The Restaurant Finance Podcast

What happens when customers see something in your restaurant brand that your marketing is missing? Jennifer Dodd, CEO and board advisor at Main Squeeze Juice Co., joins James Tice to discuss her decision to pause franchise sales and marketing spending to rethink the brand. Customer data and conversations pointed toward an unexpected idea: Main Squeeze was a beauty brand. A new message focused on h...

How do you decide which opportunities to pursue when your business is growing fast? Scott Kleckner, owner of Olive Wood Pizza, joins James Tice to discuss the decisions behind scaling his Southern California catering business. After nearly 30 years in corporate hospitality, Kleckner bought a small company and doubled it in about 20 months. He explains why he passed on a promising restaurant space,...

How do you update a restaurant brand without losing the customers who have loved it for decades? Alfredo Miro, chief operating officer of Baker’s Drive-Thru, joins James Tice to discuss that challenge as the 38-location Southern California chain prepares to grow. Baker’s wants to reach new customers and expand into markets where former California residents already know the brand, but even small ch...

How do you take a culture built on radical transparency and high operational standards into an environment where guest stress is high and time is scarce? Michel Falcon, founder of Brasa Peruvian Kitchen, joins James Tice as the brand prepares to launch its first non-traditional location inside Toronto Pearson International Airport. Scaling into major transit hubs usually exposes young concepts to...

What good is a busy restaurant if the numbers do not work? Daniel Holzman joins James Tice to talk honestly about building successful restaurants in New York, mismanaging the business and ultimately losing the company. Now operating three pizzerias in Los Angeles, he is taking a simpler approach to financing, technology and growth. Holzman makes the case for buying restaurant real estate, keeping...

How do you turn a restaurant promotion into a reason for guests to keep coming back? Ingrid Martinez, VP of Marketing at Norms Restaurants, joins Ty Wilson live from the CREATE conference to explain how the diner brand connects marketing spending to guest loyalty. From tracking return visits through its LA Galaxy partnership to testing offers across different locations, Martinez shares the approac...

What does it take to build a restaurant growth plan that the numbers can actually support? Don Connor, founder of Whiskey 'N Rye Smokehouse, joins Ty Wilson live from the CREATE conference to share how his background in finance and strategic planning shapes the way he approaches restaurant growth. Whiskey 'N Rye uses daily revenue and labor budgets, multiple financial scenarios, and regular refore...

What does it take for a growing restaurant brand to feel local in every community it serves? Josef Sanchez, local store marketing manager at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, joins Ty Wilson live from the CREATE conference to explain why traditional marketing still plays an important role for the 47-location restaurant brand. Sanchez shares how Grimaldi’s approaches billboards, local sponsorships, radio, print...

What does it take to scale a restaurant company while still loving the work you're building? Rachel Cope, co-founder and CEO of 84 Hospitality, joins Ty Wilson from the CREATE conference to share how she went from waiting tables to building a 13-unit restaurant group with four concepts across Oklahoma. Cope shares the unlikely story behind launching Empire Slice House, why the eight-location pizza...

What does it take to grow a restaurant brand without sacrificing long-term stability? Tom Holt, founder and owner of Urbane Cafe, joins Ty Wilson from the CREATE conference to share how he's built the fast-casual concept from a single restaurant in 2003 to 50 locations by focusing on disciplined expansion, strong unit economics, and investing in people. Holt explains why he turned down private equ...

Why would a growing restaurant brand choose not to franchise? John Abdo, CEO and Chief Burger Enthusiast of My Burger, joins James Tice from the CREATE conference to explain why disciplined growth has been the foundation of the company's success. Rather than chasing rapid expansion, Abdo shares how My Burger has grown to 11 locations by focusing on strong unit economics, patient capital, and creat...

What separates people who are remembered from those who simply deliver information? Charlie Eblen, owner of SingleTree Wood Fire BBQ, joins James Tice to share why authenticity has become one of the most valuable skills in business. After years in restaurant leadership, Eblen explains how embracing his true personality instead of trying to sound polished transformed his media presence, strengthene...

Why would a successful vegan restaurant avoid marketing itself as vegan? Kristen Corral, co-founder of Tacotarian, joins Ty Wilson to explain why the brand focuses on serving great Mexican food first and plant-based food second. She shares why she believes the word "vegan" can turn customers away, how Tacotarian has grown to six locations with national franchising underway, and why building commun...

