In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Jeff Fenster, the founder and CEO of Everbowl, an acai bowl concept that has grown to 100 locations in nine years, and which now counts athletes like Jayson Tatum, Drew Brees, and Shaquille O’Neal among its investors. Much of Everbowl’s success can be attributed to Jeff’s knack for disruption in the marketplace, his entrepreneurial mindset, and his intense passion for his business. For example, Jeff started an entire construction company just so he could cut down on build-out costs and build Everbowl stores more quickly. Jeff joined the podcast to talk about how he’s rethinking the standard way restaurateurs scale their businesses and why there’s no replacement for hard work, determination, and love for what you do for a living.

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

• As a restaurant leader you should be a problem solver, not a problem seeker
• Your competition isn’t necessarily in your category
• Streamlining your construction process could help you grow faster
• Every restaurant you open will teach you something about location and real estate
• The opportunities right in front of you are the catalysts for brand change 
• If you love what you do and work hard toward your goals, you can be unstoppable

Register for CREATE, our event for emerging restaurateurs, by clicking here. 

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at [email protected].

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Pike Howard, the co-owner of Felipe’s Taqueria, a six-unit fast-casual concept out of New Orleans that has prioritized its systems and business model in its nearly 20 years in business as it slowly grows across the South. Pike was a finance guy when his father-in-law pulled him into the Felipe’s business, and that mindset has benefited the company as Pike has helped it develop a strong brand identity, vision, and infrastructure and to resist the urge to grow quickly. Pike joined the podcast to talk about why unit growth has not been as much of a priority as internal growth and how the fast-casual category’s evolution has made hospitality all the more important to today’s consumer.

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

• Sometimes you need to let guests choose their own adventure in your restaurant
• Growth can be a distraction, so set clear growth goals and stick to them
• Restaurants are a math problem and operators need to know that math
• You have to be honest with your customers when things go bad
• The data you collect is a relationship building tool 
• Innovating with your beverage program is not a very heavy lift

Register for CREATE, our event for emerging restaurateurs, by clicking here. 

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at [email protected].

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Christine Barone, CEO of Dutch Bros. This is the third edition in our Signature Series, which are conversations with some of the biggest CEOs in the restaurant industry. And there are few companies bigger right now than Dutch Bros, which is turning heads all across the U.S. as it races across the country and redefines the coffee category. Christine was named CEO early in 2024 to steer the brand into its next growth phase, and Sam sat down with her at Dutch Bros’ new headquarters in Tempe, Arizona, to learn more about her leadership style, how she’s bringing lessons from her previous roles at Starbucks and True Food Kitchen into the CEO gig at Dutch Bros, and how the company plans to maintain its cool vibe and strong company culture amid rapid growth.

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

• You must give every position you have 110%
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help 
• Sometimes you have to say no to good ideas
• Your team should have fun while working in your restaurants
• Time spent on your infrastructure will pay off down the road as growth 
• Guests want to be a part of your brand even beyond the menu 

Register for CREATE, our event for emerging restaurateurs, by clicking here. 

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at [email protected].

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with the director of culinary at Chili’s, Brian Paquette, as well as the director of culinary innovation at Wendy’s, Becky Davis. Chili’s and Wendy’s were each winners at NRN’s 2025 MenuMasters Awards, which were hosted in partnership with Ventura Foods and presented during a special gala at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago. Brian and Becky were both on hand in Chicago to win their awards, and the next day sat down with Sam in person at the Show to find out more about their menu development process and the keys to developing items that really resonate on social media.

(Want to see Kevin Bacon and The Bacon Brothers at our CREATE event for emerging restaurateurs? Register by clicking here.)

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

• You should continuously explore ways to make your existing menu better
• Marketers are key allies to the R&D process
• Social media must be a filter through which chefs look at new menu items
• Traditional flavors with a twist are a dependable way to succeed with sauces
• Brand partnerships bring menu items to life and tap into customer passion

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at [email protected].

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Larry Ryback, the CEO of Jim ’N Nick’s Community Bar-B-Q, a chain of more than 50 locations across the South that is celebrating 40 years in business with a new store design that is helping to drive double-digit sales growth. The new store prototype takes into account its big growth in off-premises sales and shifts away from a full-service model to what they’re calling fast casual plus, giving customers more control over their experience by having them order at the counter before sitting down and receiving regular table touches from a team member. Larry joined the podcast to talk about what operators should take into account when they’re redesigning their physical footprint and how Jim ’N Nick’s is empowering its guests with the changes to its service.

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

• Treating your guest as family can be a huge differentiator
• Menu bloat leads to irrelevancy among your guests
• Your physical footprint must be sized to account for your revenue channels
• A restaurant makeover does not need to significantly alter the guest experience
• Fast casual and casual dining can converge into something high quality yet efficient

Register for CREATE, our event for emerging restaurateurs, by clicking here. 

