Restaurant Mogul & Top Chef Judge Reveals Training Secrets | Janet Zuccarini

Most restaurants don’t fail because of bad food, they fail because of bad leadership, weak training, and inconsistent hospitality.

So in this exclusive interview, Restauranteur and Top Chef judge Janet Zuccarini sits down with Preston Lee to break down the secrets to leadership, hospitality, and training systems that helped her build one of the most respected restaurant groups.

From opening her very first restaurant with zero restaurant experience to building a 30+ year hospitality empire with packed restaurants across Toronto and Los Angeles, Janet shares the real reason great restaurants succeed: culture, systems, consistency, communication, and people. This conversation is packed with practical strategies and tactics for restaurant owners, managers, servers, and hospitality leaders who want to build stronger teams and create successful restaurants.

You'll learn how top hospitality brands create loyal employees and loyal customers. Janet also shares how her company built long-term retention, ongoing training systems, leadership pathways, and a hospitality culture that keeps staff for decades.

We dive deep into:
• How elite restaurants train staff for long-term success
• Why most restaurant training programs fail
• How to build stronger restaurant culture and staff buy-in
• The secret to creating loyal guests and repeat business
• How great restaurants handle mistakes and recover service
• How to develop leaders, trainers, and managers internally
• How top restaurants create memorable guest experiences
• The systems successful restaurant operators use every day

This episode is a masterclass for restaurant owners, hospitality professionals, managers, servers, bartenders, and entrepreneurs looking to level up their leadership, training, and customer experience.

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:00

This is your promise, right? As a counter. He's like, I'm gonna train you and I'm gonna give you other tools. All I'm asking you to do is just follow the systems after that.

SPEAKER_03 0:06

When you are a small restaurant and you're just like keeping your head above water, it's hard. You know, it feels very uncomfortable when you don't know your job and you haven't been trained properly. You feel uncomfortable working in that job.

SPEAKER_05 0:18

What if you can get a masterclass in one of the most successful restaurant tours where she's gonna show you how to develop your leaders, how to develop your hospitality, and how to develop your training systems? I'm actually gonna offer you that. I got to sit down with Janet Zuccherini. And if you don't know who Janet Zuccherini is, shame on you. She is one of the most successful restaurant tours in the world and definitely in Canada. She has one of the most sought-after, busiest Thai restaurants, but she also has restaurants in LA. She has a lot of restaurants all over Canada, and she's been in the business for 30 years, including a restaurant that she's operated for over 30 years and still busy till this day. What is her secret? How has she grown her empire? Well, she's gonna show you in this video. We break it down step by step. You're gonna learn how she develops her leaders, her focus on hospitality, and how she gets her staff bought in, even with this generation that is really difficult to train. She mastered it all and she's gonna show you the exact secrets. Check it out.

SPEAKER_03 1:16

Um, has anyone done you for? Okay, so we're gonna tell you how it works here. Oh, how it works here? What's going on? Well, um, we encourage sharing. Okay. Yeah, encourage sharing. What else? Um, and dishes are gonna come out whenever the chef wants to send them out, okay? You don't get to cheer the the spiel has become the same everywhere.

SPEAKER_05 1:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:35

And we need to we need to also retrain people because we we're we're tired of the the same spiel.

SPEAKER_05 1:41

Agreed. I talk about this all the time because what happened because what that's supposed to do is it's supposed to offer an opportunity to to to to personalize. Like what I tell people, if you're gonna do that, just say, hey, I just want to let you know real quick, all of our meats are sourced here. We have local food, uh all of our food's organic, right? What you that my thing is you just try and add perceived value, right? So when they look at the menu, they go, Oh, this is actually not bad. I get why now the salmon's $57 because they said it's just told me it's wild caught, never frozen, whatever, right? But instead they go, they try, they give you like a, like you just said, um like a menu breakdown. And that's like, okay, all of our appetizers are here, our drinks are on the other side.

SPEAKER_03 2:18

Look on the left, look on the left side, left upper right side. I said, look on the upper left right side. Okay, we're starting with the appies there. Okay. On the right side, lower. Um, we we need to, you know what, we've dined out enough. Right.

SPEAKER_05 2:30

And I know how this this this this menu of concept works.

SPEAKER_03 2:33

Yeah, and you know, back in the day when people weren't sharing, then we needed that spiel. But now it's kind of like we know, we share. That's what typically people do. It's very rare to actually order your own plate. Right. You know, yes, exactly. It's kind of it's kind of rare. I mean, you know, people people like to share. So everyone knows that. So your point is exactly right. We you have to say something that someone's not gonna know on the menu, or you know, like like you're saying, adding value, or to say, you know what, we go to the farmer's market every day and everything's organic over here. You know, just some special things, like, wow, that's that's cool. That's yeah, and I wouldn't have known that just reading the menu. But I know that I'm gonna sit down, I know that I'm gonna look at a menu, I'm gonna order the food that I like, I know how this all works.

SPEAKER_05 3:16

And also, I love to see like like little things just to your point where they say, like, and those sides are on the bottom right there, those are all the sides. You're like, thank you. The one that says sides, got it, right?

SPEAKER_03 3:24

Yeah, the one that says sides.

SPEAKER_05 3:25

Yeah, and and then they those are our sides. Yeah, yeah. You're like, hold on, let me slow down. And I'm so glad you said that because I that it drives me crazy when I do when they do that too. And then they do this like speed, they're trying to do it really fast because they someone told them to do it, and so they're just checking a box, and you're like, When because it gets to a point where you're like, when is this gonna be over? Right? You're like, okay, and then they're like, and then the specials, you're like, no, no, no, just I'm good. This I just want to order now. So I think there's a lot that you know AI can do for us, but I'm curious. Um, I would love to kind of go in, if you're okay with it, to your story. How did you get started? Like, what is it, what is what was like your your catalyst? I know the answer to this, but I would just love to hear from you.

SPEAKER_03 4:05

Starting way back as really having an Italian father that was really um passionate about food and cooking, and he was a great cook at home and taught our mother how to how to cook. And we ate food that was freshly made, um, you know, groceries, fresh groceries every day. You know, friends used to beg to come over to my house for lunch because everything was just handmade, and you know, that so I became passionate about eating well, really. And then when I was 18, I moved to Italy. I studied business, but you know, became passionate about Italian food there. And I started cooking because I was a student and couldn't afford to eat out a lot. So I started cooking, and I really, you know, some friends would say I I needed to open up a restaurant back then, but I never thought of that because I studied business. And I think that combo of um I have a master's degree in business and I own restaurants. It's there's some restaurate tours that have that background, but typically you're a chef, you've done training like that. But at the end of the day, I married two passions. I have a I have a passion for business, I have a really strong entrepreneurial spirit, and I have a passion for food. So I married two passions. So, you know, a double bonus for me. Because I think, you know, you're lucky when you find your passion, you find your your purpose. I I like using purpose more, but I feel very purposeful in my life and I feel like I'm doing what I should be doing in life. And so it's the only thing I've ever done. Out of university, I opened my first restaurant in Toronto, and that restaurant in June right now is about to turn 30 years old. So still going 30 years later. And um, you know, that's how it all began.

SPEAKER_05 5:47

How you got the job to how you ended up with the company is so cool. There's so many like nuances and storytelling to it, you know, and and just this fact that you like because you didn't just hey, I'm gonna start a restaurant.

SPEAKER_03 5:59

No, I did that was never an idea that I ever had. It was meeting these two guys that were under construction for a restaurant, and they asked me to be a partner uh because I had sold the previous owner their espresso machine. And so I said, Oh, what's going on? What are you guys doing? Oh, we're building a restaurant. Got into a conversation and they said, Why don't you be a partner? And that was it. And two weeks later, I was in the restaurant business and I had never served a table before. I mean, I knew nothing. What I knew is I could learn anything, though. I felt very confident about I can learn to do anything.

SPEAKER_05 6:34

And that's uh crazy when you think about when you look over now, right? The Giant Zucarini Empire. And then you go, you think it started off by you just kind of walking in, no real game plan, but you just like you said, you sold them that espresso machine, the previous owners, and you're like, what's happening here? And then somehow with that conversation, that turned into you becoming a partner.

