EP 359: Your Table Is Ready, Your Diet Isn’t: Didi’s Downtown Keeps Changing The Menu

What makes Scott Hoffner with Didi’s Downtown a good neighbor?

What happens when a chef falls for an old house in Frisco’s rail district and decides to build a place that feels like home, sounds like live music, and tastes different every week? We sit down with Didi’s Downtown founder and chef, Scott Hoffner, to uncover the craft and grit behind a neighborhood restaurant that keeps a city coming back. From washing dishes at nine to earning culinary and hospitality degrees, Scott’s journey is a study in persistence, humility, and creative fire.

Scott takes us inside the real economics of dining out, busting the myth that restaurant owners are swimming in cash. He explains why the staff comes first, how culture shapes hospitality, and why consistent marketing is now a second full-time job. Daily live videos at 10:45, behind-the-scenes pre-meals, music lineups, and feature teases on Facebook and Instagram turn followers into regulars and make Didi’s one of the most discoverable spots in the rail district. If you’re curious about restaurant marketing, social media strategy, and building community through content, this is a masterclass wrapped in a friendly chat.

Food lovers get the good stuff too: a solid core menu backed by eight weekly features ranging from Cajun and Creole to French, Italian, and Asian fusion. Think veal ravioli one week and smothered fries with pepperoni and basil ranch the next. Scott shares how rotation fights creative boredom, feeds regular curiosity, and adapts to seasons and sourcing without losing the soul of the place. We also touch on family rhythms, ski trips, Disney traditions, and a TV project in the works, reminding us that a great neighborhood restaurant is powered by a life well balanced.

If you love Frisco, live music, and food that keeps you guessing in the best way, you’ll feel right at home. Tap play, subscribe for more conversations with local makers, and leave a review to help other neighbors find the show.

**To learn more about Didi’s Downtown, go to
 🔗 https://didisdowntown.com/

Didi’s Downtown

(469)-888-4020

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

SPEAKER_02 (00:10):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Are you in need of a restaurant?
Well, one may be closer than youthink.
Today I have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Scott Hoffner, with DD'sDowntown.
Scott, how are you today?

SPEAKER_00 (00:23):
I'm doing fantastic.
Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 (00:25):
Great.
Well, we're excited to have youon.
Can you go ahead and tell us abit about your company?

SPEAKER_00 (00:32):
Well, my restaurant's called DD's
Downtown.
Uh, and it started in 2018.
We're in the rail district at7210 Main Street in Frisco,
Texas.
And the rail district's a realspecial little area with a bunch
of neat little shops andrestaurants to walk around
through.
And uh, I saw this spot, thisold house for many years.

(00:53):
I drove by it and I alwaysreally wanted it.
And uh the opportunity cameabout, and seven years later,
we're here.
Uh, the goal of the restaurantand what we do is based on
making you feel like you're athome, uh, but being attended to
with amazing hospitality andfantastic food, libations, and a
lot of live music.

SPEAKER_02 (01:15):
And what made you want to get involved in an
industry like this, other thanbuying an old house?

SPEAKER_00 (01:22):
Well, I started as a dishwasher when I was nine years
old in Plano, Texas, at a placecalled Plano Steakhouse.
So I've been in the restaurantbusiness since nine, ten years
old, and I have not stopped.
So at 18, I went to chef schoolin Providence, Rhode Island.
I went to Johnson and Wales,where I received two degrees
culinary science and hospitalitymarketing.

(01:43):
And I just haven't stoppedcooking.
So that's kind of the deal.

SPEAKER_02 (01:48):
Now, what is the most common myth or
misconception in the restaurantindustry?

SPEAKER_00 (01:54):
Well, I think that most people feel like you just
make a ton of money.
I think everybody thinksrestaurant owners are super
wealthy people.
I would say that's probably thebiggest misconception when you
know margins are margins, andthere's a lot that goes into it.
It's a it's a life of living andbreathing the restaurant

(02:17):
business.

SPEAKER_02 (02:18):
Now we know marketing is the heart of every
business.
Who are your target customers oraudience?
And in terms of marketing, onthat note, how do you attract
them?

SPEAKER_00 (02:29):
Well, I would like to say this.
I believe my staff is the heartand beat of my business.
Without them, uh there's noreason to market anything.
So I'll I'll go with, you know,my staff is is the heartbeat,
but as far as marketing goes, uhit's a non-stop uh activity, so

(02:50):
to speak.
It's actually a it's a wholenother job within the restaurant
itself.
I can tell you when I went tochef school, I never thought I
would be making Instagram postsor taking pictures of food every
single day and taking picturesof people and drinks and going
live and you know, all of thosethings would have never crossed

(03:10):
my mind if you if you had askedme when I was 18 years old at
culinary school.
But as far as the importance ofit, you know, it's enormous.
And getting your name out there,making sure you're recognized
and people know who you are,where you are, and keeping it
interesting, I think is uh isalso a you know has a lot to do
with it.

