Rock My Restaurant

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Sterling Douglass, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Chowly.

On this episode of the new Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich explore recent packaging changes, and discuss why operators should continue to invest their time and resources in their catering business.

On this episode of the new Takeout, Delivery, and Catering podcast series, hosts TJ Schier and Sam Stanovich sit down with Steve Bigari, the founder and chief executive officer of takeout order processing and restaurant call center Synq3.

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, podcast host Valerie Killifer chats with Risa Rappaport, the director of off-premise operations for Firehouse Subs. Rappaport joined the Firehouse Subs team in 2016.

On this episode of the former Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, podcast host Valerie Killifer sits down with Aaron Hoffman, the co-founder of popular third-party delivery service DeliverThat. Aaron Hoffman and John Zinno founded DeliverThat in their Ohio University dorm room in 2013, hand-delivering countless orders to their classmates for two years. The company has since evolved into a cateri...

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, podcast host Valerie Killifer chats with Elyse Boule, the director of catering for casual “real food” restaurant Next Door American Eatery.

Valerie Killifer chats with James Walker, the senior vice president of the beloved Nathan’s Famous. Walker joined the restaurant industry as a chef back in the 1990s, and moved to the management and operations side by the end of the decade. With previous experience overseeing such brands as Baja Fresh, Cinnabon, and Subway, he joined the Nathan’s Famous team earlier this year and aims to grow the...

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, podcast host Valerie Killifer sits down with Daring Solutions founder and CEO Jeff Chasney. Daring Solutions uses artificial intelligence to optimize restaurant kitchens and directly help staff improve sales, profits, and customer satisfaction. In this episode, Chasney shares how industry operators can leverage data to grow long-term sal...

On this episode of the Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, podcast hosts Valerie Killifer and Erle Dardick chat with Mark Avalos and Rafael Robinson, the co-owners of SLAB BBQ. Avalos began SLAB in a barbecue trailer as a catering business in 2006. He subsequently opened a food trailer at the University of Texas in Austin, and established the company’s first brick and mortar restaurant location...

On this episode of The Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, podcast hosts Valerie Killifer and Erle Dardick chat with Tad Low to discuss the importance of menu differentiation within off-premise. Tad Low is the Director of Off-Premise for Moe's Southwest Grill, an Atlanta based fast-casual restaurant chain with over 725 domestic and international locations. Low is leading a team that is working t...

On this episode of The Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, podcast host Valerie Killifer chats with Anthony Russo and Betsy Craig to discuss food safety concerns in the restaurant industry. Anthony Russo is the Director of International Sales and the Domestic Regulatory Affairs Officer for Lava Gel Technologies. Lava Gel is a non-toxic solution made from natural minerals that, when activated by...

On this episode of Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, our hosts Valerie Killifer and Erle Dardick sit down with Tracy Avolio, Vice President of The Catering Institute to discuss how to train sales employees for the modern catering landscape.

Ever wondered how a great on-demand strategy can differentiate your concept from the rest? On this episode of Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, our host Valerie Killifer sits down with Mark Toth, Founder and CEO of Urban Wok, founded in 2018 in Minneapolis, to figure out just that.

Having a proven strategy for your catering channel can take your restaurant from just making the margins to expanding your concept. The variables for creating a profitable catering channel are rapidly evolving, so best to learn from the best.

Over the last half-decade, the restaurant industry has experienced a paradigm shift from dine-in experiential dining to off-premise dining in the form of catering, takeout, and delivery. Third-party marketplaces like Uber Eats and GrubHub have proliferated and the pressure on the restaurant and foodservice operations to "buy-in," is heavy. But for many, the cost has outweighed the benefit.

On this episode of The Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, Valerie and Erle speak with Jennifer Crawford, director of off-premise sales at Fazoli’s System Management, an Italian quick-service restaurant, and Ernie Davis, National Account Manager for Accurate Box, a box manufacturing plant that produces high graphics boxes. The group discusses what is quickly becoming a true differentiator for br...

We are nearing the end of the first season, so in this episode, we decided to answer some of your questions. From food safety issues in the delivery channel to social media marketing, we cover the gambit of the most significant problems facing operators today.

Today, off-premise driven by technology, and a generation that grew up on convenience is changing the restaurant model again, likely forever. By now, we have all heard the term ghost restaurants or virtual restaurants, and that this is the next big thing. The definition of a ghost restaurant depends on who you talk to but basically it is defined as a restaurant that only offers delivery — no store...

On this episode of The Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, Valerie and Erle speak with Gracie Prasanson, director of sales for Jason’s Deli, about how restaurant operators working with third-party delivery providers can make sure that the appropriate measures are in place, and known risks are mitigated so that your restaurant does not get outmaneuvered by the third-party provider.

It is estimated that the average restaurant misses 6 - 12 calls a day that could be leading to additional sales and revenue in your catering channel. Enter Intel and Voice Teleservices who provided centralized call center operations to make sure that your restaurant is not losing out on potential customers.   

We meet Mike Axiotis, CFE, President & CEO, Lehigh Valley Restaurant Group, who is the franchise operator for Red Robin, we will explore how one franchise system launched an off-premise program, maintains their program, trains the staff, and markets themselves to keep customers coming back.

In this episode of The Takeout Delivery and Catering Show, Valerie and Erle talk with Ted Cohn, Co-Founder, and CTO at Orderscape Inc, to talk about AI in food service. AI is predicted to be a major player in economic growth over the next decade in food service.

On this episode of The Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show, our host, Valerie Killifer, interviews Courtney Smith, VP of Off-Premise at Newk’s Eatery, Ed Keller, Director of Off-Premise Development at Corner Bakery, and James Clark, Director of Food and Beverage at Mama Fu’s.

There are so many option and so many players, it's a challenge to figure out what is the right blueprint for off-premise success. The fundamentals of your off-premise strategies are crucial to your future success. In today's episode, Valerie and Erle speak with Richard Hodges, Vice President of Operations Services at La Madeleine. La Madeleine has had 6 years of consecutive growth in the off-premi...

In this episode of The Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Show we talk with Jim Vinz, CEO of Genghis Grill, about the systems and strategies Genghis Grill developed to become a model of success by empowering their franchisees to succeed in the tumultuous off-premise ecosystem.