Ben Diaz didn't set out to become a chef. He thought he was going to be a pharmacist, until he followed a girlfriend to the California School of Culinary Arts and cooking took over. He never looked back.

What followed was two decades of building in the most demanding kitchens in Southern California. Hotels. High-volume events. Catering for 1,000 people at JW Marriott, Omni San Diego, Luxe City Center… places that don't forgive improvisation. Places that force you to preset yourself the night before, because tomorrow doesn't wait. He trained formally in France, earned certifications most chefs never pursue, joined the boards of culinary organizations, and quietly built one of the most complete operational skill sets in the industry.

Then he did something most chefs don't do: instead of rushing to sign a lease, he built the infrastructure first. CBDcuisine, his culinary consulting brand, has been running since 2010: menu engineering, SOPs, HACCP development, and yes, POS troubleshooting and KDS formatting (not something you see on many chef bios). He wrote a book. He launched Tacos El Chapin, a pop-up taqueria built on the flavors of Guatemala, Southern Mexico, and Central America. He built brand partnerships with Cambro, Lumina Farms, and Kikkoman. He's been on television. And through all of it, his message has stayed the same: it's never too late to learn, to pivot, or to start over, because the kitchen has room for anyone willing to put in the work.

He's not in a rush to open his permanent restaurant. He's building it right.

What We Cover in this episode of Restaurant Reset:

• How Ben went from pre-pharmacy to culinary school on a whim

• Why a chef's temperament is the single fastest way to lose or keep a kitchen

• What Ben actually means when he says he's "in search of the perfect taco”

• The specific zero-waste kitchen techniques Ben uses that never feel like cost-cutting to the guest

• Ben's three-question framework for evaluating any distributor relationship

• Why saying yes to every sponsorship deal is the fastest way to become forgettable

• The operational instincts that high-volume hotel kitchens force you to develop and that most independent restaurant chefs don't learn until it's too late

If you've ever wondered whether there's a smarter path to opening your own place, this episode is the blueprint. And if you're somewhere in the middle of a pivot, wondering if you're too late to start over in this industry, Ben's answer is clear: you're not.

Restaurant Reset is brought to you by Genius™ (Link globalpayments.com/genius) from Global Payments, the restaurant point of sale system that can power orders, payments and services in any type of food and beverage setting.

Nick Elmi won Top Chef Season 11 in New Orleans. Most winners parlay that into a media career, a fast-casual empire, or a product line. Nick went back to Philadelphia and opened a 22-seat restaurant called Laurel.

For 12 years, he cooked in that kitchen. He earned a James Beard nomination for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic. Michelin came to Philly and listed his restaurant. Before that, he trained under Georges Perrier (one of the greatest French chefs in American history) and built a mentorship tree of his own, sending cooks into kitchens across the country.

Then, in November 2025, he closed Laurel. Not because it failed. Because the lease ended and he decided it was time.

In this conversation, Nick opens up about why he chose the kitchen over the celebrity circuit, the math that every operator needs to do before they open (and most don't), and a personal transformation that changed everything: quitting drinking in September 2017… losing 20 pounds, becoming a better husband and father, and showing up for his restaurant in a way he couldn't before.

Nick rarely does interviews. This one is different.

What We Cover:

• Why Nick turned down the ‘Top Chef’ fame machine and went straight back to the line, and what that choice cost him and earned him over 12 years

• How you treat your team on Monday morning determines how they treat your guest on Friday night, and why most operators get this backwards

• Nick's blunt advice for anyone with a "vision": sit down with a calculator first. Seats × turns × average check = your actual business. Dream later.Why Nick asks every candidate "Where are you coming from?" instead of "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" and what it reveals

• How getting sober in 2017 transformed Nick's leadership, his marriage, his body, and his ability to show up for his team every single day

• What it looks like to end a 12-year run not in crisis, but in control and why more operators should think about their exit before they need one

• Why Nick brings the same intensity to a $1.5M restaurant as a $7M one, and what that says about what actually drives great operators

If you've ever wondered what happens after you "make it" in this industry or if you're building something and want to hear from someone who did it quietly, did it well, and walked away with no regrets: this is the episode.

