Give an Ovation: The Restaurant Guest Experience Podcast with Zack Oates

Send us Fan Mail Geoff Alexander is the President and CEO of Wow Bao, a fast casual Asian concept that has grown from 3 brick-and-mortar locations to over 300 locations including airports, grocery stores, and food trucks, using what Geoff calls "dark kitchens" under his direction. Geoff also has substantial experience as managing partner at Lettuce Entertain you, and has been named one o...

Send us Fan Mail Brandon Barton is the CEO of Bite, a digital ordering platform for restaurants. He has worked in multiple start-ups, as a consultant, and has spent time at Patina Restaurant Group and Union Square Hospitality Group.  On this episode, Brandon and host Zack Oates discuss:  The current and future balances of on and off-premise ordering How work from home affects restaurants The advan...

Send us Fan Mail We all know there's a labor shortage right now, but is finding employees really as hard as it seems?  Ryan Gromfin,  Owner of The Restaurant Boss, breaks down hiring and other issues on this edition of Give an Ovation: A Podcast For Restaurants! With decades of experience as a chef, food and beverage director, and restaurant coach, Ryan now works with restaurants around the w...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back Bruce Irving, Owner of Smart Pizza Marketing, to his third episode of Give an Ovation: A Podcast For Restaurants! Bruce is a luminary in the industry with over 350 episodes of his podcast, Smart Pizza Marketing, and was instrumental in helping get Give an Ovation off the ground - of our first ten guests, he was two of them! On this episode, he and host Zack Oates disc...

Send us Fan Mail The Famous James Walker, CFE, is the Senior Vice President of Restaurants at Nathan's Famous Inc. - yes, that Nathan's. James has propelled the brand to new heights with off premise technologies, ghost kitchens, and menu innovations that the 100+ year-old brand has greatly appreciated. James also draws on senior experience at Subway, Cinnabon, and Johnny Rockets. We were...

Send us Fan Mail Ken McGarrie is the principal at Korgen Hospitality, a nationwide restaurant consulting firm. He has over two decades of experience at the helm of many successful restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues like Topgolf, and also has an amazing book called The Surprise Restaurant Manager. On this episode, he and host Zack Oates discuss: How Ken trains managers across the country t...

Send us Fan Mail MarketMan is here to save the day! Matt Hardoon is the VP of Sales at MarketMan, a SaaS platform for restaurant operators that provides inventory management, purchase ordering, recipe control, and advanced analytics as part of their back of house solution. Matt is also the former Principal and Market Manager of Promenade Bar and Grill in New York City.  On this episode, Matt and h...

Send us Fan Mail Get ready for a spicy episode! Phyllis Williams-Strawder is a business coach, brand strategist, author, successful restaurant owner, the creator of CKO Creator, and one of the most energetic guests we've had! On this episode, she and Zack discuss:  Why your brand needs personality Embracing technology Focusing your menu More Thanks Phyllis!

Send us Fan Mail Big wig alert! Phil Crawford is the Chief Technology Officer at CKE Restaurants, Inc., which owns Carl's Jr. and Hardee's. He's currently in the midst of revitalizing their brand through innovation on the user-side and the back-end. Phil has also been the CTO at Godiva Chocolatier, CIO at Shake Shack, and CIO at Yard House Restaurants.  On this episode, Phil and Zac...

Send us Fan Mail David Scott Peters is an author, restaurant coach and speaker who teaches restaurant operators how to take control of their businesses and finally realize their full potential. His first book, Restaurant Prosperity Formula: What Successful Restaurateurs Do, teaches the systems and traits to develop to run a profitable restaurant. Thousands of restaurants have worked with Peters to...

Send us Fan Mail Matt Plapp is the CEO of America's Best Restaurants, which helps customers find restaurants that make them smile, and CEO of Restaurant Marketing That Works, which helps restaurants acquire customers. As a thought leader in restaurant marketing, an author, and overall legend, we were thrilled to have Matt on this episode.  On this installment, Matt and host Zack Oates discuss...

Send us Fan Mail Ben Pryor is the Director of Innovation at Dewey's Pizza, a fantastic 24-location business where he drives transformational and creative solutions with people, food, and technology. Ben has over 30 years in the hospitality industry with experience at Noodles and Company and Quality Dining Inc. (Ben is also a talented musician - listen for the outro of this episode to hear a s...

