Restaurant Operator – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Technical and general information from the podcast's RSS feed.

Restaurant Operator

Networld Media Group

Arts

Business

Frequency: 1 episode/14d. Total Eps: 130

This podcast series from the publishers of FastCasual.com, PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com provides restaurant owners and executives with the insights and inspiration they need to grow their brands. Each episode features interviews with experienced restauranteurs, industry experts, and thought leaders, who share practical tips and advice for running a successful restaurant business.

Read moreCollapse

Site

RSS

Apple

Data updated on 30/07/2026

Recent rankings

Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

No recent rankings available

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.

See all

https://www.youtube.com/@NetworldMediaGroup

RSS feed quality and score

Technical evaluation of the podcast's RSS feed quality and structure.

See all

RSS feed quality

To improve

Score global : 38%

Publication history

Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.

Year

Latest published episodes

Recent episodes with titles, durations, and descriptions.

See all

A&W marketing leader's diverse background plays role in brand strategy

Tuesday, July 22, 2025 • Duration 18:13

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of QSRweb and Pizza Marketplace, chats with Amanda Potts, vice president of marketing and innovation for A&W Restaurants, about Potts' diverse background and how she returned to a foodservice career after working in the automotive industry.

Potts has more than 30 years of experience working in diverse industries including Valvoline and Fazoli's. She graduated from college and achieved her dream job working for an agency for Fazoli's. She left the food service industry for about seven years and worked in automotive, where she learned a wide range of new skills. She wanted to return to restaurants given she considers herself a foodie. "I love food. I still kept up with all the (food) industry news in restaurants and so I saw this opportunity to and thought, 'What a great chance to get back into restaurants,'" she shares in the podcast.

At the time of our interview, Potts had been with A&W for just two months, but the brand is already thinking about next year.

"There's been a lot of advances, a lot of changes since I've been gone but the business itself is the same," Potts said. "You're just trying to provide a great experience and hope customers come back to you."

Read moreCollapse

Taco John's CEO talks balancing innovation with brand's rich history

Tuesday, June 24, 2025 • Duration 16:06

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of QSRweb.com and Pizza Marketplace, chats with Heather Neary, president and CEO of Taco John's which has nearly 400 units in 23 states.

Neary took her leadership role last year, but Taco John's has been serving up tacos and its signature Potato Oles since 1969.

"We're a great legacy brand," Neary said. "We've got second-generation franchisees in the business. We've got a lot of really amazing operators who are here to honor the integrity of the historical brand that's got a lot of legs in front of it to grow forward."

Honoring the brand's rich history while innovating to gain new demographics is one of the brand's current operational goals. Neary said continual communication with the brand's franchisees and guests to understand the core assets of Taco John's that it "can't sway from" and where it can innovate to take it to the next level are primary targets.

For instance, the brand is testing AI in its drive-thru and has been for the past year or so.

"We're at a 93% to 94% accept rate which means that 6% of the time a human has to intercept the order because it's not going smoothly, but 93%, 94% of the time the AI voice ... is able to take the order for the guest and is able to do a great job delivering that great Taco John's experience that people are used to," Neary added.

To learn more about Taco John's and its innovations, listen to the podcast in its entirety. Don't forget to subscribe to the Networld Media Group podcast channel for more great restaurant interviews.

Read moreCollapse

Jeff's Bagel Run founder says training key to franchisee success

Tuesday, June 10, 2025 • Duration 26:11

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb, chats with Jeff's Bagel Run founder Jeff Perera.

Perera and his wife, Danielle, call themselves bagel fanatics. When Perera lost his job in 2019, he began making bagels for his wife at home. He then spread the love to family and friends, who told him he should sell the bagels. Eventually, he did locally.

In 2021, they opened the first Jeff's Bagel Run in Ocoee, Florida. Today, the brand has 15 stores in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Texas.

Perera said consistency across his brand starts with quality training.