Restaurant Reset is brought to you by Genius™ (Link globalpayments.com/genius) from Global Payments, the restaurant point of sale system that can power orders, payments and services in any type of food and beverage setting.

What does it actually take to go from 2 locations to 50 (with hundreds more in the pipeline) without VC money and without losing your mind? Josh Halpern, Chief Business Officer of Crave Worthy Brands and the architect behind Big Chicken's explosive growth, sits down with Andy Grindstaff to pull back the curtain on one of the most unusual brand-building journeys in the restaurant industry.

Yes, Shaquille O'Neal is involved. Yes, there's a Charles Barkley sandwich story that involves a live TV moment on TNT. And yes, Josh turned down over 6,000 franchise applications in three years. But underneath all the Shaq-sized stories is a deeply practical, hard-won playbook for how to scale a restaurant brand without torching your franchisees, your culture, or your quality.

Josh came up through Fortune 100 giants (Procter & Gamble, Clorox, Anheuser-Busch) before landing in fried chicken. That CPG background gave him a lens most restaurant operators never develop: the difference between the shopper and the consumer. The person whose credit card taps the terminal and the person with the sandwich in their hand? They're often not the same person. And if your loyalty program, your promotions, and your marketing don't account for that gap, you're burning money and missing your actual customer entirely.

Whether you're running one location or managing a multi-unit portfolio, this episode is packed with frameworks, stories, and hard truths that will change how you think about growth, guests, and what legacy actually looks like in this industry.

Topics covered:

• Why Shaq is the greatest trial mechanism on earth — and why that's also a massive risk• The shopper vs. consumer distinction that most restaurant loyalty programs completely miss• The Four Wins framework and how it applies to franchisees, suppliers, and guests• Six Sigma thinking applied to straws, ramekins, and franchise unit economics• Why Big Chicken merged into Crave Worthy Brands — and what multi-brand scale actually buys you• The Myers-Briggs profile of hospitality (and why AI can't replicate it)• How younger guests see themselves as brands — and what that means for your loyalty strategy• The one hard truth about scaling that founders refuse to face• Book recommendations: True North by Bill George, Founderology by Kathleen Wood, and Culture That Rocks by Jim KnightRestaurant Reset is brought to you by Genius™ (Link globalpayments.com/genius) from Global Payments, the restaurant point of sale system that can power orders, payments and services in any type of food and beverage setting.

Carin Stutz started working at McDonald's in high school to help pay for college. She never left the restaurant industry. Over the next four decades, she climbed from hourly employee to the C-suite… serving as COO of Red Robin, President of McAlister's Deli, CEO of Cosi and Native Foods, and holding leadership roles at Wendy's, Applebee's, and Brinker International (Chili's, Maggiano's).

In 2022, she was inducted into the Fast Casual Hall of Fame. But ask her if it's easier for women to reach the top today, and her answer is immediate: "Absolutely not."

In this conversation, Carin shares hard truths about restaurant leadership: from the real reason young workers see this as a "stepping stone" career (hint: we're doing it to ourselves), to why she was passed over for promotion seven times before a mentor told her the uncomfortable truth that changed everything.

What We Cover:

• The Restaurant PR Crisis – Why managers complaining about their jobs is killing our talent pipeline, and what "feeding people's souls" really means

• Financial Literacy for Operators – How to read a P&L, why your Google rating determines if you "exist," and the STORM framework for turning around struggling restaurants

• Women in Leadership – Carin's experience being told "How do I tell my wife I have a woman as a boss?" and why women today still face the same uphill battle

• Franchising Done Right – What franchisors owe franchisees (and vice versa), why corporate needs "skin in the game," and how to balance innovation with protecting the brand

•Technology + Hospitality – How to implement kiosks and automation without losing the human touch that keeps guests loyal

• The GLEAM Network – Carin's mentorship organization that's paired over 600 people, runs a 9-week bootcamp for hourly employees, and hosts in-person leadership events to show emerging leaders this can be a real career

• Career Advice That Changed Everything – The question Lou Klassen asked her that shifted her entire approach: "Who is in the room when the decision is made?"