SPEAKER_03 6:56

Yeah. I think you know, you have to be open in life. When I knew that I wanted to work for myself, that's all I knew. And my my energy was very much like I am looking for opportunities. And I think they present themselves all the time, uh, opportunities, and you have to be able to recognize, oh, this is this is this is a great opportunity, and let me let me go here. You know, you have to just be open. It's like when you're shopping for a red car, all you're gonna see are red cars. So I was like, I am, I want to be an entrepreneur, I want to work for myself. I don't know, I don't know what it's going to be, but I'm open. I'm open to possibility.

SPEAKER_05 7:29

That's the crazy thing about entrepreneurship, is you have to like believe in something that just does not exist in any way, shape, or form. It's just there's nothing there. It's it's it's literally shapeless. It's there's nothing to it's just, but you're just like, there's this aura, right? And I just I have to unlock it. And it's hard to explain to someone, but yeah, being able when you see it actually happen and come to fruition, you go through the process and you start believing in it a lot more, right? Believing in something that just doesn't exist, but you believed in it and you made it come to life.

SPEAKER_03 7:55

Yeah, you have to be maybe a little bit spiritual to to have that that level of belief that yeah, a hundred percent. Things are gonna happen, present themselves.

SPEAKER_05 8:03

I'm going towards something with no end in sight, what I'm doing, how I'm doing it. I'm just going towards this thing and I'm not stopping. Yeah. Even when it feels um crazy, I think you have to be a little crazy too, right? To be an entrepreneur. Um, I still go towards it. I still move towards it. Yeah. With that being said, I because I talk about, you know, when I talk to like teams, my big thing is I'm I'm really trying to trying to change the mindset of the staff. Like I that's really one of my big goals is trying to really change their mindset. Because I was on both ends, right? I was an employee who was like so worried about my paycheck, so worried about my tips, so worried about every tip I get, worried about when I look back now, I'm like, I was completely worried about the wrong things, right? And I was focused on the wrong things. And one thing I talk about is that, you know, every day that you come into work, you're building yourself one direction or the other, right? You're coming in or saying, I'm here to give 120%. I'm gonna practice that practice, practice showing up as a best version of myself, build that as a habit, which is gonna be transferable in anything you do in life, right? But it's a skill set, like a muscle that you have developed, but you can also develop the muscle and skill set in the wrong direction and say, I'm gonna show up at 87% or 80%, 70%, 50% because I'm not getting paid enough. I'm gonna be on this job, I have bigger things in life I'm gonna do. This is just a part-time job, right? But you don't realize that you're building habits that are ultimately gonna like be your biggest weakness and going forward. And so I I I and that I'm just asking this question because it's like, how would you frame this? Because I'm trying to frame it to them as you I you think that this paycheck right now matters, right? You think this would be what we're like this, it just couldn't matter less. Like it really, when in the grand scheme of things, if you're building yourself up to do something bigger, you're focused on this so much it's distracting you from the big picture, which you should be focusing on this. How would you frame that?

SPEAKER_03 9:48

Well, I think it's the most important industry to build culture in is in hospitality. You have to build the the culture inside inside your company from the leadership all the way down. And you know, we build it in our company like a family. Like we're we're here, we're gonna we're gonna treat you well, we're gonna treat you with a lot of respect, we're gonna train you well to make sure you're trained well for your job so they feel good when they come to the table. Uh we have to build it more in hospitality because it is a part-time job for the majority of people. It's not a career, it could even be your full-time job, but most servers are they're not lifers. They're gonna be, I'm on my way to something else. So you have to give your servers something valuable. And so they feel that they can bring pride uh to their job every single day.

SPEAKER_05 10:39

Yeah, I love that that that that idea because you're saying you're saying we have to, we just we have to build and support them more than ever, more than most jobs because it is a part-time job. Yeah, we're asking them for a full-time commitment, right? Full-time commitment of mentality, like we want you fully bought in to this part-time job. And I think like, I don't know what the percentage is. It'd be an interesting study of how many servers are start off part-time and end up full, you know, this ends up being their job for a long time. They might be here for a year and they end up being in for 10 years, but it's a lot. Um, but one thing you said earlier, you said that um you knew going into the restaurant industry that you could train yourself to do anything. Do you think that mentality and that and having that vision helped you develop your business? Because I, you know, last time we talked, you said, and I love this. You're like, I put a lot of my people, like a lot of people in my corporate offices are were, you know, hostesses, server, bartender. And now I moved them up into these like roles. Do you think that helped with your vision and that?

SPEAKER_03 11:38

First of all, it was helpful that I actually had not worked for another restaurant group, so I could think independently and create my own systems. So I was, I'm a very efficient person. So I worked every position in the restaurant, and so I could break it down and say, how can we do this more efficiently? How can I train? How can I build the manuals so I can help train the next person? So I think that not having any kind of background or information from another restaurateur, I could really start with a fresh mind and create it myself. So that that I think helped me. And back then it was harder because you couldn't there wasn't even Google, you know, you couldn't Google how to do something. So I had to really use my my brain in in a more efficient and effective way to figure these things out in an industry I'd never worked in before. And um I think that for you know, this is how you get people to stay in your company a long time is in-depth training and also a path for uh a path forward. So we have a path forward for every employee in our company. So if you want to be a manager, if you want to be a coach, so when so we're a restaurant group out of Toronto, when we opened our first restaurant, Felix, in Los Angeles, we created coaches, this coaching program. And the um the carrot, I suppose, is to say, if you get certified as a coach, then we're gonna bring you to Los Angeles. You know, for somebody in Toronto, that was that was you know exciting. And you know, we brought a group of coaches here to train our servers here in Los Angeles. So even you know, that there is paths like, oh, I can develop myself over here, and then I can, oh, I'm gonna go to Los Angeles, I'm gonna train staff, or I want to be on the track of a manager. Um, so we give people paths forward that it's not only that you land here as a server, but you could come into leadership. And you know, we we treat people really well, and I think that's important, and we pay people well. And our leadership team hasn't changed. It's the same leaders. So my head of operations has been with the company for 30 years. So wow from day one.

SPEAKER_05 13:53

Crazy.

SPEAKER_03 13:53

You know, but I'm you know, they there's you know, profit sharing, there's all sorts of incentives, and you want your people to stay with you, but it comes from you. What are you creating? Why are people gonna stay? Why, why are servers gonna care about doing a good job? Why are they gonna, you know, how are you gonna shift them if they're just thinking about a paycheck to actually, I care about doing a great job and I care about this company. Well, it's gonna come from you, it's gonna come from me, the owner. That's you know, the buck stops here with me. And whenever there's an unhappy server, server who doesn't do a good job, I just look at myself. If I'm in my own restaurant and I see something, somebody not doing something right, how we train them, I didn't do a good job. I don't ever look to them. And I might give somebody, we have this thing, in the moment feedback. So as an owner, I might see something, somebody doing something incorrectly, let's say. And I say, Do you mind if I give you in-the-moment feedback? Because it's also helpful for people. I said, you know, you just um, you know, that person their napkin went on the floor, you picked it up, and you put it right back on their lap. Now we so what we do is we get a clean napkin, and this is what what we do. Um, and you know, all these things just add up to respect, respecting people, and I have to do better. It all it always ends with me.

SPEAKER_05 15:14

Yeah, I love that. I went into a hotel bar, and there's like no, and it's like there's a restaurant downstairs. We just got in from like traveling, and like I want to get some food. Like, let's just eat at the hotel, like, even though it's usually a risk, right? Of like quality, but I'm just like, let's just go. And so we go downstairs and I'm like, is this is it open? Because it was part of like the lobby, it's one of those weird things where it's like restaurant slash lobby. So I'm like, is it open? There's no one there, there's two people at the bar, and there's a bartender there. And so he's like kind of staring at us, and we walk up to the bar. And as we walk up to the bar, he just turns around and starts and leans on the counter. And I'm like, Are they open? And I realize they are open. I'm like, you know what? We'll just go. But I said, I go, is that is that the bartender's fault? Right? Is that his personal fault or is it his leadership's fault? Because how is that even acceptable in his mind? Right? He's clearly been trained poorly, led to the city. Training, training, for sure. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it'd be the training. And then and systems, right? It's uh it's all kind of like correlated, but I love systems, controls, all of it.

