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Month: May 2024

Restaurant Consulting: Jeff Drake’s Guide to Successfully Rebranding a Restaurant

Posted on by Joshua Kopel

We all look to the brands in our industry that have been massively successful out of the gate for inspiration but there’s much more to learn from the brands that have been forced to turn things around. Today we chat with Jeff Drake, the CEO of Protein Bar and Kitchen. Jeff was brought in to turn around this decade old brand and has done so beautifully. We sit down to discuss who and what needs to be adjusted to change the perception of a restaurant brand. 

For more information on Protein Bar & Kitchen, visit https://www.theproteinbar.com/.

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Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time.

We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other content:

Yelp for Restaurants Podcasts

Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Restaurant Email Marketing: Pauline Brown on Brand Mastery

Posted on by Joshua Kopel

Longtime leader in luxury goods and former Chairman of LVMH North America, Pauline is renowned for acquiring, building, and leading some of the world’s most influential brands.

In her groundbreaking new book, Aesthetic Intelligence, she shows businesspeople how to harness the power of their own senses to create products and services that delight their customers and build businesses that last. Her book is based on a course that she designed and taught at Harvard Business School.

Want to Grow Your Business Fast? Check Our Guide by Josh Kopel on Restaurant Marketing Strategies.

Here, she looks to our industry, walking us through how to build a successful hospitality brand.

Click to sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Click here to book time on my personal calendar.

Click here to download our Restaurant Recovery Guide.

Want to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business.

SHOW NOTES

What is Aesthetic Intelligence?

Taste

A higher level of perception

The ability to discern and communicate what looks and feels good

Grew up as first-gen Jewish American in a creative but practical household

Going into business doesn’t always embrace the creative side

It took Pauline many years to combine creativity with her business knowledge

The importance of creative briefs

Marketing document

Roadmap for the brand plan

Stems from the company’s central idea into a more fixed template for branding

How to create a creative brief for a restaurant

Start with the core idea/usp/story

The core idea needs to be relevant, original and engaging to capture the imaginations of customers

Create an execution strategy to communicate that idea to customers

A central part of a restaurant’s idea – how do I want people to feel?

Getting to know the customer on a basic level

What do they order?

What is the occasion they come to your restaurant?

How much do they typically spend?

What time of day do they come to the restaurant?

Getting to know the customer on an advanced level

Mood state

Who are they as a person?

What drives them?

What are the wanting to feel in the restaurant?

Empathizing with the customer and getting to know them elevates the brand

Creating a “halo-effect”

Building anticipation before they come to the restaurant

Creating long-lasting memories for the customer after they have left

Aesthetics don’t need to be expensive

Nice things don’t need to cost a lot of money

Practical ways to save money aesthetically improving a restaurant

Consider the things you are already doing e.g paint a wall. Could that wall be a different color?

Making the same decisions more mindfully

Editing and taking away can also be effective

Having lots of capital can be a bad thing

Lots of money can make people lazy

Less money = more resourcefulness and creativity

Restaurants are not easy businesses

Most restaurateurs think very practically as operators

Tips to uplevel the customer experience in a restaurant

Sound design

Lighting design, down to the color of the bulbs

Visual design – small details

Pitfalls to avoid

Hiring a team that is not passionate about what they do

Amazing service leaves a lasting impression

Restaurant Consultant: Benson Tsai’s Robot Revolution

Posted on by Joshua Kopel

For years we’ve heard the tales of the days that robots would come to take our jobs. Well that day is today.

On this episode we’re chatting with Benson Tsai an engineer turned restaurateur who took top talent from SpaceX and leveraged their genius to create an autonomous pizzeria.

Today we discuss the jobs his robots are taking and the opportunities that presents for all of us.

For more on Stellar Pizza visit https://www.eatstellarpizza.com

FULL COMP is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time.

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We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out the FULL COMP media universe by visiting:

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Restaurants Technologies: Erik Oberholtzer on Building During Recession

Posted on by Joshua Kopel

In 2006, two chefs and a foodie set out to change the way people eat for the better. Their guiding light was the 10 year plan created by founder Erik Oberholtzer. That plan took the restaurant chain from one location to 30 and carried Tender Greens through the crash of 2008, illuminating opportunities in a difficult time. Today, Erik shares how his plan helped the company weather the recession and offers a path forward for restaurants in a post coronavirus world.

