This week on the Extra Serving podcast, a production of Nation’s Restaurant News’ Last Bite Network, NRN editors Holly Petre, Leigh Anne Zinsmeister and Sam Oches discussed the wave of restaurants showing support for Ukraine by closing restaurants in Russia.

Companies from McDonalds to Yum Brands to Papa Johns released statements intending to close Russian units or halt Russian expansion is the wake of the attack on Ukraine. The team discussed how Vladimir Putin has been trying to fight against these restaurants showing support for Ukraine and how the industry has been showing its support for Ukraine in other ways.

The team also discussed President Biden’s new regulations on cryptocurrency and what that means for the booming market here in the restaurant space. Will it limit the industry’s expansion into the metaverse? Find out more in the podcast. 

And finally, the team discusses the future of RRF which was pulled from the omnibus spending bill this week in the Senate. Though it wasn’t a surprise to the team, it pulled the final rug out from a lot of independent restaurants who were relying on that money to get through the last leg of the pandemic.

Donna Tuttle, Whataburger’s group director for brand communications and culture, spoke with Oches at IFMA’s COEX about how the regional chain has been handling the labor crisis by paying managers six-figure salaries and offering careers.