SPEAKER_03 16:12

Yes, right. People have to know. People are watching, people are, you know, there's there's ramifications. If you do pull out your phone and you lean on the bar, we people have to know that. So it's not done, and here's how we make sure it's not done. 150%. You're like parents, right? And you have to follow through. You're not gonna threat. If you scream one more time, we're leaving the party. No, we leave the party. Okay. Like there's follow-through. Like this is hey, you know, we do things, three warnings, you know, we have this, we have systems, and there's follow through. And then this is not the place for you to work. We trained you, we told you, we gave you one warning, two warning, third warning. Uh you're out, you know, and we have we have all these systems that's follow through.

SPEAKER_05 16:50

This is your promise, right? As an owner, he's like, I'm gonna train you and I'm gonna give you all the tools. All I'm asking you to do is just follow the systems after that. And I always tell people, like, you're not gonna be like, hey, one of the systems is you're gonna go clean my house, you know, or my car. No, like you're like anything I ask you to do is just for the for the business, right? To make sure that this runs as best as possible when we give our guests the experience. And I'm gonna give you all those tools, make it super clear. But outside of that, if you decide, hey, I'm not gonna do that, then we're gonna have to hold you accountable. Yeah, and and like I talk about sports teams, right? You think about some of the greatest sports teams. What do you think the accountability is like in those locker rooms and with those teams? Are they gonna hold you accountable? That's what makes them great. And we want to chase greatness as a organization, and everyone benefits, like everybody benefits. This, the, the employees benefit. I mean, sorry, this the guest benefit, of course, the business benefits, but the employees benefit too, because they're training themselves on how to work in an environment that is uh has expectations, right? They come to work with a little bit more pride and a little bit of smile on their face and and they feel accomplished. Because you talked about growth plans, and I think that's huge. I think that's what's lacking in this industry a lot, is there's not enough growth plans, and you have, again, you've built a business to where you offer people so much, right? Because you can say you can go from here all the way up to here. You know, if you own one restaurant, that's hard to do. You know, you're like, you can go here to kind of here, maybe, but you're like, there's so much room, and you've done a lot of freaking hard work to build something to provide that.

SPEAKER_03 18:09

Yes, it's you know, once you build a company at a certain level, then you you have different levers that you can pull on. When you are a small restaurant and you're just like keeping your head above water, it's hard. So, like, how do you do that at that level when you know you just want to make ends meet? But I still think that you have to be so respectful to people. And how you're respectful to people is to train your staff. You know, it feels very uncomfortable when you don't know your job and you haven't been trained properly. You feel uncomfortable working in that job. You have to have a whole plan when somebody walks in your restaurant first day of training. We have a whole thing like, we're gonna show you around so you know where everything is. We're gonna take you to your locker. We we go from the from the A's to the B's to the C's to make sure that people, oh my god, I I feel comfortable. And what what makes somebody feel comfortable? I know everything. I can be asked any question and I can answer it. You have to do that type of training. And even when you're a small restaurant, you you can do that, you know. You you have to do that.

SPEAKER_05 19:12

You have to do it, yes. And I agree with that. And I always tell people, like when I'm doing training with like the GMs and I'm I'm teaching the teams, I always say I'm two scenarios, right? And when scenario one is like you walk in, Preston, so nice to meet you. Go up to the host. Oh, yeah, we're waiting for you. I'm gonna bring the manager, comes right out. Hi, this is John. John's a trainer. Oh my god, Preston, so excited to meet you. You know, I heard you're coming from this place. We're super excited. Here's your pamphlet, by the way. We're gonna learn these things today. Let me show you your locker, let me show you around, right? Option B, you come in, the host looks confused. Uh, can you sit over there? Manager comes out 30 minutes later. Hi, sorry, it's been busy. Uh Brian's here, he's been here of a long time. He'll be training you. Brian doesn't know he's training that day. Hey, how's it going? Um, where are you where you where are you staying? Where do you think you're gonna stay longer? Where you feel more comfortable? We're gonna we're gonna feel like they know what they're doing, right? It's like such a different experience when you organize your training. It's systematized and you and they feel like they're taken care of. They feel like they've made the right decision, because that's a decision they made to work for you, right? They made the right decision, and that's where you see employment last longer. And that's where you get people like what you have in your organization where they're lasting decades.

SPEAKER_03 20:17

Yeah. Right? I even have servers been with me 25 years.

SPEAKER_05 20:21

You have to really like your job to stay somewhere for 25 years, especially serving, because that's not easy. You know, that's a tough job.

SPEAKER_03 20:27

Yeah. And we do a whole recognition of we have people, we recognize people that have been with the company one year, five years, 10 years, 20 years, 25, up to thir up to 30 years. We do a whole recognition party.

SPEAKER_05 20:40

That's so awesome. Yeah. And that's one big party.

SPEAKER_03 20:43

One big party. That's awesome. And everyone, everyone comes together and we do a whole, you know, little awards, you know, acknowledgement. All these little things just add up, right? Everyone loves acknowledgement. Everyone loves acknowledgement. So we look, we look how we can acknowledge people all the time.

SPEAKER_05 21:02

That's still it's almost like a like a loyalty program because you kind of get like, I'm two years in, I want to get to five years now. You know, now I kind of have something to look forward to, a goal.

SPEAKER_03 21:11

Yeah. That's cool. And every every year we do have a company-wide party and meeting, and we do this thing called the awesome awards. So with every restaurant, you can get nominated for being awesome and why you're awesome in in your job. And, you know, people really look forward to this party every year. And, you know, you you all sorts of people, you like, you know, the busboy is getting acknowledged and getting an an awesome award because he never wipes a smile off of his face and he brings joy to the team. But so everyone knows this is going on yearly. We're like, put in your, you know, put in your name for the who you want to nominate for an awesome award. And and they really look forward to this. And it's a big deal, and we have hundreds of people at this. And they get they come up on a on a stage to to get their awesome award.

SPEAKER_05 21:59

How many people? Show up.

SPEAKER_03 22:00

Hundreds.

SPEAKER_05 22:01

Wow. That's cool.

SPEAKER_03 22:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 22:03

I mean, I was like, I want to go to that party. That sounds awesome.

SPEAKER_03 22:06

Yeah, yeah. It's odd. Yeah. It feels like a big deal, right? So you think you're even thinking about that. Like, I want to get known. That was like, look at that person and you know who got acknowledged and an awesome award. And I I want it, you know, all these little all these little things, um, they matter and they add up.

SPEAKER_05 22:22

For sure. I love that. And so I'll ask you a question. It if, you know, because we're talking about leadership and and training and systems, they all are connected, right? I always tell people it's like they're all, it's like one ecosystem. But if you're talking to someone, let's say they own three restaurants and they're just kind of like, we kind of grew, you know how it goes, right? It's like we're just, we just started, you know, we don't know what we're doing still, and they're in the same shoes you were. Like, no idea how this works, but we've been having success. There's our third restaurant, but now we're starting to see the cracks, we're feeling the pain, and we can't get the hospitality piece down, we can't get the the people bought in. It seems like they're hard to train. I don't have systems, I don't have training, I don't have like a leadership development thing. What would you say here's the first thing you need to do?

SPEAKER_03 23:01

Well, you have to record all of your, you know, what all of your trainings, all of your systems. There has to be like a record of it. Like what, you know, it's just like writing it down. And now with AI, you know, I mean, use Claude. I mean, I can't even imagine I'm not creating the systems anymore in my company, but how easy is it to create the systems and and manuals? Like, we're just like, what are we doing? You're writing it down. Who are we as a company? You have to know um, you know, the the culture that you're imparting. So, what is that culture? It's all it's all about like writing it down, recording it, manuals, what what you know, training material, all of that.

SPEAKER_05 23:39

Now, when you talk about because this is a good conversation because I we we come across a lot. We talk about, yeah, writing it down. That's your North Star, right? And having that information exist and live. But what does it translate into actual results? Because you can have manuals all day, right? I can have, I can have a company come in and build all the manuals they want. What but what what like we've had this before where someone comes in and says, Preston, can you build our manuals? And we go, sure, yeah. And so we do a deep dive research, we walk through them, we spend like 60 days and we build all the stuff out. And now they're like, okay, now what do I do? Yeah. Right. So it what would you be your advice in that situation?

