one of the other things I.
I love about your brand is thefact that you guys have
innovated not just on the menuside, which chef is amazing from
that perspective, but you guyshave also put tech at the
forefront of, and it's notnecessarily cutting labor out,
but it's, I've gotta be able tomeet your guys' vision, you've
gotta create digital channels.
I was talking to your IT guyjust this weekend.
He was telling me something,what are your numbers as far as
(03:30):
digital orders coming in,whether that be at the kiosk or
online or third party.
it's.
North of 50% I think at thispoint, right?
Paul Potvin (03:37):
Oh, absolutely.
So when you break down oursales, it's funny if you think
pre pandemic, which we all do,and then we all look at post
pandemic.
So pre pandemic, we were dinein, 65% of our sales were dine
in and the rest was leaving thebuilding.
So we had a fair amount ofbusiness that was already
leaving the building.
And the digital makeup of thatwas very low.
It was primarily online orderingof maybe seven or 8% who maybe
(03:58):
had five or 6% of third partydelivery.
And then all of the rest of thatwas in store transactions and it
was done with cashiers and wehad lions go out the door.
Initially we had paper menus.
Eventually we actually switchedto a digital menu board, so that
we can get out of that papermenu.
Gave some more opportunity tooffer pictures and, some visuals
that the guests can really get afeel for what they're gonna be
ordering that now pandemic hitsand all of a sudden we are faced
(04:24):
with.
It's quite frankly some laborshortages.
Jeremy Julian (04:27):
Yeah.
It wasn't because you wanted toget labor outta storage'cause
you couldn't hire people.
Paul Potvin (04:30):
So initially it was, we couldn't hire the back
of house.
During, in the middle of theheat of Covid, we couldn't hire
the back of the house.
But now, as our frontlineemployees, were having to deal
with some customers and thedifficulties of masks, no masks
and all that stuff.
We started seeing the front ofhouse employees not wanting to,
wanting to work in the industry.
It was just too stressful.
You were worried about gettingcovid from potentially the
guests walking in and whatnot.
(04:51):
so we found ourselves inpredicament.
We were, we opened a restaurantand we can only hire, I think it
was four cashiers in one of ournew openings.
And we're like, okay, we gottasolve this problem.
And so Kiosk became one of thosesolutions, right?
And you'll go into somerestaurants that are existing,
you'll have people walk right bythat.
and I literally had a customer,I was in our, one of our
locations and she's I hate thosethings.
(05:12):
They are killing jobs.
And I'm like sitting here,ma'am, first of all, we can take
you over here with this cashier,but understand sometimes.
we, we actually are shortemployees and it's a way to make
sure that guests can get throughand get their, their, their
fish, their healthy fish quickand get out of the building and
be able to enjoy lunch or beable to enjoy dinner.
So it, it's a, meets the needsfor everybody, but we'll still
(05:32):
take care of you at the cashier.
so we did add the kiosk and theplacement of the kiosk was a big
challenge for us.
Initially, we were leading in,in.
Initially we put it off to theside.
So you walk in the door, maybeit was right by the door, and
people would just walk right byit and go to the cashier.
So we weren't, we actuallydidn't get a lot of traction.
I think we were maybe 10% of ourin-store transactions were being
done at the cash register or atthe kiosk.
(05:53):
So eventually we the light bellwent on and we said, okay, let's
put two of them.
In place of two cashier slots,we'll leave one cashier over to
the left and see if we can getthat improved and overnight.
we saw where now on average,we're about 60 to 70% of
in-store transactions areactually done at our two kiosks,
and typically it's.
(06:14):
Either the cash payer, thatwants to go ahead and get
themselves to the cashier.
'cause they, we don't acceptcash at the kiosk.
or it's people maybe where theyhave a discount offer.
and at a period of time wecouldn't accept discounts, at
the kiosk.
or something
Jeremy Julian (06:27):
super customizable where it's really
hard to do on the kiosk.
I know for me that when I dothat, it's like I'm calling or
I'm walking up to somewherebecause I want something
special.
That's hard off menu type ofthing.
And typically it's also, olderguests, right?
That, that aren't comfortablewith technology.
They'd rather just have somebodyinteract with them, help'em
through it, and make theirdecision to move on.
so I see that, anytime I'm inour restaurants, you can see
that.
But it's interesting.
(06:47):
So we took one of our.
one of our cashiers, whichwould've been in the back, and
sure we eliminated one, but wetook the other one and we
brought'em out in front and thegoal was, Hey listen, we can
create a hospitality opportunityhere.
Yep.
Let's interact with our guests,help'em with the kiosk if they
need help.
And, make it so that we have ahospitality'cause.
Up until then, we were ordertakers.
Man, you had lines, you justtried to get the order in, you
(07:09):
tried to get out.
And so the cashier had anopportunity to now to interact
the guests on a personal level.
and we found that to be, as longas we're executing that, on a
consistent basis, right?
It's typical restaurantoperations.
Sometimes someone calls out you,you can't execute that.
but as long as we're executingthat, I think sos the
difference.
Now, with that said, we've beenon kiosk for a year.
And we found that, people nowwalk up and they pretty much
(07:30):
know what they're doing.
Yeah.
So the asking for help is reallydialed down quite a bit.
And so now it becomes that interinteractive opportunity.
Love that.
prior to you guys putting indigital menu boards for those
operators who are out there, tospell the myth about digital
menu boards, because I, to me,while it was a strange thing
when I first walked into thefirst store that changed the
digital menu boards, it haschanged my ordering habits
(07:51):
because I'm, I've been madeaware of things that I might not
have seen or didn't understandwhat it was gonna look like.
So for those that haven't gonedigital menu boards and even
your guys' digital menu boardsthat used to be in front of the
cashiers, they get me with adamn shrimp skewer every single
time I was in the property.