"Whenever we have a new team start, a new franchisee join the system, we're going to put them through really extensive training so they can learn what it's like to be an owner of a Jeff's Bagel Run and to make sure that they have that as part of their DNA," Perera said. "That is going to be the first foundation."

To learn about about how Perera has expanded his bagel empire, click the link at the top.

Read moreCollapse

Pollo Campero vice president talks competition, standing out

Tuesday, May 27, 2025 • Duration 21:15

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, podcast host Mandy Detwiler, editor Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb, chats with Blas Escarcega, VP of franchise development for Central American chicken chain Pollo Campero. Here, flavor is king and development is ripe for the picking. Escarcega, one of the first employees hired in the U.S., has been with the company for 18 years.

Pollo Campero began in 1971 in Guatemala, mostly in central America. It came to the U.S. in 2002 in Los Angeles and is still operating today.

"It has a historic following not only in Guatemala but now it's starting to resonate in the U.S.," Escarcega said.

Pollo Campero has had to work hard to differentiate itself from others in a chicken-heavy field. There's a lot of competition, but the brand has maintained its authenticity.

"We never forget our roots of the recipes that we've had as far as seasoning and the way that we prepare the food," Escarcega said. Using pressure fryers has given the chicken tender, unique flavors. They also want the customer experience to be unique.

To learn more about how Pollo Campero is standing out in a crowded market, watch the podcast in its entirety. Don't forget to subscribe for the Restaurant Operator Podcast for interviews with all the top restaurant brand interviews.

Read moreCollapse

Haven Hot Chicken founders find room for Nashville hot chicken brand

Tuesday, May 13, 2025 • Duration 21:24

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb, talks to Jason Sobocinski and Etkin Tekin, co-founders of Haven Hot Chicken out of Connecticut. While the chicken market may be saturated, Sobocinski and Tekin found a niche for hot chicken, and the rest is history.

Tekin and Sobocincki have history when Tekin worked for Sobocincki at a restaurant he owned years ago. During his interview, Tekin told his boss he'd like to open a business with him someday. They stayed in touch as Tekin opened his own businesses and in 2018, Tekin contacted his former boss about a business opportunity he had.

That business? A Nashville hot chicken concept.

"There was nothing like it in Connecticut," Sobocinski said. He wanted to do a brand, however, and initially said no. He was invited to meet the other two founders, and Sobocinski was "blown away" by them and the food. He was in.

Tekin said there was a story created behind the brand they wanted to create, and at the same time they were doing rigorous recipe testing.

"After three or four months of work, I just felt like something was missing in the organization," Tekin said. That would have been Sobocinski, who Tekin said always created a brand with his restaurants.

The brand has recently grown from four stores to nine in just 10 months.

To learn more about Haven Hot Chicken's operations, listen to the podcast in its entirety at the top of the page.

Read moreCollapse

Discovering the tools to food truck success

Tuesday, April 22, 2025 • Duration 20:23

The food truck industry has continued to expand at a rapid pace. In 2023, there were over 52,600 food trucks in the U.S., according to data from IBISWorld. However, it is not an easy business to enter, as it requires careful planning to select the right truck, equipment, and branding.

In today's episode of the Restaurant Operator podcast, Jordan Schild, president and CEO at Premier Food Trucks, shared several tools to food truck success with moderator Bradley Cooper, editor of Food Truck Operator.

He noted in the podcast that one common mistake food truck operators do is purchasing a used truck as an attempt to save money, only to face very expensive repairs and lost sales down the road. He instead said that it's very important to get a great truck up front, and the cost savings will come over time.

He shared other insights including:

The three biggest features every food truck needs.

How to make a food truck stand out.
Avoiding key early mistakes.
How Premier Food Trucks helps operators.
Listen to the podcast in full above.

Read moreCollapse

CORE Gives helps restaurant employees in need

Tuesday, April 8, 2025 • Duration 11:27

In our latest episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb, talks to Jill Chapman, director of corporate partnerships with CORE Gives, an organization that helps restaurant employees in need.

