Extra Serving: A restaurant industry podcast

On this week’s Extra Serving, NRN editor in chief Sam Oches and executive editor Alicia Kelso discuss the E. coli outbreak at McDonald’s, which was traced to the onions on its Quarter Pounders. As the fallout reverberates around the restaurant industry, Sam and Alicia recount how past food-borne illnesses have affected companies like Jack in the Box, Chipotle, and Chi-Chi’s. Plus, they talk a...

In this week’s episode of Extra Serving, NRN editor in chief Sam Oches and executive editor Alicia Kelso discuss Chipotle’s latest investments from its $100 million Cultivate Next fund, which included an AI supply chain firm as well as the fast-casual Mediterranean concept Brassica. Find out why they’re bullish on the Brassica investment despite Chipotle’s spotty history developing other concepts....

In this week’s episode of Extra Serving, NRN editor in chief Sam and executive editor Alicia Kelso recap the CREATE and Investment Summit events, which brought emerging restaurateurs together in Nashville to network, exchange ideas, and explore financing opportunities. Plus, the McDonald’s/Krispy Kreme partnership is expanding to Chicago this week with a goal of becoming nationwide by the end of 2...

On this week’s Extra Serving, NRN editor in chief Sam Oches and executive editor Alicia Kelso discuss McDonald’s announcement that it would offer the Chicken Big Mac for a limited time. Will it resonate with younger guests and find a place on the permanent menu? They also dig into Subway’s goal to open 10,000 locations internationally and whether a company that has closed thousands of locatio...

In this week’s episode of Extra Serving, NRN editor in chief Sam and executive editor Alicia Kelso discuss Raising Cane’s recent team event in Cancun, Mexico, where founder Todd Graves outlined his goal for Raising Cane’s to become a top 10 restaurant chain with more than $10 billion in sales. Plus, Sam and Alicia discuss their visit to Texas Roadhouse’s support center in Louisville, Ky., where th...

On this week’s Extra Serving, NRN editor in chief Sam Oches and executive editor Alicia Kelso discuss Chipotle’s investment in automated kitchen equipment, including the Autocado and Augmented Makeline. How does this equipment improve the Chipotle operation and help it achieve its goal of 7,000 restaurants? Plus, they discuss Olive Garden’s decision to finally use third-party delivery an...

On this week’s Extra Serving, NRN editor in chief Sam Oches and executive editor Alicia Kelso discuss the fact that restaurant menu prices are still inching upward even as supermarket prices are essentially flat. That leads them to discuss McDonald’s $5 meal deal and the risk that major chains take when discounting their way out of negative traffic trends. Plus, Brian Niccol is officially the CEO...

On this week’s Extra Serving, NRN editor in chief Sam Oches and executive editor Alicia Kelso discuss all of the NFL players who have gone on to become restaurateurs, plus the recent news from Topgolf and Pinstripes that suggests the eatertainment category may not be riding as high as it once was. Then senior food and beverage editor Bret Thorn joins to talk about this year’s fall menu trends — wh...

On this week’s Extra Serving, NRN editor in chief Sam Oches and executive editor Alicia Kelso discuss the recent Prosper Forum in Amelia Island, Fla., plus the several CEO changes from across the restaurant industry. They also cover Shake Shack’s store closures, whether the better-burger trend has hit a bump in the road, and how Subway is clawing back from the $5 Footlong deal. Finally, for this w...

Welcome to a new and improved Extra Serving! This week, we’re introducing a new format where NRN editor in chief Sam Oches and executive editor Alicia Kelso talk about the biggest headlines of the week before rolling into the “extra serving” portion of the episode, where they welcome a colleague to the show to go deeper on a story.    This week, Sam and Alicia talk about Chick-fil-A’s ne...

This week on Extra Serving, editors Alicia Kelso, Joanna Fantozzi, and Sam Oches discuss the shocking news from last week that Starbucks would hire Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol for its chief executive role. What does this mean for the future at Starbucks? Find out in this conversation. Then, NRN's senior food and beverage editor Bret Thorn sits down with brothers Zane and Brandon Hunt of fast-ca...

This week on Extra Serving, a podcast from Nation’s Restaurant News, managing editor Leigh Anne Zinsmeister sat down with Mahesh Sadarangani and Andi Trindle Mersch of Philz Coffee.  Philz Coffee has been thriving in California for more than 20 years, and now it’s ready for more. With 70 locations as of the end of 2023, 64 of which are in the chain’s home st...

