The Hospitality Hangout | Hospitality Podcast

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” chat with Carissa De Santis, chief information officer at Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants to explore hospitality technology and what’s in the pipeline for Dickey’s Barbecue.

De Santis talks about building Dickey’s virtual brands, the interest from franchisees around Wing Boss, and the decision to bring it to brick-and-mortar. They recently opened their first location in Dallas, where they have their virtual food menu and a full bar.

Dickey’s Barbecue is currently operating in forty-four states and De Santis talks about expanding internationally. When asked if Dubai is loving barbecue, De Santis said, “they’re 100% loving barbecue over there” adding “they were actually our first international debut as a franchisee and partner there.” De Santis says Dickey's just opened a second location in Japan and first in São Paulo, Brazil.

De Santis talks about Dickey’s early hospitality tech foresight, saying that part of their original tech stack started out with reporting and analytics, collecting all of the data on their customers and transactions. Smoke Stack is Dickey’s Barbecue custom data platform, it was started almost a decade ago. De Santis shares what their tech stack looks like today on this episode.

To hear about Dickey’s Barbecue successful loyalty program, the growth since its launch, her thoughts on technology and scams, and what is next for Dickey’s check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout.

Dickey’s is offering a special deal to the Hospitality Hangout Listeners. Use code HHFREE3 at checkout and get 3 free Sausages with any $100 purchase on this link at Barbecue at home by Dickey’s.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

Episode Credits:

• Produced by: Branded Hospitality Media
• Hosted by: Michael Schatzberg, Jimmy Frischling
• Producer: Julie Zucker
• Creative Director: Adam Levine
• Show Runner: Drewe Raimi
• Post Production: Three Cheers Media

www.thehospitalityhangout.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” chat with Brita Rosenheim, Partner at Culterra Capital and Venture Partner at Better Food Ventures to explore restaurant technology.

Rosenheim got started with an interest in the food world and left banking, she went to Italy to get a Masters in food communications. She is an investor and advisor, sharing her excitement for the innovation in technology. Rosenheim talks about the Restaurant Tech EcoSystem map and how the selection is made for the map.

When Rosenheim was asked about the rise of technology in regards to new categories being added to the map, she says food safety and quality was given recognition, which had historically been part of operations. Rosenheim adds, most of the pandemic trends are more of the same, it’s not completely new innovation and the biggest shift is really adoption versus full on new technology.

Rosenheim addresses the ghost kitchen trend saying it is here to stay much like meal kits. “It’s a new concept and it is disrupting the way things are done, it’s shifting peoples minds about how operations can be managed,” adds Rosenheim. “It still needs to figure out the right business model and the right users.”

When asked about categories losing steam, Rosenheim says it’s not becoming less important but search and discovery, reservations, and event management has a little slice on the wheel because there has been consolidation. She adds that five years ago those were the largest categories...now most of the efforts have turned to optimizing back of house.

To find out what category Rosenheim thinks will be the shrinking next and her thoughts on robotics, tune in to this episode of Hospitality Hangout. Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

Episode Credits:

• Produced by: Branded Hospitality Media
• Hosted by: Michael Schatzberg, Jimmy Frischling
• Producer: Julie Zucker
• Creative Director: Adam Levine
• Show Runner: Drewe Raimi
• Post Production: Three Cheers Media

www.thehospitalityhangout.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” take the show to the first in-person trade show, FSTEC 2021 where restaurants and technology connect. Schatzberg and Frischling chat with Wade Allen, senior vice president, head of innovation at Brinker International, Inc., Derek E. Canton, chief executive officer and founder at Paerpay, Sterling Douglass, co founder and chief executive officer at Chowly, Inc., and Marcus Viscidi, VP, Enterprise Sales - National Restaurant Association Show & Foodservice Conferences at Winsight, LLC.

Allen talks about what he is looking to learn from the show, saying that he looks for organizations that inspire him and are doing things not in the traditional way, adding companies that can truly change their business. Allen says he is looking at new technology in loyalty programs to delivery drones to the future of POS. He talks about Brinker International’s development of virtual brands and launching them.

Derek Canton from Paerpay stops by to talk about being on the market place floor at FSTEC. Paerpay is a contactless payment platform for restaurants and Canton shares what’s new at the company. He says the number one thing he wants the audience to know about Paerpay, can get their customers up and running in an hour. Tune in to hear Canton’s quick fire answers.

Sterling Douglass of Chowly, who has been on the show before chats with the guys about technology change for restaurants and consumer adoption having an impact. A lot of technology that has been around has finally been picked up, like QR codes and delivery technology. Douglass says that he is excited to see the maturity in virtual restaurant space as well. To learn more about Chowly’s partnership with Google, listen to the show.

The last guest to stop by to chat, Marcus Viscidi from Winsight, LCC, he talks about putting together the first in-person restaurant trade show, FSTEC 2021 since the pandemic and answers quick fire questions.

