March 17, 2025 • 37 mins
Succeeding in the Restaurant Industry with NRN's Sam Oches
In this episode, Jeremy Julian hosts Sam Oches, Editor in Chief of The Nation's Restaurant News, to discuss significant trends and insights shaping the restaurant industry in 2025 and beyond. Sam highlights the success strategies of top restaurant brands like Texas Roadhouse, Chick-fil-A, Raising Cane's, and Jersey Mike's, emphasizing consistency, quality, and efficient operations. They also explore innovation while maintaining brand integrity, employee investment, and managing growth. Moreover, they delve into the impact of technology, especially in enhancing employee efficiency, and the importance of adaptive strategies for casual dining brands. The episode is rich with strategies for navigating the evolving restaurant landscape.
00:00 Sam Oches
00:41 Introduction and Guest Introduction
01:08 Sam Oches: Background and Role
02:15 Current Trends in the Restaurant Industry
02:40 Successful Restaurant Brands and Their Strategies
04:36 Balancing Consistency and Innovation
10:48 Employee Investment and Retention
15:14 Growth Strategies and Challenges
19:30 Casual Dining: Challenges and Opportunities
20:17 Introduction to Fogo de Chão's Success
20:45 Gen Z's Favorite Full-Service Restaurant
21:47 The Evolution of Casual Dining
22:37 Twin Peaks: A Modern Sports Bar Experience
23:26 Gustavo Group's Community-Centric Approach
24:47 Balancing Tradition and Innovation
27:39 Future of Restaurant Technology
31:43 Employee Engagement and Retention Strategies
34:39 Connecting with Industry Leaders
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 (00:14):
I think everyone out there for joining us today.
I am joined by a very specialguest.
I've been reading what, what Samhas been writing for quite some
time and just kind of in theworld of restaurants and
restaurant, restaurant articles,but Sam, why don't you introduce
yourself a little bit to ouraudience for those that, I am
certain everybody's read a lotof what you've written and
probably recognize the facebecause you guys have been
getting a little bit moredigital with your podcast as
(00:34):
well.
But, for those that are livingunder a rock and haven't seen
you out there on the socialworld and whatnot, introduce
yourself to our listeners.
Sam Oches (00:40):
Sure.
Well, thank you, Jeremy, forhaving me.
really a pleasure to be here.
so I'm Sam Oches.
I'm the editor in chief ofNations Restaurant News, the
editorial director for NRN andour sister publication
Restaurant Hospitality.
I've been covering food servicefor almost 16 years now, and, I
count myself as the luckiest guyon the face of the earth that I
get to do this for a living.
so of course, Nations RestaurantNews, a trade publication for
(01:03):
the restaurant industry, totallyfree for qualified operators.
nrn.
com.
I have an amazing team that iscranking out content every
single day on the website.
We also have a printpublication, Nations Restaurant
News, and everybody can go outand subscribe to that.
But yes, we do lots ofmultimedia now.
I have a podcast called Takeawaywith Sam Oches.
(01:24):
we also have a podcast calledExtra Serving that myself and
our executive editor, AliciaKelso, host.
And, then also social, all thesocial accounts.
We're, we're, we're constantlygoing that direction.
So, very exciting industry tocover.
Again, very lucky that I get todo this.
very happy to be here.
Thanks, Jeremy.
Jeremy Julian (01:40):
Awesome.
I appreciate you being on.
And, I know we talked a littlebit, you know, Joanna's been on
the show.
I just recorded with Alicia, buthaven't published it yet.
So, we'll see.
We'll, we'll get these thingsout there, but, really from,
from my perspective, we'rerecording this in early 2025,
Sam, I'd love for you to kind ofjust talk macro macro
restaurants.
What are you seeing trends?
What are you seeing working?
Well, let's start down the pathof what's been working really
(02:02):
well.
And then maybe we'll get intokind of where do you, where do
you see some opportunities tomake some investments and change
some, change some behavior.
And some brands.
Sure.
Sam Oches (02:10):
You know, I think what's working well.
I've talked a lot about acertain handful of, of
restaurant companies in the pastseveral months, as far as
companies that I think brandsthat everybody should look to as
being examples of what to do.
and there are four in mind thatcome to, come to mind, Texas
Roadhouse, Texas Roadhouse.
Chick fil a, Raising Cane's andJersey Mike's.
(02:31):
so when I look at what issuccessful, who's doing a good
job right now, those four arethe ones that they seem to be
immune from any economicchanges, any global pandemics,
they continue to performextraordinarily well.
And what I would glean fromthose companies is that what's
working right now is consistencyis a, an intense focus on
(02:54):
quality and efficiency.
And on hospitality and on notinnovating for innovation's
sake, those four companies inparticular, a wide range of
ages.
Of course, Chick fil A andJersey Mike's been around 50, 60
years.
and Texas Roadhouse in RaisingCane's for about 30 years.
all of them are either founderled or founder inspired.
They're, they're still very muchplaying by the playbook of the
(03:16):
founder and they all there, noneof them make any rash decisions.
They're not rushing into anymarketing campaign, any value
deal, any new product, any ticktock inspired, whatever they
are, just head down.
We're going to do this very welland we're going to do it over
and over and over again.
And all of them, if you look attheir numbers, Are just
(03:38):
absolutely crushing it.
They're all doing between fiveand well, Jersey Mike's from a
sandwich concept, you know,about 2.
5 to 3 million AUV.
The other three are doing over 5million AUV, right?
So I think that's a broad way toanswer your question, Jeremy.
But I think what's working rightnow is those companies that no
matter the volatility of whatwe're going through right now
(03:58):
from an economic standpoint,from a political climate, no
matter any of those things,those companies just
consistently do what they dobest and they don't try to be
anything else.
Jeremy Julian (04:08):
yeah, and the funny thing though though as you
say that I think of some of themost innovative brands Chick fil
a is one of those brands thatcomes to mind because they do
dabble and so I guess I wouldlove to understand from your
perspective because quitefrankly all of them have dabbled
You know, canes dabbles becausethey've got such crazy drive
thru and kind of the ways thatthey go Even the dining room
layouts i've been into somedifferent canes You I've been to
(04:28):
quite a few, Texas Roadhouse.
So how does, how do brands thatare out there listening, stay
consistent to who they are andwho they want to be and still
innovate because we see a lot ofthe brands that are suffering or
those brands that tried to staywho they are and didn't stay up
with the time.
So how do you, how do you managethat?
Or how would you say that thatbrand should manage that?
Sam Oches (04:46):
It's a great question.
One that I ask people all thetime as well, because I think
the restaurant industryespecially is one that faces
this question all the time.
When you look at the biggestchains in America and you look
at some of these brands thathave been around for
generations, they have a legacyto protect.
They have a heritage.
They have the nostalgia factor.
Some of these companies whereyou have customers who've been
(05:07):
coming in for For 5, 6, 7decades in some instances.
And if you innovate too much, ifyou press too much on the
accelerator, you're going to,you're going to really turn them
off because this is not what Iexpect out of that restaurant.
Right.
so in the restaurant industry, Ido think you have a lot of those
who have to be more careful withtheir innovation for that sake.
And to answer your question,yes, of the four I mentioned,
(05:29):
Chick fil A for sure has donethe most consumer facing
innovation of any of them, Ithink by a long shot.
If you think about that newdrive through, they opened in
Georgia with, you know, the fourdrive through lanes and it's
very much like a bank and youknow, lowering the food down and
all that.
That's about as innovative as itcomes.
That's fancy, that's supertechnology powered.
(05:50):
I think Chick fil A has done anincredibly admirable job.
As far as digital innovation,their mobile app, the ways in
which they continue to developthat, you know, they're putting
out content now on, you know,with an app, right?
So Chick fil A clearly is stillpushing with innovation.
And I got to tell you, Jimmy, Ithink to some degree, that's
because they have permissionfrom their customer when they
(06:12):
look and see that they're doing9 million per restaurant per
year, right?
They know that the customer, theChick fil A customer.
Isn't going to say, Hey, wait asecond.
You're making content now.
I disagree.
I'm going to take my businesselsewhere.
They're not doing that.
Right.
They're just like, I go to Chickfil A all the time because I
love Chick fil A and I'm goingto keep going to Chick fil A.
So Chick fil A has permission toinnovate.
and it's not to say that theother companies do not have that
permission, but I do thinkthere's, they're a little bit
(06:34):
more protective and I'll go allthe way to the other end with
Texas roadhouse.
I spent a lot of time with Texasroadhouse a few months ago.
We named them our brand icon of2024.
I spent some time in theirheadquarters with CEO, Jerry
Morgan and some of several otherexecutives and you know, you
when yo Roadhouse, you're notgon technology.
(06:54):
You're not go fancy bells andwhistles.
of what texas Roadhouse l ago,maybe with the excep on the
floor.
because loud music, they havefriendly, weight staff.
They have, you know, a menu thathas barely changed in 30 years.
and they have moved theirinnovation more to the back of
(07:16):
the house because TexasRoadhouse is like the slice of
Americana that could not change.
It is because every community inAmerica that has a Texas
roadhouse, it just feels likeyou're stepping out of time when
you go into this place.
And you know that in 1996 and in2025, the experience is going to
be the same.
And that's why you go there.
That's what you want, but theydo innovate.
(07:39):
in ways that are more, employeefocused, right?
So Texas Roadhouse recentlyrolled out a KDS, which has been
doing wonders for them.
As I, as far as I understand it,you know, they work on making
the lives of their employees alot easier.
they, but that will resist thirdparty delivery.
They'll resist a lot of theother, again, bells and whistles
that are, are, are becomingpopular with restaurants.
(08:00):
And so a long winded way ofanswering your question, Jeremy,
was just, is just to say, Ithink every restaurant has to
take a temperature for, youknow, what their brand is and
what it represents to thecustomer and understand how much
permission they have from thecustomer to innovate.