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Wanna chat? Click below to book time on my personal calendar.

https://calendly.com/joshuakopel/15-minute-chat-with-josh

Yelp x Cornell University x Oyster Sunday x Jon Taffer and more combined forces to create a holistic guide to help restaurants thrive now and post-pandemic. Click below to download your free copy today!

www.joshkopel.com/resources

Want to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to https://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business.

SHOW NOTES

  • Opened their second restaurant in the midst of the recession.
  • The recession created opportunities in the real estate market that they capitalized on.
  • They innovated in product offering by bringing in whole animals at a lower cost and shopping the daily specials at farmer’s markets.
  • Doubled down on vision and intentions
  • This became a recruiting tool for out of work chefs
  • Roadblocks and tension points are opportunities
  • This was all based on TYP, a Ten-Year Plan
  • Taking the long view
  • 30 restaurants over 10 years across California
  • Anyone who participates gets to take part in the wealth creation at the end of 10 years.
  • Danny Meyer invested
  • The magic of long-term thinking is that the plan never changes no matter what happens.
  • When you’re going from LA to New York, the route might change but the destination does not.
  • Foundational Changes that need to happen in the industry
  • The restaurant market is overbuilt
  • High development costs
  • Disruption via third party delivery
  • The pause button has been hit and we all need to think about how things need to change
  • Innovation through a subscription model
  • Opportunities exist within the delivery space
  • The hidden gift in the pandemic is that we get the opportunity to reevaluate our lives and make new choices
  • Time is now abundant. What are we going to do with that time?
  • Deeper connections
  • New priorities
  • Evaluate what we miss most about community
  • Tactical Advice to get open and stay open
  • Conversion to a community kitchen
  • Conversion into a bodega
  • How can I be of service to my immediate community?
  • Start with team
  • Then Those in Need
  • Biggest mistake made
  • I didn’t pay attention to 3rd party delivery
  • Been a disruptive element in consumer behavior
  • What is the worst part of quarantine?
  • Missing my community
  • Best part of quarantine
  • Time and simplicity
  • Words of encouragement
  • We’re resilient industry
  • People have to eat and restaurants are central to the community
  • We’re going to come back stronger than ever

Restaurant Email Marketing: Nicole Donnelly’s AI Marketing Insights

Posted on by Joshua Kopel

We’ve all heard a ton about AI over the last couple of years but, for the most part, it feels like a solution for someone else in another industry. I’m here to argue that AI might be the solution to every independent restaurant’s marketing problems. Today we sit down with Nicole Donnelly, a professional marketer and AI expert to discuss how we can leverage AI to run and market our businesses more effectively.

For more information on Nicole and her programs, visit https://aismartmarketing.com/.

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Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time.

We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other content:

Yelp for Restaurants Podcasts

Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Restaurant Email Marketing: Can Tech Rescue Dining?

Posted on by Joshua Kopel

Everyone is wondering how the restaurant industry is going to recover after COVID.

What will the hospitality industry morph into?

What do we do to be part of the change rather than left behind by it?

Want to Grow Your Business Fast? Check Our Guide by Josh Kopel on Restaurant Marketing Strategies.

Well, a big piece of this puzzle is technology. I truly believe the future of tech and the future of hospitality are intimately intertwined. I want hospitality to have heart and a moment when we need help most, technological innovations exist that help us serve our customers better and more efficiently without losing that human touch.

Conversations I’ve been having with industry thought leaders have led me to think of how technology could improve my restaurant in a post-pandemic world, without selling my soul to it.

Hospitable Communication Platforms

A survey of thousands of Yelp users and analyzed by Dean Alex Susskind of Cornell University showed that the majority of consumers are satisfied with technology being a part of their dining experience. This has been felt the most in the reservations space. I can tell from experiences in my own restaurant. On a Thursday I had 100 reservations and on Friday I had 300. Reservations are skyrocketing and, of course, we can’t answer the phone to every customer who wants to book… or can we? 


