No Playbook, No Apologies: Alon Shaya on Leading with Story, Not Strategy

What if the most powerful thing you bring to your restaurant isn’t a recipe—but your story?Alon Shaya built Pomegranate Hospitality not on a model, but on a mission: to lead with identity, not conformity. In this episode, he shares how embracing his immigrant past changed everything—from how he cooks, to how he hires, to the way he gives back. We get into the power of cultural storytelling in a commodity industry, the systems that let passion scale, and why he built an entire nonprofit around the teacher who saved his life.This is for every operator who’s tired of chasing trends, and ready to build something real.To learn more about Pomegranate Hospitality, visit pomegranatehospitality.com._________________________________________________________Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at restaurantbusinessschool.comFull 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 PodcastsRestaurant expert videos & webinars

The pandemic taught many of us many different lessons but it taught Chef Fabio Vivani how to fight back. The chef spent the years rebounding from the pandemic curating a concept that he believes is not only recession proof, it’s pandemic proof. Today we sit down to discuss the formula he’s crafted for guaranteed success so that we too can protect our businesses from what’s lurking around the corner. For more information on the chef, visit https://www.fabioviviani.com/_________________________________________________________Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at restaurantbusinessschool.comFull 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 PodcastsRestaurant expert videos & webinars

I’m Josh Kopel, a Michelin-awarded restaurateur and the creator of the Restaurant Scaling System. I’ve spent decades in the industry, building, scaling, and coaching restaurants to become more profitable and sustainable. On this show, I cut through the noise to give you real, actionable strategies that help independent restaurant owners run smarter, more successful businesses.Today I dig into what customer loyalty really means and why so many programs miss the mark. Loyalty is not about discounts. It is about access, recognition, and the feeling of being valued. I break down how small moments of surprise and genuine connection can drive more repeat visits than any points system. If you want your guests to come back more often and spend more when they do, these strategies will help you build relationships that last. TakeawaysLoyalty should be about access, not just perks.Recognition is key to building emotional equity.Surprise elements in loyalty programs enhance customer engagement.Creating thresholds in loyalty fosters a sense of belonging.Handwritten notes can significantly improve customer relationships.Loyalty programs should focus on privilege rather than discounts.Emotional economics can drive customer loyalty effectively.Regulars should feel special through personalized experiences.Surprise and delight can differentiate your restaurant from competitors.Tracking changes in loyalty strategies can reveal valuable insights.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Hospitality Insights01:26 Rethinking Customer Loyalty05:48 Creating Emotional Connections with GuestsIf you’ve got a marketing or profitability related question for me, email me directly at [email protected] and include Office Hours in the subject line. If you'd like to scale the profitability of your restaurant in only 5 days, sign up for our FREE 5 Day Restaurant Profitability Challenge by visiting https://joshkopel.com.

What if staying quiet is the riskiest move you can make?Katherine Miller built her career where politics and policy collide—and she’s not afraid to bring chefs into the fight. From her early days in democratic campaigns to working with global nonprofits and the UN, Katherine’s mission has been clear: empower the most trusted voices in food to influence the systems that shape it.In this episode, we dig into why chefs are uniquely positioned to drive real change, how restaurant owners can speak up without alienating guests, and the surprising cost of silence in today’s political climate. She shares a clear, actionable framework for advocacy and explains why being apolitical doesn’t protect you—it sidelines you.For any operator wondering how to take a stand without losing their seat at the table, this is the conversation you’ve been waiting for.To learn more about her work and pick up a copy of At the Table, visit table81.com._________________________________________________________Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at restaurantbusinessschool.comFull 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 PodcastsRestaurant expert videos & webinars

When you open a restaurant you've investing in more than a business, you're investing in a community.  As we change and evolve as individuals so do our communities and few places more beautifully illustrate this capacity to change more than Portland, Oregon. Today's we chat with, Portland's adopted son, Celebrity Chef Gregory Gourdet. Instead of staking his claim in his hometown of New York or following the trends out to Los Angeles, Gregory has chosen to walk a more complicated path, using this talent and his food to help mend together a community that is still struggling to become the best version of itself.For more on the chef visit https://www.gregorygourdet.com_________________________________________________________Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at restaurantbusinessschool.comFull 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 PodcastsRestaurant expert videos & webinars