SPEAKER_03 24:12

It's very difficult. And I'll say that restaurants, when you when you first open, you're you're closed, you know, weeks in advance to train your your team. And that's when you're given your best opportunity. Yes. You're you're not open yet. So you're gonna really do your training there. But now the problem is my restaurant's five years old, ten years old. I have new people coming in. How do you train? It's not easy, and we created something called my company's Gusto 54, it's called Gusto University, and we have training on an app, and you can't show up to a shift unless you've finished certain modules that you can do on your own. A lot of it is gamified. Um, so you've got to you've got to be, we've had to, we have to find a way for ongoing training. So we built an app. Is every restaurant gonna do that? But that's what that's what you do when when you've been in business for 30 years. I'm always thinking, how are we gonna make this easier? Like there's one time when you can train your staff before opening, but the ongoing training, what do you do? So we we have this Goosted University, and you can't show up to shifts it unless you've uh passed your module modules and it's all it's all on people's phones.

SPEAKER_05 25:26

It's all stuff I always talk about. One thing is ongoing training, like it has to be ongoing, it has to be continuous because what a lot of restaurants do is they train someone for seven days or five days or freaking three days, and they're like, Okay, good luck. And if he's doing anything wrong, we'll let you know, right? Versus like having some ongoing training because you can only give so much information in seven to ten days.

SPEAKER_03 25:45

Exactly.

SPEAKER_05 25:45

Is it's limited.

SPEAKER_03 25:46

But you know, there's gonna be more and more apps that you you can, and you know, we created this ourselves, which is awesome, but um, you know, and it's it's helped a lot. Uh, but I it's a big problem in restaurants.

SPEAKER_05 25:59

Huge. And so that's yeah, and that's where we're nobody has time.

SPEAKER_03 26:02

You're like, you know, the hours of restaurants, you know, you when when are you gonna shut down a day? If you're open seven days a week, lunch and dinner, are you gonna shut down a day to train? You know, it's so that's also this ongoing training, meaning like in-the-moment feedback, like a manager on the floor. We we we do that a lot because you know, you you sit somebody down, let's say you're giving them a review, and you're gonna say, you know, three months ago you did this thing and it wasn't right. Like people feel bad, like what? I did something three, they don't remember. So it's it's all also your managers every day during you know, service. You know, we just to be respectful, we say we have in-the-moment feedback. So we want to, you know, this is how we do things. Make sure somebody's approaching you, you give right of way. So that's a really that's a really important thing for me. So many restaurants I go through and the bus boy's like, coming through, and like pushes a customer out of the way.

SPEAKER_05 26:57

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 26:58

And I'm like, oh god, no, we and it's it's that that one is hard, but it's so important to show, listen, we're we care about you more than we care about ourselves. So it's like right of way.

SPEAKER_05 27:09

You're the star.

SPEAKER_03 27:10

You're the star, you're the star.

SPEAKER_05 27:12

Yeah, and I did I went to a restaurant recently, not too long ago. It's like a there were like all these publications and and and just how amazing it was. And I was I was pretty excited, and we went there, and the service was fine. It was that wasn't bad, it wasn't necessarily good, it wasn't bad. The food was pretty good though. It was it was very unique, it's fun. But we walk in and it's like really small, compact restaurant, tiny. And so we walk in that in the walkways like this, and it's it shows you like nuances, how important little nuances is because it's guest right away, and there's a part of it where it's like, you know, A, here's how you do it, but beer B more importantly is here's why, right? Here's a why behind it. Like you want them to feel comfortable, you know. You want them to feel like, hey, I care that you're here, and please no, no, no, please, no, you're like you're my guest, like absolutely. And we walk in, and there's two people running food, and there's a little walkway when you open the door, and we walk in, and instantly they see us and they move out, and we the first thing we do, right? First people we see, and they go like this and they both look down. They're just like looking down as we walk by them. And I'm like walking by and I'm staring at them, and they're like looking, like, like kind of you could tell they're like, Hey, I'm busy, like please go so we can go. And I would, it was one of those feelings you could kind of feel that tension. And I'm like, it was just kind of like a kind of like a you know a lost opportunity because we walked in and both were like, Hey, welcome. Yeah, come on in. So the host is right around the corner, but instead they're like, Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:29

I when I'm uh when I open a restaurant, I'll usually work uh as a as a host. I'll stand at the door and uh in the beginning and just you know make sure, you know, final trainings and and I just tell everyone just keep smiling. And I'll work, I'll work a shift at the restaurant and I'll take I'll take a smile out into the world. And I can't believe how I meet so many people. I feel like, you know, this this just to smile feels so nice, it feels so welcoming, it feels so kind. And we we can take that out in the world, and you're gonna see miracles happen. And I I don't do that. Um sometimes I can get a little bit serious, but when I come off of a shift, if I go to any other restaurant, I've I still I'm still in work mode and I'm walking around, I'm like, hey, how are you? How are you? Great. Yeah, and I'm like, and then but you meet you meet people just by being friendly. And we are all sick of dining out and having any kind of attitude at the door. People even feel nervous going to a restaurant. I feel myself nervous going to a restaurant. Oh God, is the host gonna give me attitude? Do you do you ever feel that?

SPEAKER_05 29:35

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 29:36

I mean, what a feeling. I'm in the restaurant business. I'm like, please, how do I have to act? So this host, and then you walk up to a host stand and someone's like, hi, and like genuinely like, great to see you. Like, you know, and the worst question is also, do you have a reservation?

SPEAKER_05 29:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:52

That's another question. And I was just in New York City, walked in to an empty restaurant where I'm where I'm telling you not a single person, and hi, yes, okay. Do you have a reservation? And it's just such a weird question. It really is. There's a way to say it because you might want to check off if there's a reservation. For sure. I get that, but it's also this weird like, are you in the club? Are you gonna get in tonight? Are you starting to sweat? Like, just make people feel comfortable. You don't know what's going on in someone's life when they show up. My mother just died. I'm meeting with a friend to let her know whatever, whatever someone's going through, just be kind and smile and be helpful. This a smile is going to go so far.

SPEAKER_05 30:38

It is, and I tell people all the time we smile, people always like, you know, they they they they love it. And I went like I went to a restaurant in New York and and and uh we walked in, and this is how like low the bar is, you know, because it should this should be just kind of like normal practice. I walk in, it's a busy restaurant. We kind of like happened by by accident, right? And it's just packed and it's beautiful. I forgot. I'll find out. I have like a postcard from them. I'll find out. And so I walked in and then the host is like, hi, you know, did you have a reservation? I'm like, oh, we don't. And she was like, Oh, she's like, it's gonna be like she's kind of, but she's like, oh my gosh, it's like a two-hour wait, and I'm like, oh, okay, and I'm like, we're just we're starving. And she's like, okay, just give me five minutes, okay? Let me just let me see what I can do. And I'm like, oh, not like I was just totally expecting a, yeah, it's a two-hour wait, like, you know, sorry, you know, but she was like, and she comes back, she's like, okay, I think I have a table that's getting up. Just give me, can you wait for is five more minutes? Is that okay? And I'm like, yeah, she's like, okay. And then she came back, she's like, we got you a table. And I'm like, that felt really good. And I'm it was just, and I was so like amazed by that that I was like, but it made me realize how bar how low the bar is, because that should just be normal business practice.

SPEAKER_03 31:46

I know, and that's again, that's gonna be the training, uh, you know, to train your you know, your team. Yes. And how insulting is it when you might have a two-hour wait and the way that somebody delivers that is just like, yeah, so it's two hours, so can I get your name? And you're like, What you know how you have to say that if it actually is? Yeah. I am so sorry. It's so unreasonable that we're we're fully, and you know, we have so many names. It it like it's a long wait. It's a long wait. It's like two hours. But you know what? If I can get you in, like, is there another night I can make you a booking? Like, if you know you have an impossible night, um, show that you're trying to help. Is there another time? Can we do this? Or maybe you know, give people some options, um, and be be respectful of you think it's normal that someone at 8 p.m. is gonna wait until 10 p.m. to dine. They're not. So show them like how awful that news is to deliver. Right.

