Industry Sunday

Jake and Kennedy are back with episode 29, and you won't want to miss this one. They dive in with Jake telling a story about a restaurant that had meltdown after meltdown. We've all had those days! The topic of the week surrounds being cut. They get into what that means for their listeners who haven't worked in the industry, and then they move into a few different instances that pop up when someon...

Jake and Kennedy return from their recent trips to Missouri with a fresh week of stories. They get into what they've been up to in the past week, which includes another car accident ft. the most unlucky human alive - Jake Lavan. This week, the duo discuss how McDonald's announced a new promo brand similar to what they did with Grimace, the founder of Shake Shack shared his unprompted views on tipp...

Jake and Kennedy kick off their 27th episode with a recent run in that Jake had with a fan of the show. He called Kennedy crying, and to know the rest you have to tune in! This episode explores what happens when a venue tries too hard to please everyone who enters a restaurant or bar. Jake and Kennedy want to expose the situations when the customer ISN'T right. They discover a string of stories on...

Jake and Kennedy are back with another episode, and this week they feature a Chicago server, friend, and longtime listener of this podcast - Almendra! To her friends, she goes by the nickname "Pez", and she is loved and admired by many of her coworkers for her optimism and kindness. She is the kind of server that rarely gets flustered by a guest, so when she does you know they have to be 10x worse...

Kennedy and Jake are back and they are officially 1/4th of the way to episode 100! Current events in the industry this week - Andy Cohen has been seen promoting his new canned cocktail partnership by "bartending" all over the Hamptons, Domino's is delivering pizzas via drone to beaches near you, and SweetGreen opened their first fully automated location. Jake introduces the story he selected for t...

Kennedy and Jake are back with a new episode immediately following a busy weekend. Kennedy spent 5 days at Electric Forest and tells stories from her weekend, and Jake reflects on his weekend at a Pride festival in Chicago. They move on to start the episode with a few current events in the industry - James Corden is still trying to rectify his behavior towards servers in famous restaurants, and a...

Kennedy and Jake bounce off of their last episode with a few new spooky service industry stories. Jake leads off with the tales behind a famous restaurant in New Orleans that has an insane backstory filled with tragedy. He also tells a story about a chef from this restaurant who opted to be buried with a fork, knife, and his restaurant menu. Kennedy eventually chimes in to share her story of the w...

Jake and Kennedy are back for episode 22 with a new episode that goes in several different directions. They start off with some current events in the restaurant industry before Kennedy moves in to telling a story about a guest who was convinced that chickens don't have ribs. Jake takes over to tell a story about a notable Chicago steakhouse that has a long history of spooky sightings. This prompts...

Jake returns for episode 21, and they kick off the episode with Kennedy asking for a rundown of the aftermath of his accident last week. They move on to discuss a viral video on Facebook that backfired once it got in the hands of industry workers from all over the country. Jake moves on to tell his story of the week - it's about Swiss cheese and the cartel, and how the popularity and price of chee...

The milestone episode 20 was met with a few hardships in order to put it out. Jake was in a car accident this week, so Kennedy had to do an impromptu solo episode. She was in Springfield IL for a wedding over the weekend, and thankfully this was a wedding full of industry alums from her college job at The Airliner. Kennedy is joined by her former coworkers, Zoe and Madi after several shots at the...

Jake and Kennedy go back to the basics with an episode just as chaotic as a double shift on a hot patio. They start off by discussing the National Restaurant Show that was just in Chicago that Jake attended, and how cool it is to see how many layers the restaurant industry really has. They move on to commentating on a few scenarios from a highlight reel of Bar Rescue clips. After this, Jake explai...

Jake and Kennedy introduce a guest that has been listening since day 1 - Derrick (also known as Panda). He reached out to Kennedy after the first episode's release shouting his praises. It was only fitting that eventually Derrick would make his debut on the show! The group starts off by discussing a few different topics, but they mostly focus on a viral tweet that Kennedy saw about a restaurant th...