I’m Josh Kopel, a Michelin-awarded restaurateur and the creator of the Restaurant Scaling System. I’ve spent decades in the industry, building, scaling, and coaching restaurants to become more profitable and sustainable. On this show, I cut through the noise to give you real, actionable strategies that help independent restaurant owners run smarter, more successful businesses.In this episode, I dig into what real storytelling looks like and why so many brands get it wrong. Authenticity is not a vibe, it is evidence. Your audience can feel the difference between polished propaganda and the truth. I explain why showing your process builds more trust than any perfect promo ever could and how behind the scenes content can change the way people see your business. If you are trying to reconnect with your audience or rebuild credibility, this is the place to start.  TakeawaysShop floor storytelling can rebuild credibility.Authenticity is evidence, not just a vibe.Polished content without process appears as propaganda.Identical restaurant marketing leads to audience distrust.Behind-the-scenes content increases engagement.People crave permission to trust brands.Stripping back promotional content can boost engagement.Engagement can triple with authentic content.Social media feeds are often overly polished.Transparency is key to audience connection.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Hospitality Insights00:56 Building Credibility Through Process and ProofIf you’ve got a marketing or profitability related question for me, email me directly at [email protected] and include Office Hours in the subject line. If you'd like to scale the profitability of your restaurant in only 5 days, sign up for our FREE 5 Day Restaurant Profitability Challenge by visiting https://joshkopel.com.

What if the biggest threat to your restaurant isn’t bad food or poor service—but bad tech?That’s the bet Ankit Gupta is making. After shaping food delivery at tech companies globally, he saw a blind spot no one was fixing: restaurant tech was leaving restaurants behind. Now he’s leading the product team at Otter, and his mission is clear: to completely redefine what a restaurant point of sale system is and how it can holistically serve the changing needs of restaurants today.In today’s conversation, he shares why POS systems should be more than a way of collecting revenue–they should be creating new revenue opportunities, how data and marketing can work together through automation to scale your brand, and what operators can learn from manufacturers to scale profitability.This is more than a conversation about tech—it’s a conversation about identity, resilience, and realizing that the tools that will free us in the future already exist today.To learn more about Otter and the most powerful restaurant operating system ever created, visit tryotter.com._________________________________________________________Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at restaurantbusinessschool.comFull 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 PodcastsRestaurant expert videos & webinars

I believe restaurants have always had a pervasive culture, albeit at times not the healthiest culture. Restaurateur Ellen Yin is out to change that and she’s leading by example. Today we sit down to discuss her unorthodox path through the industry and how in breaking the mold, she’s developed the formula to heal our industry.  To learn more about Ellen and her restaurant group, visit https://highsthospitality.com/_________________________________________________________Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at restaurantbusinessschool.comFull 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 PodcastsRestaurant expert videos & webinars

I’m Josh Kopel, a Michelin-awarded restaurateur and the creator of the Restaurant Scaling System. I’ve spent decades in the industry, building, scaling, and coaching restaurants to become more profitable and sustainable. On this show, I cut through the noise to give you real, actionable strategies that help independent restaurant owners run smarter, more successful businesses.In this episode, I break down a problem I see all the time in our industry: identity drift. When your purpose, priorities, and daily practices stop lining up, the entire business starts to wobble. I walk through the identity compass and show how it helps you get centered again so you can make decisions that actually move the restaurant forward. If you feel pulled in a hundred directions or unsure why your growth has stalled, this conversation will help you refocus on what matters and clear out the noise holding you back.  TakeawaysYour purpose isn't a tagline. It's a compass for every decision.Priorities reveal your real beliefs; budgets and calendars are your true mission statements.What you invest in is what you believe.The real mission statements are lived through repetition.Burnout isn't caused by effort, it's caused by confusion.Alignment gives your effort direction.Start by writing your restaurant's one line purpose.Audit your spending to match your purpose.Add a branch head question for pre-shift lineups.Eliminate one tactic that isn't serving your compass.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Full Comp and AI Toolkit01:55 Understanding Identity Drift in Restaurants05:45 The Identity Compass: Purpose, Priority, and Practice07:34 Practical Steps for Realignment and ImprovementIf you’ve got a marketing or profitability related question for me, email me directly at [email protected] and include Office Hours in the subject line. If you'd like to scale the profitability of your restaurant in only 5 days, sign up for our FREE 5 Day Restaurant Profitability Challenge by visiting https://joshkopel.com.

What if the only way to build a restaurant worth running was to make it fun—even in crisis?Andy Shallal didn’t set out to be a restaurateur. He left a stable path in medical science, waited tables to get by, and discovered something powerful: hospitality could be a vehicle for joy, justice, and deep human connection.In this episode, Andy shares how he built Busboys and Poets into a mission-driven brand that prioritizes people over profits—and why “fun” is his north star, even through economic collapse and a global pandemic. We get into the power of quitting the wrong path, how food becomes a spiritual force, and why transparency and storytelling matter more than ever.If you’ve ever wondered whether restaurants can still change lives, this conversation is your answer.To learn more about Busboys and Poets, visit busboysandpoets.com._________________________________________________________Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at restaurantbusinessschool.comFull 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 PodcastsRestaurant expert videos & webinars