A Deeper Dive

How do franchisees pick winning concepts? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Martha Olmos, chief operating officer with Damm Fine Restaurant Group, a franchisee of Dave’s Hot Chicken and Blaze Pizza.  Damm Fine got into both Blaze and Dave’s early in their history. We talk with Olmos about what goes into operating such brands and how they found those conc...

What is the outlook for restaurants in 2026? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Technomic Senior Principal David Henkes.  We wanted to talk with Henkes about what will happen in 2026. Restaurants are coming off a 2025 in which consumers cut back on dining frequency. Henkes talks about exactly why that happened and whether Technomic believes things will im...

Restaurant sales and traffic challenges were a huge story in 2025. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive takes a look at the most popular episodes of the year. Perhaps unsurprisingly, each of them dealt with the challenged industry environment. We spoke with Circana’s David Portalatin about consumers buying on a deal. We spoke multiple times with Technomic’s Rich Sha...

How will AI truly change the way restaurants do business? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive concludes our series on the impact of AI on the restaurant industry with a discussion of exactly where the technology will be felt the most. Over the past five weeks, we’ve looked at how AI is affecting fast-food restaurants in the drive-thru, how it’s influencing menu and...

AI is already having a big influence on restaurant marketing.  This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive continues our examination of the impact artificial intelligence is having on restaurant marketing.  The technology is having an impact on marketing for everything from local restaurants to major chains. Senior Tech Editor Joe Guszkowski speaks with Khara Mangiduyos, w...

Customers may see AI when they order from their favorite restaurant on an app or in the drive-thru, but the technology’s biggest impact may be behind the scenes. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive continues our examination of the impact AI is having on the restaurant industry. This week’s episode looks at the technology’s impact in the back of the house.  Senior T...

AI can’t necessarily make a burger, but it can help learn what kind of burger to put on the menu. In this episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive, we continue our examination on the impact AI is having on restaurant menu development.  The podcast features Christian Frangiatis, the executive chef of One by Spork in Pittsburgh. It also features Jet Tila; Marcus Merritt, the manager...

AI is coming for your drive-thru.  This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive continues our look at the impact of AI in the restaurant industry.  This week, we look at the most visible use of AI in the industry, voice-activated drive-thru ordering.  A lot of restaurant chains are already using the technology to take orders in the drive-thru and a lot of executives swear b...

AI is everywhere. Software companies bombard you with promises that their AI-powered programs will revolutionize your business. Prognosticators say it will take over roughly everything. And Wall Street, as ever, is watching. Restaurants are certainly no exception. Companies are testing and experimenting with AI in nearly every part of their operation, from the drive-thru to the back of the house,...

How is El Pollo Loco giving customers value without giving up profits? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Liz Williams, CEO of the fast-food chicken chain.  El Pollo Loco just reported a decline in same-store sales with an increase in traffic and restaurant-level profits. Generally speaking when customers pay less per order it’s hard to generate profit gr...

Why are consumers less responsive to restaurant marketing right now? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Robert Byrne, director of consumer and industry insights with Technomic and a regular podcast guest.  We wanted to talk with Byrne about the general state of the industry, mostly because we had this question: Why isn’t anything working? Over the past co...

Why are so many consumers dining on a deal? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features David Portalatin, SVP and food industry advisor for the data and technology firm Circana. Circana just released a report showing that 29% of consumers are dining on a perceived deal, a historically high percentage. That has also grown over the past couple of years at a rate not...

Why did PJ’s Coffee dramatically cut back on its menu items? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features David Mesa, the president of PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans.  PJ’s has 200 locations and is growing at a healthy clip. Mesa joins the podcast to talk about the company’s rebranding. PJ’s is leaning into its New Orleans heritage with that rebranding, including its m...

What is the state of the restaurant industry right now? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Rich Shank, senior principal with the data firm Technomic. And it’s a really good question. While the stock market continues to thrive and certain segments of the restaurant industry are busy, a lot of other data suggests operators have a lot to worry about right no...

What goes into an investment into one of the country’s fastest growing restaurant brands? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Scott Romanoff, the cofounder and co managing partner of Franchise Equity Partners. Franchise Equity Partners is a long-term investor in multi-unit operators of all types and recently made a big investment in 7 Crew, a 50-unit franc...

Are restaurants missing a key opportunity on delivery? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Cameron Watt, the CEO of secret shopper firm Intouch Insight. Intouch recently completed an exclusive study on delivery for Restaurant Business and we’re chatting about some of the conclusions. We caught up with Cameron at the recently concluded FSTEC conference. The...

Why is McDonald’s taking on the tip credit?  This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive takes a hard look at the fast-food giant’s stand on the tip credit, which enables businesses to pay a subminimum wage to tipped workers, so long as the tips make up the difference.  We feature three guests on this podcast: Saru Jayaraman, the president and cofounder of the labor advoca...

What is the country’s fifth largest pizza concept doing to expand its reach? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Tom Brennan, the chief merchandising officer for the Iowa-based convenience-store chain Casey’s. That is right. Casey’s is the fifth-largest pizza concept in the U.S., at least based on sales.  This is a fascinating conversation with a top execu...

Why are some restaurants having such a tough time this year? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Chad Moutray, the chief economist for the National Restaurant Association.  We wanted to talk with Chad for two big reasons: First, the association published its data abstract on the restaurant industry,  which shows some surprisingly low profitability  for bot...

What is Todd Penegor doing at Papa Johns? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Todd Penegor, who has been CEO of the Atlanta-based pizza chain for just over a year.  This is a great conversation. Penegor has helped Papa Johns regain sales momentum during a particularly difficult time, both for the sector and the fast-food business in general. The company ha...

How are franchisees dealing with the current operating environment? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Raj Patel, a multi-brand franchisee out of the Chicago area.  Patel’s group operates nearly 100 Dunkin’ locations and a number of Dave’s Hot Chicken restaurants, among others. We wanted to talk with him to get a franchisee’s perspective of the current en...

What kind of technology are restaurant companies looking for? This week’s episode of A Deeper Dive features Juan George, a former Olo executive and cofounder of 858 Partners, which connects restaurants with technology companies. Technology remains a key area of investment for a lot of companies. We were interested in hearing from George about what companies are looking for. He does not disappoint...

Zaxbys is ready to fulfill its destiny. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features a discussion with Bernard Acoca, the CEO of the fast-casual chicken chain. Acoca was hired as CEO three years ago and was the first non-founder to lead the Atlanta-based chain. He has spent that time “bunkering” and working to fix the brand’s operations. Now he’s ready to talk and...

How does a restaurant chain go from parking lot startup to $1 billion valuation in less than a decade? This week’s episode of A Deeper Dive focuses on the recent sale of Dave’s Hot Chicken to Roark Capital. It features the fast-casual chain’s CFO, James McGehee, and SVP of Finance Scott Putman.  Dave’s Hot Chicken was founded in a Los Angeles parking lot—yes, a parking lot—by four friends in 2017....

Why doesn’t Handel’s Homemade Ice cream have an app? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Jennifer Schuler, CEO of the Ohio-based Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream. This is a great conversation. Handel’s was founded in Youngstown Ohio in 1945. It has been franchising for decades. But it has taken off last year—sales rose 38%. Schuler was named CEO early last year...