It's the end of the year so we're talking balance sheets and what we're looking for to know our bars and restaurants are healthy, different ways of looking at the books, and what percentage of growth we want to see.

We're also looking at what point it's too late to keep booking holiday parties. Would you agree that most companies have already booked their parties for the end of year?

What we're discussing:

• PR Firm Functions
• Event Planning
• Lead Generating
• Taking without Giving
• Potential to do good

Brenton Land is an owner/operator that doesn't believe in Defeat. His little bar, The VIG Bar is located in the neighborhood of Nolita in NYC... and although it's not packed with square footage - it's packed with people every night. In a time where bars take themselves a little too seriously, VIG bar pokes fun at trends and makes sure that there is plenty of fun to be had.

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Stop by our website for a handful of other good information, tips, and tricks. http://waitingonfriespodcast.com

Patreon support link: Support the show!

Kris Baljak is the Beverage Director for a decently large restaurant group. We get to speak about hardships of managing such a large scale operation and finding key players in the space to help make his job a little easier. Kris reflects upon some of the new things we are seeing in the hospitality space with an all new work force that doesn't necessarily have years of training in dealing with the general public.

https://www.instagram.com/cocktails_by_kris/
@Oscar Wilde // @Papillon // @Lillie's Victorian

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There's always someone in your family that returns from the restroom just to comment on the sinks and the tiles. You can't escape the fact that they are often times one of the most under-looked components to a restaurants. Let's talk bathrooms! //
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Salt Bae dodges a lawsuit from Nusr-Et staff unhappy with how tips are distributed, but that leads us to talk a little bit more about the ways tip share gets distributed. There's a few different business models out there and it's all about what works for you. //
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Modeled after how Justin carries out his training process at Smokehouse, let's take a look at some of the major functions of trainings and how some of these streamlined processes may aid in consistency for your own execution. //
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Bars and Restaurants are having trouble getting staff, here's where we find people!

Outdoor dining tips & tricks to build your brand and increase sales.

We're getting to the point where robots are starting to replace some basic restaurant tasks. How long until these robots are making perfect omelettes?!

It's not everyday we get to talk about firefighting and food at the same time - but today we have done just that. AJ Fusco runs an instagram account called @Forkandhose that features plates from firefighters everywhere. He also knows what he's doing in a kitchen though as he's graced several premier establishments over the years with his Fork skills. He has also improved his hosing over the years as he's been a firefighter longer than you've been listening to podcasts! http://www.forkandhoseco.com/

What's this guy know? Enough to build one business, sell it, and start a few more businesses. Matt Stanczak currently operates Good Old Days - a pizza joint in Newtown, Ct. that is looking to harbor a hip atmosphere that is doing great Detroit style pies and even has a cocktail den. 

What we're talking about?

• A dress code!? Not at this steakhouse. The new generaation cares far more about being comfortable than dressing to the nines.
• Paying attention to detail about a belief system we care about. It says a lot about an owner that genuinely cares.
• Leaving guests satisfied even when they didn't have a great experience.
• SBA Loans and interest rates, applying for credit on your businesses EIN.
• Vinyl Records and how many times you can play one before it breaks.

Shot at: Vinyl Steakhouse, NYC

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vinylsteakhouse/

We walk through what the complete dining experience is like from front to back and highlight a handful of the crucial points that your guests are experiencing in today's world. Are you missing opportunities? Have you maximized your check average?

Justin & Anum talk about different personalities in the kitchen and what we like to see when contributing to a building team dynamic.

As Justin has almost built out his new restaurant - he's run into quite a few odd problems that need to be navigated through. Let's look at some of the ways he's thinking of how to succeed.

As Smokehouse 1.2 gets closer to opening, Justin prepares his new space by pulling the trigger on utilizing a new POS that may offer a little more for his needs than his previous provider. Sometimes it starts to be about the ability for extensions and third party integrations.

Justin has a bit of OCD incase you didn't know. Seriously - let him vent a little bit while Noomz highlights how many chefs it takes to change a lightbulb.... I mean cook a steak.

People thought he was crazy when he left a restaurant designated 4 stars by the New York Times (Del Posto) to open up a BBQ place as a pop up in an empty lot in a dirty part of Brooklyn. Sure enough Matt Abdoo and his partners have been building a name, a brand, and populating the streets around Pig Beach over the last few years. We talk to Matt about current hardships of staffing locations so large, 

There's so much happening so quickly. Apparently Justin and Noomz are key to the refrigeration knowledge and have some experience to share with you if you're having issues with your coolers. Jae complained again about having a work week at the bar where there weren't enough bodies to man the bar - but somehow made do with what they had.... are you feeling constricted by how many employees you have? Here's some tips.

