Best Improving Restaurant Operations Podcasts (2025)

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Play By the RULES to Stay in the GAME 20:26

Play Pause

4h ago20:26

20:26

#489 - Play By the RULES to Stay in the GAME ***** Dr. James Carse wrote about this years ago: https://amzn.to/4o7uVce Simon Sinek expanded on the subject and modernized the lessons: https://amzn.to/4nLjib9 Alex Hormozi has a killer podcast on the subject: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-game-with-alex-hormozi/id1254720112 It's not about …

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Stop Worshiping ‘Consistency:’ How Yann de Rocheford Scaled by Systemizing Vibe 40:51

3d ago40:51

40:51

Everyone says restaurants are about food, service, or scale. But what if it’s really about emotional engineering? Yann didn’t come from the kitchen. He came from the world of marketing and strategy. But when he opened Boqueria, he reimagined what a restaurant could be—vibe-forward, high-design, emotionally resonant, and built to scale. In this epis…

1
Office Hours: Design Each Daypart as Its Own Business 9:50

4d ago9:50

9:50

I’m Josh Kopel, a Michelin-awarded restaurateur and the creator of the Restaurant Scaling System. I’ve spent decades in the industry, building, scaling, and coaching restaurants to become more profitable and sustainable. On this show, I cut through the noise to give you real, actionable strategies that help independent restaurant owners run smarter…

1
How Much Should You Spend on Marketing? 13:24

4d ago13:24

13:24

#488 - How Much Should You Spend on Marketing? ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: MARGIN EDGE Take control of your costs with using MarginEdge. Best of all? No contract. No setup fee. Free and unlimited training and support. VISIT: marginedge.com/chip ***** Marketing is not a SPEND. It is an INVESTMENT. Which means you have to be delib…

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You Don’t Have to Be L.A. to Be Legendary: Eric Bost on Building Fine Dining Outside the Bubble 39:25

6d ago39:25

39:25

By Josh Kopel

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45 Insights to Celebrate My 45th Birthday 31:58

7d ago31:58

31:58

#487 - 45 Insights to Celebrate My 45th Birthday ***** Special shout-out to Codie Sanchez, host of the Big Deal Podcast. She released an episode with this format just a few weeks back and it inspired me to do the same. If you're not listening to her show, you're missing out. I have spent my entire adult life working in this industry... the last 9 y…

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Grow Deep, Not Wide: Mark Rampolla’s Five-Year Rule for Building Brands That Last 42:32

10d ago42:32

42:32

What if your next move isn’t another location—it’s owning a moment in your guest’s life? Mark Rampolla built ZICO into a category and now backs founders with a $600M fund; his playbook is built for operators under pressure. We talk about the five-year reality of product-market fit, why velocity per store beats “more units,” and how owning a specifi…

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How This London Agency Owner Built Disney's Marketing Strategy Charlie Terry 54:25

10d ago54:25

54:25

✅ How This London Agency Owner Built Disney's Marketing Strategy: Charlie Terry 👇👇@kaizenmarketing8420 🙏🙏 Watch The Video & Don’t Forget to Like, Comment, Subscribe, & Share 🧡 💠 Meet Charlie Terry, CEO of Seek, who started with hospitality marketing in London and evolved into an international omnichannel agency working with Disney, Delicious Ella, …

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Office Hours: Merchandise Minutes, Not Meals 7:57

11d ago7:57

7:57

I’m Josh Kopel, a Michelin-awarded restaurateur and the creator of the Restaurant Scaling System. I’ve spent decades in the industry, building, scaling, and coaching restaurants to become more profitable and sustainable. On this show, I cut through the noise to give you real, actionable strategies that help independent restaurant owners run smarter…

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How to CRUSH with Community Events 14:31

11d ago14:31

14:31

#486 - How to CRUSH with Community Events ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: MARQII MARQII is your one-stop-shop for listings management and reputation management. Collect reviews in one place to make responding easy and effortless and win the SEO game to land at the top of more search results. Win back guests and put more butts in the…

