I Lied About What These Books Cost
I said these books were worth $499. I lied. They're worth much more than that — which is why they're free. Here's [...]
I Get Two Kinds of Calls
The first operator is building. He has something working and he wants to make sure the next move is the right one. [...]
“Restaurants Don’t Fail. Operators Do.”
Not a revenue number. A discipline. At every level of the operation — simultaneously. The operator who didn't grow never defined what [...]
Your Layout Is Costing You Money Every Shift
The numbers never say layout problem. They say high ticket time. Labor over budget. Team fatigue. Missed peak-hour covers. The cast running [...]
The Phone Isn’t the Problem
The missed call isn’t your problem. The overwhelmed human is your problem. There’s a category of AI tool being sold to restaurant…
Relational Hospitality
Not a technology. Not a data strategy. Not a luxury hotel concept. A human framework for the independent restaurant operator who wants…
You Didn’t Buy a Business Partner. You Bought a Dependency.
Four consecutive quarters of same-store sales declines. The most recent at negative 8.7%. A 22-year streak of comp growth — gone. Same…
You’re Looking Right at It. You Just Can’t See It.
In 1999, researchers at Harvard ran an experiment that changed how we understand human attention. They asked volunteers to watch a video…
Same Drumbeat, New Equipment: 44 Years on Tech in Our Business
Tech has to support the Guest Experience, not supplant it. Fourteen waves of receipts. Since 1982, my position on technology in our…
The Three-Legged Stool of Unearned Authority
It never ceases to amaze me how many people post content about how to do things they’ve never actually done. I’m not…
[Transactional Arbitrage]: The Five Bets Underneath Most Restaurants
Five levers, five closing gaps, and the model that doesn’t depend on either. Most operators don’t know they’re running an arbitrage. They…
The Twelve Laws of the Guest Experience
Your Guest has already decided. Not after the food arrived. Not after the check. Before the server said a word. The emotional…
What Warren Buffett Taught Me About How to Run a Better Restaurant
In 1969, Warren Buffett wrote a line in his partnership letter that most investors have read and almost none have fully applied: [...]
You Can’t Hire Better Cast. You Can Hire Better People.
A few weeks ago a colleague posted about hiring four cooks at $20 an hour. Three ghosted. One quit after fifteen minutes…
The Agent Is Already at the Table
I’ve been saying for years that the biggest threat to the independent restaurant operator isn’t the chain across the street. It isn’t…
The Casual Full-Service Problem Isn’t the Food
Walk into any casual full-service chain and count the friction points before you’ve ordered your first drink. The menu — laminated, multi-page,…
The Conversation About AI and Leadership Is the Same One I’ve Been Having About Road 1 and Road 2 For Decades
For decades, the AI and leadership conversation has been framed as human vs. machine. Which tasks will AI replace. Which skills will…
Every Expert Has a Hammer
There’s a concept in design called the Rorschach test. Show someone an inkblot and what they see reveals something about how they…
No Fat To Trim
A bankruptcy court just approved the breakup of Fat Brands across four separate transactions. Eighteen restaurant chains. $1.4 billion in debt. One…
A Full Dining Room Is Not a Business Model
There is no feeling in this business quite like a full dining room. Tables occupied. Conversations overlapping. The pass moving. The cast…