Kennedy and Jake start off episode 17 by introducing their newest guest, Casey M.! They begin by discussing two very different topics - when Jake got a DUI as a teenager and then his recent surgery. They move on from there by sharing their thoughts on the recent news about Chipotle suing Sweetgreen, how the Burger King mascot is nightmare inducing, and other current events in the food world. For t...

Join Jake and Kennedy as they introduce their next guest Jessica! She talks about how she got her start in the industry at a Bob Evans in Ohio, and eventually moved her way up to serving at some of the top restaurants in Chicago. She tells stories about insane guests who puke at the table and stay to finish their meal, dealing with tourists, and how she handles getting fired. They end the episode...

Kennedy may have lost her voice, but she and Jake still start off strong with stories about how they plan on expanding the podcast more. They then move into discussing a few new restaurants that are opening in Chicago. The main discussion of the episode is about a new concept in Tokyo Japan that is considering holographic servers. Do you think this would work? Because Jake and Kennedy are hesitant...

In this episode, Jake and Kennedy dive into anonymous stories about some of the strangest patrons you've ever heard of. Jake tells the history of the McRib and how it garnered such a huge cult following surrounded by conspiracy theories. They end the episode with a new game where they decide if strange cocktail orders deserve prison, or probation.

Join Jake and Kennedy as they discuss Kennedy's recent trip to Los Angeles, and what she observed in the restaurants of La La Land. Jake also takes a moment to reflect on how his first month of sobriety has been, and shares what he has been doing to replace drinking. They move on to discuss Lisa Vanderpump's restaurants, Margaritaville, and the bartenders Kennedy met at Universal Studios Hollywood...

Jake and Kennedy explore the evolution of dining and patrons with special guest Kim - a veteran in the industry with 40+ years of experience. Listen in to find out how things have changed with restaurants and the industry from one generation to the next as she describes her experiences with celebrities from the 80's, chain restaurants, and watching the industry change before her eyes.

Jake and Kennedy kick off this episode by discussing what the bars are like in Dallas/Fort Worth Texas. Jake also explains some of his experience so far with going sober along with sharing the benefits and downsides. For most of the episode, they discuss one of the most unknown but interesting stories about Chicago restaurant history - the legend of Mickey Finn and the origin of the term "slip a m...

Jake and Kennedy kick off the milestone episode #10 by introducing their next guest, Cici! They banter about the chaos that is St. Paddy's Day weekend in downtown Chicago, and move on to talk about Cici's industry experience. They spend a majority of the episode talking about the 4 years that Kennedy and Cici spent working at The Airliner together and all of the crazy stories that come along with...

Jake and Kennedy kick off this episode by introducing their next guest, Alyssa! They force Jake to describe the Vanderpump Rules drama from the perspective of someone who has never seen the show, and then they circle back to talk about scandals they've seen in restaurants they've worked at. They end the episode with a game called Red Light, Green Light where they decipher if they would friend or u...

Jake and Kennedy start off discussing Jake's recent hospital visit, and Kennedy's dilemma with a Karen who got her personal cell number. Their next guest, takes them away from the service industry for this episode by taking them on a trip into the world of drag queens and drag brunches. They are joined by Christian Ferree (AKA Joyce Anne Belle) as he describes his extensive experience in the retai...

Jake and Kennedy dive into the 7th episode by discussing Jake's recent sleepwalking incident at Kennedy's apartment. Next, they introduce their second guest, Kyle. Hear stories of how Kyle started out dishwashing at a tea store and a pancake house, and continued his journey to becoming a well-respected server at one of Chicago's best steakhouses. Also, stick around as Kyle, Jake, and Kennedy discu...

In this episode Jake and Kennedy go over weird and interesting cocktail orders, the icks and awkwardness of Valentines Day, and Kennedy's route 66 adventure across the country and the restaurants along the way.

It's the first episode recording since the podcast was launched, so Jake and Kennedy start off by discussing how the release has gone. Kennedy tells stories from her recent trip to Key West and explains why Ernest Hemingway was a bartenders worst nightmare. Jake explains why he hates serving couples on their first date. They end the episode by reading about the world's worst restaurant concept ide...