May 12, 2025 • 22 mins
Bob Andersen, President of The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill, joins Zack Oates live at RLC to share how the brand delivers full-service hospitality in a fast-casual setting. Bob discusses the art of preserving authentic experiences while scaling rapidly, the role of franchisee relationships in sustainable growth, and why Mediterranean cuisine hits the sweet spot for today’s diners. He also dives into the huge opportunity catering presents for restaurants who are ready to do it right.
Zack and Bob discuss:
- How The Great Greek creates an elevated fast-casual dining experience
- Building franchisee relationships based on shared values
- Why Mediterranean cuisine is perfectly positioned for modern customers
- How to scale catering while maintaining quality and brand identity
- Tactics for improving off-premise guest experience
- Why timeless hospitality principles still win in a tech-driven world
Thanks, Bob!
Links:
https://www.thegreatgreekgrill.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobanderseneatgreek/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to another edition of Give an Ovation, the
in-person RLC edition.
I am here with Bob Anderson,president of the Great Greek,
really excited.
For those of you who don't know, I'm your host, zach Goetz, and
this is Give an Ovation, wherewe talk to industry experts to
get their strategies and tacticsyou can use to create a
five-star guest experience.
And, as always, this podcast ispowered by Ovation, an
(00:23):
operations and guest recoveryplatform for multi-unit
restaurants that gives you allthe answers without annoying
guests with all the questions.
Learn more at OvationUpcom.
Bob, we've known each other nowfor a few years.
Yep, you've been on the podcastbefore, I have, but not the 3D
version.
Right, you were on the virtualversion.
Talk to us about the GreatGreek.
(00:44):
What is the vibe of the GreatGreek?
What can people know if theyhaven't eaten there before?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah well, first of all, thanks for having me, zach.
I appreciate it.
Great Greek is just aphenomenal brand and we just
give an amazing experience toour guests.
And the experience is twofold.
It's a great food experience.
Our food's made fresh in thelocation, it's cooked to order,
it's customized If you aregetting a steak skewer and you
(01:09):
want it well done or medium rare, we can is going to be great.
It's the closest thing to afull service restaurant
experience and a limited servicerestaurant that we can provide
Real plate, real fork, realknife.
If you had a salad, we give itto you.
(01:32):
First there's soup or anappetizer, then your entree,
followed by your dessert.
So you get a true diningexperience in a limited, casual
environment.
It's like the elevated fastcasual, 100% and without
breaking the bank right yeah,Still got very affordable prices
and driving a big value to ourguests, which we know is really
important, right yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:52):
And I think that's amazing.
I go to the Great Greek veryoften.
I'm so happy when you finallycame to Utah.
What's so funny is I knew aboutthe Great Greek before we even
met, because my mother is a hugefan of the great greek, because
it's one of these things whereit's a better for you food.
You go in there, it's veryclean, very bright, it's got a
great vibe to it and it'ssomething that my mother she's
(02:15):
actually texted me before wewere even working with you about
the great greek and then when I, when she found out that we
started working together, shewas so excited, awesome.
But now I even have peoplewhere one of my investors texted
me being like I just had thisgreat restaurant.
Have you had the great Greekbefore?
And I'm like, yeah, man, I loveit.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Have you checked our website and seen all our
customers?
Yeah, we hear it a lot.
I mean, it's just and it's areally it's a true compliment.
When people really areresonating and enjoying the
brand and the food and thehealth aspect of it, it's a
great place to work.
It's a great place if you're acustomer.
It's a really special brand inthat way.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
And before this, because the Great Greek isn't
your first foray into thehospitality.
So what was before the GreatGreek feel?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
I was the CEO of a brand out in Northern California
called Jimboy Tacos.
It was an iconic 60-year-oldbrand that was really looking to
be refreshed and revigorated.
So we did that.
We refreshed the brand, broughta different look and served the
same great tacos that theyalways served, and it was just
put a different spin on theexperience.
We told the history and thestory in a much more relevant
(03:20):
way and brought it to a placewhere people were feeling really
comfortable.
Some of those customers were onmaybe fourth generation, the 60
year old.
Yeah, so it was.
Yeah, it was an interestingperiod, it was a fun time and it
was a great brand.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
As you're thinking about that, how do you maintain
your base while expanding?
I mean, I just talked tosomeone today who was with
Perkins right and talking aboutthat transformation.
How do you do that?
How do you like not betray thepeople who that first generation
but still cater to the needs ofthat fourth generation?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yeah, I mean, there's some principles that never go
out of style, right?
A big smile and a welcome hellothat's what we call true
hospitality never goes out ofstyle, so that's how you connect
.
The current generation lovesthe story, so being able to tell
stories in the most relevantway today, yeah, it's really
important, especially when youhave a legacy brand, something
(04:16):
that's got a lot of history atgreat greek.
We're creating the story today,which you also have like a
timeless brand when you go intoa great greek.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
It's almost like you don't know how old the brand is,
because we're creating thestory today.
You also have like a timelessbrand.
When you go into a great Greek.
It's almost like you don't knowhow old the brand is, because
it feels like it's been aroundfor a while, but it also feels
very fresh.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yeah, the style of food is timeless.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Right.
I mean, the Mediterraneancuisine is a timeless food.