Because if you don't have to putin that kiosk, if you don't have
to, you know, build that fancydrive through, because it might
turn off your customers whodon't expect that from you.
(08:23):
Then don't do it.
It might not be right for you.
Jeremy Julian (08:26):
Yeah, no.
And I just, I was just on a showthat just released this week,
the week that we're recordingthis.
And I was talking about it with,with Troy Hooper from, from
pepper lunch, and he was asking,he's like, what do, what do
brands do that make the mostmistakes?
It's, they don't really know whothey are.
And I think the undercurrentfrom all four of these brands is
they know who they are and theyknow where the innovations need
to happen in order to meet theirboth guests expectation as well
(08:47):
as their staff expectation.
Yeah.
Sam Oches (08:49):
Yeah, it's like a core value thing.
Right.
And again, not to overuse theTexas road houses example, but,
but I think some of these brandsare just so good at having these
core values again, like a, likea blueprint and for Texas
roadhouse, that's Kent Taylorfounder, Kent Taylor, who passed
away a few years ago, but heleft behind this very dedicated,
I mean, he wrote a book rightbefore he passed.
He had written a book and it's avery.
(09:10):
Detail dedicated plan for howyou succeed and they stick to it
and they don't change the rules.
And so that's where I think ifyou have strong core values, you
have a blueprint for what thebrand represents and you don't
waver from that, then you'regoing to do fine.
Jeremy Julian (09:25):
I love that.
the other piece that I think, Iheard as a thread and, and I'd
love at least your opinion onthis.
And then there's a brand that I.
grew up with in, in and out.
And I know quite a bit of thefamily, they're a very similar
brand in that regard that theyknow who they are and they know
what they're doing.
But my wife worked there.
My best friend worked at in andout is their care for employees,
their investment in their team.
When I think about all four ofthose brands that you mentioned
(09:47):
that are doing it well,something they also do is, is
they not only know who they areas a brand and how they're going
to engage with the consumer, Butthey invest a lot in the team
members that are coming in.
And, and in many of them, Idon't even think I call them
employees.
They call them team members orthey have some other
colloquialism that's related tothat.
can you expand upon that?
Because I think it's, it's whatmakes the restaurant industry go
is the people that are there asmuch as the food and the
(10:09):
experience and the ambiance.
And if you do it well.
You can tell, and when you don'tdo it well, you can tell.
Sam Oches (10:15):
Yeah, look, it's probably become a little cliche
by now, but if you take care ofyour employees, they will take
care of your guests, right?
So, especially today with thesituation we're in with labor,
where the unemployment level isvery low.
And where it's very difficult tofind good employees.
Everybody is trying to figureout how do we recruit, hire,
retain.
(10:35):
and that retain part is crucial.
Once you find that person who isan all star employee or team
member or whatever, you hold onto them as tightly as you can.
and, and again, with your corevalues, If you have core values
and you hire against those andyou find candidates who are
reflective of those values, thenthat's going to be an easy
match.
(10:55):
It's going to, you're going tomeld well with that customer and
they're going to want to be apart of what you're building.
but you've got to really thenput your money where your mouth
is.
And that's literal money.
Sometimes of course, pay youremployees well.
but offer benefits, try toinvest and incentivize, in
these, in these employees sothat they have no incentive to
leave, that they don't want todepart.
(11:16):
But I would also add, you know,try to show them the path that
they have forward.
I think the companies that dothis best.
They have developed a talentpipeline, and they they help
their their employees understandhow this job could turn into a
career.
The restaurant industrystruggled with us for a long
time, and it's a topic ofconversation forever, which is
(11:38):
how do how do people understandthat while 50 percent of
Americans get their job workingbehind the counter of a
restaurant?
You know, very few of them stickaround and make a career out of
it, but they can, and it can bevery lucrative.
and so for those companies thatI think want to leverage their
team members to succeed, they'vegot to again, invest in them
(11:59):
from an incentives perspective,a pay perspective.
and they have to show them thepath that could, they could have
ahead of them to becoming aleader at that company.
And then again, if you do thosethings and your employees are
happy, they feel like theybelong.
They're going to reflect that toyour customers and then your
customers are going to be happyin and out.
It's a great example when theytake care of their employees,
(12:20):
their employees take care of theguests, everybody wins.
Chick fil a is another example.
you know, and Chick fil aespecially, you know, you think
about the people who want in ona Chick fil a that many
thousands of, you know,applications they get for owner
operators and they only select ahandful, right.
But you get in that pipeline andyou stay in that pipeline, Chick
fil a general managers aredoing.
You know, half million dollars ayear.
(12:42):
Like again, lucrative career, ifyou can get in that pipeline.
So, so I, I think that's thekey.
Take care of your employees.
They'll take care of yourguests.
Everybody wins, but you have tobe very focused on what that
looks like and taking care ofyour employees.
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Yeah.
And not to go towards thenegative, but the opposite also
has to happen.
If people aren't meeting thecore values, you have to make
(13:37):
sure that they know they're notthere very long.
I remember playing golf withthem.
So we did in and out.
Number of years ago, young andyoung in my career.
And I said, how do you guyscreate what you do?
He goes, the minute we know it'sa bad apple, they're gone.
It's not something that we, youknow, and they've got a strong
pipeline of people coming in.
They've got a strong pipeline ofknowing how to get people on
board and, and to ingratiatethem to the culture of who they
(13:58):
are and what they do.
And the people that aren't partof that culture, they stick out
like a sore thumb and they'regone pretty quickly.
Sam Oches (14:03):
Totally.
Yeah.
That's a great point.
Yeah.
And you know, I think it's abouthow.
somebody told me once I knewsomebody worked at a Chick fil a
and you know, they were sayingthat they have like the whole
local high schools on a rollworking at their restaurant.
And it's, you know, successbegets success, right?
Where, when you also get those,happy employees, they're going
to recruit their friends to cometo be a part of it.
(14:24):
you know, I think that again, ifyou just focus intensely on it,
to your point, Jeremy, get ridof the bad apples, focus on the
good apples.
The good apples will bring inmore good apples.
and, and then that just kind ofsnowballs to the point where
it's like you're known to be acompany everybody wants to work
for.
You have that advantage, thatunfair advantage of being
everybody's banging down yourdoor to work there and you have
(14:45):
kind of the pick of the litter.
Jeremy Julian (14:46):
Yeah, the one last thing that I would say that
I recognize about all four ofthese brands is that they, They
were slow to grow and then theygot fast.
They started slow before theywent fast.
And I've seen too many brandsthat grow so far beyond.
And again, you and I, I've beendoing this, almost 30 years now
I've watched brands that are sopromising and they grow so fast
(15:07):
and they forget who they are.
I'd love a little bit of aopinion on that because I,
again, Chick fil A, I'd heardabout it for years back in
Atlanta.
Never went, never went, went tothe first one there.
And then, you know, like theystarted coming West and now
they're growing really fast,same thing with raising canes.
They've been around for a longenough time.
I went to the original JerseyMike's as a kid, I used to grow
up at the Jersey shore and Iliterally used to go into that,
(15:27):
that, that original JerseyMike's and play Pleasant beach.
So for me.
The, all of these brands thatyou talk about started really
slow and then accelerated at apace once they kind of figured
it out.
Sam Oches (15:37):
Yeah, you're a hundred percent right.
I think this is the third timeI've actually talked about this
exact thing this week, which isthis idea that it is a marathon,
not a sprint.
And I, I totally have been inthat same place where in the
last 16 years, I have watched.
These restaurants open up,become a little bit successful.
So they grow a little bit andthen they're saying, okay, now
(15:58):
we're going to open a hundrednext year.
Jeremy Julian (15:59):
And you're
Sam Oches (16:00):
like, no, no, that's not the point.
Don't do that.
and, and even when you have somechains and I'm not trying to
throw anybody under the bushere, but when you look at some
examples of this, I'll, I'llthrow out a blaze pizza as an
example of fastest growingrestaurant chain in history, I
think they were at the time,perhaps since surpassed by
crumble cookies, which isanother story, you know, Blaze
peaked.
(16:20):
They did 505 years and it'sgreat.
And then.
Now, I think they're retoolingnow.
So I, I, I, hopefully they'll,they'll, you know, get back to
growth again.
But I guess the point is, islike, what good is 505 years?
If you're not around in 50, youknow what I mean?
Or Dickies
Jeremy Julian (16:35):
has been getting beat up quite a bit about doing
the exact same thing recently.
And, and again, I'm not pickingon Dickies.
It's been stuff that you guyshave written about, but it's
very similar.
Chris Demery, the CTO of a blazewas on recently as well on the
show.
And he and I talked about.
How they had to go back to theroots of who they were and what
made them successful and go backand reinvest in those things
because they were shiny objectsas well as grow at all, at all
(16:56):
costs rather than finding theright franchisees, keeping the
culture to the core.
Sam Oches (17:01):
Yeah, yeah, I think crumble again is the latest
example that, you know, we'renot fully, we don't fully know
what's going to happen there,but everybody was just.
So shocked at a thousandrestaurants in six years or
something they did.
but then last year it was alittle bit, okay.
Some of the cracks are startingto show.
And I wish the best for all ofthese folks.
Cause I recognize thesecompanies have thousands of
employees whose livelihoodsdepend on that.
(17:22):
And so wouldn't wish ill will,but I think these things have to
be a model for what.
other companies do.
These have to be red flags thatgrowth does not have to be
number of locations.
I think that's such an importantpart.
You can grow your culture.
You can grow within your fourwalls.
You can, you know, you can growin so many team members.
(17:43):
You can grow your team memberstotally.
And whether you have five unitsor 500 that that's not the
measure of success.
The measure of success is, youknow, what you're serving, how
you're serving your customers,the role you play in their
lives, and whether or not youcan do that for the long term.
So coming back to your point,yes, all of those companies that
I mentioned, those fourcompanies, Jersey Mike's, I
(18:05):
think especially, This is acompany that when I started
covering this industry industry16 years ago, out of, you know,
it grew up in Ohio.