SPEAKER_05 32:45

Empathy, show the empathy, right? It's a show. We're putting on a presentation. I love what you just said. It's unreasonable. This is so unreasonable. I'm gonna tell you right now. And I'm I I I hate to give you even give you this news.

SPEAKER_03 32:54

Yeah, because it's unreasonable.

SPEAKER_05 32:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:57

But you do how often do you like three-hour wait? Your name? Because you're And I just think like uh you think you're that great that I'm gonna wait three hours. Right. But it's like it's like a slap in the face. It is.

SPEAKER_05 33:12

I we call it the cool kid uh syndrome. You know, you're a new restaurant, you're popular, which happens, right? Beautiful new restaurant, but you're the cool kid. So it's like, yeah, get with it, right? You got a problem? Like, go and and also what what kind of problems that creates? Because what people are gonna do, okay, my name's Preston, here's my phone number. I'm gonna go across the street. Oh, but it's open. Now I'm gonna eat. Now you're chasing me down, you're wasting energy texting me. I'm on the list. No, I'm already I already moved on, right? I also like we we worked with this restaurant where we would offer them something, right? So it's like, I can't, I know it's a two-hour wait. Um, I can put you down on the list. And if you know, when you guys get back, let me buy you a glass of wine, right? Or if I put you on the reservation tomorrow, I'm gonna put on the list, we're gonna buy you a glass of wine or an appetite, whatever. So they get enticed and it makes them feel a little bit better. You just take off the sting however you can, where it's just like, I'm sorry. I'm gonna make sure you guys get taken care of, though. I I know it's not much, right? And they're like, no, no, no, thank you. Because I last 50 restaurants I went to where they gave me this news, they didn't offer me anything. So I appreciate you showing that you can.

SPEAKER_03 34:10

And you your bread and butter is gonna be your regulars. So how do you turn anyone into a regular? And you can I have regulars that have been coming to me forever, and a lot of not a lot of them, but some of them have come back because they had a bad experience, but we fixed it in such a great way. Mistakes happen all the time. You know, we train to say, guys, just make sure they walk out happy. Whatever our marketing dollars are spent within our four walls, and mistakes happen. And we're humans and there's a lot of different moving pieces here. Anything can go sideways, and that's never gonna be the problem, the problem. It's gonna be how we fix it. So it I said as a server, when I'm telling you I'm paying for this, for you to say glass of wine's on me, desserts on me, your entire dinner is on us. This did not go well at all. No, and just to you know, call out the elephant in the room, and we want you to come back, and will you give us another chance? Everything's like, Will you give us another chance if something goes sideways? We've gotten so many repeats, because they've told me, Janet, something went so south, but your team took such good care of us. We're like, you guys care. We came back, we gave you another chance, we had an excellent experience. So you have to be thinking about how do I make every experience and the they're walking out, they're like, that was a great experience, even when something goes wrong.

SPEAKER_05 35:36

Because I talk about this stuff all the time. Like I literally like I'm gonna show after this, I'm gonna show you a reel that's been I've had like one of my oldest reel reels where I talk about what you just said, like almost to a T. A, we can't prevent mistakes from happening fully, right? That's not the name of the game. We want to minimize them, but we can't prevent them, right? But I always say people don't stop coming to a restaurant because you got an overcooked steak, because you wait a long time for food, because your reservation went over. They stop going because of the way we react, right? That lackluster care, disregard, right? I'm so sorry about that. Yeah, we're gonna take care of that, we're gonna take care of your meal tonight. Okay, sorry about that. Okay, cool. I won't write a bad review. That's basically what you just kind of like, you know. And and I tell people, if you get into um a fight with a significant other, right? Someone you're dating, let's say, and they say some really mean things to you, and the next day you're like, I really want an apology and some acknowledgement that that wasn't cool, what you just said. And they go, here's a nice gift. We good? You're gonna be like, no, we're not good. Uh I want you to acknowledge what just happened and let me know that that's not like normal behavior for you, right? And that's what we have to do. The comp isn't the isn't the the the winning formula, part of it, but we gotta be like, like you just said, empathy and and getting in the boat with them, right?

SPEAKER_03 36:53

Yeah, and you know, you have to train people how to communicate. And we we do training where we tell we we train our team members, let's say it's a server and someone has a problem to match, match back what they're saying and even use their hand motions. So, you know, if if somebody's like saying this was our anniversary and it's been ruined because the food came cold and we don't, you know, and then you're like, we this is not how we want to operate. And this was a this is a special night for you. And someone sits back and they say, I've been hurt, like they heard me. Yes, right, and that's all people want.

SPEAKER_05 37:34

That's all they want.

SPEAKER_03 37:35

They want to be like, they want to be understood. How do you show that you understood somebody? You bring back the same level how they're communicating. That that's just a sign to say, I hear you. Right. And you know, if you're like someone's going like this and you're like, okay, well, we're gonna take care of your meal, you're not matching, you've ruined their night. We have ruined your night, and we take responsibility, you mimic somebody back, they feel so good. That's so you heard me, you heard me.

SPEAKER_05 38:01

That's so simple, too. I love that because that's it's a simple thing. Because it that's what we're always trying to train on, too, is like trying to train on communication, right? I tell people it's like it's emotional intelligence, it's communication. It's all about how we communicate with people. That's it, that's the difference, right? It's all about communicate. How are we conveying the message to them that we want to communicate to them? And um, you know, one really good lesson I got um was either you're taking it more serious or they're taking it more serious. But if they're taking it more serious, you lost. Right. So if they're upset and they're taking it more serious, right, you go in the back. Because you get this all the time with servers sometimes. We're like, what's the big deal? Oh, they're freaking out over this thing, they're overreacting. It's like that's you're playing the wrong game, you're looking at the wrong way. You need to take it more serious than they do. Like you do a wake up, a f a fly in your drink, unacceptable, right? But if they're taking it more serious, you got a problem. Just like you said, that's a perfect example. I'm so sorry about that. Yeah, we're gonna we're gonna make it right for you. They're clearly taking it more serious than you just lost.

SPEAKER_03 38:57

Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's really gonna serve you in life when you're trained and on how to communicate. You'll you'll take you'll take these tools and take them everywhere.

SPEAKER_05 39:09

Anywhere. What's the most powerful tool you can have as a human being? Communication. Yeah, exactly. So, how do you communicate? If I can communicate to people, like what do they say in relationships? What's the number one thing in relationships? Communication, right? Everything is about communication. The better you are at communicating with people, the more successful you're gonna be, happier you're gonna be. Yeah, the happier people around you are gonna be, right? But that's and so I tell people like that's a skill set that you can learn and you get to practice every day. Okay, as someone that was a manager at a restaurant, I was trying to talk to them, and I'm like, what you what do you want to do for a living? And he was like, um, he was like, I want to be an agent, a sports agent. And he was you could tell he got excited about. We could tell he's a little bit of an introvert, but he got really excited about and started talking about it. I go, what do you think you're gonna have to do to be successful as a sport agent? Like, what do you what do you think? If you want to client land clients, sign deals, you have to network, right? And he's like, Yeah, networking is the number one thing, blah, blah, blah. And I go, what's the core of networking? It's communication. You have to be able to walk up to someone and start talking to them and get them to like, you know, buy with you really, really, really fast. That's the art of like being able to network. You get to work somewhere right now while you're, you know, going to school for that job where you can practice that every single night. You get to sharpen your skill set. And there's not a lot of people that can do that. There's not a lot of opportunities for that.

SPEAKER_03 40:21

It's absolutely the best job. And you're dealing with every walk of life. Like, you're gonna see it all when you're in the restaurant business. You're gonna see and deal with it. And it's gonna just train you to be just a better human. We also train on don't take anything personally, nothing's ever about you. Sometimes servers get upset. I'm like, it's not about you. That that you know, woman that's sitting there, her husband just left her this morning and she's just angry at the world. It's just not about you, and it doesn't matter. Like, it just doesn't matter. Don't take anything personally. We we train on that. Nothing is ever about you.

SPEAKER_05 40:55

It really isn't.