It comes from the cradle ofcivilization, so those same
things are again.
We're presenting it in a verycurrent, approachable way, in an
atmosphere that's verywelcoming to the customers, and
we're delivering a food that isreally healthy for people.
(04:58):
Right, the medical communityhas been telling us for years
now Mediterranean diet's themost healthiest diet, and so
people have learned that I canstill eat healthy and not
sacrifice great flavor.
That's what the Mediterraneanstyle of food is bringing into
play is people want great flavor, and so you don't have to go to
highly fatty, sweet,sugar-laden foods to get great
(05:21):
flavor.
If you do simple ingredients,you prepare them correctly.
Foods to get great flavor Ifyou do simple ingredients, you
prepare them correctly and youhave the best ingredients.
You put them together in asimple way and it's just amazing
cuisine, and our operators arecommitted to that.
Conversations with people inour brand always starts with
food how great the food is,planting on that flag to make
(05:41):
sure that they continuously dothose same things over and over,
to create that experience.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Now with your experience with the brand.
It's not just about the guest,it's not just about the employee
, but I know a lot of what'sreally important to the great
Greek, especially being a partof UFG, which is United
Franchise Group, is thefranchisee.
How do you look at yourrelationship and the franchisee
experience with the brand being?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
part of a group like United Franchise Group has been
around for 37 years.
We have 11 brands and five ofthem are leaders in their
category around the world.
We have a tremendous amount ofexperience in developing those
relationships.
In fact, our mission is if ourfranchisees aren't doing the way
(06:29):
they go, we go If they're doinggood.
That is the mission for us ismaking sure that they're having
a great experience.
So it's just working with themand collaborating them, getting
to know them at different levels, not just the business level,
but also the personal level, butalso bringing them great
businesses that have great valuefor their investment.
And that's how we look at it,and we look at them as true
(06:49):
partners.
And it all starts at thebeginning to make sure that our
values and principles are alive.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
So what do you look for?
As you're looking forfranchisees, what's like the
telltale signs of this is goingto be a great franchisee.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, you know, we all know that when you invest in
anything, especially in abusiness, that making money is
important.
But when people come in andthey're just talking about the
money making part, we feel likemany times that kind of person
is missing it, when that's themost important thing.
When we come in and we try todetermine if there's a good fit
with you know, do we value thesame things?
(07:23):
Do we value the quality ofhaving great food?
Do we value being an employerof choice or a great employer?
Do we value being a greatsteward in our communities?
Right, those are the placesthat it starts for us and then
it leads to executing andoperating.
We can teach them how to run arestaurant business, but we
(07:45):
can't always teach them how toalign on values.
Either we are or not.
So when we go through ourprocess, that's the most
important thing to us.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
So powerful because to align on that, like the
foundation of what you're doing,is just so key and to make sure
that, just like get into abusiness relationship.
I would never get into abusiness relationship with
someone where we value totallyseparate things.
And yes, at the end of the day,we have to make money and grow
and create that value, but themoney follows the value Correct,
(08:15):
right?
And I think a lot of times whenpeople put that money first as
opposed to talking about thevalue, I know for me there's
going to be misalignment,because I may do something that
isn't going to bring ROI thismonth, but it's the right thing
to do for the business and forour customers, right?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
100%.
The making money is a result ofthe principles and values in
the system that we have created,so for us it's not jumping to
the result.
Obviously, everyone wants agreat result in making money and
value, but that doesn't happenif you're not aligned on the
principles in our system or notfollowing the system.
And that's not just for us,it's any brand.
(08:53):
Everyone has differentprinciples and values, and so
you have to align those with thepeople and their principles.
And when we do that, it's apowerful thing, because whether
someone's run a restaurantbefore or not, it's not always
the most telling tale.
I know people in this businessthat would want running the
business, and there are peoplewho come to us who've never run
a restaurant before but haveamazing instincts in building
(09:15):
teams and delivering hospitality.
And at the end of the day,that's what we do we build teams
that deliver a great experience.
If you can do that, whether youcome from the IT business or
you were in the military or youran a restaurant- you're likely
going to get the same results.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
I love that because I love how Stephen Covey puts it
is begin with the end in mindCorrect, and the real end is at
value Correct, and I thinkthat's beautiful.
So, but as we're thinking about, like value for the guest
experience, right?
What is your philosophy onguest experience?
How do we think about some ofthe most important aspects of
guest experience?
Speaker 2 (09:47):
on guest experience.
How do we think about some ofthe most important aspects of
guest experience?
Yeah, the guest experience forme is old school, I mean, it's
tried and true, especially inthe dining part of the
restaurant.
The guest experience is aboutconnecting with them, making
people feel comfortable.
Bring them that hospitality, abig smile, hello, as I said
earlier, there's nothingreplaces that A check-in with
(10:09):
someone to ask them how theirmeal was.
Or how about just reading bodylanguage?
If I'm at a restaurant and I'mwaiting over eight minutes, I'm
this guy and we have to teachour employees to read people's
body language, because if youlook at the restaurant, you
should be able to say, okay,something's not right here.
Let's at least go check it in.
Yeah, oh, yeah, I've beenwaiting for eight minutes, let
(10:31):
me check on your order, sir.
Like that is hospitality thatjust never goes away.
