Restaurant Masters

This episode of Restaurants Masters is hosted by Ken McGarrie, co-founder of Korgen Hospitality. The author of The Surprise Restaurant Manager, McGarrie has helmed many successful restaurants, bars, and entertainment-based venues for over two decades. Ken has helped launch new concepts and train hospitality leaders throughout the United States and Canada. In part three of his three part series on insight for restaurant industry leadership, McGarrie gives valuable tips for managing your restaurant’s reviews.

McGarrie suggests these tips on taking every opportunity to embrace reviews and improve your restaurant’s ratings:

-Avoiding the lazy manager table touch.
-Understanding why people post reviews.
-Not playing detective to determine the legitimacy of the review.
-Realizing it is not about being right, it is about disappointment.
-Acknowledging the level of passion it takes to write a long one star review.
-Changing the communication and making the discussion private, one on one.
-Never mention the star rating.

“When you reach out, never focus on the star rating itself, focus on the philosophy for why people feel that they have to reach out and for their level of disappointment they experienced and you will be able to recover them each and every time,” says McGarrie.

Check out the episode above to learn more expert insight on navigating reviews in the restaurant industry. Also be sure to listen to McGarrie’s part two of Expert Insight for Restaurant Industry Leadership where he talks about management communication strategies. For more industry education listen to the Restaurant Masters Podcast!

Communication strategies can help you manage your team, address challenges, and benefit the day to day operation of your business. Avoiding communication blunders will guarantee staff retention and create a great working environment.

This episode of Restaurants Masters is hosted by Ken McGarrie, co-founder of Korgen Hospitality. The author of The Surprise Restaurant Manager, McGarrie has helmed many successful restaurants, bars, and entertainment-based venues for over two decades. Ken has helped launch new concepts and train hospitality leaders throughout the United States and Canada. In part two of his three part series on insight for restaurant industry leadership, McGarrie shares important strategies for management communication.

McGarrie identifies five key points on how management should effectively address the staff through proper communication strategies:

How managers lose good people.

Managers not having balance between hands-on and delegation support.

Overestimated familiarity, communicating with staff in an overly casual manner.

Using emotion over data in order to communicate with staff.

Communicating that someone is not performing.

“People that you work with will take cues from your behavior and your energy so if you are the one that comes with positive energy then people sense positivity and mirror likewise.” Mcgarrie advises management on communication. He also points out that a manager’s team must see them as a value to the operation.

Check out the episode above to learn more expert insight on communication strategies in the restaurant industry. Also be sure to listen to McGarrie’s part one of Expert Insight for Restaurant Industry Leadership where he talks about assembling the right team. Be on the lookout for more tips from McGarrie on Restaurant Masters Podcast!

Assembling the right team can sometimes be a challenge for even experienced restaurant industry managers. It is important to locate and effectively interview candidates as well as foresee warning signs during the process.

This episode of Restaurants Masters is hosted by Ken McGarrie, co-founder of Korgen Hospitality. The author of The Surprise Restaurant Manager, McGarrie has helmed many successful restaurants, bars, and entertainment-based venues for over two decades. Ken has helped launch new concepts and train hospitality leaders throughout the United States and Canada. In part one of his three part series on assembling the right team, McGarrie shares insight on hiring new candidates for your restaurant.

McGarrie suggests every restaurant manager should follow these insights before they begin the hiring process to attract top talent:

Use creative and welcoming job posts.

Change the mentality from “how lucky someone is to work for you” to “how appreciative you are that they choose to work with you.”

Use non-traditional means to uncover true personalities.

Red flags not to hire an applicant.

“It is no secret that right now finding staff is a challenge globally.” McGarrie adds “In order to rise to the top you have to make sure the first thing you are doing is understanding that the people that work for you, you need them more than they need you.”

Check out the episode above to learn more expert insight on finding top talent in the restaurant industry. Be on the lookout for more tips from McGarrie on Restaurant Masters Podcast!

In this episode of Restaurant Masters, host Paul Barron sits down with Helen Lao, the founder and president of ClearPath Solutions, to explore how companies, brands, and individuals can survive a major setback.

Hiring quality, motivated employees does not necessarily make for a great team. Operators in the hospitality industry also need to invest in their staff with proper training programs, review systems, and management protocol to cultivate a safe, healthy work environment built to last.

This episode of Restaurant Masters is hosted by Doug Radkey, the founder and president of creative agency KRG Hospitality Inc. The author of Bar Hacks, Radkey offers listeners over two decades of food, beverage, and hospitality development experience. In part three of his series on team building, Radkey explores the necessary processes behind setting thoughtful, well-crafted objectives for your staff.

Doug Radkey is the founder and president of creative agency KRG Hospitality Inc as well as the author of Bar Hacks. Radkey offers listeners over two decades of food, beverage, and hospitality development experience. In part two of his series on team building, Radkey advises restaurant and brand owners on how to build a positive work environment and how to inspire and create brand ambassadors.

Doug Radkey, the founder and president of creative agency KRG Hospitality Inc. and the author of Bar Hacks, offers listeners over two decades of food, beverage, and hospitality development experience. In part one of his series on team building, Radkey examines best practices for crafting a top tier staff. Learn about Radkey’s background in the industry, setting employee expectations, and crafting a training plan!

Rudy Miick, the founder and president of Colorado-based Leadership In the Fall Line and the Rudy Miick consulting group, talks about the process behind equipping employees with fiscal knowledge, and the ultimate payoff for cultivating an inspired workforce!

In today’s crowded restaurant industry, most brands focus more on year-to-year survival than mastering their particular market. To compete, companies lower prices, offer promotions, and do everything they can price-wise to get customers in the door—and while rewarding at first, these techniques tend to do little to engender consumer loyalty.

This episode of Restaurant Masters features restaurant coach and former restaurant owner Donald Burns. In part three of his series on building a successful restaurant brand, he offers his best tips for creating a “badass” brand that dominates—rather than competes in—your chosen market. He has written the acclaimed books 2017 Your Restaurant Sucks! and the 2019 Your Restaurant STILL Sucks! and was featured in restaurant software company Toast’s Top Restaurant Experts to Follow in 2016, 2017, and 2018.

A restaurant’s brand identity is more than a logo, color scheme, aesthetic, or type of food. Your brand is your foundation: successful restaurants are built on clear, concise, and comprehensive brands.

This episode of Restaurant Masters features restaurant coach and former restaurant owner Donald Burns. In part two of his series on building your restaurant brand, he offers his best tips for cultivating a successful vision and company culture for your business. He has written the acclaimed books 2017 Your Restaurant Sucks! and the 2019 Your Restaurant STILL Sucks! and was featured in restaurant software company Toast’s Top Restaurant Experts to Follow in 2016, 2017, and 2018.