I had never heard of Jerseybikes.
And, you know, then they kind ofpop up radar as a sort of up and
coming chain at the time theymade maybe had less than a
thousand locations.
Okay.
Whatever, what's this about?
I tried it.
I loved it.
And now they're getting sold for8 billion and they're opening
(18:28):
two to 300 a year and, and it's50 years in the making.
And Peter Kinkrow is one of theindustries.
One of the absolute titans ofthis industry.
Everybody should learn fromPeter Cancro and what he
accomplished at Jersey Mikes.
And that was one of the bigthings.
I think he was just reallypatient.
He took care of his people.
They have an amazing culture atJersey Mike's when you get to
know their executives, you know,that they know who they are and
(18:51):
what they're doing.
And that gave them the abilityby, by really kind of being
patient in that growth toslammed on that slam down on
that accelerator.
You know, once they got to thatpoint where they felt like they
could.
Jeremy Julian (19:01):
Love that.
I appreciate you sharing thosestories.
And again, not looking to pickon any of those people, but I'm
going to flip it around and say,so now I'm one of those brands
and let's, let's live in thecasual dining space.
Cause
Sam Oches (19:10):
yeah,
Jeremy Julian (19:10):
there's been a lot written about casual dining.
It's been, you know, takingpunches in the mouth.
There's been some that have beensuccessful.
You talked about Texasroadhouse.
I know you guys have writtenabout Brinker and Olive garden
still doing relatively well inthe, in the space overall, but
now I'm one of those brands andI'm looking to, to get back to
being more successful, you know,they got kicked in the teeth
with, with COVID.
We had a little bit of arenaissance there post COVID and
(19:32):
now it's back to traffic isdown.
We're not growing.
We're, we're really struggling.
What is the commonality or whatare the things that you're
seeing within casual dining thatbrands need to be evaluating and
aware of in order to get back tonot just growth, but to being
successful and feeling likethey're in a good spot.
Sam Oches (19:50):
Yeah, it's a great question.
I'll give you a couple ofexamples.
the first one I'll say is,someone I spoke to this week who
will be a guest on my podcasttakeaway here in a few weeks is
Barry McGowan, the CEO of Fogoto Show.
And, talk about patience.
This, this, you know, Barrybecame, joined Fogo, 12 years
ago.
And, it's another brand thatlike.
For me, I had not, I was notreally familiar with Fogo maybe
(20:12):
five years ago.
And then they started to creepup onto my radar.
I'm like, what's this Brazilianbrand?
What's this all about?
And now, and I think I can saythis because it will be live.
I'm sure by the time thisepisode goes up, they're on the
cover of our January issuebecause they are one of
America's favorite chains.
we partnered with Technomic onour America's favorite chains
report.
Fogo, I believe was number sevenon the, on the top 10 and they
(20:32):
were also Gen Z's.
Number one full servicerestaurant
Jeremy Julian (20:36):
and you know,
Sam Oches (20:38):
it's incredible.
I mean, and that's a testbecause it's not an
Jeremy Julian (20:40):
inexpensive brand to go to, you know, and I'm not
saying that to pick on anybody,but everybody talks about price
being one of the barriers andeverybody took price too high.
So I apologize for stopping you.
But I think it's something thatThey're charging a premium, but
they're delivering a productthat's, that's different.
So sorry, I'll let you keepgoing.
No,
Sam Oches (20:54):
totally.
And that, that was exactly whatI said to Perry.
I'm like, how do you resonatewith Gen Z when you're a more
upscale expensive option?
And you know, it's a number ofthings.
but I, but he, you know, as hesays, there's, it's the
experience.
Fogo gives a little bit more ofa choose your own adventure
experience.
It's the quality.
It's the, The fact that it's aglobal brand with some really
new kind of flavors that peoplearen't expecting.
(21:17):
certainly it's in thehospitality.
There's a vibe to it.
And as he and I were talking, soI, I live in Columbus and about
two minutes from my house,they're building a Fogo.
It's going to open here in thenext month or two.
And I've never been, so I'm veryexcited for this.
And, and, and this was soreflective to me of the casual
dining space.
And I told Barry this on thepodcast, which is they're
building the Fogo in an old Oh,Charlie's.
(21:38):
And that was like.
That's so indicative, I think,of what the casual dining space
is right now.
And again, not to pick onO'Charlie's, but O'Charlie's,
here's a concept that's a littlebit tired, a little bit of your
standard kind of casual sort ofsports bar kind of vibe.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it's an American menu.
you know, there, there's a,those are dime a dozen, those
(21:58):
kinds of concepts.
And last year they closedseveral, including the one by my
house.
And Fogo is building and I thinkFogo is just going to kill in
this location because it's moreof the moment.
It's more what people arelooking for.
and I think I would compare itto, especially in the sports bar
category, something like TwinPeaks.
So Twin Peaks, regardless ofwhat you think about their
hospitality model, you know,they have an incredible food and
(22:20):
beverage platform.
Their food is really good.
Their bar menu is superexpansive.
They have something foreverybody.
And Joe Hummel, their CEO willtell you it's.
They don't want to be youraverage sports bar with the
local jerseys on the wall.
They want to be the place thatyou come and you have a
phenomenal experience.
There's like 200 TVs in everyone of them.
(22:41):
So there's something that youwant to watch, but they take you
seriously.
They take their guests seriouslyby giving them great food and
beverage.
And so again, indicative for meof.
Where casual dining is going isthat the, the bar is set high.
You have mm-hmm To provide agreat, you have to provide great
food and beverage.
The last example I'll give youis Gustavo Group out of Denver.
(23:02):
and so this is a group that onlyoperates within Colorado.
Recently spoke with PeterNewlin, one of the partners
there.
and you can listen to that onmy, on my podcast.
but he talked about how, youknow, this is a restaurant group
with a few concepts, homegrownis one of theirs, a pizza place,
a park burger.
And, they are very committed tothe suburbs.
(23:22):
but they're also very committedto doing these sort of local
concepts only within colorado.
And his whole point was onexperience that they want to go
and build a casual diningexperience that is of the
community of the people in thatneighborhood.
Because to his point, he said,if you look at the suburbs, you
just have a lot of reallystandard chains and they're all
(23:45):
very same similar trade dress.
They're all very kind of cookiecutter, you know, not to not to
say that's totally that way.
But He saw this opportunity tosay, well, let's build something
that feels like an independentrestaurant, even though they
have multiple units and thenpeople are going to go there
because they get that experienceof feeling like I'm at a
restaurant that's reflective ofmy community, my personality,
(24:05):
the kind of brand I want, andthen they have great food and
beverage.
So those are the examples Iwould give you for the casual
space in terms of the bar ishigh.
Don't just do the cookie cutterexperience.
Do something a little bit.
Different or at least better.
Jeremy Julian (24:19):
Yeah.
Well, and I think, what I heardyou say through that whole
thread, Sam, was the fact thateach one of these people, even
including the first four brands,as they were constantly
reinvesting in who they were andtesting different things that
were going out there.
So how do people do thatsuccessfully?
So they don't run into theproblem that you said, I know
Charlie's that I want my MonteCristo sandwich, cause I've had
(24:40):
the Monte Cristo sandwich since1953.
And I want that sandwich.
And, you know, and again, I'm,I'm, I'm being a little bit
dramatic about it, but.
We've all had those situationswhere we would go with our
parents or our grandparents, andit was always that place that
you went, you know, with them.
And they have to modify themenu.
They have to change, but if theychange too much, they lose both
ends of the spectrum.
(25:00):
So I guess, how would yourecommend our listeners that are
out there think about that?
Sam Oches (25:05):
Yeah, it's a great point.
you know, one thing that PeterNewland of Gustavo group told me
is, you know, he said, you haveto remember that your restaurant
is a living, breathing organism.
And so I think one point is thatyou do have to constantly
evolve, even though I recognizethat's a little bit counter to
what I was saying earlier,where, you know, you, you have
to be consistent.
You do have to evolve because Ithink if you feel like you're
(25:26):
too much stuck in the past,people will recognize that too.
and so if, yeah, if.
If you're not a brand that isknown for its innovation,
because one, I would say, by theway, we just have to sit, we had
to set as kind of a North starwhen it comes to innovation, I'm
going to say is Taco Bell whenyou, when, you know, it comes to
a company that has licensed fromits customers to do whatever the
heck they want.
(25:47):
It's Taco Bell, which I think weshould all be jealous of because
I think they're having the mostfun in this entire industry.
but they get away with thatbecause that's the expectation
of the customer.
and if you're not Taco Bell, butyou're not Texas roadhouse, I
think that you have to try toslowly test some of these
things.
And of course, you know, if it'sa menu, try it on a limited
(26:07):
basis, either across the systemor just choose, you know, maybe
you have a couple of corporatelocations that you can just kind
of test a few of these things.
but especially again, going backto some of the technology,
especially that can improve theefficiency of your employees,
your back of house, you know, Ithink you can roll that out over
time.
Don't overwhelm your employees.
Don't confuse them.
(26:27):
But it makes some of thesechanges.
at a patient pace again, goingback to patients and, and just
be ready to fail fast, right?
So if it's not a part of yourbrand and it's not going to work
to your point about employees,get it out fast because you need
to, you need to pivot and choosesomething else, but you will
suffer if you don't.
(26:47):
Try, which I think is what Peterwas saying, that it's a living,
breathing organism.
Jeremy Julian (26:51):
Well, and I love you talked about evolution that
takes time, that takesiterations.
That's just constantly iteratingversus some revolution where,
you know, and we've all seenthese brands where they're going
to put a new facelift on it.
They throw a new logo outside,they paint the building and then
the entire menus changed versuschanging 10 percent or 20
percent of the menu and evolvingover time.
And so.
I love that, that idea.
(27:12):
I'm changing gears here for justa minute.
it is the restaurant technologyguys podcast after all.
where do you see 2025 investmentin technology going?