If you've ever wondered whether restaurants can be a viable long-term career—or if you're leading a team and want to inspire the next generation—this episode is required listening.

Restaurant Reset is brought to you by Genius™ (Link globalpayments.com/genius) from Global Payments, the restaurant point of sale system that can power orders, payments and services in any type of food and beverage setting.

Before “AI” became the buzzword on every restaurant tech panel, Carl Orsbourn was already leading the digital transformation of foodservice. The co-author of Delivering the Digital Restaurant and The Path to Digital Maturity, Carl has been on both sides of the industry: running 1,000 ampm convenience stores with $1.3 billion in sales before leaving it all to build ghost kitchens, dynamic pricing startups, and now lead AI innovation for global restaurant brands.

In this episode, Carl joins Restaurant Reset host Andy Grindstaff for a brutally honest breakdown of what’s hype, what’s real, and why the boring stuff (clean data, integrated systems, and operational clarity) is the true foundation of every restaurant’s future.

You’ll Learn:

• Why 85% of restaurant AI projects fail (and how to be in the 15%)

• The truth about ghost kitchens: what worked, what didn’t, and what’s next

• How dynamic pricing could quietly change how restaurants manage margins

• Why “bad data beats good AI every time” and how to clean yours up

• What small operators can do right now to improve their digital maturity

• Which tech trends are overhyped… and which ones are just getting started

• Why AI should augment humans, not replace them

• Carl’s career pivot from billion-dollar corporate exec to startup disruptor and what it taught him about reinvention

Carl’s message is clear: you can’t automate passion, but you can use data to scale it. If you’re ready to future-proof your restaurant without losing your soul, this one’s for you.

Listen to “Restaurant Reset” on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Restaurant Reset is brought to you by Genius™ (Link globalpayments.com/genius) from Global Payments, the restaurant point of sale system that can power orders, payments and services in any type of food and beverage setting.

Before she was known as The People Doctor, Marissa Andrada spent three decades leading people and culture at some of the world’s biggest brands: Chipotle, Starbucks, Red Bull, Kate Spade, and GameStop. Her career has touched over a million frontline employees, and she’s made one thing clear: you can’t scale a brand without scaling your people.

In this conversation, Marissa sits down with Restaurant Reset host Andy Grindstaff to unpack why the future of restaurants isn’t just AI or automation… it’s human connection.

She shares powerful stories and hard-earned lessons from turning Chipotle around post-crisis, helping Starbucks double down on its values, and teaching leaders to bring kindness, purpose, and empathy into the way they run teams.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to define a purpose and set of values that actually guide your restaurant day to day

• Why “kind leadership” outperforms “nice leadership” and how to practice it

• The 90-day rule that determines whether a new hire stays or leaves

• How to turn hourly jobs into meaningful, upwardly mobile careers

• Why understanding pop culture might be the smartest market research you’ll do this year

• The surprising link between pets, well-being, and employee retention

Marissa’s approach is simple but profound: Lead with kindness. Build with purpose. Never forget that culture is your competitive advantage.

🎧 Listen now on Restaurant Reset, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Restaurant Reset is brought to you by Genius™ (Link globalpayments.com/genius) from Global Payments, the restaurant point of sale system that can power orders, payments and services in any type of food and beverage setting.

What happens when restaurant owners finally get honest about what’s breaking their business? In this special Q&A solo episode, Andy answers the toughest questions he’s received from operators… the ones that don’t have easy answers, but every leader needs to hear.

He covers the hard truths about what’s really killing margins, why burnout isn’t a badge of honor, and how to make smarter, faster decisions in a rapidly changing industry.

If you’ve ever felt stuck between rising costs, overworked teams, and too many tech tools that don’t talk to each other, this conversation will hit close to home. Andy breaks down practical, no-fluff frameworks you can actually use. These are drawn from years of working with some of the most innovative restaurant brands in the country.