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Do You Even Need SEO? Unfiltered Truth with Jeff Collins 18:24

12d ago18:24

18:24

✅ Do You Even Need SEO? Unfiltered Truth with Jeff Collins 👇👇@kaizenmarketing8420 🙏🙏 Watch The Video & Don’t Forget to Like, Comment, Subscribe, & Share 🧡 💠 In this episode of The Art of Kaizen for Entrepreneurs, we bring in SEO veteran Jeff Collins—whose resume includes leading Purple Mattress’s rise to search dominance—to cut through the noise. J…

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The Connection Hack: Pepper Baumer on Building a Relationship-Based Empire 36:11

13d ago36:11

36:11

What if your factory was idling, your shelves were empty, and your business had just lost $15 million—and you still chose not to lay off a single person? That’s the line Pepper Baumer drew. As the third-generation CEO of Crystal Hot Sauce, he inherited a 100-year-old legacy—and nearly watched it collapse under the weight of supply chain failure, ma…

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Relationship First Marketing The Blueprint for Agency Growth Francis Volpe 40:00

14d ago40:00

40:00

✅ Relationship First Marketing: The Blueprint for Agency Growth | Francis Volpe 👇👇@kaizenmarketing8420 🙏🙏 Watch The Video & Don’t Forget to Like, Comment, Subscribe, & Share 🧡 💠 Meet Francis Volpe, head of content creation at Why Not You Media, whose journey from professional stuntman to social media strategist reveals the power of purpose over mot…

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A 6-Step Leadership Framework with Coach Sal Rotolo 42:06

14d ago42:06

42:06

#485 - A 6-Step Leadership Framework with Coach Sal Rotolo ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: DAVO Automate your sales taxes using DAVO BY AVALARA. The software integrates with most POS systems. It sets aside your sales taxes, files on time, and submits payments before the deadline. VISIT: https://davosalestax.com/RestaurantStrategy **…

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Perfect Meals Don’t Matter: Sara Fay Egan on Experiences That Scale 37:16

17d ago37:16

37:16

If your guests remember the night but forget the meal, did you succeed? Sara Fay Egan never planned to run restaurants—she built experiences. After a career in high-end event planning, she was thrust into leadership at Beale Street Blues Company after the sudden passing of her father. But instead of mimicking traditional models, she brought an outs…

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Meet Kaizen the 1% agency that's changing how businesses approach digital marketing. 13:47

17d ago13:47

13:47

✅ Meet Kaizen—the 1% agency that's changing how businesses approach digital marketing. 👇👇@kaizenmarketing8420 🙏🙏 Watch The Video & Don’t Forget to Like, Comment, Subscribe, & Share 🧡 💠 We're not your typical marketing agency. We're business owners, data scientists, creators, and copywriters united by one mission: growing revenue for every business …

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Marketing is About Standing Out in a Noisy Marketplace 22:34

18d ago22:34

22:34

#484 - Marketing is About Standing Out in a Noisy Marketplace ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: MARQII MARQII is your one-stop-shop for listings management and reputation management. Collect reviews in one place to make responding easy and effortless and win the SEO game to land at the top of more search results. Win back guests and p…

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Community Over Camera The Key to Video Marketing 28:32

19d ago28:32

28:32

✅ Community Over Camera The Key to Video Marketing 👇👇@kaizenmarketing8420 🙏🙏 Watch The Video & Don’t Forget to Like, Comment, Subscribe, & Share 🧡 💠 What happens when you realize that staying "out of sight" means being "out of referrals"? Vikram Rajan built VideoSocial after discovering that even confident public speakers struggle with the consiste…

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Competition Isn’t Your Biggest Threat: Jean-Pierre Lacroix on the Power of Relevance 39:12

20d ago39:12

39:12

What if your restaurant’s biggest threat isn’t your competition—it’s your own irrelevance? Jean-Pierre Lacroix has spent decades helping brands regain their footing after losing touch with what made them matter. In today’s conversation, we unpack what’s killing restaurant loyalty—and it’s not what you think. Jean-Pierre argues that operators are ov…