Where do you see the majority ofthe time, energy and money spent
as it relates to brands?
Because I think.
You know, we, and that's a verybroad question, but I say it
because I think that, that a lotof people get shiny object
(27:34):
syndrome in our industry.
whether that's, I gotta havewings cause wings are the hot
thing, or I gotta have Greekfood cause Greek food's the hot
thing, or, you know, whateverthose are on the menu selection,
they do the same thing with,with tech, but where do you see
things working well?
And, and, you know, 2024 cominginto 2025, where do you see that
going?
Sam Oches (27:51):
Yeah, if I had to guess, and it's and it's kind of
similar to what I've been sayingbefore, which is, I think it's
going to be tech that makes theemployees lives easier because I
think everybody's trying tosolve for labor and everybody
recognizes the potential thattechnology has in solving for
labor, whether that's replacingemployees, you know, with a
kiosk or whatever.
(28:12):
or whether that's being able toreallocate your labor with, with
technology or, ultimatelycomplimenting your employees.
But technology, that's the trendI think I see the most of, which
is how do we adopt technology inthe kitchen behind the counter
at the drive through window thatdoesn't necessarily do the job
of the employee, but makes it sothat it's easier.
(28:34):
It's perhaps even more fun thatthey can enjoy it, that they
can, you know, maybe take theopportunity to provide more
hospitality because thetechnology has picked up some of
what they're doing.
you know, if I had to give a, anextreme example, I think about
Donato's here in Columbus, youknow, Donato's developed this
kind of robotic equipment to,assemble their pizzas.
I don't think they've scaledthat too far yet.
Jeremy Julian (28:54):
Kevin was actually just, I recorded a show
with him last week.
The CEO, he and I were talkingabout.
So it's actually coming, I thinkin Q1, he said it's very, very
soon.
So probably by the time both ofthese shows out are out, he'll
have his full robot.
he'll have his full robot.
And I think it's inside of theairport, right?
I think that's it.
So that's where his first storeis going to be with the robot.
So sorry.
I mean, literally you broughtthat concept up and he was just
(29:15):
on the show last week.
Sam Oches (29:16):
intuition.
I love that.
Yeah.
And I, I got to go last year.
I think the last year, maybe ayear before they did a, they did
a celebration at their originallocation where they were testing
this.
equipment and, and again, it's alittle bit more extreme, but you
know, their idea was if youhave, you know, this robotic
equipment that's slicing thepepperoni and putting it on, you
know, their whole commitment isa hundred pepperonis on a
(29:36):
pepperoni pizza.
So, but it can do that veryefficiently.
There's one that does the sauce,one that does the cheese.
Not only is it making your pizzavery.
consistently.
but again, it's essentially theemployee has to press a button
and then move it on to the nextone.
And they said, you know, this isnot, this is not make the whole
kitchen a robot.
And so I don't need any kitchenemployees.
(29:56):
This is suddenly people want towork at Donato's a little bit
more because It's not superchallenging work and you're not,
you know, having that kind oflaborious, type of, of work that
you might have had in the pastwith, with a pizza shop.
So that's an example of where Ithink that the technology will
continue to go in and it doesn'thave to be robotics.
(30:16):
I should also add, right?
Maybe this is just equipmentthat's digitized and, you know,
the timers and, you know, thisstuff been around for a while,
but like, you know, That willcontinue to evolve and say, how
do we automate as much of thisas possible for the employee so
that they can be happier so thatwe can do a better job
recruiting and people know theycan come here and not, you know,
(30:37):
they can enjoy their work.
and that we've supported themthrough this technology.
So that'd be my guess.
I think to your point, the shinyobject syndrome, I, there's a
place for kiosks.
There's a place for, you know,anything digital phone, mobile,
mobile based.
But, you know, if you look atthe extreme on that side with
like the metaverse, where acouple of years we all thought
customers were going to be, youknow, engaged in the metaverse
(30:59):
and it is.
Yeah, that's like, Whoa, whatwere we thinking?
Like, no, they're not going todo that.
So don't push too far.
Don't go into these wackadoodleideas, give them something that
fits the concept.
and, and then especially I wouldjust suggest again, technology
going into the backup house andkitchen to help your employees.
Jeremy Julian (31:16):
Yeah, one last piece about employee engagement
that we've seen a lot of, andI'd love your opinion on it, is
things that make the employeeslives easier outside of the four
walls.
We know that a lot of employeeshave gotten stuck with, you
know, a lot of employees haveleft for the gig economy because
they can work when they want towork.
They can change their shifts,they can come on, they can get
paid the same day that they wentand did their shift.
Delivery for door to Asher orUber Eats or Amazon for that
(31:39):
matter.
we're seeing people more andmore brands looking at getting
same day pay, getting access andcasual dining to their tips same
day.
You know, when I grew up in therestaurants, you know, 30 years
ago, I used to walk, walk homewith hundreds of dollars in cash
in my pocket.
No longer is that the case.
And restaurants are reallystruggling to keep up with that.
Nowadays, figuring out how toallow them to change chefs,
communicate with each otherabout their chefs, as well as
(32:02):
get access to their pay throughsome That's integrated to the
store.
Have you seen brands doing that?
We're seeing it.
I just, I would love yourthoughts on that because again,
it's a retention tool.
It's a engagement tool.
It's a, it's a tool to maketheir lives easier when they
are, can't work or, or need timeoff or whatever else.
Sam Oches (32:19):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
We're seeing brands go in thatdirection too.
And, and a lot of that islistening.
employee, right?
Listen to what they need, whatthey want.
and, and stay in tuned with whatkind of technology you have at
your fingertips to be able toaccommodate that.
So a lot of these platformspopped up to facilitate that
same day pay.
And so, yes, if, if there's nota downside to that necessarily,
(32:41):
I'm sure there are some, butlike at this point in time, you
do not have the luxury to not.
employees, right?
You really have to give them allof these things.
If you've, if you've maxed outon what you can pay them on an
hourly basis, because I'm sureJeremy, you have this as well as
I do at all the fast foodrestaurants around me, there's
decals in the window talkingabout 16, 17 an hour.
(33:03):
You know, if you can't, if youcan't continue to max that out
and compete with everybody,compete on another front and
that's same day pay, maybe.
I think Starbucks recent, updateof its benefits for employees,
which especially includes,parental leave.
you know, they, they give now, Ibelieve 18 weeks for birth
parents and 12 weeks for nonbirth parents.
I mean, that's, that's betterthan a lot of corporations,
(33:25):
right.
For parental leave and, and, youknow, Starbucks, of course, for
its scale.
Can't get away with somethinglike that.
Maybe a smaller, you know, amidsize or emerging chain can't
do that.
But these are the things youhave to be thinking about.
Do you have parents on yourteam?
How do you give them flexiblehours so that they can take care
of their kids?
You know, what, do you have, youknow, young people who maybe
(33:48):
need some help going to college?
That's another thing Starbuckshas been, has been doing paying
for a digital program.
So I don't think we're in thisday and age anymore where you
can just assume teenagers needjobs.
They're going to come to me fora job.
You have to be out thereaggressively competing for
talent because it will benefityou in the long run, as we
talked about earlier, and youare going to have to get pretty
(34:09):
competitive with what you'reoffering.
Jeremy Julian (34:11):
Love it, Sam, I am going to, I'm going to stop
here just because I knowtypically when we get to about
that 30 minute mark, peoplestart to fall off.
But, how do people, how dopeople engage?
How do people learn more about,how to stay connected with you,
the brands?
I mean, you guys have so much,as you said, your, your staff is
so prolific and I love, youknow, genuinely, I, it's like.
Part of how I start my day everyday is reading what it is that
(34:31):
your team, you and your teamhave put out there.
So how do they engage?
How do they get on thenewsletter?
How do they get with the dailyemails and the, you know, the
magazine and all of that?
Sam Oches (34:40):
Yeah, I appreciate that, Jeremy.
Thank you.
so go to nrn.
com.
the easiest way to do all ofthis.
if you go to nrn.
com, we have a subscribe buttonon there.
You can subscribe to our AMnewsletter, which is every,
weekday.
day.
We have a range of othernewsletters that will give you
the option to subscribe to aswell.
some for fast casual, some forQSR, some for casual dining.
so we have a range ofnewsletters you can subscribe
to.
So you get in your inbox all thenews and information that you
(35:02):
could possibly need.
we also do, as I mentioned, havea print publication.
So we have a monthly edition ofnation's restaurant news that
you can subscribe to.
If you're a qualified restaurantoperator, you get it for free.
so highly recommend people dothat.
But go subscribe to take awaywith Sam Oches.
My podcast.
Subscribe to extra serving,which is our flagship NRN
podcast.
And then you can also follow meon LinkedIn.
(35:23):
We'd love to connect with you.
Jeremy Julian (35:24):
Awesome.
last one just shows that youguys are, are putting on.
Cause, I know that that's also,I mean, I, I ran into you at FS
tech in September, but I knowthat you guys have got lots of
different places that you're outand out in the public sphere.
So if, if people want to engagein any of those, opportunities,
where would you suggest they go?
Sam Oches (35:39):
Yeah, absolutely.
So we're, we're incredibly luckyto be a part of a group called
Informa Connect Food Service,which has come together in the
last two years.
and so we own several events forthe restaurant operator.
The next one coming up isRestaurant Leadership
Conference, and that's inCastile in April.
Yeah, that's a good one.
and if you just GoogleRestaurant Leadership
Conference, you can, you canfind it and request an invite.
(36:02):
after that, there's the NationalRestaurant Association show in
May, which is a part of ourportfolio.
Of course, the biggest foodshow, I believe, in the world.
that's a trade show.
So if you're looking for newideas and inspiration, it's a
great place to be.
after that, we have F.
S.
Tech, which is in September thisyear, I believe in Orlando.
F.
S.
Tech is if you are in the techspace, that is the place to be.
Food service.
(36:22):
Tech is obviously Continuing tochange every year.
So there's lots to learn aboutthere.