What happens when losing your job leads to an entirely new career? Jeff Perera, co-founder of Jeff's Bagel Run, joins Ty Wilson to share how a layoff in 2019 led him to learn how to make bagels from scratch, despite having no culinary background. What began as a challenge from his wife quickly turned into an obsession, then a Kickstarter campaign, the sale of their family home, and eventually one...

What if the best way to improve restaurant profitability isn't cutting costs, but making better decisions? Yassine Lyoubi, partner at Barry's Downtown Prime inside Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, joins Ty Wilson to discuss how one of downtown Las Vegas' busiest independent steakhouses balances old-school hospitality with modern technology. Lyoubi shares how relationships with suppliers, fo...

What if the biggest obstacle to growth isn't money, competition, or real estate, but self-doubt? Jason Ganahl, founder of GQue BBQ, joins Ty Wilson to discuss how a passion for competition barbecue turned into Colorado's only championship barbecue restaurant brand. Ganahl shares the lessons he's learned growing from a single location to nine units, why guest experience drives every growth decision...

Duce Raymond joins Ty Wilson to discuss building the next chapter of one of barbecue's most recognizable family legacies. As the son of the chef behind Sweet Baby Ray’s, Raymond shares why he's transitioning to the Deuce’s Wild brand, how an $8 million catering business fuels growth, and what goes into launching a new technology-driven barbecue restaurant. From family history and restaurant financ...

What happens when a restaurant operator walks away from a long-term partnership and decides to rebuild from the ground up? Matthew Vascellaro, founder of Matty Smokes BBQ & Catering, joins Ty Wilson to share why he recently exited a nine-year partnership to fully focus on the next evolution of his barbecue business. From live-fire catering experiences across Long Island to exploring franchisin...

What does it take to grow a restaurant brand without outside funding, franchise shortcuts, or sacrificing quality along the way? Joe Fontana, founder of Fry The Coop, sits down with Ty Wilson to break down how he built one of Chicago’s fastest-growing hot chicken brands from a single second-generation restaurant into a 10-unit operation doing $16 million annually, completely debt-free. Joe shares...

On this episode of The Restaurant Finance Podcast we flip the script. Shawn Walchef (Cali BBQ Media) sits down with Ty Wilson, CEO & founder of Tab Commerce, to unpack how his team rebuilt the corporate card for restaurants. Ty shares the origin story born in his family’s dining room during COVID, why DoorDash/Uber Eats rejections pushed him to build, and the now-famous King–Queen–Bishop frame...

The script is flipped! Join Ty Wilson and James Tice as they join Cali BBQ Media Founder Shawn Walchef on Digital Hospitality. And this conversation goes deep on a topic most operators avoid: money. Tab Commerce is building a modern financial platform for restaurants - offering corporate cards designed specifically for operators, better support, AP automation, higher limits, and financial tools bu...

What happens when a restaurant stops thinking like a traditional restaurant and starts thinking like a live event? Brooks Schaden, Co-CEO of Tom’s Watch Bar, joins James Tice to talk about building restaurants around live sports, fan communities, and shared experiences. From playoff runs and opening day surges to alumni groups and watch parties, Schaden explains how Tom’s turns every game into an...

What makes someone choose your restaurant over every other option around them? For Ford Fry, it starts long before the food hits the table. Ford Fry, chef and founder of Rocket Farm Restaurants, joins James Tice to break down how hospitality, atmosphere, and operational thinking shape modern restaurant growth. Fry explains how his team adapts service across different formats while still protecting...

What if the key to scaling a restaurant brand wasn’t just systems or capital, but how you treat your people every single day? Kay Young, Co-Owner and VP of Sales and Marketing at Squeeze In, joins James Tice to share how a family-run breakfast concept grew into a multi-unit brand without losing the feeling that made it special in the first place. From growing up inside the restaurant to now helpin...

What does it take to grow a restaurant brand quickly while building the systems, people, and discipline needed to sustain that growth? Great restaurant operators do not just react to what is happening today. They build systems, develop people, and use data to make smarter decisions before problems ever appear. Amanda Kahalehoe, Chief Operating Officer of Vicious Biscuit, sits down with James Tice...