There are ways of making the cold act of reserving a little friendlier. Virtually reservationist systems like FLO paired with customizable booking systems enable restaurateurs to personalize that first contact they have with the customer. Some reservations software allow personalization of the automatic confirmation emails. Reservations at this volume aren’t going away any time soon so perhaps employing these humanizing technologies will help bring my business into the new age.

Personalized Delivery Offerings

Restaurant owner Joelle Parenteau made the controversial decision to increase takeout as the majority of her business model and increase her delivery prices. It works amazingly for her German street food business. 


But my restaurant is different. It is all about the experience and supreme service. Is it possible to communicate that level of service to someone who hasn’t set foot in our restaurant?


A friend of mine recently told me that her Uber Eats order from a local restaurant came with a note from the restaurant. It said, “everything is going to be okay, love from The Restaurant”. That simple difference is what made her want to order from that restaurant again. 


What small token could set my takeout apart from the rest? I still want to delight my customer. I’ve thought of solutions like recyclable cutlery, elevated packaging, and personal notes to customers to elevate my product.

Perfecting Pre-Ordering

I would argue that this is the most difficult to be outstanding. Yes harder than food home delivery. Why? Well with pre-orders, your server is not there conversing, delighting, and (hopefully) upselling to customers. 

What is the dine-in experience without that crucial touchpoint?


I think as an industry we need to reframe our thinking around this. Myself included. Dean Alex Susskind told me “Tech is really important and it is a layer to the service, not a replacement of it”.


With pre-order systems, there’s the gift of speed and efficiency. Some restaurateurs have used them to lower your staff costs but the goal is to create a better dining scape in your restaurant. I wonder, if my customer were to order a beer at the press of a button and it was brought right to them in a flash, how delighted would that customer be? 


Pre-ordering also, in theory, doesn’t remove the ability to upsell! I could still train my servers to make suggestions to add to a customers’ order and provide sparkling service should the customer want to change their pre-order for any reason. 


I think getting over the coldness of technology boils down to me customizing the way we use it.

Though technology does feel a little soulless in a restaurant environment, I feel inspired by these three ideas to keep a human face on my business as we enter a new technological world.

David Lawrence on charting a successful career as a chef

Posted on by Joshua Kopel

Chef David Lawrence has paved the way for anyone with culinary aspirations to follow. He’s worked in some of the best restaurants in the world and he’s opened successful restaurants of his own. David has accomplished this with a smile on his face the whole time, avoiding the overwhelm and the melancholy so closely tied to leadership positions within our industry. In our conversation today, we unpack the chef’s formula for consistent success. As it turns out, aspiring to live a good life, leads to a great life.

For more on the Goodnight’s visit https://www.goodnightsrestaurant.com/.

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Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time.

We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other content:

Yelp for Restaurants Podcasts

Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Restaurant Labor Cost: A Life of Service

Posted on by Joshua Kopel

We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.

Winston Churchill

I am proud of our industry.
Hospitality is fuelled by generous, passionate people with a gift for servitude and selflessness. It’s been so much more obvious how wonderful hospitality folks can be right now, in the middle of a pandemic that stripped away our livelihoods. We are here effectively unemployed but folks like Othon Nolasco from Va’La Hospitality turned their lives around to focus on giving. His non-profit No Us Without You really inspires me to think of how I can give back to the community. I spoke to him about his journey into charitable work and how this has given him a new lease on life.

Solace in Selflessness

Othon and his business partners at Va’La Hospitality saw that the lockdown would destroy the industry. They felt it coming. A slew of GoFundMes were being created to save the owners and FOH staff of restaurants in the community. But what about BOH staff? The barbacks, dishwashers, porters, and cleaners. Those unsung heroes of our restaurants who are often undocumented, hard-working souls that kept our businesses running.
They saw the suffering among these forgotten communities and set out to feed the families of undocumented hospitality workers for one week.
“It was born out of frustration of not knowing how to support the most vulnerable. We decided to feed people directly. We asked our friends who are undocumented and unemployed and decided to make meals for them. Originally we wanted to feed people one time. My partner Damien then came up with the idea of making this a family thing. We costed everything out until we could feed a family of four for a week for $33.”
Their non-profit now has over 300 families on their books. I so admire the dedication Othon and his partners have. But the really heart-warming part is how this work has transformed his outlook on life.
“I find joy in running a non-profit. I am working so much but I love giving back. My short term future is growing this non-profit and becoming great at the things I’m not good at yet. It’s so fulfilling!”