And the final one I'd throw atyou is create.
So we launched this a few yearsago.
create is an October inNashville.
That's for emerging operators.
So don't put a number ofrequirements on it, but I
typically say if you havebetween two and 200 locations,
create is the event for you.
Jeremy Julian (36:42):
Awesome, Sam.
so much for what you guys doevery day.
again, I, you know, the purposeof the show is really to help
restaurants to succeed, and Iknow you guys are on that same
path.
So to our listeners, guys, weknow that you guys have lots of
choices.
So thank you guys for hangingout.
If you haven't alreadysubscribed to the show, please
do so and make it a great day.
Awesome.
Thank you.
Thanks for listening to theRestaurant Technology Guys
(37:04):
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 (00:14):
I think everyone out there for joining us today.
I am joined by a very specialguest.
I've been reading what, what Samhas been writing for quite some
time and just kind of in theworld of restaurants and
restaurant, restaurant articles,but Sam, why don't you introduce
yourself a little bit to ouraudience for those that, I am
certain everybody's read a lotof what you've written and
probably recognize the facebecause you guys have been
getting a little bit moredigital with your podcast as
(00:34):
well.
But, for those that are livingunder a rock and haven't seen
you out there on the socialworld and whatnot, introduce
yourself to our listeners.
Sam Oches (00:40):
Sure.
Well, thank you, Jeremy, forhaving me.
really a pleasure to be here.
so I'm Sam Oches.
I'm the editor in chief ofNations Restaurant News, the
editorial director for NRN andour sister publication
Restaurant Hospitality.
I've been covering food servicefor almost 16 years now, and, I
count myself as the luckiest guyon the face of the earth that I
get to do this for a living.
so of course, Nations RestaurantNews, a trade publication for
(01:03):
the restaurant industry, totallyfree for qualified operators.
nrn.
com.
I have an amazing team that iscranking out content every
single day on the website.
We also have a printpublication, Nations Restaurant
News, and everybody can go outand subscribe to that.
But yes, we do lots ofmultimedia now.
I have a podcast called Takeawaywith Sam Oches.
(01:24):
we also have a podcast calledExtra Serving that myself and
our executive editor, AliciaKelso, host.
And, then also social, all thesocial accounts.
We're, we're, we're constantlygoing that direction.
So, very exciting industry tocover.
Again, very lucky that I get todo this.
very happy to be here.
Thanks, Jeremy.
Jeremy Julian (01:40):
Awesome.
I appreciate you being on.
And, I know we talked a littlebit, you know, Joanna's been on
the show.
I just recorded with Alicia, buthaven't published it yet.
So, we'll see.
We'll, we'll get these thingsout there, but, really from,
from my perspective, we'rerecording this in early 2025,
Sam, I'd love for you to kind ofjust talk macro macro
restaurants.
What are you seeing trends?
What are you seeing working?
Well, let's start down the pathof what's been working really
(02:02):
well.
And then maybe we'll get intokind of where do you, where do
you see some opportunities tomake some investments and change
some, change some behavior.
And some brands.
Sure.
Sam Oches (02:10):
You know, I think what's working well.
I've talked a lot about acertain handful of, of
restaurant companies in the pastseveral months, as far as
companies that I think brandsthat everybody should look to as
being examples of what to do.
and there are four in mind thatcome to, come to mind, Texas
Roadhouse, Texas Roadhouse.
Chick fil a, Raising Cane's andJersey Mike's.
(02:31):
so when I look at what issuccessful, who's doing a good
job right now, those four arethe ones that they seem to be
immune from any economicchanges, any global pandemics,
they continue to performextraordinarily well.
And what I would glean fromthose companies is that what's
working right now is consistencyis a, an intense focus on
(02:54):
quality and efficiency.
And on hospitality and on notinnovating for innovation's
sake, those four companies inparticular, a wide range of
ages.
Of course, Chick fil A andJersey Mike's been around 50, 60
years.
and Texas Roadhouse in RaisingCane's for about 30 years.
all of them are either founderled or founder inspired.
They're, they're still very muchplaying by the playbook of the
(03:16):
founder and they all there, noneof them make any rash decisions.
They're not rushing into anymarketing campaign, any value
deal, any new product, any ticktock inspired, whatever they
are, just head down.
We're going to do this very welland we're going to do it over
and over and over again.
And all of them, if you look attheir numbers, Are just
(03:38):
absolutely crushing it.
They're all doing between fiveand well, Jersey Mike's from a
sandwich concept, you know,about 2.
5 to 3 million AUV.
The other three are doing over 5million AUV, right?
So I think that's a broad way toanswer your question, Jeremy.
But I think what's working rightnow is those companies that no
matter the volatility of whatwe're going through right now
(03:58):
from an economic standpoint,from a political climate, no
matter any of those things,those companies just
consistently do what they dobest and they don't try to be
anything else.
Jeremy Julian (04:08):
yeah, and the funny thing though though as you
say that I think of some of themost innovative brands Chick fil
a is one of those brands thatcomes to mind because they do
dabble and so I guess I wouldlove to understand from your
perspective because quitefrankly all of them have dabbled
You know, canes dabbles becausethey've got such crazy drive
thru and kind of the ways thatthey go Even the dining room
layouts i've been into somedifferent canes You I've been to
(04:28):
quite a few, Texas Roadhouse.
So how does, how do brands thatare out there listening, stay
consistent to who they are andwho they want to be and still
innovate because we see a lot ofthe brands that are suffering or
those brands that tried to staywho they are and didn't stay up
with the time.
So how do you, how do you managethat?
Or how would you say that thatbrand should manage that?
Sam Oches (04:46):
It's a great question.
One that I ask people all thetime as well, because I think
the restaurant industryespecially is one that faces
this question all the time.
When you look at the biggestchains in America and you look
at some of these brands thathave been around for
generations, they have a legacyto protect.
They have a heritage.
They have the nostalgia factor.
Some of these companies whereyou have customers who've been
(05:07):
coming in for For 5, 6, 7decades in some instances.
And if you innovate too much, ifyou press too much on the
accelerator, you're going to,you're going to really turn them
off because this is not what Iexpect out of that restaurant.
Right.
so in the restaurant industry, Ido think you have a lot of those
who have to be more careful withtheir innovation for that sake.
And to answer your question,yes, of the four I mentioned,
(05:29):
Chick fil A for sure has donethe most consumer facing
innovation of any of them, Ithink by a long shot.
If you think about that newdrive through, they opened in
Georgia with, you know, the fourdrive through lanes and it's
very much like a bank and youknow, lowering the food down and
all that.
That's about as innovative as itcomes.
That's fancy, that's supertechnology powered.
(05:50):
I think Chick fil A has done anincredibly admirable job.
As far as digital innovation,their mobile app, the ways in
which they continue to developthat, you know, they're putting
out content now on, you know,with an app, right?
So Chick fil A clearly is stillpushing with innovation.
And I got to tell you, Jimmy, Ithink to some degree, that's
because they have permissionfrom their customer when they
(06:12):
look and see that they're doing9 million per restaurant per
year, right?
They know that the customer, theChick fil A customer.
Isn't going to say, Hey, wait asecond.
You're making content now.
I disagree.
I'm going to take my businesselsewhere.
They're not doing that.
Right.
They're just like, I go to Chickfil A all the time because I
love Chick fil A and I'm goingto keep going to Chick fil A.
So Chick fil A has permission toinnovate.
and it's not to say that theother companies do not have that
permission, but I do thinkthere's, they're a little bit
(06:34):
more protective and I'll go allthe way to the other end with
Texas roadhouse.
I spent a lot of time with Texasroadhouse a few months ago.
We named them our brand icon of2024.
I spent some time in theirheadquarters with CEO, Jerry
Morgan and some of several otherexecutives and you know, you
when yo Roadhouse, you're notgon technology.
(06:54):
You're not go fancy bells andwhistles.
of what texas Roadhouse l ago,maybe with the excep on the
floor.
because loud music, they havefriendly, weight staff.
They have, you know, a menu thathas barely changed in 30 years.
and they have moved theirinnovation more to the back of
(07:16):
the house because TexasRoadhouse is like the slice of
Americana that could not change.
It is because every community inAmerica that has a Texas
roadhouse, it just feels likeyou're stepping out of time when
you go into this place.
And you know that in 1996 and in2025, the experience is going to
be the same.
And that's why you go there.
That's what you want, but theydo innovate.
(07:39):
in ways that are more, employeefocused, right?
So Texas Roadhouse recentlyrolled out a KDS, which has been
doing wonders for them.
As I, as far as I understand it,you know, they work on making
the lives of their employees alot easier.
they, but that will resist thirdparty delivery.
They'll resist a lot of theother, again, bells and whistles
that are, are, are becomingpopular with restaurants.
(08:00):
And so a long winded way ofanswering your question, Jeremy,
was just, is just to say, Ithink every restaurant has to
take a temperature for, youknow, what their brand is and
what it represents to thecustomer and understand how much
permission they have from thecustomer to innovate.
Because if you don't have to putin that kiosk, if you don't have
to, you know, build that fancydrive through, because it might
turn off your customers whodon't expect that from you.
(08:23):
Then don't do it.
It might not be right for you.
Jeremy Julian (08:26):
Yeah, no.
And I just, I was just on a showthat just released this week,
the week that we're recordingthis.
And I was talking about it with,with Troy Hooper from, from
pepper lunch, and he was asking,he's like, what do, what do
brands do that make the mostmistakes?
It's, they don't really know whothey are.
And I think the undercurrentfrom all four of these brands is
they know who they are and theyknow where the innovations need
to happen in order to meet theirboth guests expectation as well
(08:47):
as their staff expectation.
Yeah.
Sam Oches (08:49):
Yeah, it's like a core value thing.
Right.
And again, not to overuse theTexas road houses example, but,
but I think some of these brandsare just so good at having these
core values again, like a, likea blueprint and for Texas
roadhouse, that's Kent Taylorfounder, Kent Taylor, who passed
away a few years ago, but heleft behind this very dedicated,
I mean, he wrote a book rightbefore he passed.