To hear more from all of the guests that stopped by Hospitality Hangout at FSTEC 2021, check out this episode. Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

Episode Credits:

• Produced by: Branded Hospitality Media
• Hosted by: Michael Schatzberg, Jimmy Frischling
• Producer: Julie Zucker
• Creative Director: Adam Levine
• Show Runner: Drewe Raimi
• Post Production: Three Cheers Media

www.thehospitalityhangout.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy'' and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy'' chat with Chris Campbell, CEO at Review Trackers to explore the importance of restaurant reviews.  

Campbell founded Review Trackers over ten years ago and helps over fifty thousand restaurants in thirty-five countries track and manage their customer feedback from websites like Google, Facebook, and Tripadvisor.  

When asked about what he thinks of restaurant operators that don’t pay attention to customer reviews, Campbell says “operators are crazy, if you think about things that can influence your business and have major ripple effects, reviews is one of the biggest things.” Adding “Ninety-one percent of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.” 

Campbell was asked in reference to Yelp and according to Review Trackers, where a majority of reviews are coming from today, he shares that it depends on the market you are in, but adds the reality is Google is winning. Campbell says, Google, Facebook, and Tripadvisor, all just growing multiples faster then Yelp. “Ninety Five percent of people start their search on Google,” says Campbell. You can listen to Campbell address Yelp’s importance in today's competitive review platforms on this podcast. 

In regards to sales, when Campbell was asked how reviews and responding reviews help search engine optimization, he says that reviews are the leading factor in influencing how you appear on a google map ranking. Adding reviews is the thing that influences your ranking the most. 

To hear Campbell’s advice for restaurant operators that don't have a review tracking system in place and how you can start making your business better, tune in to this episode of Hospitality Hangout. 

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on iTunes!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

Episode Credits:

• Produced by: Branded Hospitality Media
• Hosted by: Michael Schatzberg, Jimmy Frischling
• Producer: Julie Zucker
• Creative Director: Adam Levine
• Show Runner: Drewe Raimi
• Post Production: Three Cheers Media

www.thehospitalityhangout.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Tom Pickett, Chief Revenue Officer at DoorDash, to explore delivery and virtual cloud kitchens. 

Pickett is responsible for building out restaurant partnerships from big chains to mom and pops helping them become successful. Pickett says, “for the last year and a half we really have been working very closely with merchants to help them navigate the challenges of the pandemic.” He adds a stat saying that restaurants that have been on DoorDash are eight times more likely to still be around today than those not on DoorDash. 

In terms of what DoorDash is seeing, Pickett says, “a big acceleration in delivery, delivery has become a more prominent part of business and they find the most successful are treating it like a new line of business.” Another highlight is the operations experience of getting delivery in and out of your restaurants and Dashers love to go to the restaurants that are efficient and get them out of there quickly because they are able to make more money when operators are moving out deliveries.

Pickett talks about Storefront, a DoorDash product that takes their online ordering capability and makes it available for restaurants for free to put on their own website. 

Underutilized kitchen capacity is a great opportunity for virtual brands and the cloud kitchen space. Pickett says that virtual brands and kitchens are a way to expand in a very cost effective way, using the power of delivery platforms. Delivery is at the center of these and DoorDash works very closely as a consultant for restaurants. 

To learn more about all of the new partnership programs, daily payouts for merchants, and DashPass, a subscription program for consumers, tune into this episode. 

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

Episode Credits:

• Produced by: Branded Hospitality Media
• Hosted by: Michael Schatzberg, Jimmy Frischling
• Producer: Julie Zucker
• Creative Director: Adam Levine
• Show Runner: Drewe Raimi
• Post Production: Three Cheers Media

www.thehospitalityhangout.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Paul Allen, President and Cofounder at NextBite, to explore delivery only brands for restaurants across the country and how they can add value for these operators.

Allen breaks down Ordermark and NextBite saying they are obsessed with developing technology and brands to help restaurants thrive, and that is their focus. He adds, what makes the company distinct from ghost kitchen and commissary model businesses is that NextBite exists solely to help existing restaurants.

Allen discusses the differences in working with traditional and non traditional kitchens in reference to celebrities versus chefs. NextBite focuses on authenticity, brand authenticity and says that the celebrities need to be committed to the success of the brand, be involved, and care about the food. “It really has to be a partnership and there has to be something genuine beyond it when it comes to a celebrity,” says Allen. He adds, “that you can’t replace a restaurant that has built a reputation over the years with a new celebrity brand.”

When Allen was asked how NextBite addresses marketing the brands, he talks about it being stage dependent and how it changes as the brands grow. He says, the secret sauce for NextBite exists in the technology, the operations, and its relations to marketing.

Hear what Allen has to say about operations, training, supply chain, and technology being the meat and potatoes that drive efficiency and profitability. Plus, why data operations and technology drive marketing efficiency.

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

Episode Credits:

• Produced by: Branded Hospitality Media
• Hosted by: Michael Schatzberg, Jimmy Frischling
• Producer: Julie Zucker
• Creative Director: Adam Levine
• Show Runner: Drewe Raimi
• Post Production: Three Cheers Media

www.thehospitalityhangout.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the latest episode of Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “ The Finance Guy” chat with Marty Hahnfeld, Chief Customer Officer at Olo, to explore the future of delivery.

