FULL COMP: Restaurant Tactics, Tools, & Strategies

What if the next restaurant you open is the thing standing between you and the business you actually want?

Adrianne Calvo opened her Miami restaurant at 22, built a multi-concept group, then pulled back to the one place that started it all. Nearly two decades in, it seats 270 and powers a brand far bigger than its dining room.

In this conversation, we get into the lease terms she demands before considering any deal, why chasing trends guarantees you arrive late, and how stepping off the line gave her the time to build the brand.

If you're winning on paper and quietly wondering whether more growth is worth it, this one gives you permission to choose differently.

To learn more about Chef Adrianne's Vineyard Restaurant and Bar and her work, visit https://chefadriannes.com.

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Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at http://restaurantbusinessschool.com/

This episode is brought to you by Guestologie. Guestologie helps multi-location restaurant groups recognize their highest-value guests the moment they walk in, so your team can deliver better hospitality and drive more visits. Built for groups running 10 or more locations. Full Comp listeners get a complimentary Invisible Guest Assessment at https://guestologie.com/fullcomp

What if putting your guests first is the reason your packed restaurant still can’t pay its bills?

Plenty of operators run full dining rooms all weekend and are broke by Monday. Hospitality runs on stability, and stability starts with profit built into the model.

In this takeaway, I break down how one audit took a restaurant from 3% to 16% profit, why you should benchmark against every place your guest might spend the same night, and how moving one menu section made entrees outsell burgers four to one.

If you’re busy and still not making money, your menu is the first place to look.

That's this week's takeaway. To build the marketing team that raises check averages without discounting, visit http://restaurantbusinessschool.com.
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Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at http://restaurantbusinessschool.com/

What if the ingredients you're afraid to buy are actually the cheaper option?

Johanna Hellrigl opened Ama in Washington DC in June 2024 and built it without a single broadline distributor. She has never placed an order with Sysco, and she still prices competitively against restaurants across the city.

In this conversation, we get into why her sustainability decisions show up as savings at year end, how getting loud about her mission grew the business after a PR firm told her to stay quiet, and why the health of your team and your guests is now a business metric.

If you've written off better sourcing as a luxury you can't afford, this one will take your excuse away.

To learn more about Ama and her work, visit https://amarestaurant.bar.
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Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at http://restaurantbusinessschool.com/

This episode is brought to you by Guestologie. Guestologie helps multi-location restaurant groups recognize their highest-value guests the moment they walk in, so your team can deliver better hospitality and drive more visits. Built for groups running 10 or more locations. Full Comp listeners get a complimentary Invisible Guest Assessment at https://guestologie.com/fullcomp

What if your next $72,000 is already sitting on your guest list?

Chasing new faces feels like growth. The faster money is in the people who already know you, and they need a reason to return sooner.

In this takeaway, I break down how to capture guest data with access instead of discounts, why splitting your list into frequent, infrequent and lost guests lifted one client’s visit frequency by 22%, and how to give guests a reason to book their next visit before the last one fades.

If you’re spending on ads while your regulars drift, fix the list first.

That’s this week’s takeaway. To build the marketing team that segments your list and brings guests back for you, visit http://restaurantbusinessschool.com.
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Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at http://restaurantbusinessschool.com/

What if the standard you are most proud of is the thing holding your restaurant back?

Justin Devillier has run La Petite Grocery in New Orleans for two decades, won a James Beard Award, opened a 210 seat brasserie, closed it, and is now opening Daughter's in the old Upperline space. His take on consistency is blunt. Delivering the same experience every visit is how good restaurants slide into mediocrity.

In this conversation, we get into why chasing your weaknesses drains the energy you should be putting into your strengths, what scale actually magnifies when you go from a small room to 210 seats, and why taking care of the guest is still the cheapest advantage in the business.

If you are grinding on problems and wondering why nothing is moving, this one will reframe where your effort goes.

To learn more about La Petite Grocery, visit https://lapetitegrocery.com.
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Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at http://restaurantbusinessschool.com/

This episode is brought to you by Guestologie. Guestologie helps multi-location restaurant groups recognize their highest-value guests the moment they walk in, so your team can deliver better hospitality and drive more visits. Built for groups running 10 or more locations. Full Comp listeners get a complimentary Invisible Guest Assessment at https://guestologie.com/fullcomp

What if the most profitable business in your restaurant is the one you only take when the phone rings?

Most operators pour everything into the dining room. In my own restaurants, in-house dining netted 10 to 12% in its best months, while events cleared 30 to 35% out of the same kitchen.

In this takeaway, I break down how going outbound took my fine dining events revenue from $250,000 to $1 million in 12 months, why the person booking your corporate event is buying peace of mind, and the one call list you can start working this week.

If you're waiting for catering to find you, you're leaving your highest-margin revenue on the table.

That's this week's takeaway. To build the marketing team that brings your best guests back more often, visit http://restaurantbusinessschool.com.

