Restaurant Rockstars Podcast
Tips, tools & resources to help restaurant owners and managers Rock Their Restaurant! Engaging conversations with industry leaders and fellow restaurateurs.
Episodes
September 27, 2026 • 42 mins
Restaurant profits don't disappear in one place. They leak through labor, food cost, poor systems, weak training, and missed opportunities.
In this episode of the Restaurant Rockstars Podcast, Roger Beaudoin sits down with restaurant industry veteran Matt “Walls” Walls, whose career has included Domino’s, CKE Restaurants, Caribou Coffee, Roti, and Edible Brands.
Matt breaks down the operating systems he uses to ...
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September 19, 2026 • 42 mins
What if your restaurant is losing revenue every time the phone rings?
During a busy shift, an unanswered call could mean a missed reservation, takeout order, catering inquiry, or private event opportunity.
In this episode of the Restaurant Rockstars Podcast, Roger Beaudoin speaks with Cliff Cate, Yelp for Restaurants, about how AI-powered restaurant tools can capture more sales while freeing employees to focus on the guests direct...
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September 13, 2026 • 47 mins
Why do great employees quit, average employees stay, and high performers suddenly stop performing?
In this episode of the Restaurant Rockstars Podcast, Roger Beaudoin speaks with leadership and performance expert Dre Baldwin about building stronger restaurant teams, creating accountability, and inspiring consistent performance.
Dre explains why discipline is more dependable than motivation and how structure helps employees consis...
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September 4, 2026 • 36 mins
Finding good restaurant employees is hard. Keeping them can be even harder.
In this episode of the Restaurant Rockstars Podcast, Roger sits down with Tom Kilby of Vanteo to talk about what it really takes to build a restaurant team that stays.
They dig into smarter recruiting strategies, better onboarding, creating a culture people want to be part of, developing employees from within, and why restaurant operators need to think be...
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August 26, 2026 • 33 mins
What if one of your greatest opportunities to improve restaurant profit has nothing to do with raising prices or cutting costs?
Greg Vojnovic of The Melt joins Roger to reveal the restaurant profit strategy many operators overlook: building a culture and operation their people can execute successfully.
In this episode, discover:
• Why financial metrics are often lagging indicators
• How operational complexity hurts execution
• W...
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August 17, 2026 • 38 mins
It’s our 500th episode, and I’m sharing 10 proven ways to make your restaurant more profitable.
These aren’t theories. They’re strategies I used in my own restaurants to increase sales, control costs, build stronger teams and create extraordinary guest experiences.
In this episode, I cover menu costing and profit contribution, prime cost, inventory, portion control, training your team to serve and sell, cr...
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August 9, 2026 • 37 mins
Smarter operations can mean more revenue, a stronger team, and happier guests. Joe Mikulich of EDO Hospitality shares practical ideas independent restaurant operators can put to work right now.
What if running a more profitable restaurant isn’t about working harder, but operating smarter?
Roger sits down with Joe Mikulich, co-founder of EDO Hospitality, to talk about the practical moves helping his growing restaurant group ...
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August 2, 2026 • 36 mins
In this episode of the Restaurant Rockstars Podcast, Roger sits down with Kyle Peters, co-owner of Sexy Pizza, to discuss the operational systems that help independent restaurants reduce turnover, improve profitability and build stronger teams.
From employee retention and leadership to KPIs, inventory, labor management, marketing and community engagement, Kyle shares practical strategies that operators can implement immediately. L...
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What separates great restaurant operators from everyone else?
According to Firebirds Wood Fired Grill CEO Steve Kislow, it starts with leadership.
In this episode of Restaurant Rockstars, Steve shares the leadership principles, accountability systems, and operational disciplines that helped grow Firebirds from just three restaurants to 70 locations across 23 states.
Roger and Steve discuss hiring great leaders, creating a cultur...
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July 9, 2026 • 38 mins
What keeps guests coming back again and again?
In this episode, Roger sits down with Brian Toll, co-founder of h.wood Group, to discuss the leadership, culture, and hospitality strategies behind one of the industry's fastest-growing restaurant groups.
