Restaurant Rewind

The restaurant business has had its share of pitched political battles, but few were as intense as the industry’s futile effort to fend off smoking bans. The issue divided the trade and put many operators on the wrong side of a movement that was not to be stopped.

It may be difficult to imagine some 20 years later that the matter of lighting up—what the industry posed as a customer right—would be so controversial. Outrage triggered a wave of civil disobedience on the part of the business, which demonstrated remarkable creativity in getting around the laws.

In this week’s edition of Restaurant Rewind, we examine that fractious period and how health considerations ultimately prevailed, dragging the business into a smoke-free era that proved a surprising boon to business for some.

Hit Play to relive that combative time.

Anyone who’s ever taken a history class covering World War II (or watched more than hour of the History Channel) is likely aware of the crucial role Winston Churchill played in saving Great Britain. His leadership skills and mastery of the English language kept hope alive, even during what he termed the United Kingdom’s darkest hour.

Yet even many Brits don’t know the eloquent statesman also midwifed a 2,500-branch restaurant chain that was feeding 600,000 people a day during the height of the war and the years immediately afterward. The outlets literally helped to keep down-and-out civilians alive.

Churchill, whose enjoyment of food and drink were as celebrated as his oratorical skills, was such a champion of the venture that the public dubbed the outlets Churchill’s British Restaurants.

All new information to you? Then give the episode a listen to learn more.  

Ask any veteran of the casual-dining market to name the segment’s best-in-class operation and they’ll likely cycle through two or three dominant players before a dark horse comes to mind: How about Hillstone or its previous incarnation, Houston’s?

They know the restaurants as the standout delights in their rounds of visits to competitive concepts. They may even know the company was co-founded and run by a character named George Biel. But don’t ask them anything about the man or what makes him tick; he’s as reclusive of a leader as the industry sports. Little is known about his past other than he started in the business as a waiter at Steak and Ale.

This week’s edition of Restaurant Rewind adds some details to that tersest of bios, drawing on a rare personal interaction and conversations with Biel’s subordinates. It’s a rare glimpse of an industry giant who shuns the limelight despite his proven abilities as a brand leader.

Give a listen to learn about one of the industry’s little-known standouts.

Three years ago, the restaurant industry was stunned by the news that the employees of several Starbucks units in upstate New York had banded together to form a union. The drama deepened as store after store followed the lead of those Buffalo stores. Before long, the unionization effort had surged into a true organizing drive within the coffee giant, and a number of smaller competitors were dragged along in the wake of publicity.

Today, nearly 450 Starbucks stores have been unionized. How did it happen so quickly? And how has it changed Starbucks, and possibly the restaurant business at large?

This week’s episode of Restaurant Rewind takes up those questions. We look back at how the chain restaurant market’s most ambitious and successful organizing drive began and unfolded, triggering three CEO changes along the way. Now, with a fourth chief ready to assume leadership, what’s the situation for Starbucks?

Press Play to find out.

Starbucks’ coup in stealing Brian Niccol from Chipotle to serve as CEO had the restaurant industry abuzz this week. Seldom has the restaurant industry been as enthralled by an executive change. Or maybe we should say never. Has there ever been a high-level appointment that matched the sizzle of this one?

This week’s episode of Restaurant Rewind aims to answer that question. We look at the two high-level stunners that struck us as the only other contenders for being remembered as the most intriguing leadership transfer the business has ever seen.

Trying to guess which two they might have been? Here’s a hint: One happened 40 years ago, and the other about 30.

Better yet, just hit Play for a sample of the drama those two appointments sparked. You’ll also learn a little about Niccol that didn’t come out in the torrent of coverage his recruitment generated.

If half the people who read about Buca di Beppo’s bankruptcy filing had frequented the concept, the operation might never have hit a financial skid. Despite the brand’s initial market splash 30 years ago, it’s hardly top-of-mind among today’s dining-out public. Few consumers know more about the concept than its odd name.

