Episodes

What if chasing the lowest price on ingredients is costing your restaurant more money? Corey O’Connor, chief operating officer of DeCheco’s Pizzeria, joins James Tice to share how working at Sysco changed his approach to restaurant purchasing. Buying from several suppliers might save a few cents on individual items, but extra deliveries, pickup trips and overlooked package sizes can erase those savings. His experience on both sides of the business helps him negotiate contracts, consolidate orde...

What happens when customers see something in your restaurant brand that your marketing is missing? Jennifer Dodd, CEO and board advisor at Main Squeeze Juice Co., joins James Tice to discuss her decision to pause franchise sales and marketing spending to rethink the brand. Customer data and conversations pointed toward an unexpected idea: Main Squeeze was a beauty brand. A new message focused on helping customers look and feel better brought a reported 35% sales increase within four months, wi...

How do you decide which opportunities to pursue when your business is growing fast? Scott Kleckner, owner of Olive Wood Pizza, joins James Tice to discuss the decisions behind scaling his Southern California catering business. After nearly 30 years in corporate hospitality, Kleckner bought a small company and doubled it in about 20 months. He explains why he passed on a promising restaurant space, even though it was close to home and could have raised the brand’s profile. Kleckner also shares ...

How do you update a restaurant brand without losing the customers who have loved it for decades? Alfredo Miro, chief operating officer of Baker’s Drive-Thru, joins James Tice to discuss that challenge as the 38-location Southern California chain prepares to grow. Baker’s wants to reach new customers and expand into markets where former California residents already know the brand, but even small changes at home can upset longtime regulars. Miro shares what happened when Baker’s changed the toma...

How do you take a culture built on radical transparency and high operational standards into an environment where guest stress is high and time is scarce? Michel Falcon, founder of Brasa Peruvian Kitchen, joins James Tice as the brand prepares to launch its first non-traditional location inside Toronto Pearson International Airport. Scaling into major transit hubs usually exposes young concepts to steep learning curves and diluted guest experiences. Falcon unpacks his framework for high-trust l...

What good is a busy restaurant if the numbers do not work? Daniel Holzman joins James Tice to talk honestly about building successful restaurants in New York, mismanaging the business and ultimately losing the company. Now operating three pizzerias in Los Angeles, he is taking a simpler approach to financing, technology and growth. Holzman makes the case for buying restaurant real estate, keeping unnecessary software costs off the P&L and giving general managers room to lead. For him, a restau...

How do you turn a restaurant promotion into a reason for guests to keep coming back? Ingrid Martinez, VP of Marketing at Norms Restaurants, joins Ty Wilson live from the CREATE conference to explain how the diner brand connects marketing spending to guest loyalty. From tracking return visits through its LA Galaxy partnership to testing offers across different locations, Martinez shares the approach behind a 40% increase in sales through Norms’ loyalty program over the past year. A limited jers...

What does it take to build a restaurant growth plan that the numbers can actually support? Don Connor, founder of Whiskey 'N Rye Smokehouse, joins Ty Wilson live from the CREATE conference to share how his background in finance and strategic planning shapes the way he approaches restaurant growth. Whiskey 'N Rye uses daily revenue and labor budgets, multiple financial scenarios, and regular reforecasting to stay on top of the numbers as the business expands. The brand is now planning to grow b...

What does it take for a growing restaurant brand to feel local in every community it serves? Josef Sanchez, local store marketing manager at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, joins Ty Wilson live from the CREATE conference to explain why traditional marketing still plays an important role for the 47-location restaurant brand. Sanchez shares how Grimaldi’s approaches billboards, local sponsorships, radio, print, and grassroots marketing while giving individual restaurants the flexibility to connect with thei...

What does it take to scale a restaurant company while still loving the work you're building? Rachel Cope, co-founder and CEO of 84 Hospitality, joins Ty Wilson from the CREATE conference to share how she went from waiting tables to building a 13-unit restaurant group with four concepts across Oklahoma. Cope shares the unlikely story behind launching Empire Slice House, why the eight-location pizza brand is now positioned for its next stage of growth, and her goal of tripling its footprint over ...

What does it take to grow a restaurant brand without sacrificing long-term stability? Tom Holt, founder and owner of Urbane Cafe, joins Ty Wilson from the CREATE conference to share how he's built the fast-casual concept from a single restaurant in 2003 to 50 locations by focusing on disciplined expansion, strong unit economics, and investing in people. Holt explains why he turned down private equity before the business was ready and how a strategic partnership with Panda Restaurant Group helpe...

Why would a growing restaurant brand choose not to franchise? John Abdo, CEO and Chief Burger Enthusiast of My Burger, joins James Tice from the CREATE conference to explain why disciplined growth has been the foundation of the company's success. Rather than chasing rapid expansion, Abdo shares how My Burger has grown to 11 locations by focusing on strong unit economics, patient capital, and creating an exceptional experience for both guests and employees. The discussion moves from the decisio...