He had written a book and it's avery.
(09:10):
Detail dedicated plan for howyou succeed and they stick to it
and they don't change the rules.
And so that's where I think ifyou have strong core values, you
have a blueprint for what thebrand represents and you don't
waver from that, then you'regoing to do fine.
Jeremy Julian (09:25):
I love that.
the other piece that I think, Iheard as a thread and, and I'd
love at least your opinion onthis.
And then there's a brand that I.
grew up with in, in and out.
And I know quite a bit of thefamily, they're a very similar
brand in that regard that theyknow who they are and they know
what they're doing.
But my wife worked there.
My best friend worked at in andout is their care for employees,
their investment in their team.
When I think about all four ofthose brands that you mentioned
(09:47):
that are doing it well,something they also do is, is
they not only know who they areas a brand and how they're going
to engage with the consumer, Butthey invest a lot in the team
members that are coming in.
And, and in many of them, Idon't even think I call them
employees.
They call them team members orthey have some other
colloquialism that's related tothat.
can you expand upon that?
Because I think it's, it's whatmakes the restaurant industry go
is the people that are there asmuch as the food and the
(10:09):
experience and the ambiance.
And if you do it well.
You can tell, and when you don'tdo it well, you can tell.
Sam Oches (10:15):
Yeah, look, it's probably become a little cliche
by now, but if you take care ofyour employees, they will take
care of your guests, right?
So, especially today with thesituation we're in with labor,
where the unemployment level isvery low.
And where it's very difficult tofind good employees.
Everybody is trying to figureout how do we recruit, hire,
retain.
(10:35):
and that retain part is crucial.
Once you find that person who isan all star employee or team
member or whatever, you hold onto them as tightly as you can.
and, and again, with your corevalues, If you have core values
and you hire against those andyou find candidates who are
reflective of those values, thenthat's going to be an easy
match.
(10:55):
It's going to, you're going tomeld well with that customer and
they're going to want to be apart of what you're building.
but you've got to really thenput your money where your mouth
is.
And that's literal money.
Sometimes of course, pay youremployees well.
but offer benefits, try toinvest and incentivize, in
these, in these employees sothat they have no incentive to
leave, that they don't want todepart.
(11:16):
But I would also add, you know,try to show them the path that
they have forward.
I think the companies that dothis best.
They have developed a talentpipeline, and they they help
their their employees understandhow this job could turn into a
career.
The restaurant industrystruggled with us for a long
time, and it's a topic ofconversation forever, which is
(11:38):
how do how do people understandthat while 50 percent of
Americans get their job workingbehind the counter of a
restaurant?
You know, very few of them stickaround and make a career out of
it, but they can, and it can bevery lucrative.
and so for those companies thatI think want to leverage their
team members to succeed, they'vegot to again, invest in them
(11:59):
from an incentives perspective,a pay perspective.
and they have to show them thepath that could, they could have
ahead of them to becoming aleader at that company.
And then again, if you do thosethings and your employees are
happy, they feel like theybelong.
They're going to reflect that toyour customers and then your
customers are going to be happyin and out.
It's a great example when theytake care of their employees,
(12:20):
their employees take care of theguests, everybody wins.
Chick fil a is another example.
you know, and Chick fil aespecially, you know, you think
about the people who want in ona Chick fil a that many
thousands of, you know,applications they get for owner
operators and they only select ahandful, right.
But you get in that pipeline andyou stay in that pipeline, Chick
fil a general managers aredoing.
You know, half million dollars ayear.
(12:42):
Like again, lucrative career, ifyou can get in that pipeline.
So, so I, I think that's thekey.
Take care of your employees.
They'll take care of yourguests.
Everybody wins, but you have tobe very focused on what that
looks like and taking care ofyour employees.
Jeremy Julian (12:55):
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Yeah.
And not to go towards thenegative, but the opposite also
has to happen.
If people aren't meeting thecore values, you have to make
(13:37):
sure that they know they're notthere very long.
I remember playing golf withthem.
So we did in and out.
Number of years ago, young andyoung in my career.
And I said, how do you guyscreate what you do?
He goes, the minute we know it'sa bad apple, they're gone.
It's not something that we, youknow, and they've got a strong
pipeline of people coming in.
They've got a strong pipeline ofknowing how to get people on
board and, and to ingratiatethem to the culture of who they
(13:58):
are and what they do.
And the people that aren't partof that culture, they stick out
like a sore thumb and they'regone pretty quickly.
Sam Oches (14:03):
Totally.
Yeah.
That's a great point.
Yeah.
And you know, I think it's abouthow.
somebody told me once I knewsomebody worked at a Chick fil a
and you know, they were sayingthat they have like the whole
local high schools on a rollworking at their restaurant.
And it's, you know, successbegets success, right?
Where, when you also get those,happy employees, they're going
to recruit their friends to cometo be a part of it.
(14:24):
you know, I think that again, ifyou just focus intensely on it,
to your point, Jeremy, get ridof the bad apples, focus on the
good apples.
The good apples will bring inmore good apples.
and, and then that just kind ofsnowballs to the point where
it's like you're known to be acompany everybody wants to work
for.
You have that advantage, thatunfair advantage of being
everybody's banging down yourdoor to work there and you have
(14:45):
kind of the pick of the litter.
Jeremy Julian (14:46):
Yeah, the one last thing that I would say that
I recognize about all four ofthese brands is that they, They
were slow to grow and then theygot fast.
They started slow before theywent fast.
And I've seen too many brandsthat grow so far beyond.
And again, you and I, I've beendoing this, almost 30 years now
I've watched brands that are sopromising and they grow so fast
(15:07):
and they forget who they are.
I'd love a little bit of aopinion on that because I,
again, Chick fil A, I'd heardabout it for years back in
Atlanta.
Never went, never went, went tothe first one there.
And then, you know, like theystarted coming West and now
they're growing really fast,same thing with raising canes.
They've been around for a longenough time.
I went to the original JerseyMike's as a kid, I used to grow
up at the Jersey shore and Iliterally used to go into that,
(15:27):
that, that original JerseyMike's and play Pleasant beach.
So for me.
The, all of these brands thatyou talk about started really
slow and then accelerated at apace once they kind of figured
it out.
Sam Oches (15:37):
Yeah, you're a hundred percent right.
I think this is the third timeI've actually talked about this
exact thing this week, which isthis idea that it is a marathon,
not a sprint.
And I, I totally have been inthat same place where in the
last 16 years, I have watched.
These restaurants open up,become a little bit successful.
So they grow a little bit andthen they're saying, okay, now
(15:58):
we're going to open a hundrednext year.
Jeremy Julian (15:59):
And you're
Sam Oches (16:00):
like, no, no, that's not the point.
Don't do that.
and, and even when you have somechains and I'm not trying to
throw anybody under the bushere, but when you look at some
examples of this, I'll, I'llthrow out a blaze pizza as an
example of fastest growingrestaurant chain in history, I
think they were at the time,perhaps since surpassed by
crumble cookies, which isanother story, you know, Blaze
peaked.
(16:20):
They did 505 years and it'sgreat.
And then.
Now, I think they're retoolingnow.
So I, I, I, hopefully they'll,they'll, you know, get back to
growth again.
But I guess the point is, islike, what good is 505 years?
If you're not around in 50, youknow what I mean?
Or Dickies
Jeremy Julian (16:35):
has been getting beat up quite a bit about doing
the exact same thing recently.
And, and again, I'm not pickingon Dickies.
It's been stuff that you guyshave written about, but it's
very similar.
Chris Demery, the CTO of a blazewas on recently as well on the
show.
And he and I talked about.
How they had to go back to theroots of who they were and what
made them successful and go backand reinvest in those things
because they were shiny objectsas well as grow at all, at all
(16:56):
costs rather than finding theright franchisees, keeping the
culture to the core.
Sam Oches (17:01):
Yeah, yeah, I think crumble again is the latest
example that, you know, we'renot fully, we don't fully know
what's going to happen there,but everybody was just.
So shocked at a thousandrestaurants in six years or
something they did.
but then last year it was alittle bit, okay.
Some of the cracks are startingto show.
And I wish the best for all ofthese folks.
Cause I recognize thesecompanies have thousands of
employees whose livelihoodsdepend on that.
(17:22):
And so wouldn't wish ill will,but I think these things have to
be a model for what.
other companies do.
These have to be red flags thatgrowth does not have to be
number of locations.
I think that's such an importantpart.
You can grow your culture.
You can grow within your fourwalls.
You can, you know, you can growin so many team members.
(17:43):
You can grow your team memberstotally.
And whether you have five unitsor 500 that that's not the
measure of success.
The measure of success is, youknow, what you're serving, how
you're serving your customers,the role you play in their
lives, and whether or not youcan do that for the long term.
So coming back to your point,yes, all of those companies that
I mentioned, those fourcompanies, Jersey Mike's, I
(18:05):
think especially, This is acompany that when I started
covering this industry industry16 years ago, out of, you know,
it grew up in Ohio.
I had never heard of Jerseybikes.
And, you know, then they kind ofpop up radar as a sort of up and
coming chain at the time theymade maybe had less than a
thousand locations.
Okay.
Whatever, what's this about?
I tried it.
I loved it.
And now they're getting sold for8 billion and they're opening
(18:28):
two to 300 a year and, and it's50 years in the making.
And Peter Kinkrow is one of theindustries.
One of the absolute titans ofthis industry.
Everybody should learn fromPeter Cancro and what he
accomplished at Jersey Mikes.
And that was one of the bigthings.
I think he was just reallypatient.
He took care of his people.
They have an amazing culture atJersey Mike's when you get to
know their executives, you know,that they know who they are and
(18:51):
what they're doing.
And that gave them the abilityby, by really kind of being
patient in that growth toslammed on that slam down on
that accelerator.