Pillars of the Community

No Us Without You is a touching example of how hospitality folks are giving back in new and creative ways. Beyond the non-profit realm, there are restaurateurs doing amazing things too.
Jill Sandin from JS2 PR told me about some of her clients donating to their communities in incredible ways “ At Saikai, they cooked up all the inventory in their kitchen and distributed the most delicious ramen to local police and fire stations. Another story that really resonated is the dog bakery at The Orignal Farmer’s Market that delivered dog food for free to the local community. “
Though these aren’t possible for everyone, it really makes me think about how deeply embedded we are in our communities and how we all need each other at this moment.

It’s the Little Things

But what if it’s just not possible financially, physically, or emotionally to give in these huge life-changing ways? We are all in shellshock at such a huge loss to our careers, but many of us are also mourning our country, our loved ones, our colleagues, and more. I can totally understand if, for some folks, it’s too much to create a whole charity or open up their business as a community hub. I don’t fault anyone for feeling that way – after all, I didn’t do those things either.
The ways I have chosen to give back is by donating to others who have created these amazing non-profits, sharing them with my audience, and creating this podcast.
Full Comp is my way of nurturing the industry in a way I know how – by sharing the voices of leaders and innovators that can create a much-needed dialogue in our space.
We all have the power to give a little in the hospitality industry. We are on our knees, but we can still lift others up. Whether that is donating to a non-profit, creating a resource kitchen, or calling a friend in need, we can all do our part to build a better future.

Restaurant Business Plan: Miguel Hernandez’s Industry Domination

Posted on by Joshua Kopel

Miguel Hernandez is a genius. You have never heard me begin a show this way before, but I was absolutely blown away by the fresh perspective Miguel is bringing to restaurant ownership and operations. This is a guy who’s scaled to 4 locations in just a couple of years and has financed his growth exclusively through the profits from his active restaurants. Today we discuss how to pick a winner, double revenues, and scale profitability.

For more information on Rreal Tacos, visit https://rrealtacos.com/.

____________________________________________________________

Full Comp is brought to you by Yelp for Restaurants: In July 2020, a few hundred employees formed Yelp for Restaurants. Our goal is to build tools that help restaurateurs do more with limited time.

We have a lot more content coming your way! Be sure to check out our other shows:

Restaurant Marketing School

Restaurant expert videos & webinars

Restaurant Funding: Chef Chris Shepherd’s Southern Smoke Success

Posted on by Joshua Kopel

On today’s show, we chat with James Beard award winning chef Chris Shepherd founder of the non-profit, Southern Smoke.

Most of us in the hospitality industry wouldn’t consider ourselves needy or in need of assistance. We’re internally motivated, not afraid of hard work and resourceful as hell. But when the pandemic hit it decimated our industry and our livelihoods. Out of the blue Southern Smoke came to the rescue. To date they have distributed millions of dollars to hospitality workers in need.

Today, it’s founder shares it’s origins, their mission and what they’re doing to ensure we’re all taken care of.

Click to sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Click here to book time on my personal calendar.

Click here to download our Restaurant Recovery Guide.

Want to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business.

SHOW NOTES

  • Beginnings of charity work
  • Started doing dinners to raise money for culinary scholarships
  • Lost a colleague to MS. Business partner also had MS
  • Started planning a dinner for MS which transformed into a festival
  • Raised $181k for the MS Society year 1
  • Year 2 raised $284k
  • Beginnings of Southern Smoke
  • Hurricane Harvey devastated local businesses
  • No designated support for hospitality businesses
  • Emulated The Giving Kitchen from Atlanta
  • The vetting process at Southern Smoke
  • That first year there were 250 applications
  • 139 families awarded $500k
  • Southern Smoke continues to donate to MS, remainder to hospitality workers
  • Southern Smoke during Covid
  • Originally has 2.5 employees
  • Now has over 40 employees
  • Hire unemployed hospitality workers and trained them to be caseworkers
  • Over 25k applications
  • Granted over 1000 over $2million
  • Willy Nelson concert donated funds
  • Reopening of restaurants
  • Running at 50% capacity does not mean that 50% of potential covers will come to the restaurant
  • Many people still not comfortable enough for dine-in
  • Pivoting the restaurant business
  • The aim is to break-even, not to make profit
  • Having a solid team is vital
  • Unity and solidarity
  • Punch fear in the face
  • How to achieve work-life balance
  • Delegate to mangers to do the long shifts
  • Building on a great legacy
  • Won many accolades
  • Started incredible restaurants
  • Started non-profit
  • Next steps
  • Aim is to create a group of restaurants that enable Chris’ team to fulfill their dreams
  • Putting restaurant people where they want to be
  • Southern Smoke as inspiration for future non-profits to build safety nets for every industry
  • To the industry
  • Keep your head down
  • We’ll get through this together
  • Use your voice for good