In this episode:

• Why you can’t keep eating rising food costs and how to raise prices the right way.

• The difference between a burnout problem and a delegation problem.

• Simple frameworks for fixing broken inventory systems.

• What makes loyalty programs actually work (and what doesn’t).

• How to connect your tech stack without losing your mind.

• What AI means for restaurants and how to tell real innovation from noise.

This episode is a conversation every restaurant operator needs to hear and a reminder that you’re not alone in the chaos, and that sometimes, a few better systems can make all the difference.

🎧 Listen to the full Q&A episode of Restaurant Reset now.

Restaurant Reset is brought to you by Genius™ (Link globalpayments.com/genius) from Global Payments, the restaurant point of sale system that can power orders, payments and services in any type of food and beverage setting.

Tony Roy was leading international operations for a global tech giant when he made a bold decision: leave it all behind to build tools for single-location restaurants.

Today, as the Co-founder and COO of Popmenu, Tony’s helped more than 10,000 independent operators grow smarter, simplify their systems, and save hundreds of hours a year through automation and AI.

In this episode, Tony and Andy go deep on what makes great restaurant technology and why most companies get it wrong.

They break down:

• Why empathy beats enterprise when building for operators

• The most overlooked challenges small teams face when adopting tech

• How automation and AI can actually make restaurants more human

• The real reason restaurants churn from tech platforms

• What separates restaurants that are thriving from those struggling to keep up

It’s a masterclass in clarity, empathy, and execution… and a roadmap for the next decade of restaurant innovation.

🎧 Listen to the full episode of Restaurant Reset wherever you get your podcasts.

When most people think of innovation in restaurants, they picture shiny new POS systems or loyalty apps.

Jason Riggs wants you to look somewhere else: the edge of the operation. The headsets, timers, and drive-thru systems that quietly run the business.

As the former GM of Hardware at PAR Technology and current strategic leader at Audivi AI, Jason has built everything from fleet tracking for truckers to livestreaming tech at GoPro (and now, some of the most advanced AI-ready systems in the restaurant industry).

In this episode, Jason joins Andy Grindstaff to explore how operators can build technology that actually works for people, not against them. They break down:

What you’ll learn:

• Why the drive-thru became the new command center for restaurants• How to avoid “overinvesting in the current paradigm” and future-proof your systems• What most AI vendors aren’t telling you about “humans in the loop”• Why hardware is still the foundation of every great restaurant experience• How to think like an ecosystem builder, not a tech collector• What “tech spaghetti” is and how to stop serving it to your staff• The three questions every operator should ask before buying AI

This is one of the most practical, grounded conversations on restaurant innovation you’ll hear all year.

If you care about where technology is really headed (and how to keep your systems (and your sanity) intact) this one’s for you.

Learn more about Jason’s work here: https://mach10pm.com/

🎧 Listen to the full episode of Beyond the Register wherever you get your podcasts.

Nathan Downs went from cooking in Michelin-starred restaurants to building a technology company that’s rethinking how the world eats.

As CEO and cofounder of FoodSpot, Nathan is leading the charge in smart vending: a growing industry that’s making fresh, high-quality food available 24/7 in hospitals, campuses, offices, and even food deserts. His mission is simple but ambitious: democratize access to fresh food and eliminate the massive waste built into America’s food systems.

In this episode of Restaurant Reset, Andy Grindstaff and Nathan dive deep into:

• Why Nathan left a prestigious chef career to enter food tech

• How he built a hardware/software company without millions in VC funding

• The 40% food waste crisis and why distribution is the real problem

• What separates a vending machine that prints money from one that fails

• The overlooked art of making unattended retail feel human

• How AI and automation can empower chefs instead of replacing them

• The future of food equity, brand access, and the “microstore” model

Nathan’s journey is equal parts startup grit, culinary craft, and systems thinking. It’s a masterclass in how to blend technology and hospitality to build something that actually feeds people.

Listen now to learn why the next restaurant revolution might not happen in restaurants at all.