Restaurant Influencers

Bo Davis, CEO and co-founder of MarginEdge, turned years of operating restaurants into a technology platform built for restaurant owners. After struggling to understand whether his own restaurants were truly profitable, he created MarginEdge to give operators better visibility into their business every day. Watch now to learn about restaurant profitability, automating invoices, and why Bo Davis be...

Keller Cliffton, co-founder and CEO of Zipline, is helping transform delivery through autonomous drone technology. What started with delivering life-saving medical supplies in Rwanda has expanded into restaurant delivery, helping operators reach more customers faster. Watch now to learn about autonomous delivery, reaching customers farther away, and the future of restaurant logistics. Restaurant I...

Kristen Corral, co-founder of Tacotarian, has helped grow the plant-based Mexican restaurant brand into a six-location company through creator-driven marketing, founder-led storytelling, and community-focused content designed to reach far beyond the traditional vegan audience. Watch now to learn how Tacotarian built a vegan brand for the other 97%, why “cringe” content works, and how Kristen Corra...

Alex Smith, founder and CEO of Atlas Restaurant Group, helped transform Baltimore’s Harbor East into a dining destination while building a rapidly expanding hospitality company known for luxury restaurants, disciplined operations, and team-first culture. Watch now to learn how Alex Smith built Atlas Restaurant Group, transformed Harbor East, and used lacrosse principles to scale team culture. Rest...

Emily Brown, owner of Eebee’s Corner Bar in Washington, DC, built one of the city’s most talked about neighborhood bars around old-school hospitality and community. Before opening Eebee’s, Brown spent years bartending, running beverage programs, and hustling through side jobs while developing her vision for a corner bar. Watch now to learn about the leap of faith behind Eebee’s Corner Bar, the sev...

Tobin Ellis, founder and principal of Studio Barmagic, has spent nearly 30 years designing and operating bars around the world. Through his new book Bar Design Essentials, Ellis shares why workflow, hospitality, and beverage strategy matter more than ever in the modern restaurant business. Watch now to learn why most bars are designed backward, how hospitality is changing as people drink less, and...

Seth Gerber is the co-owner of MIDA Restaurant Group in Boston and a hospitality professor at Boston University. As a restaurateur, operator, and educator, he’s built a career focused on neighborhood restaurants, mentorship, and challenging the way the hospitality industry views itself. Watch now to learn how Seth Gerber saved a struggling restaurant, scaled MIDA, and is reframing hospitality care...

Mike Bausch, founder of Andolini’s Pizza and Andolini’s Worldwide, uses storytelling and social media to help restaurants build stronger brands and customer loyalty. As a restaurateur, speaker, and content creator, he blends hospitality with media and restaurant education. Watch now to learn how Mike Bausch built his personal brand, why he believes storytelling beats discounts, and the operator mi...

Steven Droulis, co-owner of Vivaldi Restaurant in Montreal, has grown a YouTube audience of 1 million subscribers by documenting life in his kitchen. As a chef, operator, and content creator, he’s turned a neighborhood restaurant into a destination. Watch now to learn how a restaurant owner built 1 million YouTube subscribers, turned content into real customers, and transformed a local spot into a...

Andrew Zimmern, a four-time James Beard Award-winning chef and host of Bizarre Foods, built a career through curiosity. As a chef, storyteller, and TV personality, he turned adventurous travel, an exorcism in Ecuador, and a call from Jay Leno’s team into one of food media’s most recognizable brands. Watch now to learn about the wild moment that helped Bizarre Foods break through, the surprise call...

Kerry Leo, Vice President of Technology at Shipley Do-Nuts, is helping modernize one of America’s most established donut brands. By blending frontline listening with smart technology, he’s helping turn a nearly 90-year-old company into a scalable business built for growth. Watch now to learn how a 90-year-old brand is scaling fast, why listening in the shops drives better tech decisions, and how S...

Ryan Feghali, known as “QSR Guy” on X, is a multi-unit franchisee of Little Caesars and Jersey Mike’s and co-founder of CoCo Playa. He uses honest posts to share the realities of operating restaurants at scale and turn insights into real business opportunities. Watch now to learn how Ryan Feghali uses X to build real relationships, why telling the truth creates leverage, and how anonymous posts tu...