So I think it's still thatpersonal touch to the person and
the more that goes away, themore it becomes really powerful
for our brand.
Yeah, and so just create adifferentiator to care A hundred
percent.
And some people don't want tohave a conversation we get that,
(10:51):
but they do want their food ontime.
They want it right If theydon't have a fork.
It's nice if we bring them afork, whether they want to talk
to us or not.
So it's not always just aconversation.
The Gen Z is a little bitdifferent.
Maybe they don't want to have aconversation.
Yeah, and that's okay too, butwe can still deliver hospitality
right.
We can still deliver that tothem, and that's what our team
(11:13):
members have to do, and you doit by observing in the
restaurant.
The other piece of theexperience is what's happening
outside of the restaurant, orwhat's happening when someone
just picks up their food.
That's a great opportunity toconnect with someone when
they're taking it to go.
So making sure we have theright packaging, making sure
their orders are correct thosetypes of things are really going
to enhance the experienceoff-premise.
(11:36):
So you hear it over and overthere's an omni-channel business
now like never before, and soeach one of those channels has a
different set of what theexperience is with the food or
what it might be with a teammember or a third party delivery
company, whatever it might be,and I love that regardless of
what the channel is, the guesthas their expectations Correct
(11:58):
and you got to meet them wherethey're at and you got to make
sure that you're meeting thatexpectation and setting the
proper expectation right.
A hundred percent, a hundredpercent And%, and our team
members and our managers need tobe attuned to that right.
So you think about this Onpremise.
The most important thing is howfast they get the food right.
Nobody wants to wait forever.
So for us some of our entreesmight take nine, 10 minutes, 11
(12:21):
minutes to prepare.
So bring them their salad,bring them their appetizer right
.
That immediately changes that.
If you forget something in adining exhibition, you can
easily recover that.
Now flip that to say athird-party order.
If I miss something in thatorder, if I miss someone's extra
tzatziki sauce on their gyrothat they paid for, that they
(12:43):
couldn't wait to have thisevening and they waited 45
minutes for their order toarrive, which the time period is
acceptable in that environment.
It would never be acceptable inthe restaurant.
But now they cannot immediatelycorrect not having that item.
So we have to make you knowdouble check, triple check, to
make sure everything that wasrequired in that order goes out
(13:06):
in that order.
It was prepared.
It was also packaged correctly.
So as operators we have to payattention to all those details.
Catering now brings a differentset of circumstance.
I need it there at a certaintime.
Are you on time?
Is it set up?
Does it look good?
Did we bring napkins?
Did we do all those kind ofthings?
So that's all part of creatingthat experience that operators
(13:29):
just have to understand whatthat value chain is.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
And Toast put out a study recently that the average
restaurant has increasedcatering by 25% in the last year
.
And catering is something thatis blowing up right now because,
now that people are totallycomfortable getting back
together, totally comfortablesharing food I mean, like you
(13:55):
think about April of 2020, aboutsharing a tzatziki bowl,
everybody dipping pita in thereI mean it was like unfathomable
in April 2020.
Here we are five years later,April 2025.
And it's like we're sharingspoons again.
So catering is back baby.
It's just a matter of how toprepare for that and how to do
it.
And you've got such a greatcuisine that travels super well.
When we do our events in Utah,our company-wide events, we get
(14:17):
the great Greek catered becauseit traveled.
It's so good, it works well.
What advice do you have forpeople who are thinking about
catering?
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Yeah, I mean if you're thinking about catering,
you've got to jump right into it.
Unless you're a Mediterraneanconcept near the great Greek,
and then like yeah, no, that'sokay too, we're okay with
competition, but it's thegreatest opportunity in our
business.
But you said the word.
You have to think about it.
Yeah, there's a lot of planningand thought that goes into
executing catering.
It's not just making the food.
(14:45):
You have to make sure the foodgets there.
It gets there at a certain time, it's set up in a certain way
if that's required.
But it's a great channel togrow your business.
Our goal at the Great Greek hasbeen for last year was to double
our business, which we did.
This year we're looking todouble it again.
Some of our operators who'vereally taken it to another level
have even tripled andquadrupled their catering
(15:07):
business over a previous year.
And, yes, customers do want toget together and have communal
food.
So the opportunities are there.
People are going back to theoffice, as we all keep hearing.
So those opportunities arehappening more and more and you,
just as an operator and a brandleader, you have to be prepared
to take advantage of thoseopportunities.
(15:27):
At the Great Greek, we'vecertainly have done that, we
continue to do that.
We have a long way to go ineven getting our catering
program better.
We're just starting, but we dohave the advantage of.
We have a food that's healthy.
It serves people who want tohave meat, people who are
gluten-free or they'revegetarians.
So we get to check some boxeswhere there's a little bit of an
(15:49):
advantage, for especially insuch a diverse workforce where
people need multiple types ofchoices, the days of just
getting pizza in are not alittle bit difficult, I think
sometimes for some employers weenjoy doing it, but it's
something that we continuouslytrain and work at with our
operators.
There's a lot of executioninvolved in taking an order from
(16:11):
catering to getting it to thatcustomer's mouth.