This week’s episode of Restaurant Rewind aims to raise that level of awareness. It looks back at the concept’s beginnings and early influences, particularly the introduction it provided to family-style Italian dining and the drawing power of kitsch.

There’s also the recollection of the legal problems that literally put its leadership in prison.

Give a listen to earn why the bankruptcy filing held so much significance to those who remembered the brand’s better days.

McDonald’s has tried for decades to come up with an oversized premium burger that would slide easily into its operations and win a following among consumers accustomed to paying far less for a Golden Arches meal. News arose this week of yet another stab, a limited test of a new option called the Big Arch.

As this week’s Restaurant Rewind reports, most of those past efforts have sorely missed the mark.  Remember the Arch Deluxe, a misfire that still ranks as one of greatest consumer-product failures of modern times?

What went wrong with that and many of McDonald’s other attempts to go big? And how did the burger giant correct course?

Press “Play” for a look back at those efforts and why the development of the Big Arch will be closely watched if its sales test expands beyond the current three markets.

Red Lobster has certainly been in the news lately. But not one of the stories recalls the remarkable person who built it into an institution deserving of so much ink. And, no, it’s not Bill Darden, although he gave the brand its start.

The individual who turned Darden’s concept into the cultural icon it is today was an Air Force veteran who left his family’s farm in rural Georgia to make his mark on the world. If you scour the bric-a-brac some older stores sport to provide a dockside feel, you may even spot a reference to him on some of the props (executives lent their names to the bogus lobster traps and seafood crates as sort of an inside joke.) Look for an ersatz antique emblazoned with “Lee’s” or “Joe’s,” as in Joe Lee, a true godfather of what we now know as casual dining.

Don’t recognize that name? Then you’re in for a treat. By popular demand, Restaurant Rewind is undertaking a series of profiles on the giants who laid the foundation for the restaurant industry we know today. Much of the information will be drawn from firsthand experiences with those pioneers.

The first installment focuses on Joe Lee.

We’ll focus on a variety of movers and shakers from the industry’s past in future installments. But for now, do yourself a favor and click “Play.”

As we’ve learned firsthand, if some yahoo airs a myth or outright lie about your operation, fellow wingnuts are going to listen and believe it, no matter how outrageous the assertion might be. Remember the reports that Paul McCartney had died?

Restaurants seem particularly vulnerable to those attempts to smear reputations, a likely result of employing and serving so many people. The chances of alienating someone who then seeks revenge via internet falsehoods is that much greater.

On this week’s episode of Restaurant Rewind, the podcast that looks into the industry’s past for more color on what’s happening in the business today, we pedal back to some of the outrageous myths that have been spun about major restaurant brands. How did the home of the Bloomin’ Onion come to be accused of satanic worship? And what has McDonald’s not supposedly been mixing into its burgers to save money?

You’ll also hear how someone on social media recently tried to use one of our stories to take a swipe at Panera Bread.

Press Play for a rundown on some jaw-dropping myths from the industry’s past.

With traffic ebbing through much of the business, restaurant chains are resorting to the sort of deep discounting the industry hasn’t seen for a while. Sonic is hoping it can win back lapsed users with the enticement of a $1.29 chili cheese hot dog. Applebee’s is touting 50-cent fried-mozzarella sticks (though bargain-hunters have to purchase at least four of the gooey treats). Even Starbucks is offering bundled deals.

Yet those appeals to penny-pinchers are nothing compared to the price-slashing of three decades ago, when two industry giants rolled out menu lines that initially seemed as if the two, both master marketers, had been sampling too many of Applebee’s $1 cocktails.  These were not limited-time offers. Taco Bell twice dropped the price of some tacos to 39 cents. In some markets, McDonald’s used 29-cent burgers as a lure.

How’d those tactics work? This week’s episode of Restaurant Rewind, RB’s retro-focused podcast,  looks back at those bar-setting acts of deflation. Give a listen for a recount of what happened when those bargains were fly-cast into the business.