SPEAKER_03 40:56

The servers can get servers can get upset because managers do. You know, you get one of those and you're like, right?

SPEAKER_05 41:01

How dare they?

SPEAKER_03 41:02

Yeah. Yeah. I'm you know, don't treat me that way. I'm I don't know, I just never felt that way. It was never never about me. And I almost felt when I was serving um in my restaurant, you know, this it's just kind of like how I'm gonna win them over, or just like it's not, it's just not about me. You can never take it personally.

SPEAKER_05 41:19

And it really is.

SPEAKER_03 41:20

But that's good training in life. Take that, huge, take that out on the road. Don't take it.

SPEAKER_05 41:25

Seriously.

SPEAKER_03 41:25

Nothing is ever about you. You take that to heart, you're gonna have a happy life.

SPEAKER_05 41:29

You are, because it's it's gonna like it's yeah, it releases a lot of things. The same with road rage, right? When you get mad, it's like someone's cutting you off. It's not personal, but we take it personal insight. Like they cut me off. Yeah, the nerve to cut me. They mess, you know, it's like it's they're cutting, they're just cutting someone off. They're just they're not about you. So that has nothing to do with that.

SPEAKER_03 41:45

Can I just so it's can I tell you, um, I told I told my friend this recently, you know, controlling not not road rage, but getting upset. Like somebody cuts you off and you almost feel like you want to flip them off. I anyone who cuts me off, I think they're driving to my restaurant, they're a customer of mine. They're a customer at one of my restaurants.

SPEAKER_05 42:05

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 42:05

Because in my restaurant, I don't get upset about any customer. They're they're king, they're queen, they're everything to me. And when someone cuts me off, they're maybe driving to my restaurant and they're in a hurry. Um, because I I just relate to people as my customers. Because I give a lot of leeway to my customers because oh yeah, you know, I'm like, you know, I just don't I don't get angry at anyone.

SPEAKER_05 42:28

Because because it's also like I try and picture what if you got out of the parking lot and it was that person who was in the parking lot, right? And then you realize it was one of your customers, and you're like, oh, you're the owner? You're the owner of this business. You just flipped me off and honked at me three times, and then but what's kind of funny about that psych psychologically, and I don't know if you're the same way, but when you do think about it, you're like, well, then I would, yeah, I would be kind of embarrassed by the way I act, right? I acted. I'm embarrassed by it. But if it was a stranger that would never see me again, I would, you know, yes.

SPEAKER_03 42:52

That's why anyone like leaving reviews and they don't put their real name, you're hiding behind a mask. I hate that. I won't look at any reviews that are anonymous. Take responsibility for who you are in this world. Put your name, put your name to it. 100%. So that's why me, I've just I put my name to it in in the car, like I'm imagining that I have to put my name and my person to out in the world. Right. Like you would have to own it. It makes me act better.

SPEAKER_05 43:18

100%. So you will be held accountable, right? If someone is actually, if someone were to hold you accountable, if that if one of your business partners saw you acting that way, right, would you say that I'm I'm proud of that, right? If you're if you're if your family member saw that, would you be proud of it? Yeah, so I agree with that 100%.

SPEAKER_03 43:32

No, I think I think about like flipping off that woman in the car, and then I'm at the host stand of my restaurant and they show up and that's what I imagine. Yeah, yeah. Because I am, I just bow I bow down to customers who choose us, any of our restaurants. I'm like, there are thousands of restaurants to choose from, and you're walking in our doors, and that's how I genuinely feel.

SPEAKER_05 43:53

I agree a hundred percent. And that's why I always say, I'm like, it's we're we're honoring the people that chose us. Yeah. Right? They chose to spend their money with us, they chose. To spend her time with us. They're trusting us. And all we have to do is honor it by giving them what they deserve, right? Because they just said, I could go left, I can go right, but I'm going here.

SPEAKER_03 44:10

Yeah, it's a big deal. It is a big deal. And then you should treat every guest like a hook. We also train, you know, this is a friend coming to your house. That guest, how would you treat that friend? Would you smile? Would you, you know, come on in, like have a drink, sit down. Would you be friendly? We we train, we train on that because that's how we want it to feel. And you you want to make your your guest that comes to your restaurant feel welcomed and comfortable. How are you gonna do that? If it were your friend walking in, you'd know what to do.

SPEAKER_05 44:39

And I think that's an interesting thing too. I've been trying to figure out a way to kind of like build a framework around and then and like getting people to understand comfortability, right? How important that is. I saw someone talk about this online and it made so much sense. And I think it was like an old restaurant tour, and he was like, the whole goal is if you can get people to feel comfortable in your business, if they go in your restaurant and they feel fully comfortable, you're gonna win.

SPEAKER_03 45:02

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 45:03

You win.

SPEAKER_03 45:03

That's where you want to go back, right?

SPEAKER_05 45:05

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 45:05

You know, you're dying, you're dying to go back. I feel comfortable. So, you know, you're competing these days with people's couches because you can order in your food for delivery pretty cheaply. So it's like I feel comfortable at home. So how are you gonna translate that to someone feels so comfortable and and maybe special? Like we should actually make people feel special. We we have another training and it's like any customer that walks in your door, pretend they have a sign on their head, and it says, make me feel important. Make me feel important. Because that also feels really good. Yes. You know, someone saying, Oh my god, thank you for coming back. I know you like table eight, and you know, everyone, you know, you want to feel important, you know.

SPEAKER_05 45:51

Because think about it both ways, right? A, what you just said, right? Welcome, oh, welcome back. Yeah, like let's say like that example I gave you in New York where I go back and that host is like, Oh, welcome back. I remember I helped you get that table, right? And I'm like, Oh, yeah, wow, that's impressive. Because like you've probably you've bartended before. It's so amazing when you bartend and someone you see someone, and you're like, Oh, vodka soda, and they're like, How did you remember? And you're like, Oh, that's that's easy. But they're so like it just it has that effect. And but think about the opposite where you see them, they see you, and they're like, Oh, that's my bartender, or that was a host that helped me, or there's a manager that talked to me, and they're like, Hi, table for two, and like as if they've never seen you before. And that's such a defeating feeling, yeah, right? You're like, oh, okay, yeah, table for two. And it just kind of kills this magic, kills the mystique, everything goes away and dissipates versus if you can just elevate it by being able to acknowledge them.

SPEAKER_03 46:40

Yeah, and it it's a it's a lot to ask, but that's what we we have to deliver. We have some restaurants, my restaurant that's very large, the the Thai restaurant, which is about to be 15,000 square feet. We're adding another 5,000 square feet to this restaurant. So imagine that. Yeah, at 10,000 square feet, we have lineups at this restaurant called Pi. And so we see sometimes 2,000 people a day. Wow. Every day.

SPEAKER_05 47:05

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 47:06

So you know, how you know, how every day is crazy. Every day.

SPEAKER_05 47:10

That's nice. What's your what's the uh seats? How many seats do you have?

SPEAKER_03 47:14

Right now is 400.

SPEAKER_05 47:16

And you do 2,000 for 8, 12, 6. That's five churches. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_03 47:20

Oh yeah, never stops when you go there at 3 p.m. and it's it's gonna be it's a very popular restaurant, very good value.

SPEAKER_05 47:26

So I think that's the play.

SPEAKER_03 47:27

I mean, it's not but you're doing that like that that level of for a thousand people, two thousand people a day. It's a lot, and you know, it's a lot, but that's what what you have to do to every individual that comes in.

SPEAKER_05 47:40

Because you said it earlier, uh you said it's you know, we're building relationships. That's what it's all about. Or it's all about it's about regulars, and get a regular, you have to build a relationship. And you said so much good stuff today, but like it statistically, someone has to come to your restaurant three times, have a great experience for them to become a regular. One mistake handled correctly, instant loyalty, right? For life. They're just gonna they're gonna love you. Um, but it's all about building relationships, and so that's why, yeah, this all this stuff isn't important because I love the fact that you have this restaurant, restaurants, but this one particular restaurant that does so well, yet you're still so infatuated with how do we treat the guests so special. Every one of those 2,000 guests that come in a day, how do we treat each one of them so special? Because that's important. Versus, check me out, I got 2,000 people coming in. How lucky are they, right? I I figured it out, I cracked the code. You're like, no, no, no. How do we honor every single one of those 2,000 people every single day?