SPEAKER_02 (03:30):
Now, where do you market your business?

SPEAKER_00 (03:33):
Uh, we're on Instagram, we're on Facebook,
we're also on TikTok.
Uh TikTok is a little bitdifferent, it's more of my
lifestyle page than therestaurant, but uh Instagram and
Facebook for sure, you can seeus everywhere and every day.

SPEAKER_02 (03:50):
Have you ever thought about having your own
podcast for the business, Scott?

SPEAKER_00 (03:55):
Uh I have.
And there's a couple of thingsactually in the works right now.
Uh, there's a television showthat I created and that I
produce.
And right now uh I'm talkingwith Netflix uh about hopefully
getting that off the ground.
But uh I've done severalpodcasts, not my own, but it's
definitely been discussed.

SPEAKER_02 (04:16):
And outside of work, what do you and your family like
to do for fun?

SPEAKER_00 (04:22):
Well, we like to go snow skiing.
We also there's kind of a mix ofwhat we like to do.
Disney World is a big thing.
I have two daughters and theylove Disney World.
My my wife's family uh areDisney World fanatics, I would
call them.
So that's a I I would bet if youasked any three all three of
them what they snap a finger,and it's gonna be a Disney World

(04:44):
type of situation.
Uh, but the girls also love tofish.
I love to fish, and so when wewe like to be out in the
outdoors uh as well, but youknow, spending just quality time
together is so important.

SPEAKER_02 (05:00):
Wow, that's amazing, and it's so great that you have
those activities that you liketo do with your family.
Now, please tell our listenersone thing they should remember
about Didi's Downtown.

SPEAKER_00 (05:13):
Didi's downtown where it all goes down.
It's a transporter, it'll takeyou anywhere you want to go if
you open up your mind, and it'sgot something for everybody.

SPEAKER_02 (05:24):
Amazing.
And what type of food do youhave in Dee Dee's Downtown?

SPEAKER_00 (05:30):
Well, that's kind of tricky.
Uh, as the owner and chef, I getbored very easily.
So weekly we do about eightfeatures.
So there's the solid core menu,and then there's the feature
page, which in its own right isa whole nother menu, and that
happens every week.
So you could get anything fromyou know southern Cajun cuisine,

(05:53):
Creole food to French cuisine tonorthern or southern Italian,
uh, Latino cuisine.
You get it.
I I fuse with Asian quite a bit,and then of course, French food
is one of my favorite favorites.
But um, I like to play aroundwith food a lot.
So you'll you never really know.
You my core menu will keep youinterested and has plenty of

(06:16):
things on it for everybody.
But that special page, you know,could be a viol ravioli or it
could be smothered fries withpepperoni and basil ranch and
roasted garlic marinara.

SPEAKER_02 (06:27):
Amazing.
And does your family help runthe business with you?

SPEAKER_00 (06:31):
No.
Uh, I have one daughter thatworks a couple days a week at
the restaurant.
She likes to help out and runfood and help on the expo.
Uh, and in the beginning, youknow, my wife helped out quite a
bit with pushing paper as you'veknown me through this very quick
relationship.
Uh my weakness is computers,they're not my favorite thing.

(06:53):
So she definitely has helped outwith that.
But for the most part, um, thefamily lets me handle my
business there.

SPEAKER_02 (07:02):
And where can our listeners go to learn more about
DD's downtown?

SPEAKER_00 (07:07):
Well, if you go to Facebook, I go live every day
about 10 45.
Every day I go live and we talkabout what the features are
going to be, what the music isgoing to be, uh, what the soups
of the day are, who's working.
You never know what we'll do onthe live video.
You may be involved just frontand center in the middle of a

(07:27):
pre-meal where I'm going throughall the dishes with the servers
and we're talking about thewines and all the features.
Uh, to me, maybe being on top ofa crane, right?
It just depends on the day andthe situation.
But Instagram is also a greatplace to find us.
Um, again, those live videos goup there.
You get to see all of ourfeatures.

(07:48):
And then I do a lot of videowork where we do uh a bunch of
editing.
So there's kind of a bunch ofyou know fun things for you to
see on there.

SPEAKER_02 (07:56):
Well, Scott, I really appreciate you being on
this show.
We wish you and your businessthe best moving forward.

SPEAKER_00 (08:03):
Thank you so much for having me, and thanks for uh
inviting me on.
It's been a pleasure and you'vebeen great, and I hope to see
you again.

SPEAKER_01 (08:11):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to gmpfrisco.com.
That's gmpfrisco.com or callfour six nine two two one nine
three four five.