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Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at http://restaurantbusinessschool.com/

What if the reason you can't make payroll is that you're still trying to compete on value?

Sava Farah fled communist Albania at five, landed in the Bronx, and opened her first Ann Arbor restaurant at 23 with no degree, no investors, and no plan beyond work ethic. Nearly twenty years later she runs The Pulpo Group, four restaurants and 400 employees, each one funded by the profits of the last.

In this conversation, we get into why she charges more and builds the value behind it, how she reads momentum instead of chasing problems, and why staying out of the investor game gave her the speed capital was supposed to buy.

If you're working harder every year and keeping less of it, this one shows you where the leak is.

To learn more about The Pulpo Group and their restaurants, visit https://thepulpogroup.com.
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Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at http://restaurantbusinessschool.com/

This episode is brought to you by Guestologie. Guestologie helps multi-location restaurant groups recognize their highest-value guests the moment they walk in, so your team can deliver better hospitality and drive more visits. Built for groups running 10 or more locations. Full Comp listeners get a complimentary Invisible Guest Assessment at https://guestologie.com/fullcomp

What if your website is costing you first-time guests before they ever walk in?

The people on your homepage are shoppers. Most of them have never been in, and they are deciding between you and someone else. A list of dishes and five buttons gives them nothing to decide with.

In this takeaway, I break down why guests need to feel something before they can commit to a choice, the three questions every homepage has to answer in one read, and why one clear call to action converts better than five.

If your website looks great and still isn't filling seats, start here.

That's this week's takeaway. To build the marketing team that brings your best guests back more often, visit http://restaurantbusinessschool.com.

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Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at http://restaurantbusinessschool.com/

What if the reason nobody is walking through your door has nothing to do with what's on the plate?

Ed Harris won Chopped, spent five years at Buddakan, then left the kitchen entirely to raise his kids and build a business from home. Today he consults for hotel groups, develops spice lines for other chefs, and co-founded Flavor Bombé with Angelo Sosa.

In this conversation, we get into why good food is a small fraction of why restaurants survive, how he killed product after product without ever calling it failure, and why he measures every opportunity in time before he measures it in money.

If you're waiting to be discovered because the work is good, this one is going to sting.

To learn more about his consulting work, visit https://knifenspoon.com/.
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Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at http://restaurantbusinessschool.com/

What if your loyalty program is the reason your guests feel nothing?

Punch cards and points reward a transaction. Guests want to belong to something, and a free appetizer on the tenth visit gives them nothing to belong to.

In this takeaway, I break down how one restaurant scrapped a 3,000-member rewards program nobody used and rebuilt it as a club, why access and recognition drove a 30% lift in spend per visit and doubled visit frequency, and why being known by name matters more to your best guests than any reward you could print on a card.

If you're running a program your guests ignore, this is where you start rebuilding it.

That's this week's takeaway. To build the marketing team that brings your best guests back more often, visit http://restaurantbusinessschool.com/.
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Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at http://restaurantbusinessschool.com/

What if you have to go deeper into the day to day before you can ever get out of it?

Brianna Keefe spent her entire first year inside one store, open to close, writing the systems by hand and training every person who walked through the door. That year is the reason she can now be nowhere near the sixty five stores operating under her name.

In this conversation, we get into why delegation collapses when the founder steps back too early, why she hires her support team a full year before the business needs them, and why her best performing store sits in a market she would never have chosen herself.

If you are the bottleneck in your own business, this one explains how you got there.

To learn more about Toastique and the franchise opportunities she's building across the country, visit https://toastique.com/.
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Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at http://restaurantbusinessschool.com/

What if the guest you're pricing around doesn't exist?

Across tens of thousands of guest reviews, nobody has ever complained about paying too little. What shows up is that something felt too expensive. That is a verdict on value, and cutting the price will not fix it.

In this takeaway, I break down why the regular you're afraid of isn't watching your menu, how I raised the price of one item a week for six weeks and got zero pushback, and why $16 and $18 land the same way while $19 and $21 do not.

If you've known for a year that an item is underpriced and still haven't touched it, this one is costing you every week you wait.

To build the marketing team that raises your check average for you, visit https://restaurantbusinessschool.com.
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Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at http://restaurantbusinessschool.com/

What if the reason you gave away a piece of your restaurant is a myth you never bothered to test?

Most operators believe banks will not touch a restaurant, so they go straight to investors, credit cards, or whatever money is easiest to reach. Ami Kassar has placed over a billion dollars in small business loans, and he says the restaurant exception does not exist.

In this conversation, we get into why a line of credit belongs in your business before you need it, how the cash advance built into your point of sale locks you out of real financing, and why the monthly payment matters more than the rate.

If you have never asked whether your restaurant is bankable, this is the episode that makes you ask.