“The things that are happening within our business right now happened a decade ago in the hotel industry,” says Hahnfeld, and the industry felt like they needed to deliver without understanding all of their options to have food delivered, letting an oversized number of consumers shift off direct business and shift off to the market places, adds Hahnfeld.

Hahnfeld says, for any brand that doesn’t invest in serving their loyal customers directly, it could be rough days. Citing two-thirds of all restaurant transactions are consumed off premise, of that two-thirds only sixteen percent of those transactions are delivery.

When discussing what types of things an operator can do to make sure they are set up correctly, Hahnfeld talks about what Olo can offer. He shares how Olo’s platform has a solution called Expo, a tablet-based software focused on enhancing the front-of-house workflow in restaurants.

Hahnfeld talks about how Olo addresses deliveries in regards to urban vs. suburban markets, and says suburban delivery has been proven to work, although there is a cost problem, investments will continue to improve handoff and delivery. Olo focuses on their platform supporting delivery long term and Hahnfeld gives his take on ghost kitchens, virtual kitchens, delivery kitchens, and the idea of restaurants aggregating.

To hear about Olo’s success and it’s process of going public, check out this episode of Hospitality Hangout. Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators.

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

Episode Credits:

• Produced by: Branded Hospitality Media
• Hosted by: Michael Schatzberg, Jimmy Frischling
• Producer: Julie Zucker
• Creative Director: Adam Levine
• Show Runner: Drewe Raimi
• Post Production: Three Cheers Media

www.thehospitalityhangout.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Tom Recine, the founder of Recine Hospitality, to explore the latest innovations in point of sales tech.

“It’s not just a restaurant, it’s an experience,” says Recine. “And that’s what you have to create these days to attract attention. No one wants the same-old same-old.”

Recine was a partner and the chief operating officer for Sugar Factory for eight years. While there, he helped build the business and craft a strategy that emphasized the restaurant’s unique experience of candy, excitement, celebrities, and fun drinks. According to Recine, Sugar Factory was ranked the number one venue in the world for social media posts.

Recine recently developed a new cash register system inspired by ATMs. Called the automated till register (ATR), the register has no drawer that opens or closes. Transactions are fully automated and closed from the moment they are initiated.

“At the point you put the cash in, it’s deposited to your bank. No employee or manager will have to touch it,” adds Recine. “It’s a simple idea that’s never been done before. I truly believe cash drawers as you see them now will be replaced forever.”

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

Episode Credits:

• Produced by: Branded Hospitality Media
• Hosted by: Michael Schatzberg, Jimmy Frischling
• Producer: Julie Zucker
• Creative Director: Adam Levine
• Show Runner: Drewe Raimi
• Post Production: Three Cheers Media

www.thehospitalityhangout.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Brandon Barton, the chief executive officer of Bite, to explore digital hospitality and improving the online ordering process.

“We see an incredible amount of information that we’re helping restaurants to take and learn about their guests, and then personalize ordering experiences for them,” says Barton. “There’s more visibility into what options you have when you get to a restaurant before you get there. Now, you can give people digital experiences in-store or at home—and what’s going to flip here is the concept of hospitality.”

Bite offers restaurateurs solutions for making their restaurants better. It is an omni-channel digital ordering platform for restaurants, providing restaurants with every digital ordering channel they can have: websites, apps, contactless ordering, kiosks, QR codes, curbside pickup, and even drive-thrus.

“Take labor out of the equation when it comes to the order. Every single person knows how to order food digitally. Let’s just let people do it—in the lobby, at home, or in the restaurant,” adds Barton. “If you want us to know who you are, and you want us to use that data, we’re more than happy to provide you with a better guest experience.”

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

Episode Credits:

• Produced by: Branded Hospitality Media
• Hosted by: Michael Schatzberg, Jimmy Frischling
• Producer: Julie Zucker
• Creative Director: Adam Levine
• Show Runner: Drewe Raimi
• Post Production: Three Cheers Media

www.thehospitalityhangout.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” chat with Zachary Goldstein, the chief executive officer and founder of Thanx, to explore marketing and elevating the digital experience for consumers.

“Generic, unpersonalized guest engagement just doesn’t cut it anymore,” says Goldstein. “You’ve got to know who your guests are, you’ve got to give them an easy sweep of digital tools to make those purchases, and you need to treat them personally using the data you have to give them a reason to return. And that’s what we do at Thanx.”

Thanx specializes in supplying best-in-class guest engagement technology for brick-and-mortar brands. For Thanx, the goal is to make the consumer digital experience accurate, efficient, and truly seamless.

“Digital sales are rapidly becoming the lifeblood of the industry,” adds Goldstein. “Ease of use for the customer always wins. Placing an order online or from an app or phone is just easier… we’re going to see the mass majority of sales move to digital.”

Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!

This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.

Episode Credits:

• Produced by: Branded Hospitality Media
• Hosted by: Michael Schatzberg, Jimmy Frischling
• Producer: Julie Zucker
• Creative Director: Adam Levine
• Show Runner: Drewe Raimi
• Post Production: Three Cheers Media

www.thehospitalityhangout.com

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.