SPEAKER_03 48:35

Yeah, because I feel it. I feel like it's an honor when a customer chooses one. Like I feel it to my bones. And that's why like I can work a shift at a restaurant and never stop smiling. Like, thank you. Thank you for choosing us. You know, I just I feel like it's an honor that they chose and you have to impart that to your team that they feel this that they feel the same way because they have to they have to be the custodians of that. Like you feel that way, but it's easier when you believe it and you do it, you know, and you and you feel it, it's easier to impart that. Some owners, like you're saying, they might be like, look at me.

SPEAKER_05 49:08

It happens all the time.

SPEAKER_03 49:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 49:10

It happens all the time.

SPEAKER_03 49:10

I have a question for you.

SPEAKER_05 49:12

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 49:12

Do you think it would be good um for your business if you built in, like when you know it's a new customer, if you built in a problem and went overboard to solve it for them? Like you make you make new customers something, a mistake happen, and then you really go overboard to get a regular out of them. We're gonna send dessert for their main and like not, and then like we're so dinners on us, but like that's your marketing dollars that you pick up so badly, but then you solve it. That's freaking genius.

SPEAKER_05 49:44

So I see what you're saying. Okay, okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 49:46

Now I'm we psychologically really mess with it.

SPEAKER_05 49:48

That is that is freaking genius, actually. I think that's freaking awesome. There might be something to that, right? You're like, yeah, because again sports.

SPEAKER_01 49:58

There might be a grain of something there.

SPEAKER_05 50:00

Seriously, because they're in football, and this is a joke too, kind of, but in football, there's a huge problem with people tearing their ACLs, right? You know, it happens all the time. And I was like, what if you just replaced your ACL before you got into it? And so that way you just don't have to worry about it ever again. And in and uh like same thing, right? What if we just made the mistake? We had a system where it's a first-time guest. Okay, cool. Awesome. Let's let's let's how do what do we want to do? Option A, B, or C. Oh, it's your anniversary? Oh, okay, cool. We're gonna really screw this one up.

SPEAKER_00 50:26

Yeah, yeah, yeah. For life. Yeah. We had our anniversary, everything was like crazy, and you guys went so overboard.

SPEAKER_05 50:32

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 50:33

We are lifers.

SPEAKER_05 50:34

Yeah, seriously. Exactly. So you lose about you lose about 20% of your business, but then 80% of your business becomes retention. So you actually can control the retention rate.

SPEAKER_03 50:43

Yeah, right. Yeah, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_05 50:45

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 50:46

Well, sometimes, you know, ideas come from thinking way out of the box. Like we just think I agree. I'm always thinking of like, what's next? Kind of what what are we doing? And and also going with the times. Like I said, the times are changing. So training changes. Like I said, initially you trained this way. Oh my god. Now we don't need to do that because everyone knows you're probably gonna share their dishes. Stop giving that speech. We have to move with the times. So again, that's like, oh, we have to rewrite our training manuals, but you do, right? Are you gonna keep moving forward?

SPEAKER_05 51:16

Like I talk about the I literally, Janet, like you're the only other person that's probably been so aligned, like to the T, because it's like exactly what I'm talking about. It's like literally everything you say is stuff I say all the time.

SPEAKER_03 51:27

Actually, a humanoid.

SPEAKER_05 51:28

Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_03 51:29

I downloaded your brain.

SPEAKER_05 51:31

You're like, I took this AI thing one step further. She's like in Toronto right now, opening a restaurant.

SPEAKER_03 51:36

Yeah. Janet's humanoid can be available for an interview.

SPEAKER_05 51:40

Yeah, seriously. Yeah, you can make some money off that.

SPEAKER_03 51:42

And I just download everything in your brain, I say it back to you, and you're like, wow.

SPEAKER_05 51:46

That'd be the awesome, that'd be the best server, right?

SPEAKER_03 51:48

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 51:49

Um, but yeah, so I I yeah, because I talk about that all the time. Like you have to evolve your training, and no one does it. I mean, and also, Janet, like you probably see it, they don't in the restaurant industry just doesn't evolve in general.

SPEAKER_02 52:00

No.

SPEAKER_05 52:01

Like if they just don't, they just do things the way they've done them 50 years ago, right? It just nothing really evolves, and especially now, they're not evolving when things are evolving very fast.

SPEAKER_03 52:10

It's a hard business to do this in, as you said. That you know, that's that is the truth, and too bad, right? When you're open seven days a week, lunch and dinner, which most of my restaurants are, when are you training? When are you updating? Everyone, usually owners are just again, they're like just trying to keep their head above water. They're gonna think about updating training now. It's hard, but this is what you know what we need in this day and age where if you land somewhere in the middle, if you're even slightly mediocre, I'll say years ago, pre-COVID, you could actually survive. I I saw a lot of mediocre restaurants, they're there, and that uh class in the in the middle of being okay, mid, mediocre, will disappear. That it will disappear. It already is yeah, no, it's going. I'm seeing it just live at the end. It's literally, yeah. I can't believe so-and-so closed. Why? I'm like, because they were mid, and you can't, you're not gonna make it now at that. You could before. That's the truth. And you can't. That's because you're competing with people's couches and they have they are people are spending less. The economy is tighter. So when they alcohol systems, when they think about like we're going there, it's a big decision that they're going out and parting with their dollars. So you better make it worthwhile. Whether you're a high-end experience or good value, whatever, whatever category you in, it does it doesn't matter. But now more than ever, you have to be excellent. That's it. That really is it.

SPEAKER_05 53:40

And and excellence through consistency. That's the bottom line.

SPEAKER_03 53:43

Well, one of the most that's the most important thing in restaurants, right? Consistency.

SPEAKER_05 53:47

And and yet it's like there's no conservative effort to do it. There's just no, it's like we get it, we want it, we understand. It's like, no, no, no. I'd love I'd love to hear your your what you think about this. But okay, so let's say you're talking to, you're, you're visiting Felix, right? And you're talking to the GM, and the bar manager walks in and he goes, Hey, I just triple checked the inventory. We're missing $5,000 worth of like booze. I just triple checked. What would you do? I'm sure you, I mean, what would you just what would you like We're missing $5,000?

SPEAKER_03 54:16

I'd be like, we gotta figure this out right fucking now.

SPEAKER_05 54:18

Yes. Thank you. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 54:20

We are. This is an emergency. Yeah. What the fuck?

SPEAKER_05 54:24

Yeah, thank you. For first of all, you're the first owner to actually say that. They're always like, well, we know what I'd be like, no, no, no. I don't care who you say.

SPEAKER_03 54:31

Like, what else is missing? Yeah, exactly. That's what you found out. Holy shit, we've got a problem. Houston, we got a problem. Big problem, right?

SPEAKER_05 54:38

You have red flag red alarms, you're your oh but you know alarms. Yeah, bells, whistles, everything. You're like, stop, stop, jump, come like pow wow.

SPEAKER_02 54:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 54:47

Find okay, find out what happened. Yeah, find out who's responsible. They're gone, obviously. And then find out how we never let this happen again. Now that's $5,000.

SPEAKER_02 54:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 54:56

Right. And you're like, but with guest retention, lack of consistency, there's a lot more money going out the window. When we're not consistent with our guests, when we're consistent with the experience, because I always tell people, I go, it doesn't, the food doesn't really matter. Like, food is good. I can get good food a lot of places, right? What's really gonna deter me or or motivate me to come back is the experience, right? Because we've all been there. I've the place that has great food, but the freaking server pissed me off. I'm never going back there. The hostess pissed me off, I'm never going back there, right? That's truly what deters you from deters you. Like if a place has bad food, they're gonna be out of business in a very short time. Yeah. If it's inconsistent with the food, but if the food is good, that's not enough. You have to have that consistent experience. When you don't monitor it, that you don't control it, you don't have the training, you don't have the leadership to support it. You're having five, 10, 15, 20,000 go out the window every single month compounding because you're just losing guest retention, you're losing regulars, you're losing those regulars coming in every single month. How many people are getting burned, right? Because you have someone that come in 10 times, had a great experience, one bad time, they're out, right?