This week on Extra Serving, a podcast from Nation’s Restaurant News, editor-in-chief Sam Oches sits down with Lynette McKee, senior vice president of franchising for Potbelly Sandwich Works. Lynette is an industry franchising veteran who worked with Checkers, Dunkin’, and more before joining Potbelly last year. In this interview, conducted on the floor of the recent National Restaurant Association...

This week on Extra Serving, a podcast from Nation’s Restaurant News, editor-in-chief Sam Oches sits down with Little Greek president and majority partner Nick Vojnovic. Nick is an industry veteran who was previously president of Beef ‘O’ Brady’s for many years, but since 2011 has been scaling the Mediterranean fast casual Little Greek.    In this interview, conducted on the floor of...

This week on Extra Serving, a podcast from Nation’s Restaurants News, editor-in-chief Sam Oches sits down with Just Salad supply chain and sustainability manager Alex Harden to talk about the brand’s innovation around sustainable operations and packaging. This interview, conducted on the floor of the recent National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, uncovers why Just Salad is so committed to...

This week on Extra Serving, a podcast from Nation’s Restaurant News, senior food and beverage editor Bret Thorn sat down with Becca McIntyre, VP of culinary and supply chain at Craveworthy Brands. Craveworthy has been on a tear lately, adding Untamed Brands, parent company of Taim Mediterranean Kitchen and Hot Chicken Takeover, to its robust portfolio in May of this year. The restaurant group, fou...

In this special bonus episode of Extra Serving, a podcast from Nation’s Restaurant News, editor-in-chief Sam Oches sits down with colleague Jonathan Maze, editor-in-chief of Restaurant Business, to debrief their time at the National Restaurant Association Show. From THC drinks to snacks, there was plenty of food and beverage to discuss, but the editors were clear on one thing: technology investmen...

This week on Extra Serving, a podcast from Nation’s Restaurant News, we’re sharing a recent conversation between NRN senior editor Joanna Fantozzi, and Smokey Mo’s president Craig Haley. Smokey Mo’s is an emerging fast-casual barbecue chain with 19 locations and counting in the state of Texas, and according to Craig, the brand is on a quest to be “the best neighborhood barbecue in Texas.” Accordin...

This week on Extra Serving, a podcast from Nation’s Restaurant News, we’re sharing the first of many conversations we had with restaurant experts in Chicago at the National Restaurant Association Show this spring. As always, the Show was widely attended by vendors, operators, and — luckily for all who now get to enjoy this conversation — social-media stars.  Today, we’re sharing a chat betwee...

On this bonus episode of Extra Serving, a podcast from Nation’s Restaurant News, we’re sharing a conversation between senior editor Bret Thorn and CKE Restaurants chief marketing officer Jennifer Tate . You may recall that back in April, we here at NRN published our annual Power List, highlighting 25 restaurant marketers who are creatively reaching guests leveraging the creator economy, and 25 soc...

This week on the Extra Serving podcast, a product of Nation’s Restaurant News, editors Leigh Anne Zinsmeister and Sam Oches do a deep dive into the 2024 Technomic Top 500 data. Last week, we had a downer of a conversation about casual-dining unit retrenchment, so today we mixed it up by highlight some positive unit growth data. You might expect the largest chains to have an advantage when it comes...

You may recall that back in April, we here at NRN published our annual Power List, highlighting 25 restaurant marketers who are creatively reaching guests leveraging the creator economy, and 25 social-media influencers creating innovative food content.  This week and next, we’re bringing you conversations with those marketers as they share their stories and tips. Today, we’re highlighting Kri...

This week on Extra Serving, a podcast from Nation’s Restaurant News, NRN editors Leigh Anne Zinsmeister and Sam Oches talk all things menu innovation. The week saw a new sauce at KFC, doughnut holes at Krispy Kreme, and Limonada Freeze at Taco Bell. The editors talk through why all of these updates make sense, and how restaurant operators can make menu changes with big operational shifts. Then, th...

This week on the Extra Serving podcast, a product of Nation’s Restaurant News, NRN editors Holly Petre, Leigh Anne Zinsmeister, and Alicia Kelso discussed the Top 500 chains in the country. This week, NRN released its Top 500 report and the editors got into some of the nitty gritty from the past year’s financials and some trends they have noticed. The editors also talked about Rubio’s, which decla...

This week on the Extra Serving podcast, a product of Nation’s Restaurant News, NRN editors Holly Petre, Alicia Kelso, and Joanna Fantozzi discussed the state of the consumer. There have been many conversations over the past few months about what consumers wants, what they consider “value” in an industry that’s seen prices rise substantially over the past five years. Quick-service brands like McDon...