But there's no betteradvertising than serving 50
people at a catering event who,maybe 30 or 40 of them, have
never been to a Great Greek.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
And do you have custom branded packaging for
your catering or do you havesignage that you put out or like
when you're doing a 50 personcatering, how do you inform
people that it's the great Greek?
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (16:35):
it's a great question and that's where we are with
our program right now is puttingthe packaging to our catering.
So right now we use moregeneric packaging that has some
labeling on it that hasrepresents the great Greek.
We always deliver it with menus, things that identify that the
food's coming from us.
We are now moving into thephase where we're starting to
evaluate and procure packagingfor our catering packages and
(16:59):
programs.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Because I think there's some incredible
packaging.
I don't know Kelly Grogan overat Crumbs.
She does some amazingconsulting if anyone's
interested in cateringoptimization, but the packaging
that they've designed for othercompanies that kind of folds
down, it's almost like a retaildisplay, right and really brand
forward.
And these are things that helppeople understand.
(17:20):
How do you get them from eatingyour food at a catering event
to coming in and spending moneywith you the next week?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
There's really no better opportunity to market
your food than bring it into acatering event.
Yeah, if we're not identifyingwho's providing that food, then
it's a really hugely lostopportunity.
So there's a science behindthat packaging, though.
Absolutely, so we're in itright now.
We're trying to figure outwhat's the best way for us to do
(17:50):
it but, at the same time, bereally cost effective.
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Because it's one thing to use catering as like a
marketing initiative.
It's another thing to blow theprofits of a $1,500 catering
order on packaging.
Yeah, but that's why one of thethings that we launched this
year is our whole cateringprogram, and basically what it
is is.
It's similar to like a thirdparty conversion that we've done
(18:13):
with you all, where you put aflyer in like a DoorDash order
and it says hey, how waseverything?
Answer two questions to get $5off your next order.
Similar to that, but you dothat with catering.
You set up a little placard andit says you know, how do you
enjoy the catering provided bythe great Greek?
Answer two questions, they get$5 off your next order and now
they have a reason to come in.
And the magic about a $5 offcoupon is that typically we find
(18:37):
that people will spend around$12 more with a $5 coupon
because they feel like they'regetting something, so you're
actually able to increase therevenue on that guest 100%.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
It's a really smart way to approach that because,
again, like I said, whether it'sa 20 person catering or 50, 100
, we've done 300, 500, that it'sthe best opportunity to promote
your business because they'reeating your food.
All right, mission accomplishedit's a ball sample that you're
getting paid for.
So the question becomes now howdo I take that experience and
(19:10):
that opportunity and create itto a visit to our restaurant in
the next 30 days?
Yes, right, and that's how youelevate your overall sales
through your catering program.
It's a very powerful way togrow the business.
It's something that we're togrow the business.
It's something that we'rehighly focused on.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Love that Well, bob, who is someone that deserves an
ovation, who's someone that weshould be following in the
restaurant industry.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
I mean, listen, I'm biased, but I love what we're
doing.
That's a great, great guy, Ihate to say.
We have some great people onour team.
We just promoted a newoperations director, mark
Monopoli.
He's doing a phenomenal job andI would say he deserves an
ovation for really jumping in onour team and just getting after
it and just bringing our brandto another level.
(19:53):
So it's really fun to see himdevelop and be part of that.
And as your team goes, our brandgoes.
You know you have greatteammates, great team members.
You know this through your teamand it's part of growing is
adding people.
So I'm going to give a selfishovation to Mark and the Great
Creek.
I just I love what we're doing.
We're rapidly growing.
We'll open 25, 30 restaurantsthis year.
(20:15):
We're again be one of thefastest growing brands and I say
the country better wound upbeing in the world.
It's something we're proud of.
There's a lot of work that goesinto it.
There's a lot of people behindthe scenes that goes into it.
But the reward is when someonetells you it's the best food.
Or someone says we order it forour catering all the time at
the Great Greek, or it's afranchisee saying I feel so
(20:37):
blessed to be part of thissystem, and so that's where we
get our adulation andsatisfaction from that type of
recognition.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
That's because you build value man right.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Start with the end.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Well, how do people find the Great Greek and maybe
follow you?
You post on LinkedIn every nowand again.
I've been a little off the lastfew months.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
But yeah, you can find me on LinkedIn Bob Anderson
, a-n-z-e-r-s-e-n, but the GreatGreek, if you just go search us
.
That's why I usually tellpeople not to go to our site.
But if you go search the GreatGreek, you just pull up some
great things about the brand,whether it's a location near you
or it's a story about one ofour franchisees, or it's a TV
clip of one of our franchiseespresenting our food on TV or
(21:20):
something they've done in thecommunity.
Those are the things that we'reproud of.
So there's so many storiesbehind the Great Creek.
Of course, you can go to ourwebsite.
You'll see our locations andour menu, but if you really want
the whole Great Creekexperience, just Google it and
you'll see some really coolthings about the brand and some
of the special things that we'redoing.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Well, and we're obviously part of the
partnership.
As you can see, Right behind meis the Great Greek logo, right
there.
Well, Bob, appreciate all thatyou do.
Appreciate you coming on thepodcast and for not just being a
good Greek, but for being theGreat Greek.
Today's ovation goes to you.
Thank you for joining us.
I enjoyed being here.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Thanks for the opportunity.