You know, once they got to thatpoint where they felt like they
could.
Jeremy Julian (19:01):
Love that.
I appreciate you sharing thosestories.
And again, not looking to pickon any of those people, but I'm
going to flip it around and say,so now I'm one of those brands
and let's, let's live in thecasual dining space.
Cause
Sam Oches (19:10):
yeah,
Jeremy Julian (19:10):
there's been a lot written about casual dining.
It's been, you know, takingpunches in the mouth.
There's been some that have beensuccessful.
You talked about Texasroadhouse.
I know you guys have writtenabout Brinker and Olive garden
still doing relatively well inthe, in the space overall, but
now I'm one of those brands andI'm looking to, to get back to
being more successful, you know,they got kicked in the teeth
with, with COVID.
We had a little bit of arenaissance there post COVID and
(19:32):
now it's back to traffic isdown.
We're not growing.
We're, we're really struggling.
What is the commonality or whatare the things that you're
seeing within casual dining thatbrands need to be evaluating and
aware of in order to get back tonot just growth, but to being
successful and feeling likethey're in a good spot.
Sam Oches (19:50):
Yeah, it's a great question.
I'll give you a couple ofexamples.
the first one I'll say is,someone I spoke to this week who
will be a guest on my podcasttakeaway here in a few weeks is
Barry McGowan, the CEO of Fogoto Show.
And, talk about patience.
This, this, you know, Barrybecame, joined Fogo, 12 years
ago.
And, it's another brand thatlike.
For me, I had not, I was notreally familiar with Fogo maybe
(20:12):
five years ago.
And then they started to creepup onto my radar.
I'm like, what's this Brazilianbrand?
What's this all about?
And now, and I think I can saythis because it will be live.
I'm sure by the time thisepisode goes up, they're on the
cover of our January issuebecause they are one of
America's favorite chains.
we partnered with Technomic onour America's favorite chains
report.
Fogo, I believe was number sevenon the, on the top 10 and they
(20:32):
were also Gen Z's.
Number one full servicerestaurant
Jeremy Julian (20:36):
and you know,
Sam Oches (20:38):
it's incredible.
I mean, and that's a testbecause it's not an
Jeremy Julian (20:40):
inexpensive brand to go to, you know, and I'm not
saying that to pick on anybody,but everybody talks about price
being one of the barriers andeverybody took price too high.
So I apologize for stopping you.
But I think it's something thatThey're charging a premium, but
they're delivering a productthat's, that's different.
So sorry, I'll let you keepgoing.
No,
Sam Oches (20:54):
totally.
And that, that was exactly whatI said to Perry.
I'm like, how do you resonatewith Gen Z when you're a more
upscale expensive option?
And you know, it's a number ofthings.
but I, but he, you know, as hesays, there's, it's the
experience.
Fogo gives a little bit more ofa choose your own adventure
experience.
It's the quality.
It's the, The fact that it's aglobal brand with some really
new kind of flavors that peoplearen't expecting.
(21:17):
certainly it's in thehospitality.
There's a vibe to it.
And as he and I were talking, soI, I live in Columbus and about
two minutes from my house,they're building a Fogo.
It's going to open here in thenext month or two.
And I've never been, so I'm veryexcited for this.
And, and, and this was soreflective to me of the casual
dining space.
And I told Barry this on thepodcast, which is they're
building the Fogo in an old Oh,Charlie's.
(21:38):
And that was like.
That's so indicative, I think,of what the casual dining space
is right now.
And again, not to pick onO'Charlie's, but O'Charlie's,
here's a concept that's a littlebit tired, a little bit of your
standard kind of casual sort ofsports bar kind of vibe.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it's an American menu.
you know, there, there's a,those are dime a dozen, those
(21:58):
kinds of concepts.
And last year they closedseveral, including the one by my
house.
And Fogo is building and I thinkFogo is just going to kill in
this location because it's moreof the moment.
It's more what people arelooking for.
and I think I would compare itto, especially in the sports bar
category, something like TwinPeaks.
So Twin Peaks, regardless ofwhat you think about their
hospitality model, you know,they have an incredible food and
(22:20):
beverage platform.
Their food is really good.
Their bar menu is superexpansive.
They have something foreverybody.
And Joe Hummel, their CEO willtell you it's.
They don't want to be youraverage sports bar with the
local jerseys on the wall.
They want to be the place thatyou come and you have a
phenomenal experience.
There's like 200 TVs in everyone of them.
(22:41):
So there's something that youwant to watch, but they take you
seriously.
They take their guests seriouslyby giving them great food and
beverage.
And so again, indicative for meof.
Where casual dining is going isthat the, the bar is set high.
You have mm-hmm To provide agreat, you have to provide great
food and beverage.
The last example I'll give youis Gustavo Group out of Denver.
(23:02):
and so this is a group that onlyoperates within Colorado.
Recently spoke with PeterNewlin, one of the partners
there.
and you can listen to that onmy, on my podcast.
but he talked about how, youknow, this is a restaurant group
with a few concepts, homegrownis one of theirs, a pizza place,
a park burger.
And, they are very committed tothe suburbs.
(23:22):
but they're also very committedto doing these sort of local
concepts only within colorado.
And his whole point was onexperience that they want to go
and build a casual diningexperience that is of the
community of the people in thatneighborhood.
Because to his point, he said,if you look at the suburbs, you
just have a lot of reallystandard chains and they're all
(23:45):
very same similar trade dress.
They're all very kind of cookiecutter, you know, not to not to
say that's totally that way.
But He saw this opportunity tosay, well, let's build something
that feels like an independentrestaurant, even though they
have multiple units and thenpeople are going to go there
because they get that experienceof feeling like I'm at a
restaurant that's reflective ofmy community, my personality,
(24:05):
the kind of brand I want, andthen they have great food and
beverage.
So those are the examples Iwould give you for the casual
space in terms of the bar ishigh.
Don't just do the cookie cutterexperience.
Do something a little bit.
Different or at least better.
Jeremy Julian (24:19):
Yeah.
Well, and I think, what I heardyou say through that whole
thread, Sam, was the fact thateach one of these people, even
including the first four brands,as they were constantly
reinvesting in who they were andtesting different things that
were going out there.
So how do people do thatsuccessfully?
So they don't run into theproblem that you said, I know
Charlie's that I want my MonteCristo sandwich, cause I've had
(24:40):
the Monte Cristo sandwich since1953.
And I want that sandwich.
And, you know, and again, I'm,I'm, I'm being a little bit
dramatic about it, but.
We've all had those situationswhere we would go with our
parents or our grandparents, andit was always that place that
you went, you know, with them.
And they have to modify themenu.
They have to change, but if theychange too much, they lose both
ends of the spectrum.
(25:00):
So I guess, how would yourecommend our listeners that are
out there think about that?
Sam Oches (25:05):
Yeah, it's a great point.
you know, one thing that PeterNewland of Gustavo group told me
is, you know, he said, you haveto remember that your restaurant
is a living, breathing organism.
And so I think one point is thatyou do have to constantly
evolve, even though I recognizethat's a little bit counter to
what I was saying earlier,where, you know, you, you have
to be consistent.
You do have to evolve because Ithink if you feel like you're
(25:26):
too much stuck in the past,people will recognize that too.
and so if, yeah, if.
If you're not a brand that isknown for its innovation,
because one, I would say, by theway, we just have to sit, we had
to set as kind of a North starwhen it comes to innovation, I'm
going to say is Taco Bell whenyou, when, you know, it comes to
a company that has licensed fromits customers to do whatever the
heck they want.
(25:47):
It's Taco Bell, which I think weshould all be jealous of because
I think they're having the mostfun in this entire industry.
but they get away with thatbecause that's the expectation
of the customer.
and if you're not Taco Bell, butyou're not Texas roadhouse, I
think that you have to try toslowly test some of these
things.
And of course, you know, if it'sa menu, try it on a limited
(26:07):
basis, either across the systemor just choose, you know, maybe
you have a couple of corporatelocations that you can just kind
of test a few of these things.
but especially again, going backto some of the technology,
especially that can improve theefficiency of your employees,
your back of house, you know, Ithink you can roll that out over
time.
Don't overwhelm your employees.
Don't confuse them.
(26:27):
But it makes some of thesechanges.
at a patient pace again, goingback to patients and, and just
be ready to fail fast, right?
So if it's not a part of yourbrand and it's not going to work
to your point about employees,get it out fast because you need
to, you need to pivot and choosesomething else, but you will
suffer if you don't.
(26:47):
Try, which I think is what Peterwas saying, that it's a living,
breathing organism.
Jeremy Julian (26:51):
Well, and I love you talked about evolution that
takes time, that takesiterations.
That's just constantly iteratingversus some revolution where,
you know, and we've all seenthese brands where they're going
to put a new facelift on it.
They throw a new logo outside,they paint the building and then
the entire menus changed versuschanging 10 percent or 20
percent of the menu and evolvingover time.
And so.
I love that, that idea.
(27:12):
I'm changing gears here for justa minute.
it is the restaurant technologyguys podcast after all.
where do you see 2025 investmentin technology going?
Where do you see the majority ofthe time, energy and money spent
as it relates to brands?
Because I think.
You know, we, and that's a verybroad question, but I say it
because I think that, that a lotof people get shiny object
(27:34):
syndrome in our industry.
whether that's, I gotta havewings cause wings are the hot
thing, or I gotta have Greekfood cause Greek food's the hot
thing, or, you know, whateverthose are on the menu selection,
they do the same thing with,with tech, but where do you see
things working well?
And, and, you know, 2024 cominginto 2025, where do you see that
going?
Sam Oches (27:51):
Yeah, if I had to guess, and it's and it's kind of
similar to what I've been sayingbefore, which is, I think it's
going to be tech that makes theemployees lives easier because I
think everybody's trying tosolve for labor and everybody
recognizes the potential thattechnology has in solving for
labor, whether that's replacingemployees, you know, with a
kiosk or whatever.
