Have you always wanted to figure out how to scale your business to the next level? We're talking to a group of guys who weren't even really in the restaurant business prior that have managed to assemble strengths and "figure it out".

Sitting with Carmelo, Nick, and Sebastian we learn that they all come from largely different roles and found themselves in the restaurant business together. Along with a perfect storm of outside factors that helped the brand become just that, a brand, there were plenty of learning lessons along the way.

Find out how they got themselves to 6 restaurants and growing - I mean, why stop if it works?

The Taco Project Website

The Taco Project Instagram

The year end is upon your restaurant and bar. Did you already figure out your budget for next year? Justin takes us through what he's done to account for what he expects to be spending on for 2025 at Smokehouse, his BBQ restaurant.

Filmed At: Smokehouse Tailgate Grill, New Rochelle, NY

It's great being able to get deep. Nick put his phone down for a bit and let his notorious hospitality and bar industry meme account run itself for an hour before a pop up he conducted in collaboration with Kabin NYC and Campari.

It's the end of the year so we're talking balance sheets and what we're looking for to know our bars and restaurants are healthy, different ways of looking at the books, and what percentage of growth we want to see.

We're also looking at what point it's too late to keep booking holiday parties. Would you agree that most companies have already booked their parties for the end of year?

What we're discussing:

What we're talking about?

Shot at: Vinyl Steakhouse, NYC

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vinylsteakhouse/

How do we talk about more business topics? #shiftbeers is a covnersation that has a ton of different gems about current topics happening in our Bar and Restaurant ownership journey.

This episode features Baked After Midnight's Gianna Khader (https://www.bakedaftermidnight.com), a cookie company that uses high end ingredients and is gaining ground in bars & restaurants. Gianna literally quit her job to pursue making cookies. She was always baking, literally for years - but doing it after midnight was therapeutic as no one is often around late night to bother. We discuss things like costs, motivation to have the business, how we gauge success in expos or trade events as well as using a third party delivery app to potentially help create a sales lift for the business.📷: Filmed, Recorded, & Edited by: Pour Shots, Justin Benfaida📍: Baked After Midnight, Gianna KhaderFind us on Youtube as well for all the shorts and bonus content! (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHhZ1-fp853NdPkWeL53bWg)

This episode features Rust & Gold (https://www.therustandgold.com/), a Huntington Long Island bar and restaurant that allows families to gather and fun to happen late night.

On the couch later? Find us on Youtube! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdzqYSPp5Ts)

We get to the bottom of Justin's hatred for Uber Eats and why it's still a necessary evil in the restaurant space. They have near zero risk - and the restaurant always deals with the blame. Florida has also taken on more hurricanes than it prefers.

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