Thanks for joining us today.
If you liked this episode,leave us a review on Apple
Podcasts or your favorite placeto listen.
We're all about feedback here.
Again, this episode wassponsored by Ovation, a
two-question SMS-basedactionable guest feedback
platform built for multi-unitrestaurants.
If you'd like to learn how wecan help you measure and create
(22:14):
a better guest experience, visitus at OvationUpcom.
Welcome to another edition of Give an Ovation, the
in-person RLC edition.
I am here with Bob Anderson,president of the Great Greek,
really excited.
For those of you who don't know, I'm your host, zach Goetz, and
this is Give an Ovation, wherewe talk to industry experts to
get their strategies and tacticsyou can use to create a
five-star guest experience.
And, as always, this podcast ispowered by Ovation, an
(00:23):
operations and guest recoveryplatform for multi-unit
restaurants that gives you allthe answers without annoying
guests with all the questions.
Learn more at OvationUpcom.
Bob, we've known each other nowfor a few years.
Yep, you've been on the podcastbefore, I have, but not the 3D
version.
Right, you were on the virtualversion.
Talk to us about the GreatGreek.
(00:44):
What is the vibe of the GreatGreek?
What can people know if theyhaven't eaten there before?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah well, first of all, thanks for having me, zach.
I appreciate it.
Great Greek is just aphenomenal brand and we just
give an amazing experience toour guests.
And the experience is twofold.
It's a great food experience.
Our food's made fresh in thelocation, it's cooked to order,
it's customized If you aregetting a steak skewer and you
(01:09):
want it well done or medium rare, we can is going to be great.
It's the closest thing to afull service restaurant
experience and a limited servicerestaurant that we can provide
Real plate, real fork, realknife.
If you had a salad, we give itto you.
(01:32):
First there's soup or anappetizer, then your entree,
followed by your dessert.
So you get a true diningexperience in a limited, casual
environment.
It's like the elevated fastcasual, 100% and without
breaking the bank right yeah,Still got very affordable prices
and driving a big value to ourguests, which we know is really
important, right yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:52):
And I think that's amazing.
I go to the Great Greek veryoften.
I'm so happy when you finallycame to Utah.
What's so funny is I knew aboutthe Great Greek before we even
met, because my mother is a hugefan of the great greek, because
it's one of these things whereit's a better for you food.
You go in there, it's veryclean, very bright, it's got a
great vibe to it and it'ssomething that my mother she's
(02:15):
actually texted me before wewere even working with you about
the great greek and then when I, when she found out that we
started working together, shewas so excited, awesome.
But now I even have peoplewhere one of my investors texted
me being like I just had thisgreat restaurant.
Have you had the great Greekbefore?
And I'm like, yeah, man, I loveit.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
Have you checked our website and seen all our
customers?
Yeah, we hear it a lot.
I mean, it's just and it's areally it's a true compliment.
When people really areresonating and enjoying the
brand and the food and thehealth aspect of it, it's a
great place to work.
It's a great place if you're acustomer.
It's a really special brand inthat way.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
And before this, because the Great Greek isn't
your first foray into thehospitality.
So what was before the GreatGreek feel?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
I was the CEO of a brand out in Northern California
called Jimboy Tacos.
It was an iconic 60-year-oldbrand that was really looking to
be refreshed and revigorated.
So we did that.
We refreshed the brand, broughta different look and served the
same great tacos that theyalways served, and it was just
put a different spin on theexperience.
We told the history and thestory in a much more relevant
(03:20):
way and brought it to a placewhere people were feeling really
comfortable.
Some of those customers were onmaybe fourth generation, the 60
year old.
Yeah, so it was.
Yeah, it was an interestingperiod, it was a fun time and it
was a great brand.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
As you're thinking about that, how do you maintain
your base while expanding?
I mean, I just talked tosomeone today who was with
Perkins right and talking aboutthat transformation.
How do you do that?
How do you like not betray thepeople who that first generation
but still cater to the needs ofthat fourth generation?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yeah, I mean, there's some principles that never go
out of style, right?
A big smile and a welcome hellothat's what we call true
hospitality never goes out ofstyle, so that's how you connect
.
The current generation lovesthe story, so being able to tell
stories in the most relevantway today, yeah, it's really
important, especially when youhave a legacy brand, something
(04:16):
that's got a lot of history atgreat greek.
We're creating the story today,which you also have like a
timeless brand when you go intoa great greek.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
It's almost like you don't know how old the brand is,
because we're creating thestory today.
You also have like a timelessbrand.
When you go into a great Greek.
It's almost like you don't knowhow old the brand is, because
it feels like it's been aroundfor a while, but it also feels
very fresh.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yeah, the style of food is timeless.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Right.
I mean, the Mediterraneancuisine is a timeless food.
It comes from the cradle ofcivilization, so those same
things are again.
We're presenting it in a verycurrent, approachable way, in an
atmosphere that's verywelcoming to the customers, and
we're delivering a food that isreally healthy for people.
(04:58):
Right, the medical communityhas been telling us for years
now Mediterranean diet's themost healthiest diet, and so
people have learned that I canstill eat healthy and not
sacrifice great flavor.