Restaurant Marketing Agency: The Stolen Episode feat. Luke LaBree

Posted on by Joshua Kopel

This one’s coming totally out of left field.

I had the pleasure of being on my friend Luke’s podcast and I enjoyed the conversation so much, I stole some of it to share with you here. Luke is a digital marketer who’s built some huge brands within the industry. You’ll also get to hear a bit more of me than you normally do. Sit back, relax and listen to these 2 old dogs chew the fat.

Click to sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Click here to book time on my personal calendar.

Click here to download our Restaurant Recovery Guide.

Want to streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast to claim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business.

SHOW NOTES

  • Independent business owners struggle to create content
  • Independent businesses have always struggled
  • Slim margins
  • 16hour days
  • They feel that they have no time to create content
  • Content Imposter Syndrome
  • The feeling your content doesn’t stand up to the content in your industry
  • Discouraging to try and compete with the huge amount of content on the internet
  • Honesty tips the scale
  • Be your unique business online
  • Share what you do and the way you do it
  • Showing your team and behind the scenes gets much more engagement
  • Honesty builds a stronger connection with your audience
  • Create the content you want to see in the world
  • Elizabeth Tilton went viral because of their reopening guide
  • They didn’t make it to go viral
  • It was true to self
  • Selfless stuff you are doing will resonate more than anything else
  • People see through the hard sell
  • Example
  • Two members of staff manually assembled 600 hand sanitizer dispensers before they were shipped to customers
  • Luke uploaded the security footage of them doing this
  • Audience loved it
  • Mundane everyday details are what makes your business interesting
  • Everyone leaves happy philosophy
  • Explains the vision of Josh’ restaurant
  • Setting that expectation that there is nothing that they won’t do to make sure that the patron leaves happy
  • Empowered staff to operate independently under this guiding philosophy
  • Telling patrons that their happiness was important de-escalates any upset
  • It’s a privilege to turn around bad feedback in real-time
  • There are no limits to service
  • Josh once fully comped a meal and drinks for a table of 8
  • Restaurant was running low on food
  • Offered a free meal off menu of what food was left
  • Having a passion for service is why we stay in the business
  • Knowing your core passion is the most important thing
  • The importance of teamwork
  • Allowing them to put forward ideas
  • Showcase their talents on
  • It takes the whole team to make a shift run smoothly
  • Customers pick up on team spirit
  • No Us Without You
  • Non-profit that feeds families of undocumented workers
  • Having a holistic approach in digital and real-life created success
  • Created a movement
  • Taking a leap of faith
  • Many miss the opportunity to act
  • Scared of failure
  • Those who take a leap are the ones who succeed

Restaurant Consulting: FULL COMP Season 3 Trailer

Posted on by Joshua Kopel

In Season 3, the restaurant revolution is taking a new shape. As we see our way out of the pandemic the new ideas and strategies we’ve implemented have taken root and blossomed. We have entered the Restaurant Renaissance. Season 3 focuses on the revolutionary ideas and leaders that have thrived during this difficult time, empowering listeners to walk a similar path.

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Wantto streamline your front-of-house operations and increase sales? Head over to http://restaurants.yelp.com/fullcomppodcast toclaim your free page and learn more about these powerful tools for your business.

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Lead Your Team Instead of Managing Them

This free (and highly detailed) guide will give you everything you need to know to build and lead a world class team from scratch, ensuring you work less and earn more. (Yep, even if you know nothing about leadership.)

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