To learn more about MultiFunding and their work helping entrepreneurs find the right financing, visithttps://www.multifunding.com/

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Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at http://restaurantbusinessschool.com/

What if your regulars didn't leave you? What if they just forgot you exist?

Most operators spend the year buying strangers while the people who already love them go quiet. The problem is memory, and memory is cheap to fix.

In this takeaway, I break down why a guest who visits once a month is worth $720 a year and double that at twice a month, why a reminder beats a reward every time, and how a pre-loaded year of signature events kills the pressure to invent something new every month.

If you have a mailing list you never use, this is the fastest money in your building.

To build the marketing team that sends those reminders for you, visit https://restaurantbusinessschool.com.

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Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at http://restaurantbusinessschool.com/

What if the reason your restaurant runs on you is that you keep showing up?

Mike Mudrey bought a crêperie in East Lansing with no restaurant experience and a corporate job he had no intention of leaving. Nine years and four locations later he still has both, and one of his restaurants sits over an hour from where he lives. Never being able to work the floor is what forced him to build systems instead of habits.

In this conversation, we get into why every question you answer twice should become a system, how prepaid and pre-selected bookings drove his no-shows and food waste close to zero, and why the money was never in the crêpe.

If your operation stops working the week you take off, this one is for you.

To learn more about The 601 Group and their portfolio, visit https://www.601-group.com/.

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Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at http://restaurantbusinessschool.com/

What if the only reason your guests came once is that nothing changed after they left?

Felipe Riccio is chef and partner at Goodnight Hospitality in Houston, TX. At his restaurant March, his tasting menu restaurant, the entire menu is thrown out twice a year and rebuilt around a different corner of the Mediterranean. He is twelve seasons in. He will tell you it is probably not a winning formula.

In this conversation, we get into why a concept nobody can repeat back to you will never travel, how discipline and paperwork are what buy a chef creative freedom, and what it costs to close a restaurant for two weeks twice a year on purpose.

If your guests like you but do not come back, this is a great place to start.

To learn more about Goodnight Hospitality, visit https://www.goodnighthospitality.com/.

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Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at http://restaurantbusinessschool.com/

What if your concept should have been designed backwards, starting from the check average you need?

Ariel Arce had 16 seats and no way to predict what anyone would spend. So she solved for the number first. Sixty five dollars a head, two turns a night. Then she designed a guest experience to deliver it, down to a rule that every song has to be three minutes long.

In this conversation, we get into why she has refused to charge what the market would pay for nearly ten years, why she now plans the closing date of a business before it opens, and how the real asset in her SoHo townhouse turned out to be the three floors themselves.

If you built your concept first and hoped the numbers would follow, this one’s going to give you a better blueprint.

To learn more about Tokyo Record Bar, visit https://tokyorecordbar.com/.

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Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at http://restaurantbusinessschool.com/

What if the fastest way to become a great independent operator is to go work for a chain?

Al Lucas spent 21 years at Chart House, starting as a dishwasher and leaving as a vice president. He took that to Stephen Starr, then to Defined Hospitality, where Kalaya just won Outstanding Restaurant at the 2026 James Beard Awards. When a young cook asked him for career advice, Al told him to get out of independent restaurants as fast as possible.

In this conversation, we get into the fundamentals most independents never get taught, how Al and his partners choose who is worth building a restaurant around, and why the room at the Beard Awards is full of operators who will be gone within a year.

If you learned this business by figuring it out alone, this will show you what you missed.

To learn more about Defined Hospitality, visit https://definedhospitality.com.

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Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at http://restaurantbusinessschool.com/

What if the thing you are most proud of in your business is also the thing quietly draining it?

Amanda Signorelli and Nick McMillan took over the Golden Steer in 2019, the oldest steakhouse in Las Vegas, open since 1958. Neither of them came from restaurants. They came from tech, inherited a brand with more history than margin, and had exactly one year to learn the business before COVID shut it down.

In this conversation, we get into why they rebuilt the financial model from scratch instead of fixing the old one, why none of us have any business running their own social media, and the lessons learned growing the brand to new markets.

If you are sitting on a brand people love and numbers that do not work, this one is for you.

To learn more about Golden Steer, visit https://goldensteer.com.

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Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at http://restaurantbusinessschool.com/

What if the customers you're driving away are exactly why your restaurant works?

Telly Justice and Camille Lindsley built HAGS into one of New York's most talked-about restaurants by refusing to be for everyone. An 18-seat queer fine-dining room in the East Village, a tasting-menu-only model, pay-what-you-can Sundays, and a point of view sharp enough to repel anyone who doesn't belong there.

In this conversation, we get into why planting a flag makes you more distinct than your neighbors, why you need eight reasons to be different instead of one, and why scaling a concept means getting it out of your head and into the people you train.

If you're afraid a strong opinion will cost you customers, this one will change how you think about who you're actually for.

To learn more about HAGS, visit https://hagsnyc.com.

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Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass – This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand. Save your spot at http://restaurantbusinessschool.com/