(28:12):
or whether that's being able toreallocate your labor with, with
technology or, ultimatelycomplimenting your employees.
But technology, that's the trendI think I see the most of, which
is how do we adopt technology inthe kitchen behind the counter
at the drive through window thatdoesn't necessarily do the job
of the employee, but makes it sothat it's easier.
(28:34):
It's perhaps even more fun thatthey can enjoy it, that they
can, you know, maybe take theopportunity to provide more
hospitality because thetechnology has picked up some of
what they're doing.
you know, if I had to give a, anextreme example, I think about
Donato's here in Columbus, youknow, Donato's developed this
kind of robotic equipment to,assemble their pizzas.
I don't think they've scaledthat too far yet.
Jeremy Julian (28:54):
Kevin was actually just, I recorded a show
with him last week.
The CEO, he and I were talkingabout.
So it's actually coming, I thinkin Q1, he said it's very, very
soon.
So probably by the time both ofthese shows out are out, he'll
have his full robot.
he'll have his full robot.
And I think it's inside of theairport, right?
I think that's it.
So that's where his first storeis going to be with the robot.
So sorry.
I mean, literally you broughtthat concept up and he was just
(29:15):
on the show last week.
Sam Oches (29:16):
intuition.
I love that.
Yeah.
And I, I got to go last year.
I think the last year, maybe ayear before they did a, they did
a celebration at their originallocation where they were testing
this.
equipment and, and again, it's alittle bit more extreme, but you
know, their idea was if youhave, you know, this robotic
equipment that's slicing thepepperoni and putting it on, you
know, their whole commitment isa hundred pepperonis on a
(29:36):
pepperoni pizza.
So, but it can do that veryefficiently.
There's one that does the sauce,one that does the cheese.
Not only is it making your pizzavery.
consistently.
but again, it's essentially theemployee has to press a button
and then move it on to the nextone.
And they said, you know, this isnot, this is not make the whole
kitchen a robot.
And so I don't need any kitchenemployees.
(29:56):
This is suddenly people want towork at Donato's a little bit
more because It's not superchallenging work and you're not,
you know, having that kind oflaborious, type of, of work that
you might have had in the pastwith, with a pizza shop.
So that's an example of where Ithink that the technology will
continue to go in and it doesn'thave to be robotics.
(30:16):
I should also add, right?
Maybe this is just equipmentthat's digitized and, you know,
the timers and, you know, thisstuff been around for a while,
but like, you know, That willcontinue to evolve and say, how
do we automate as much of thisas possible for the employee so
that they can be happier so thatwe can do a better job
recruiting and people know theycan come here and not, you know,
(30:37):
they can enjoy their work.
and that we've supported themthrough this technology.
So that'd be my guess.
I think to your point, the shinyobject syndrome, I, there's a
place for kiosks.
There's a place for, you know,anything digital phone, mobile,
mobile based.
But, you know, if you look atthe extreme on that side with
like the metaverse, where acouple of years we all thought
customers were going to be, youknow, engaged in the metaverse
(30:59):
and it is.
Yeah, that's like, Whoa, whatwere we thinking?
Like, no, they're not going todo that.
So don't push too far.
Don't go into these wackadoodleideas, give them something that
fits the concept.
and, and then especially I wouldjust suggest again, technology
going into the backup house andkitchen to help your employees.
Jeremy Julian (31:16):
Yeah, one last piece about employee engagement
that we've seen a lot of, andI'd love your opinion on it, is
things that make the employeeslives easier outside of the four
walls.
We know that a lot of employeeshave gotten stuck with, you
know, a lot of employees haveleft for the gig economy because
they can work when they want towork.
They can change their shifts,they can come on, they can get
paid the same day that they wentand did their shift.
Delivery for door to Asher orUber Eats or Amazon for that
(31:39):
matter.
we're seeing people more andmore brands looking at getting
same day pay, getting access andcasual dining to their tips same
day.
You know, when I grew up in therestaurants, you know, 30 years
ago, I used to walk, walk homewith hundreds of dollars in cash
in my pocket.
No longer is that the case.
And restaurants are reallystruggling to keep up with that.
Nowadays, figuring out how toallow them to change chefs,
communicate with each otherabout their chefs, as well as
(32:02):
get access to their pay throughsome That's integrated to the
store.
Have you seen brands doing that?
We're seeing it.
I just, I would love yourthoughts on that because again,
it's a retention tool.
It's a engagement tool.
It's a, it's a tool to maketheir lives easier when they
are, can't work or, or need timeoff or whatever else.
Sam Oches (32:19):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
We're seeing brands go in thatdirection too.
And, and a lot of that islistening.
employee, right?
Listen to what they need, whatthey want.
and, and stay in tuned with whatkind of technology you have at
your fingertips to be able toaccommodate that.
So a lot of these platformspopped up to facilitate that
same day pay.
And so, yes, if, if there's nota downside to that necessarily,
(32:41):
I'm sure there are some, butlike at this point in time, you
do not have the luxury to not.
employees, right?
You really have to give them allof these things.
If you've, if you've maxed outon what you can pay them on an
hourly basis, because I'm sureJeremy, you have this as well as
I do at all the fast foodrestaurants around me, there's
decals in the window talkingabout 16, 17 an hour.
(33:03):
You know, if you can't, if youcan't continue to max that out
and compete with everybody,compete on another front and
that's same day pay, maybe.
I think Starbucks recent, updateof its benefits for employees,
which especially includes,parental leave.
you know, they, they give now, Ibelieve 18 weeks for birth
parents and 12 weeks for nonbirth parents.
I mean, that's, that's betterthan a lot of corporations,
(33:25):
right.
For parental leave and, and, youknow, Starbucks, of course, for
its scale.
Can't get away with somethinglike that.
Maybe a smaller, you know, amidsize or emerging chain can't
do that.
But these are the things youhave to be thinking about.
Do you have parents on yourteam?
How do you give them flexiblehours so that they can take care
of their kids?
You know, what, do you have, youknow, young people who maybe
(33:48):
need some help going to college?
That's another thing Starbuckshas been, has been doing paying
for a digital program.
So I don't think we're in thisday and age anymore where you
can just assume teenagers needjobs.
They're going to come to me fora job.
You have to be out thereaggressively competing for
talent because it will benefityou in the long run, as we
talked about earlier, and youare going to have to get pretty
(34:09):
competitive with what you'reoffering.
Jeremy Julian (34:11):
Love it, Sam, I am going to, I'm going to stop
here just because I knowtypically when we get to about
that 30 minute mark, peoplestart to fall off.
But, how do people, how dopeople engage?
How do people learn more about,how to stay connected with you,
the brands?
I mean, you guys have so much,as you said, your, your staff is
so prolific and I love, youknow, genuinely, I, it's like.
Part of how I start my day everyday is reading what it is that
(34:31):
your team, you and your teamhave put out there.
So how do they engage?
How do they get on thenewsletter?
How do they get with the dailyemails and the, you know, the
magazine and all of that?
Sam Oches (34:40):
Yeah, I appreciate that, Jeremy.
Thank you.
so go to nrn.
com.
the easiest way to do all ofthis.
if you go to nrn.
com, we have a subscribe buttonon there.
You can subscribe to our AMnewsletter, which is every,
weekday.
day.
We have a range of othernewsletters that will give you
the option to subscribe to aswell.
some for fast casual, some forQSR, some for casual dining.
so we have a range ofnewsletters you can subscribe
to.
So you get in your inbox all thenews and information that you
(35:02):
could possibly need.
we also do, as I mentioned, havea print publication.
So we have a monthly edition ofnation's restaurant news that
you can subscribe to.
If you're a qualified restaurantoperator, you get it for free.
so highly recommend people dothat.
But go subscribe to take awaywith Sam Oches.
My podcast.
Subscribe to extra serving,which is our flagship NRN
podcast.
And then you can also follow meon LinkedIn.
(35:23):
We'd love to connect with you.
Jeremy Julian (35:24):
Awesome.
last one just shows that youguys are, are putting on.
Cause, I know that that's also,I mean, I, I ran into you at FS
tech in September, but I knowthat you guys have got lots of
different places that you're outand out in the public sphere.
So if, if people want to engagein any of those, opportunities,
where would you suggest they go?
Sam Oches (35:39):
Yeah, absolutely.
So we're, we're incredibly luckyto be a part of a group called
Informa Connect Food Service,which has come together in the
last two years.
and so we own several events forthe restaurant operator.
The next one coming up isRestaurant Leadership
Conference, and that's inCastile in April.
Yeah, that's a good one.
and if you just GoogleRestaurant Leadership
Conference, you can, you canfind it and request an invite.
(36:02):
after that, there's the NationalRestaurant Association show in
May, which is a part of ourportfolio.
Of course, the biggest foodshow, I believe, in the world.
that's a trade show.
So if you're looking for newideas and inspiration, it's a
great place to be.
after that, we have F.
S.
Tech, which is in September thisyear, I believe in Orlando.
F.
S.
Tech is if you are in the techspace, that is the place to be.
Food service.
(36:22):
Tech is obviously Continuing tochange every year.
So there's lots to learn aboutthere.
And the final one I'd throw atyou is create.
So we launched this a few yearsago.
create is an October inNashville.
That's for emerging operators.
So don't put a number ofrequirements on it, but I
typically say if you havebetween two and 200 locations,
create is the event for you.
Jeremy Julian (36:42):
Awesome, Sam.
so much for what you guys doevery day.
again, I, you know, the purposeof the show is really to help
restaurants to succeed, and Iknow you guys are on that same
path.
So to our listeners, guys, weknow that you guys have lots of
choices.
So thank you guys for hangingout.
If you haven't alreadysubscribed to the show, please
do so and make it a great day.
Awesome.
Thank you.
Thanks for listening to theRestaurant Technology Guys
(37:04):
podcast.
Visit www.
RestaurantTechnologyGuys.
com for tips, industry insights,and more to help you run your
restaurant better.
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