Send us Fan Mail Jacobe Hollins is the Digital Program Supervisor at McDonald's where he has worked since 2013. He has an MBA in New Age Digital Marketing, is an advocate for frontline employees, and just implemented a system connecting 1.9 million employees at McDonald's.  In this 100th episode of Give an Ovation, he and Zack discuss: Transparency in the restaurant hiring industry Hospi...

Send us Fan Mail Edward Zimmerman simply had too much good stuff to say to on his first episode, so we invited him back for a second round of Give an Ovation! If you missed it, Edward has over 40 years in the food and hospitality industry and currently uses all of that experience as President of The Food Connector, a company that develops marketing plans for small to mid-size food manufacturers an...

Send us Fan Mail Wade Allen is the Senior Vice President and Head of Innovation at Brinker International, the parent company of Chili's Bar and Grill, Maggiano's Little Italy, and their new virtual brand and Wade's passion project, It's Just Wings. Wade spends each day searching for cutting-edge technology in the restaurant space, and shared what's working for him on this...

Send us Fan Mail Pete Peng is the founder and CEO of Jetson, the "Shopify of Voice Commerce". Jetson is a platform that enables businesses of any size to easily sell products and services through voice interfaces using AI technology. On this episode, Pete and Zack discuss how Jetson can help restaurants, how it was funded, and Pete's upcoming appearance on a business-centered realit...

Send us Fan Mail Mike Bausch is the Owner of the 17-year-old Andolini's Pizzeria, which was recently voted one of the top 10 Pizzerias in the United States by Tripadvisor. He also wrote the book, "Unsliced: How To Stay Whole In The Pizzeria Industry", is the VP of World Pizza Champion Team, and is a successful public speaker! On this episode, Mike shared his expertise on the followi...

Send us Fan Mail Warwick McLaren is the VP of Omnichannel Marketing at Global Franchise Group, which includes brands such as Round Table Pizza, Marble Slab Creamery, and Pretzelmaker. He oversees the development and execution of digital strategies across GFG's portfolio, and has learned a lot about digital customer engagement over throughout the pandemic. Lucky for us, he shared a few of his...

Send us Fan Mail Bill Stavrou is the founder of Foodhaul, a Chicago-based restaurant group that provides under-utilized kitchens with ghost concepts created by notable chefs. Bill's family business has been in operation for over 50 years, and he's now bringing his 30 years of hospitality experience to help restaurants with branding, staffing and costing! Here were a few of Bill's ma...

Send us Fan Mail Alonso Castañeda is the VP of Brand Development and Strategy at Savory Restaurant Fund, a group that partners with small restaurant concepts and takes them to the next level. He has also run operations at Cafe Rio, Paradise Bakery Cafe, and is an all around great guy!  Here are some of the main topics he discussed with host Zack Oates:  Customer expectations Digital systems of the...

Send us Fan Mail To put it simply, Preston Junger is the real deal. He's the VP of Sales and the Head of US Operations at 7shifts, the practically ubiquitous employee scheduling software of the restaurant industry. His background includes VP at Yelp as well as great tenures at Yahoo, Expedia, and Apple. He's the co-founder of Mile Square Labs, a consulting group for high-growth tech comp...

Send us Fan Mail Alan Magee is the VP of Digital Marketing and Technology at Church's Chicken, a national chicken chain. He is also one of the Brand Innovators 40 under 40 and has led brand marketing at Moe's Southwest Grill and InterContinental Hotels Group. Alan developed the digital marketing channel at Church's and through some small tweaks increased their mobile conversions by...

Send us Fan Mail Kyle Inserra is a restaurant growth strategist, thought leader, and current advisor with Sabre Real Estate Advisors. He started his career in the corporate finance and advertising industry, but changed careers and found his passion in the restaurant business (like many do!) After attending the French Culinary Institute and cooking around the world, he opened his own restaurant in...

Send us Fan Mail Edward Zimmerman has over 40 years in the food and hospitality industry and currently uses all of that experience as President of The Food Connector, a company that develops marketing plans for small to mid-size food manufacturers and distributors. He is also the former President of pizza.com, Successfoods Marketing, and has done business in all 50 states (yes, even North Dakota.)...

Send us Fan Mail David Bloom is the Chief Development and Operating Officer at Capriotti's Sandwich Shop and Wing Zone, where he is focused on growing those brands to national names.  With 40+ robust years in the hospitality industry and experience at locations like Quiznos, Hurricane Grill and Wings, and Famous Brands International, David had amazing things to say on this episode!  He and Za...