You'll learn:
Why "wow" experiences create loyal guests
How to hire and retain exceptional employees
The leadership habits that build winning restaurant cultures
The KPIs every ope...
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July 5, 2026 • 32 mins
What separates an average restaurant manager from a truly great general manager?
In this episode, Roger sits down with Andrew Roy, General Manager of Mahogany Prime Steakhouse, to discuss the leadership habits, systems, and financial discipline that drive successful restaurants. From hiring and accountability to labor management, guest recovery, online reviews, inventory, prime cost, and profitability, Andrew shares practical stra...
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If you're looking for restaurant growth strategies that increase sales without relying on constant discounts, this episode is for you.
Roger sits down with Dog Haus CEO Mike Montagano to discuss how one of the industry's fastest-growing brands is building customer loyalty, protecting margins, and growing sales through memorable guest experiences, smart marketing, AI, menu innovation, and operational excellence.
In this episode, y...
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June 21, 2026 • 34 mins
What if one employee mistake could cost your restaurant $100,000...or more?
In this episode of the Restaurant Rockstars Podcast, Roger sits down with employment attorney and former chef Doug Plass to discuss the restaurant labor law mistakes that create the biggest risks for owners and operators. From wage and hour violations, overtime rules, and tip pooling compliance to discrimination claims, workplace investigations, wrongful t...
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June 14, 2026 • 41 mins
The response to the first two episodes in this series was incredible, so we're back with Part 3.
In this episode, Roger shares exactly what he'd focus on if he owned your restaurant today. From labor controls and inventory systems to menu profitability, recruiting, marketing, catering, mug clubs, and daily break-even analysis, this episode is packed with practical strategies to help operators protect margins and increase profits.
...
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June 6, 2026 • 35 mins
What does it take to grow a restaurant from a single location to an 8-unit operation while maintaining profitability, culture, and consistency?
In this episode of the Restaurant Rockstars Podcast, we sit down with Enga Stanfield, owner of Mattenga's Pizzeria in San Antonio, Texas. Enga shares the restaurant KPIs her team tracks daily, including labor per hour, sales per hour, inventory, and prime cost, and explains how systems, le...
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May 30, 2026 • 33 mins
Are your kids menus helping drive family revenue…or just checking a box?
In this episode of Restaurant Rockstars, Roger sits down with Mick Carr, founder of GrubLab, to explore a new approach to family dining that turns the traditional kids menu into an interactive experience. Using augmented reality, licensed sports and entertainment brands, and rotating collectible content, GrubLab helps restaurants engage kids, improve t...
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Roger sits down with Omar from Talkin' Tacos to unpack the systems, leadership, and operational discipline that fueled their growth. This is not a story about luck. It's about building repeatable systems, protecting culture, developing teams, and creating an operation that can scale without sacrificing quality or guest experience.
Show Notes: https://restaurantrockstars.com/audio/488-restaurant-operations/
Do the 5-Day Menu Margi...
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May 17, 2026 • 37 mins
Restaurant veteran Ben Fischer joins Roger to share 45+ years of hard-earned restaurant operations lessons on leadership, staffing, labor management, pricing, systems, marketing and what actually makes restaurants successful long term.
From opening and selling restaurants to building a restaurant-focused marketing agency, Ben has seen every side of the business. This episode is packed with practical advice independent restaurant o...
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Independent restaurant operators are facing rising labor costs, shrinking margins, inconsistent team performance, and growing pressure to deliver value while maintaining hospitality.
In this episode, Roger sits down with Chad Offerdahl, CEO of Big Biscuit, to break down the operational systems helping their rapidly growing restaurant brand scale successfully across 30+ locations.
Chad shares practical strategies around:
• Restaur...
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April 27, 2026 • 33 mins
Running 35 restaurants takes more than systems. It takes real restaurant operations.
In this episode of the Restaurant Rockstars Podcast, I sit down with Alex Sadowsky, Vice President of Training, Culinary, and Beverage at Ojos Locos Sports Cantina, a growing 35-unit brand.
We go inside how a multi-unit restaurant actually operates, from hiring and training to culture, accountability, and managing margins in today’s environ...
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