That's what the Mediterraneanstyle of food is bringing into
play is people want great flavor, and so you don't have to go to
highly fatty, sweet,sugar-laden foods to get great
(05:21):
flavor.
If you do simple ingredients,you prepare them correctly.
Foods to get great flavor Ifyou do simple ingredients, you
prepare them correctly and youhave the best ingredients.
You put them together in asimple way and it's just amazing
cuisine, and our operators arecommitted to that.
Conversations with people inour brand always starts with
food how great the food is,planting on that flag to make
(05:41):
sure that they continuously dothose same things over and over,
to create that experience.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Now with your experience with the brand.
It's not just about the guest,it's not just about the employee
, but I know a lot of what'sreally important to the great
Greek, especially being a partof UFG, which is United
Franchise Group, is thefranchisee.
How do you look at yourrelationship and the franchisee
experience with the brand being?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
part of a group like United Franchise Group has been
around for 37 years.
We have 11 brands and five ofthem are leaders in their
category around the world.
We have a tremendous amount ofexperience in developing those
relationships.
In fact, our mission is if ourfranchisees aren't doing the way
(06:29):
they go, we go If they're doinggood.
That is the mission for us ismaking sure that they're having
a great experience.
So it's just working with themand collaborating them, getting
to know them at different levels, not just the business level,
but also the personal level, butalso bringing them great
businesses that have great valuefor their investment.
And that's how we look at it,and we look at them as true
(06:49):
partners.
And it all starts at thebeginning to make sure that our
values and principles are alive.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
So what do you look for?
As you're looking forfranchisees, what's like the
telltale signs of this is goingto be a great franchisee.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Yeah, you know, we all know that when you invest in
anything, especially in abusiness, that making money is
important.
But when people come in andthey're just talking about the
money making part, we feel likemany times that kind of person
is missing it, when that's themost important thing.
When we come in and we try todetermine if there's a good fit
with you know, do we value thesame things?
(07:23):
Do we value the quality ofhaving great food?
Do we value being an employerof choice or a great employer?
Do we value being a greatsteward in our communities?
Right, those are the placesthat it starts for us and then
it leads to executing andoperating.
We can teach them how to run arestaurant business, but we
(07:45):
can't always teach them how toalign on values.
Either we are or not.
So when we go through ourprocess, that's the most
important thing to us.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
So powerful because to align on that, like the
foundation of what you're doing,is just so key and to make sure
that, just like get into abusiness relationship.
I would never get into abusiness relationship with
someone where we value totallyseparate things.
And yes, at the end of the day,we have to make money and grow
and create that value, but themoney follows the value Correct,
(08:15):
right?
And I think a lot of times whenpeople put that money first as
opposed to talking about thevalue, I know for me there's
going to be misalignment,because I may do something that
isn't going to bring ROI thismonth, but it's the right thing
to do for the business and forour customers, right?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
100%.
The making money is a result ofthe principles and values in
the system that we have created,so for us it's not jumping to
the result.
Obviously, everyone wants agreat result in making money and
value, but that doesn't happenif you're not aligned on the
principles in our system or notfollowing the system.
And that's not just for us,it's any brand.
(08:53):
Everyone has differentprinciples and values, and so
you have to align those with thepeople and their principles.
And when we do that, it's apowerful thing, because whether
someone's run a restaurantbefore or not, it's not always
the most telling tale.
I know people in this businessthat would want running the
business, and there are peoplewho come to us who've never run
a restaurant before but haveamazing instincts in building
(09:15):
teams and delivering hospitality.
And at the end of the day,that's what we do we build teams
that deliver a great experience.
If you can do that, whether youcome from the IT business or
you were in the military or youran a restaurant- you're likely
going to get the same results.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
I love that because I love how Stephen Covey puts it
is begin with the end in mindCorrect, and the real end is at
value Correct, and I thinkthat's beautiful.
So, but as we're thinking about, like value for the guest
experience, right?
What is your philosophy onguest experience?
How do we think about some ofthe most important aspects of
guest experience?
Speaker 2 (09:47):
on guest experience.
How do we think about some ofthe most important aspects of
guest experience?
Yeah, the guest experience forme is old school, I mean, it's
tried and true, especially inthe dining part of the
restaurant.
The guest experience is aboutconnecting with them, making
people feel comfortable.
Bring them that hospitality, abig smile, hello, as I said
earlier, there's nothingreplaces that A check-in with
(10:09):
someone to ask them how theirmeal was.
Or how about just reading bodylanguage?
If I'm at a restaurant and I'mwaiting over eight minutes, I'm
this guy and we have to teachour employees to read people's
body language, because if youlook at the restaurant, you
should be able to say, okay,something's not right here.
Let's at least go check it in.
Yeah, oh, yeah, I've beenwaiting for eight minutes, let
(10:31):
me check on your order, sir.
Like that is hospitality thatjust never goes away.
So I think it's still thatpersonal touch to the person and
the more that goes away, themore it becomes really powerful
for our brand.
Yeah, and so just create adifferentiator to care A hundred
percent.
And some people don't want tohave a conversation we get that,
(10:51):
but they do want their food ontime.
They want it right If theydon't have a fork.
It's nice if we bring them afork, whether they want to talk
to us or not.
So it's not always just aconversation.
The Gen Z is a little bitdifferent.