Yes. We're from New York. Yes. We like pizza. Yes. It's natural that we talk about it. Matt Di Gesu has an interesting story as he left New York to the west coast, just to find a couple east coast buddies that allowed him to learn everything about pizza. Soon enough - he came back.

Recently a new hire that successfully made it through training decided that it was too much for them to deal with a busy weekend night and decided that the job called for too much. We also discuss the greed of the liquor stores as they push to maintain their higher sales they've seen through the pandemic.

Let's talk about powerhouse party bars. Finding a balance between  operating a food focused dining experience and keeping the register ringing all night with high volume liquor and beer sales isn't easy. We speak with Stephen Primerano, the General Manager of Sign of the Whale - a super high volume bar located in Stamford, CT.

How do we talk about more business topics? #shiftbeers is a covnersation that has a ton of different gems about current topics happening in our Bar and Restaurant ownership journey. What are we talking about today? • Planning the year's events through calendar to prepare for correctly. • Different levels and types of events: Natural Holiday's, Municipality Created, Personal Events. • When do you hire an event coordinator to increase the sales of event rooms • What sort of event packages do you utilize in your banquet packaging. Shot in: Cocktail Garnish Co. White Plains, NY

Well - here we are again talking about the Grub Hub Hijacking that is going on. Seems some states have put laws into effect that prevent third party services from taking over and portraying themselves as known establishments. These laws can fine them per day that they are operating! Also.... you know what's crazy about not getting shifts? Gotta have a conversation with management and get to the bottom of why you may not be where you think you should be.

Jon takes a second to discuss with us the frozen drink business. He didn't always sell frozen drink machines and mix - but when he did he realized that restaurants can use a lot of it.... this has made him one of the highest selling franchisee's in the Margarita Man umbrella. Let's find out about franchises as well as how he's tackling growth.

Get off of the couch and off of unemployment benefits. We're making money considering no one is working and it's great. By the time your benefits end you're going to be out of opportunities and left without the chair to sit in. We also discuss the passport you receive when you get your shots and how that may give you added abilities when it comes to dining out. 

Getting to speak to Angelo about his history as an owner can teach you a lot about being ok with taking your lumps, how to move on and make tough decisions, being too early to the party, and keeping the wheels turning with day to day operations and ideas. We also speak about segmenting your email blasts to maximize customer engagement.

What do you do when you live in an area where 3 states meet and have completely different opening plans? Well..... you grab the strap and you ride that bull as long as you can before she bucks you!

The major question always is - why should I go attend this event that I have to pay to be a part of? Well, you aren't wrong.... but you aren't right either. We cover some valid points of what you need to do to really maximize your return on investment when looking at trade shows, expos, or any industry event!

Juicy Lucy looks to hold the title of Brisket King 2021 and we get to sit down and talk with them, Blue Smoke, Handsome Devil, Pulkies, The Gramercy/Friends of Firefighters, and Avellino Family BBQ in a short form episode recorded live on site. We'll look to have more in depth conversations with these guys in the future! 

I can't believe what we discovered that Grubhub was doing with out business. These 3rd party apps are relentless in their vulture like tactics to facilitate delivery charges... has our story happened to you?

What do you get when 4 Bros walk into a pizza joint? As many owners lost their restaurants and bars, other businesses began with the extra time, stimulus aid, and ability to turn dreams into a reality. Carlos, Will, Danny, & Bryan have a cumulative lifetime in the pizza business. With each brother specializing in a different part of the business this team is able to deliver consistency and quality through their pies.

"You can't get away with plastic fold out chairs and tables anymore!" Justin proclaimed. This season it's time to get our business together and actually look like you want to have outside seating. Waiting on permits? Forget all that! Just get your tables back out there and start making money!

This episode features Baked After Midnight's Gianna Khader (https://www.bakedaftermidnight.com), a cookie company that uses high end ingredients and is gaining ground in bars & restaurants. Gianna literally quit her job to pursue making cookies. She was always baking, literally for years - but doing it after midnight was therapeutic as no one is often around late night to bother. We discuss things like costs, motivation to have the business, how we gauge success in expos or trade events as well as using a third party delivery app to potentially help create a sales lift for the business.📷: Filmed, Recorded, & Edited by: Pour Shots, Justin Benfaida📍: Baked After Midnight, Gianna KhaderFind us on Youtube as well for all the shorts and bonus content! (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHhZ1-fp853NdPkWeL53bWg)

With three establishments under his belt and a no sleep until who knows mentality - Travis Koester is the partner and operator of The Local (a local beer bar in the truest sense), Two Villains Brewery (A micro brewery), and The Henry (A gastropbub with enough televisions to watch a game). We discuss balancing operations and the story behind these popular establishments in Nyack, NY

With the Masters upon us we are looking at signature drinks and how they help to immerse patrons in the environment you help create. We've spoken in past episodes about creating ecosystems... well - let's look deeper at tying it all in. Also we take a look into businesses opening to help underserved communities and the outreach these restaurants (notably top restaurants in the world) are doing to help.