"CORE is a national non-profit," Chapman said. "We provide financial support to food and beverage service employees in this industry. It's a crisis, whether it's an injury, health issue, a natural disaster, death in the family (or) domestic abuse. Really, honestly there is a need for this because there's so many times that service employees — if one of these things happens — they're working reduced hours or none at all, and quickly, stress, hopelessness and fear — they all quickly creep in."

CORE steps in and helps employees financially so they can focus on what's important. It's about bridging the financial gap so employees can resume working "without leaving a trail of debt behind," Chapman said.

To learn more about CORE Gives and how restaurant employees can apply, listen to the podcast in its entirety.

Don't forget to subscribe to Networld Media Group's YouTube page.

Read moreCollapse

GRUBBRR Guarantee gives kiosk users peace of mind

Tuesday, March 25, 2025 • Duration 28:47

In this day and age, offering a guarantee with your business plan is nearly a given. For kiosk brand GRUBBRR, the GRUBBRR Guarantee is an integral part of the brand's ethos.

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb, speaks with GRUBBRR Chief Revenue Officer Parrish Chapman about the brand's guarantee.

Chapman said the GRUBBRR guarantee is simple: the kiosk brand guarantees its work and stands behind it.

"We know operators today have a lot of cost pressures, they have a lot of news about their business and operations, what they really need to do to improve their operations, how to automate and the GRUBBRR Guarantee at the highest level is saying if you do business with GRUBBRR and our kiosk platform, we will guarantee our results or you don't pay us," Chapman said. "It's that simple. We want operators to know when they go with GRUBBRR that they can trust us, that we're a great business partner and we're going to help their operations."

Restaurant brands are lots of pressure, including the rising cost of goods, recruitment and retention, the economy and more. GRUBBRR kiosks shift labor pain points away from the POS and increases speed of service.

"The benefits are really huge and we wanted to echo this out to the marketplace and let operators know that we believe so much in it that we are standing behind our ability to be a successful technology platform for their business," Chapman added.

To learn more about the GRUBBRR Guarantee, listen to the podcast in its entirely. Don't forget to subscribe to the Networld Media Group podcast channel.

Read moreCollapse

Lion's Choice CEO offers secrets to brand's success

Tuesday, February 25, 2025 • Duration 16:32

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of QSRweb and Pizza Marketplace, talks with Fred Burmer, CEO of roast beef brand Lion's Choice.

Lion's Choice got its start in 1967 and is a legacy brand in St. Louis with 30 restaurants. The brand uses top round roast beef that is hand-trimmed and slow roasted for at least three hours in the restaurant every day.

"It's really butcher-shop quality," Burmer said. The roast beef is sliced razor thin which gives it a "great flavor and texture that really sets us apart."

There's also a secret seasoning on the roast beef for added flavor.

Burmer said consistency can be a challenge with so much done in-house.

"That's very, very important," he said, adding the same type of ovens at all the stores helps keep the recipe the same no matter the store.

To learn more about the secret to Lion's Choice's success, click the link at the top. And don't forget to subscribe to the Networld Media Group YouTube channel.

Read moreCollapse

Clutch Coffee co-founder offers secrets to competing in saturated market

Friday, February 7, 2025 • Duration 17:14

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb, chats with Darren Spicer, co-founder of Carolinas-based Clutch Coffee, which has 13 locations.

Spicer said customer experience is one of the things that sets Clutch Coffee apart from competitors.

"It's from the moment you drive onto the property, and the environment we have and the music that's playing outside, the runner who's outside taking that order face to face, all the way through picking up that drink," he said, adding "and taking that first sip before you leave. That's a huge element for us."

The brand doesn't compromise on quality, Spicer said, and works with an award-winning roaster out of Washington state whom he said is fantastic at what they do.

To learn more coffee secrets from Clutch Coffee, listen to the podcast in its entirety above. Don't forget to subscribe to the Networld Media Group YouTube channel here.

Read moreCollapse

Restaurant Operator – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Restaurant Operator – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other19

Youtube2

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other19

Youtube2