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at [email protected].

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Shauna Smith, the CEO of Savory Management, the operational arm of the Salt Lake City based private equity group Savory Fund. Savory invests in emerging restaurant concepts like Swig, Via 313, PINCHO, and Mo’Bettahs, and Shauna oversees the operations of these concepts, which includes a team of 65 in-house specialists who support the brand founders and leaders who choose to bring Savory in as equity partners in their businesses. Sam sat down with Shauna at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago to check in on the Savory portfolio, how the group is tapping into economies of scale to benefit each of its concepts, and what Shauna sees as the big challenges and opportunities for the remainder of 2025 and beyond. 

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

• Being a part of a restaurant portfolio can give you the operational capacity of a much bigger brand
• It pays to have a close network of restaurant operators who are in your shoes
• Certainty is the enemy of unity
• Consistency, accuracy, service, and experience all factor into value
• Optimism is a survival tactic

Register for CREATE, our event for emerging restaurateurs, by clicking here. 

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at [email protected].

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Curtis Duffy, the James Beard award-winning chef and owner at the Michelin-starred Chicago restaurant Ever — a restaurant that features prominently in the FX show “The Bear.” Curtis has consulted with and cooked for the show, which is starting its fourth season this week. But long before “The Bear,” he was a renowned chef who trained under Charlie Trotter and Grant Achatz before opening the restaurant Grace in Chicago’s West Loop in 2012. Grace closed in 2017 and Curtis opened Ever in 2020, followed by the next-door cocktail lounge After. Curtis recently won NRN’s MenuMasters Innovator Award, and ahead of the ceremony, he joined the podcast to talk about his approach to culinary innovation and what he believes consumers are looking for in their restaurant experiences. 

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

• Restaurants don’t need to be boxed in by cuisine or category 
• Restaurants are art, so why not draw inspiration from other mediums
• Consumers are getting pickier, and are looking for memorable experiences
• As more full-service restaurants jump into off-premises business, we must solve for quality 

Register for CREATE, our event for emerging restaurateurs, by clicking here. 

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at [email protected].

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Seth Berkowitz, the founder and CEO of Insomnia Cookies, the cookie delivery concept that has been around now for 22 years and grown to more than 300 locations in the U.S., helping to carve out an early niche in the so-called “indulgence” category that has been booming the past few years. Insomnia announced that two investors had stepped in to acquire the majority stake previously owned by Krispy Kreme, a move that the brand thinks could open the doors to another thousand-plus locations over the next decade. Seth joined the podcast to talk about the brand’s evolution in its first two decades plus how the past seven years under Krispy Kreme’s ownership helped solidify Insomnia’s corporate structure.

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

• Tapping into customer emotions is a sure-fire way to build trust and loyalty
• College students are the perfect foundation for the indulgence category
• Consistency and reliability are better at building a sustainable business than novelty
• Don’t be afraid to pursue trends — but never stray from your core brand identity
• Investors should not be seen as a capital provider alone 

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at [email protected].

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Maggie Farrell and Victor Chow, the VP of marketing and VP of operations for KPOT, the fast-growing Korean barbecue and hot pot chain with a unique, do-it-yourself experience at its core. According to this year’s Technomic Top 500, KPOT grew its location count by 72% in 2024, and its sales by 34%. Already in 2025 it’s opened more than 20 locations, with 115 open today — and it didn’t even exist until 2017. Maggie and Victor joined the podcast to talk about what makes KPOT so special, why it’s resonating with American consumers today, and what has been key to keeping up with its remarkable growth pace. 

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

• Experiential dining is riding high — but ‘experience’ is in eye of beholder
• No matter the experience you want to create, your team is responsible for facilitating it
• Tailoring a unique experience to each individual customer could be wave of the future
• American consumers are hungry for a diversity of menu options 
• Challenges don’t seem challenging when you’re part of a team tackling them together

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at [email protected].

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Jim Metevier, CEO of Mountain Mike’s Pizza, a California-based brand with more than 300 locations in 10 states. Pizza as a category had a pretty rough year in 2024, with the major players mostly seeing flat or negative traffic over the prior year. Mountain Mike’s, meanwhile, enjoyed year-over-year sales growth of 5% and unit growth of 7%. So how did this pizza concept with big-box stores and a hybrid service model manage to thrive last year while so much of the category sputtered? Jim joined the podcast to share the secret to that success and what exactly the American customer is looking for with their pizza experience.

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

• Pizza is an experience and should be treated as such
• We have a loneliness epidemic, and restaurants play a role in treating it
• The best franchisees are those who are entrepreneurial 
• In these volatile times, your franchisees need to understand the long-term vision
• How you activate the brand in your community is just as important as how you activate it within the four walls

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at [email protected].