Social media and blogging are a match made in heaven - but it's a lot of work as well. As PJ tells it the amount of work that gets put into his ecosystem is enormous, but also quite rewarding as he loves being involved in this industry. 

We run through the top ways we felt that you can increase traffic to your bar or restaurant without doing too much work in both costs and movement. Maximizing efficiency matters and all of these items on this list are designed to give you a ROI that's representative of how hard the tasks are to accomplish. It's busy season.

Well, it all started in a garage. And his last name is Watson. Maybe all great things just start in a garage? Let's talk the journey from small canning lines to what you'll hear in this episode - a giant beer factory. Let's explore everything from how canning lines work to the colors all across the brand. This is On The Record, with Sloop Brewing Co.

Newyorkprimebeef.com will give you food to your door. FRIES15 at checkout will take 15% off your order, you're welcome. Hearing a story from a friend in their smaller sized establishment, management has been included in a tip pool considering the lack of being able to hire appropriately with tightened funds and Justin doesn't agree with this. Jae's in on breaking the "rules" and understands that scenarios exist in real life. We further discuss hiring processes and management that doesn't earn their keep.

We're exploring sports bars on this episode of on the record. We jump over to a town called Norwalk to find out how this business was build and how we're dealing with covid when there's no sports, no partying, and where you make up the cash sheets when booze are a major part of paying the bills.

Jae's been working a lot on the website for http://cocktailgarnish.co. This brings up a super important point.... how many of you are working on SEO for your restaurants and bars to get to the top of the list for your specific restaurant searches? Does this matter? With a few simple key strokes you can significantly move up the chart.

When you think about social media you're typically thinking about how and why your mom is always the first one to like your photos, but rarely do you think how it's been able to build out and highlight brands. Mike Puma joins us to explain how and what the Gotham Burger Social Club is and how it's come to be. Look out for the Gotham Smash Pop-up's in your city soon!

Let's dive into Favorite Chef while Justin relaxes on the sunny beaches of Florida. It's ok, some of us show up to work no matter what. The Favorite Chef competition is underway and there is a lot of talk about whether this is a real competition or if it's a scam thanks to a lack of clarity, or as Jae would say - business genius! We also jump into tracking your website visitors and the impact data can give your business.

This episode features Rust & Gold (https://www.therustandgold.com/), a Huntington Long Island bar and restaurant that allows families to gather and fun to happen late night. Frank came from beginnings in the music industry, but decided that the A plan wasn't going to be the one he retired on. Along with a few friends Rust & Gold opened 7 years ago. The pandemic also wound up accelerating growth with the concepts of The Rolling Gold (tap & catering truck - a '63 Chevy!) and 1653 pizza. 📷: Filmed, Recorded, & Edited by: Pour Shots, Justin Benfaida 📍: The Rust & Gold, 70 Gerard St, Huntington, NY 11743

On the couch later? Find us on Youtube! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdzqYSPp5Ts)

Not every day is it that someone stumbles out of there internet marketing job and onto the floor of a food truck, let alone decide that the food truck isn't big enough - and it's time to build out a physical brick and mortar locations.... and then that we should open 2 Mexicue's every year. This one is interesting, lock in - there's some gems to take from this.

A restaurant shut down while having mask policy problems that were turned into a Black Lives Matter PR nightmare. We're all for freedoms and beliefs in all ways - but in the workplace we should be looking uniform. Do you have your employee handbook updated and signed off on?

You think you know bagels and starting businesses? You ain't known nothing until you realize that Britt is the real deal. A business of bagels that sped up during the pandemic has gained serious momentum and traction that Gold Belly has even thrown some calls her direction trying to get a piece of this dough. Ha. 

Waiting on Fries - Delving into a bit of the yacht club life. Get your pinky out for a few of these problems that occur in the day to day. In part of the new format we'll explore some relative issues and topics that we've experienced and see in our businesses. How'd your Superbowl go? Hope you didn't have to pay for all the rest of your boxes you didn't sell!