Maybe they don't want to have aconversation.
Yeah, and that's okay too, butwe can still deliver hospitality
right.
We can still deliver that tothem, and that's what our team
(11:13):
members have to do, and you doit by observing in the
restaurant.
The other piece of theexperience is what's happening
outside of the restaurant, orwhat's happening when someone
just picks up their food.
That's a great opportunity toconnect with someone when
they're taking it to go.
So making sure we have theright packaging, making sure
their orders are correct thosetypes of things are really going
to enhance the experienceoff-premise.
(11:36):
So you hear it over and overthere's an omni-channel business
now like never before, and soeach one of those channels has a
different set of what theexperience is with the food or
what it might be with a teammember or a third party delivery
company, whatever it might be,and I love that regardless of
what the channel is, the guesthas their expectations Correct
(11:58):
and you got to meet them wherethey're at and you got to make
sure that you're meeting thatexpectation and setting the
proper expectation right.
A hundred percent, a hundredpercent And%, and our team
members and our managers need tobe attuned to that right.
So you think about this Onpremise.
The most important thing is howfast they get the food right.
Nobody wants to wait forever.
So for us some of our entreesmight take nine, 10 minutes, 11
(12:21):
minutes to prepare.
So bring them their salad,bring them their appetizer right
.
That immediately changes that.
If you forget something in adining exhibition, you can
easily recover that.
Now flip that to say athird-party order.
If I miss something in thatorder, if I miss someone's extra
tzatziki sauce on their gyrothat they paid for, that they
(12:43):
couldn't wait to have thisevening and they waited 45
minutes for their order toarrive, which the time period is
acceptable in that environment.
It would never be acceptable inthe restaurant.
But now they cannot immediatelycorrect not having that item.
So we have to make you knowdouble check, triple check, to
make sure everything that wasrequired in that order goes out
(13:06):
in that order.
It was prepared.
It was also packaged correctly.
So as operators we have to payattention to all those details.
Catering now brings a differentset of circumstance.
I need it there at a certaintime.
Are you on time?
Is it set up?
Does it look good?
Did we bring napkins?
Did we do all those kind ofthings?
So that's all part of creatingthat experience that operators
(13:29):
just have to understand whatthat value chain is.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
And Toast put out a study recently that the average
restaurant has increasedcatering by 25% in the last year
.
And catering is something thatis blowing up right now because,
now that people are totallycomfortable getting back
together, totally comfortablesharing food I mean, like you
(13:55):
think about April of 2020, aboutsharing a tzatziki bowl,
everybody dipping pita in thereI mean it was like unfathomable
in April 2020.
Here we are five years later,April 2025.
And it's like we're sharingspoons again.
So catering is back baby.
It's just a matter of how toprepare for that and how to do
it.
And you've got such a greatcuisine that travels super well.
When we do our events in Utah,our company-wide events, we get
(14:17):
the great Greek catered becauseit traveled.
It's so good, it works well.
What advice do you have forpeople who are thinking about
catering?
Speaker 2 (14:25):
Yeah, I mean if you're thinking about catering,
you've got to jump right into it.
Unless you're a Mediterraneanconcept near the great Greek,
and then like yeah, no, that'sokay too, we're okay with
competition, but it's thegreatest opportunity in our
business.
But you said the word.
You have to think about it.
Yeah, there's a lot of planningand thought that goes into
executing catering.
It's not just making the food.
(14:45):
You have to make sure the foodgets there.
It gets there at a certain time, it's set up in a certain way
if that's required.
But it's a great channel togrow your business.
Our goal at the Great Greek hasbeen for last year was to double
our business, which we did.
This year we're looking todouble it again.
Some of our operators who'vereally taken it to another level
have even tripled andquadrupled their catering
(15:07):
business over a previous year.
And, yes, customers do want toget together and have communal
food.
So the opportunities are there.
People are going back to theoffice, as we all keep hearing.
So those opportunities arehappening more and more and you,
just as an operator and a brandleader, you have to be prepared
to take advantage of thoseopportunities.
(15:27):
At the Great Greek, we'vecertainly have done that, we
continue to do that.
We have a long way to go ineven getting our catering
program better.
We're just starting, but we dohave the advantage of.
We have a food that's healthy.
It serves people who want tohave meat, people who are
gluten-free or they'revegetarians.
So we get to check some boxeswhere there's a little bit of an
(15:49):
advantage, for especially insuch a diverse workforce where
people need multiple types ofchoices, the days of just
getting pizza in are not alittle bit difficult, I think
sometimes for some employers weenjoy doing it, but it's
something that we continuouslytrain and work at with our
operators.
There's a lot of executioninvolved in taking an order from
(16:11):
catering to getting it to thatcustomer's mouth.
But there's no betteradvertising than serving 50
people at a catering event who,maybe 30 or 40 of them, have
never been to a Great Greek.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
And do you have custom branded packaging for
your catering or do you havesignage that you put out or like
when you're doing a 50 personcatering, how do you inform
people that it's the great Greek?
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (16:35):
it's a great question and that's where we are with
our program right now is puttingthe packaging to our catering.
So right now we use moregeneric packaging that has some
labeling on it that hasrepresents the great Greek.
We always deliver it with menus, things that identify that the
food's coming from us.