So for those that aren't, Iguess at that space Yep.
help them understand, help ourlisteners understand why that
(08:11):
was such an effective thing andhow it even changed some of the
ordering patterns and thingslike that.
Paul Potvin (08:15):
So if you think about it, up until then we had
just words, right?
We had words on our menu andthat was the extent of it.
So we took blocks of, some ofthe screens and if we had an
LTO, we made sure there was anice, beautiful picture price
point on there and somethingabout the item.
And so they had an opportunityto go, Hey.
That's something new.
I haven't tried that.
I'm gonna go ahead and orderthat.
(08:36):
so that, that's on the main menuboard up at the top.
We also have another sectionwhere it has a rotating screen
of kind of our top selling itemsso that they can visibly see
what, what it is and it mightspark, you know what I'm
interested in, something spicy.
It just saw the dynamite shrimpbowl go by on the screen.
I'm gonna try that today and seewhat it's like.
Or maybe I wanna try a tacotoday.
'cause I saw the taco combos,flow by on there.
(08:57):
And then.
In addition to that, so we hadthe main menu of above, but in
front of the old cashier stands,we had what we call the shroud.
It's a little, just call it,think of a computer screen.
And on that, that featuredupsell opportunities.
So as you got suckered into the,every single time, the shrimp
skewer, for 3 99, that's one ofthe things we have on there.
It'll rotate through maybe withthe asparagus, which is a, which
(09:18):
is an upgrade to the side, whereyou pay a little extra for that.
And so it gave an opportunity,again, to visually see, Hey,
that looks really good.
I wanna give that a try.
And so it, it does changecustomer behavior and that's
what was important.
The second major benefit, all ofus had paper menus, or menu
boards.
Every time you wanted to changea price, even if it was like,
one or two items, you had to gothrough the cost.
(09:41):
The reprinting, you had to getit all shipped out to the store.
Did the store get the menu, thenew menu up, and did they, did
it time with the time that yourPOS changed over the price
points?
So this gave us an opportunitythat was basically controlled
all by the IT department, andthey were able to change menu
prices when it needed to bedone.
All the menu boards had it.
And because we integrated withour POS, if something was 86
(10:03):
during the day, the store can goahead and 86 it.
And it would reflect up on themenu board, so the guests knew
before having to walk up and go,Hey, I'll have the ma mine.
You're like, oh, I'm sorry.
We're outta that right now.
They already knew that.
And so they can make theirdecisions and it made everything
speed up a little faster.
Yeah.
Jeremy Julian (10:18):
Huge.
huge.
Sorry, I'll let you finish.
But that's, to me, especially inthe volatility of where supply
chain is at today, without it,it makes operating a business
incredibly difficult.
Paul Potvin (10:27):
yes it does.
And so having flexibility iswhat it's all about.
Obviously, it's gonna cost you alittle extra.
We don't have a lot of scenarioswhere the screens break down
'cause we all worry about that.
All of one screen's out.
we, it just doesn't happen veryoften.
So that's, that is not a bigrisk that you really need to
worry about.
but it is certainly a concernand, you wanna have backup maybe
in the region so that someonecan come out and, replace that
(10:47):
screen or do whatever you needto do.
but one other thing on the kioskthat I wanted to talk about.
So we found, kiosk have anopportunity at pictures of every
item.
And that digital, that's yournext digital billboard.
And they gives an opportunityfor the guest to really look at
it.
Now with that said, it does slowdown the queue line a little
bit.
We found that.
An average order through acashier is about two and a half
(11:09):
minutes.
You actually put it over to theto the kiosk.
It's about three and a halfminutes.
So the guest is using that timeto scroll through, figure out,
look at different things, maybechoose one now I want that
instead.
So there is a little bit ofthat, but it gives them a better
experience'cause they knowexactly what they're getting.
Now you gotta make sure yourfood that comes outta the
kitchen looks just like that.
'cause they'll hear about itotherwise.
Jeremy Julian (11:29):
Absolutely.
So for those that are going toexperience California Fish
Grill, whether it's in theirlocal market or they're in
California.
What is your go-to, suggestionfor a new guest, and then what's
your favorite item?
Paul Potvin (11:40):
So it all depends on what you're in the mood for.
So I bounce around quite a bit.
some, salmon is typically thego-to.
That's what everybody wants.
I would suggest step away fromthat.
Bronzino is an amazingMediterranean sea bass.
It comes outta Turkey.
We imported in here.
Skin on, you get the wholefilet.
So you get in two pieces of thebronzino and it's just
delectable.
(12:01):
And so it's a really good item.
it's one, now it's moved up intoone of our top sellers.
and it's at a great price point,that you really, if you're gonna
go there, you're gonna see thatusually in an Italian restaurant
for 35 bucks, and you're gonnabe able to get it for us, for a
lot less that's what I wouldrecommend if I'm in a low carb
mood, which a lot of times I am,I worry about my health and my
fitness.
I will pair that with, ourzucchini or our, Roma tomatoes
(12:23):
with the seasoned olive oil onit.
And I'll also throw on anupgrade of the cauliflower rice,
so I keep that low carb, so I'mout of there for less than 500
calories.
And I had a complete meal.
Jeremy Julian (12:32):
Yeah.
I replicated the zucchini theother day at the house for
dinner and the kids loved it.
So that's one of my go-tos isthe zucchini as the side.
Those things are amazing,Awesome.
thanks for taking time, Paul.
I'm excited, quite frankly, forour listeners to hear about the
concept.
I, I love it.
It's one of my favorite placesto go, so congratulations on the
continued success.
Paul Potvin (12:49):
Thank you very much.
Awesome.
Perfect.
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