What separates people who are remembered from those who simply deliver information? Charlie Eblen, owner of SingleTree Wood Fire BBQ, joins James Tice to share why authenticity has become one of the most valuable skills in business. After years in restaurant leadership, Eblen explains how embracing his true personality instead of trying to sound polished transformed his media presence, strengthened his relationships, and created opportunities he never expected. From learning to give an authent...

Why would a successful vegan restaurant avoid marketing itself as vegan? Kristen Corral, co-founder of Tacotarian, joins Ty Wilson to explain why the brand focuses on serving great Mexican food first and plant-based food second. She shares why she believes the word "vegan" can turn customers away, how Tacotarian has grown to six locations with national franchising underway, and why building community is at the center of every business decision. From choosing franchise partners who fit the bran...

What happens when losing your job leads to an entirely new career? Jeff Perera, co-founder of Jeff's Bagel Run, joins Ty Wilson to share how a layoff in 2019 led him to learn how to make bagels from scratch, despite having no culinary background. What began as a challenge from his wife quickly turned into an obsession, then a Kickstarter campaign, the sale of their family home, and eventually one of the fastest-growing bagel brands in the country. Jeff also shares what he's seeing across the r...

What if the best way to improve restaurant profitability isn't cutting costs, but making better decisions? Yassine Lyoubi, partner at Barry's Downtown Prime inside Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, joins Ty Wilson to discuss how one of downtown Las Vegas' busiest independent steakhouses balances old-school hospitality with modern technology. Lyoubi shares how relationships with suppliers, forecasting around major conventions and events, and listening to frontline employees have helped Barry's...

What if the biggest obstacle to growth isn't money, competition, or real estate, but self-doubt? Jason Ganahl, founder of GQue BBQ, joins Ty Wilson to discuss how a passion for competition barbecue turned into Colorado's only championship barbecue restaurant brand. Ganahl shares the lessons he's learned growing from a single location to nine units, why guest experience drives every growth decision, and how he financed the business without outside investors. From overcoming self-doubt and findi...

Duce Raymond joins Ty Wilson to discuss building the next chapter of one of barbecue's most recognizable family legacies. As the son of the chef behind Sweet Baby Ray’s, Raymond shares why he's transitioning to the Deuce’s Wild brand, how an $8 million catering business fuels growth, and what goes into launching a new technology-driven barbecue restaurant. From family history and restaurant financing to AI, drive-thrus, and Amazon sales, this conversation explores the balance between honoring t...

What happens when a restaurant operator walks away from a long-term partnership and decides to rebuild from the ground up? Matthew Vascellaro, founder of Matty Smokes BBQ & Catering, joins Ty Wilson to share why he recently exited a nine-year partnership to fully focus on the next evolution of his barbecue business. From live-fire catering experiences across Long Island to exploring franchising, food trailers, and scalable systems, Matty breaks down the realities of building a hospitality busin...

What does it take to grow a restaurant brand without outside funding, franchise shortcuts, or sacrificing quality along the way? Joe Fontana, founder of Fry The Coop, sits down with Ty Wilson to break down how he built one of Chicago’s fastest-growing hot chicken brands from a single second-generation restaurant into a 10-unit operation doing $16 million annually, completely debt-free. Joe shares why he refuses to franchise, how store-level profitability drives every decision, and why growing a...

On this episode of The Restaurant Finance Podcast we flip the script. Shawn Walchef (Cali BBQ Media) sits down with Ty Wilson, CEO & founder of Tab Commerce, to unpack how his team rebuilt the corporate card for restaurants. Ty shares the origin story born in his family’s dining room during COVID, why DoorDash/Uber Eats rejections pushed him to build, and the now-famous King–Queen–Bishop framework for selling into restaurant organizations (owner, operator, controller/CFO). They dive into rela...

The script is flipped! Join Ty Wilson and James Tice as they join Cali BBQ Media Founder Shawn Walchef on Digital Hospitality. And this conversation goes deep on a topic most operators avoid: money. Tab Commerce is building a modern financial platform for restaurants - offering corporate cards designed specifically for operators, better support, AP automation, higher limits, and financial tools built around real restaurant workflows. But more importantly, this episode is about storytelling, v...

What happens when a restaurant stops thinking like a traditional restaurant and starts thinking like a live event? Brooks Schaden, Co-CEO of Tom’s Watch Bar, joins James Tice to talk about building restaurants around live sports, fan communities, and shared experiences. From playoff runs and opening day surges to alumni groups and watch parties, Schaden explains how Tom’s turns every game into an event. He also shares why sports-driven restaurants require a different operational mindset, where ...

What makes someone choose your restaurant over every other option around them? For Ford Fry, it starts long before the food hits the table. Ford Fry, chef and founder of Rocket Farm Restaurants, joins James Tice to break down how hospitality, atmosphere, and operational thinking shape modern restaurant growth. Fry explains how his team adapts service across different formats while still protecting the experience that keeps guests coming back. The conversation explores how thoughtful details in...