Eddie Flores Jr., co-founder of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, built a 235-location restaurant brand by staying rooted in Hawaiian culture. As an entrepreneur and franchise pioneer, he turned one restaurant into a national concept through authenticity and community. Watch now to learn about the power of Hawaiian identity, creating opportunity through franchising, and leading through family. Sponsored by: ...

Farah Shirzadi helps restaurant brands grow through YouTube and digital content. Working at the intersection of hospitality and media, she focuses on turning storytelling into discovery, engagement, and real-world traffic. Watch now to learn how restaurants can win on YouTube, why content drives discovery, and what most operators still get wrong. Sponsored by: • TOAST - All-In-1 Restaurant POS: ht...

Holly Smith, Chief Marketing Officer of P.F. Chang’s, is focused on reconnecting one of the restaurant industry’s most recognizable brands with modern diners. As a marketing leader, she blends storytelling, digital engagement, and data-driven strategy to keep the brand culturally relevant. Watch now to learn how Holly Smith is rethinking restaurant marketing, why engagement matters more than follo...

Josh Kim, co-founder of Softies Burger in Los Angeles, is building a restaurant brand in public. A former OpenTable employee, Kim shares the real process of opening and running a restaurant through storytelling and social media. Watch now to learn how a burger popup took off, why Josh Kim chose to build in public, and the reality of opening a restaurant. Sponsored by: • TOAST - All-In-1 Restaurant...

Restaurants are built on food and operations, but they are remembered because of the stories that come out of them.  During his tenure as Global CEO of José Andrés Group, Sam Bakhshandehpour saw how one unexpected moment can travel far beyond the dining room when it captures something real. Note: This interview was originally recorded on October 14th, 2025 when Sam Bakhshandehpour was Global CEO ...

Pamela Weekes and Connie McDonald, co-founders of Levain Bakery, built one of America’s most iconic bakeries by choosing community over scale. As longtime partners and operators, they’ve spent three decades proving that patience and care can turn a neighborhood shop into a national brand. Watch now to learn how a batch of cookies became a national brand, how community fueled their growth, and why...

Vanessa Phillips, co-founder and CEO of Feel Good Foods, grew up in the restaurant industry before turning a personal health challenge into a national frozen food brand. After being diagnosed with celiac disease, she set out to recreate the foods she loved, building a career that blends hospitality roots with consumer packaged goods innovation. Watch now to learn how a lie at a family reunion beca...

Helen Wechsler, Senior Director, Food Program CoE at Google, leads one of the world’s largest food at work programs. With a career rooted in hospitality, she oversees how food supports culture, wellbeing, and belonging across Google offices, blending intentional experiences with technology to feed people thoughtfully at global scale. Watch now to learn how food, culture, and technology come togeth...

James Petrakis, co-founder of The Ravenous Pig and a James Beard Award semifinalist, helped shape Orlando’s modern food scene by building restaurants rooted in craft, community, and endurance. As a chef, operator, and mentor, he’s built a career defined less by hype and more by staying power. Watch now to learn how survival shaped his growth, how one airport deal changed everything, and why commun...

Michael Palmer, CEO of McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams, oversees the evolution of a historic California brand. As a brand builder and operator, he’s focused on alignment, patience, and protecting what made the product special.  Watch now to learn about taking over a legacy ice cream brand, building partnerships rooted in shared values, and growing nationally without sacrificing quality. Sponsored by: ...

Brooks Schaden, co-CEO and co-founder of Tom’s Watch Bar, is building a new kind of sports bar designed around how fans actually watch games today. Through thoughtful design, operations, and partnerships, he’s turning live sports into a scalable hospitality experience. Watch now to learn how a sports bar built around fandom grew fast, formed strategic partnerships, and turned games into shared mom...

Xavier Woods, an NFL safety and Smoothie King franchise owner, is building a second career rooted in ownership. As a professional athlete turned entrepreneur, he’s investing in systems designed for durability beyond football. Watch now to learn how an NFL veteran is applying discipline from the field to franchise ownership, long-term investing, and building businesses beyond football. (This episod...

Will Newman, founder of Edley’s Bar-B-Que, turned years of regional BBQ exposure into a growing restaurant brand. As a former law student and restaurant operator, he focuses on thoughtful growth while honoring the legacy behind the name Watch now to learn how a law student recognized an opening, named a restaurant with purpose, and navigated the realities of growing a BBQ brand. Sponsored by: • TO...