We are now moving into thephase where we're starting to
evaluate and procure packagingfor our catering packages and
(16:59):
programs.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Because I think there's some incredible
packaging.
I don't know Kelly Grogan overat Crumbs.
She does some amazingconsulting if anyone's
interested in cateringoptimization, but the packaging
that they've designed for othercompanies that kind of folds
down, it's almost like a retaildisplay, right and really brand
forward.
And these are things that helppeople understand.
(17:20):
How do you get them from eatingyour food at a catering event
to coming in and spending moneywith you the next week?
Speaker 2 (17:27):
There's really no better opportunity to market
your food than bring it into acatering event.
Yeah, if we're not identifyingwho's providing that food, then
it's a really hugely lostopportunity.
So there's a science behindthat packaging, though.
Absolutely, so we're in itright now.
We're trying to figure outwhat's the best way for us to do
(17:50):
it but, at the same time, bereally cost effective.
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Because it's one thing to use catering as like a
marketing initiative.
It's another thing to blow theprofits of a $1,500 catering
order on packaging.
Yeah, but that's why one of thethings that we launched this
year is our whole cateringprogram, and basically what it
is is.
It's similar to like a thirdparty conversion that we've done
(18:13):
with you all, where you put aflyer in like a DoorDash order
and it says hey, how waseverything?
Answer two questions to get $5off your next order.
Similar to that, but you dothat with catering.
You set up a little placard andit says you know, how do you
enjoy the catering provided bythe great Greek?
Answer two questions, they get$5 off your next order and now
they have a reason to come in.
And the magic about a $5 offcoupon is that typically we find
(18:37):
that people will spend around$12 more with a $5 coupon
because they feel like they'regetting something, so you're
actually able to increase therevenue on that guest 100%.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
It's a really smart way to approach that because,
again, like I said, whether it'sa 20 person catering or 50, 100
, we've done 300, 500, that it'sthe best opportunity to promote
your business because they'reeating your food.
All right, mission accomplishedit's a ball sample that you're
getting paid for.
So the question becomes now howdo I take that experience and
(19:10):
that opportunity and create itto a visit to our restaurant in
the next 30 days?
Yes, right, and that's how youelevate your overall sales
through your catering program.
It's a very powerful way togrow the business.
It's something that we're togrow the business.
It's something that we'rehighly focused on.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Love that Well, bob, who is someone that deserves an
ovation, who's someone that weshould be following in the
restaurant industry.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
I mean, listen, I'm biased, but I love what we're
doing.
That's a great, great guy, Ihate to say.
We have some great people onour team.
We just promoted a newoperations director, mark
Monopoli.
He's doing a phenomenal job andI would say he deserves an
ovation for really jumping in onour team and just getting after
it and just bringing our brandto another level.
(19:53):
So it's really fun to see himdevelop and be part of that.
And as your team goes, our brandgoes.
You know you have greatteammates, great team members.
You know this through your teamand it's part of growing is
adding people.
So I'm going to give a selfishovation to Mark and the Great
Creek.
I just I love what we're doing.
We're rapidly growing.
We'll open 25, 30 restaurantsthis year.
(20:15):
We're again be one of thefastest growing brands and I say
the country better wound upbeing in the world.
It's something we're proud of.
There's a lot of work that goesinto it.
There's a lot of people behindthe scenes that goes into it.
But the reward is when someonetells you it's the best food.
Or someone says we order it forour catering all the time at
the Great Greek, or it's afranchisee saying I feel so
(20:37):
blessed to be part of thissystem, and so that's where we
get our adulation andsatisfaction from that type of
recognition.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
That's because you build value man right.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Start with the end.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Well, how do people find the Great Greek and maybe
follow you?
You post on LinkedIn every nowand again.
I've been a little off the lastfew months.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
But yeah, you can find me on LinkedIn Bob Anderson
, a-n-z-e-r-s-e-n, but the GreatGreek, if you just go search us
.
That's why I usually tellpeople not to go to our site.
But if you go search the GreatGreek, you just pull up some
great things about the brand,whether it's a location near you
or it's a story about one ofour franchisees, or it's a TV
clip of one of our franchiseespresenting our food on TV or
(21:20):
something they've done in thecommunity.
Those are the things that we'reproud of.
So there's so many storiesbehind the Great Creek.
Of course, you can go to ourwebsite.
You'll see our locations andour menu, but if you really want
the whole Great Creekexperience, just Google it and
you'll see some really coolthings about the brand and some
of the special things that we'redoing.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Well, and we're obviously part of the
partnership.
As you can see, Right behind meis the Great Greek logo, right
there.
Well, Bob, appreciate all thatyou do.
Appreciate you coming on thepodcast and for not just being a
good Greek, but for being theGreat Greek.
Today's ovation goes to you.
Thank you for joining us.
I enjoyed being here.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Thanks for the opportunity.
Thanks for joining us today.
If you liked this episode,leave us a review on Apple
Podcasts or your favorite placeto listen.
We're all about feedback here.
Again, this episode wassponsored by Ovation, a
two-question SMS-basedactionable guest feedback
platform built for multi-unitrestaurants.
If you'd like to learn how wecan help you measure and create
(22:14):
a better guest experience, visitus at OvationUpcom.
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