SPEAKER_02 55:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 55:56

And so it's like that's why I tell people, I'm like, is that enough for you to go, let's fix this right now? Like right freaking now. Yeah. Let's make this our obsession.

SPEAKER_03 56:04

Yeah, it might be that not understanding that, and that needs to be um, you know, there needs to be a lot of education with that and I agree, that retention of what that means to your bottom line. Uh, you know, people have to get that, servers have to get that. Um, you know, just that that's why it's like that customer has to walk out happy and I will pay whatever it takes. I give the power to the server guys, offer them dinner, buy their wine, buy dessert. You got you guys will be able to tell what that table needs because we've trained you. Little, a little, little problem. We oh we're gonna send dessert over. We didn't, you know, this didn't go our way. Up to we got we have your dinner, we want you back, and we're gonna buy your dinner. Like as as far as it can go. Yep. But it works. It works. It does.

SPEAKER_05 56:50

Because I always tell people too. I go, I go up when I was, you know, managing, I'd always do like, we're gonna buy your dinner, and also here's my card. Is it $50? Like, next time you come back, we'll be or whatever, we'll buy you dinner. Next time you come back, do me a favor, text me so I can make sure I'm here. I wanna, I wanna, I wanna shake your hand. And then, but that gives them an opportunity to come back, right? And then we blow their socks off, then they're like, We're gonna go for life.

SPEAKER_00 57:11

For life.

SPEAKER_05 57:11

So now you talk about a c a customer saying, Well, but Preston, you know, you comp, okay, we comped $400, right? But now we have someone who's gonna come back once a month for the next five years. What does that add up to? Um, but I had a funny, a funny story that's it'll make you laugh because I remember one time I was working at this restaurant and we got a review, and I was like, the server said the the salad didn't come out, then this didn't come out, that didn't come out. They named the server. I go up to the server and I go, Danae, what what happened with this table? Do you remember this table? She goes, Oh yeah, I do remember it. And I go, is this all the is this all true? Is this what happened? She goes, Yeah, I forgot to bring in their salad, so I had to like ring it in. And I go, Danae, why didn't you tell me? And she goes, Well, I asked them about if they're if everything was okay, and they they said yeah, so they were cool. I was like, Danae, you gotta tell me, right? So that's why it's important for the servers to know. It's like, you know, like for them to have that awareness. And like you said, like we got to make sure they're leaving free, not oh yeah, they're good, they were cool, right? No, we gotta make sure they're leaving freaking excited, yeah, happy.

SPEAKER_03 58:07

And you also m most people aren't gonna tell you when they even have little problems. Um like I'm out with my friends all the time, and we're like, this is inedible, right? And then person, you know, server comes, how is it? Great, great, thank you. No one, most people, I'd say like 90%, are not gonna give the real feedback because they're afraid, like, I don't want to be a hassle, they're gonna, you know, this they're gonna spit in my food when I get it back. And I'm like, no, do it as a restaurant owner. You know, we need to correct that. So if we if we don't know, but still people don't feel comfortable. So you have to again train your staff. Listen, she didn't ring in the salad. You better do something. It's not check in. You know it went south, so you solve it. Don't don't check in with the customer. Right. You you just that didn't go how you were trained, right? Like, so then you're gonna make it up to that person. You have to do that. It's not checking with the customer, the customer is gonna lie to you most of the time because they're embarrassed. It's embarrassing. Right. They don't want to make a big deal.

SPEAKER_05 59:08

It causes stress and anxiety, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 59:10

Look at body language. You know, you can I'll uh what it's easy for me if I'm sitting in one of my restaurants and I'm like watching, I'm I'm dining and I'm just I'm watching people and I'll be like, table number four is not happy. I can tell. You know, if you just watch body language or you know, another annoying question that we train not to ask is how is everything? How is everything? Server, would you like to take a seat? Everything? You want to know everything? Is that really the question? I can't answer that. Everything is not everything is fabulous. You can't answer that question. Like people are leaving your restaurant. If I'm working the door, you know, or we train people. I asked them a pointed question. How was your food tonight? How was your service tonight? Just one thing that they could possibly answer and give me a little bit of feedback on.

SPEAKER_05 59:57

So good. So good. So, first of all, you're almost spot on. 91% of people statistically won't say anything. 91. No one's and I and you know, like and I love it too. Did you say 90? You said 90. Yes, you're you're right there. That's pretty impressive.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:10

Can you trust me on anything that I'm gonna say?

SPEAKER_05 1:00:13

Have you have you been in the industry long? Have I done been in the industry for a long time?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:17

Um well, some would say. Some might say.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:20

Yeah, you can tell.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:21

I'm a little long in the teeth.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:24

But you know, I've done that in restaurants before too, where you know, I didn't like an appetizer and I just pushed it aside and like, is everything did you like it? Yeah. Did you want a box? No.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:32

Okay. Yeah. Like that's your answer.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:35

Right. I would be like, fix it.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:37

We took that appetizer off your bill.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:38

Yeah, I took it off your bill because you didn't need it. But could you tell me why just so I just I really want to tell the kitchen? They're like, okay, it was just a little bit chewy. No, thank you. Like, talk to us. I don't want you to pay for anything that you're not enjoying. It's like, please, you that's unacceptable for us. Okay, cool. Now I do feel a little bit comfortable and I'm gonna start voicing my opinion a little bit more. But it's but this all comes down to culture because a lot of servers won't do that because they don't want to deal with it. So it's like, oh, he let me get off, get off, right? Now I have to deal with it. So I'm gonna I'm gonna run away and that's it. We have to, that's a cultural thing, right? Where we've like, no, no, no, no, no. Talk to me. What's going on? It's culture, 100%. What are they trained to do? What are they, what have we indoctrinated them with? What power did we give them, right? To make them want that, to have that ownership mindset. But we just it's just it's just like Preston, they don't have ownership mindset. How do we give them owners? You haven't trained them on anything to give them ownership mindset. You're just expecting them to have it and then bummed out when they don't, but you just haven't trained them on it. And that's what it always comes down to. It's just this lack of training.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:35

And it's it's it's detrimental. I really appreciate this. This has been an awesome conversation.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:40

And and uh Well, we learned that we think alike.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:43

Yes, which is which is good. It's great. It's good.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:45

No, you're making me very culture and training and making the customer happy and bending over backwards, and everyone has to relate to their customers as gold walking in your door.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:57

Yes, a hundred percent.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:58

Treat them like gold.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:59

I I always try and figure out ways to like connect the dots in their heads, and I it's hard, but yes, you gotta you gotta bend over backwards for them. And again, there's just so many uh layers and elements to it because people just like you said, they take it personal. I think that's a really good, that a really good philosophy that you have where you teach them right away. It's like just don't take it personal. Like they're gonna be people that are rude. I love this because there's so this is so decisive. You'll be surprised when I'm in a room and uh-uh, no way. I will never I'll never put up with that. And I'm like, what? But do just deconstruct that for a minute. What do you what is so upsetting about that? Well, they're snap, they're so disrespectful. I'm like, okay. And first of all, it never happens, it's so rare, but uh, when they do, it's like can we can we overcome that?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:37

That's a little, that's a little back in the day.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:38

Yeah, exactly. That's so old school. You never see people do it.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:41

You're not gonna get a millennial doing it.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:43

Oh, never. They might go like Right, right. Yes, they do do that.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:48

I don't know what even I don't even know what that is.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:51

Neither do I.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:52

Clapping is clapping.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:53

I have I have that sometimes I'll be I'll be in a presentation, and I see I walk, I look over and someone's like, kind of like, gotcha. I was I was doing a presentation the other day and I was talking, and some girl goes, Facts.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:04

Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:04

And I was like, What do you're saying? What was it? What do you go? And I go, Oh, gotcha, yes. Yeah, yeah. Right? Some love. You agree with that. But um, yeah, I really appreciate this. This is freaking amazing because it's it's always good to see someone that's super successful in the industry, have you know long term success and and and be like aligned, right? You're like you've I mean, I'm telling you right now, I it's it like everything you said, I preach all the time. So yeah, thank you for being here. It was amazing.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:30

Yeah, thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:31

Pleasure was all mine.