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From 3 Books to Bestseller: The Marketing Strategist Behind 350 Book Launches | Keren Camou 36:57

21d ago36:57

36:57

✅From 3 Books to Bestseller: The Marketing Strategist Behind 350+ Book Launches | Keren Camou 👇👇@kaizenmarketing8420 🙏🙏 Watch The Video & Don’t Forget to Like, Comment, Subscribe, & Share 🧡 💠 Meet Keren Camus, the serial entrepreneur and neurolinguistics expert who has launched over 350 books and transforms authors from "real-life influencers" into…

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Popmenu Co-Founders, Brendan Sweeney and Tony Roy 27:13

21d ago27:13

27:13

#483 - Popmenu Co-Founders, Brendan Sweeney and Tony Roy ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: DAVO Automate your sales taxes using DAVO BY AVALARA. The software integrates with most POS systems. It sets aside your sales taxes, files on time, and submits payments before the deadline. VISIT: https://davosalestax.com/RestaurantStrategy ****…

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Quality is Overrated: Allan Dib on Scaling Sales the Smart Way 39:20

24d ago39:20

39:20

Most restaurant owners think better food or better service will win the game. But Allan Dib has a different take: your product is not your problem—your marketing is. Allan is the best-selling author of The 1-Page Marketing Plan, and in this conversation, he dismantles the myths that keep restaurants stuck. We get into the high cost of bad positioni…

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Office Hours: Enrollment Beats Training 7:23

25d ago7:23

7:23

I’m Josh Kopel, a Michelin-awarded restaurateur and the creator of the Restaurant Scaling System. I’ve spent decades in the industry, building, scaling, and coaching restaurants to become more profitable and sustainable. On this show, I cut through the noise to give you real, actionable strategies that help independent restaurant owners run smarter…

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How to Get More 5-Star Reviews on Google and Yelp (ENCORE) 26:03

25d ago26:03

26:03

#482 - How to Get More 5-Star Reviews on Google and Yelp (ENCORE) ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: MARGIN EDGE Take control of your costs with using MarginEdge. Best of all? No contract. No setup fee. Free and unlimited training and support. VISIT: marginedge.com/chip ***** Reputation Management was once a fringe area of digital mark…

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Burnout Isn’t a Badge: Ahu Hettema on Risk, Reinvention, and Building Restaurants That Work 35:19

27d ago35:19

35:19

Ahu Hettema didn’t hedge her bets—she burned the boats. No Plan B. No safety net. Just a belief that betting everything on one restaurant could rewrite her life. And it did. But not through stubbornness. Through adaptation. In this episode, Ahu breaks down how listening—really listening—to her guests saved her concept, why comfort matters more than…

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Tech Integration That Actually Pays Off 18:29

28d ago18:29

18:29

#481 - Tech Integration That Actually Pays Off ***** If you've been listening for a while you know I am NOT anti-tech. But I do think we have to be more intentional with the tolls we choose to bring on. Today's episode is all about that! ***** Are you ready to generate consistent, predictable 20% profit in your restaurant? Let's talk about the powe…

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This Is What Luxury Actually Feels Like: Chris Adams on Culture, Tech, and the Soul of Service 36:59

1M ago36:59

36:59

Chris Adams does. He’s built a business on showing some of the biggest brands in the world how to make guests feel something—without faking it. In this episode, we dig into what defines modern luxury and why it has less to do with money and more to do with culture, people, and emotional precision. Chris shares how AI and tech can enhance—not replac…

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Office Hours: Acquire Talent, Don’t Nurture It 9:00

1M ago9:00

9:00

I’m Josh Kopel, a Michelin-awarded restaurateur and the creator of the Restaurant Scaling System. I’ve spent decades in the industry, building, scaling, and coaching restaurants to become more profitable and sustainable. On this show, I cut through the noise to give you real, actionable strategies that help independent restaurant owners run smarter…

1
Talking AI with Inc Tank GTM Co-Founders 37:55

1M ago37:55

37:55

#480 - Talking AI with Inc Tank GTM Co-Founders ***** This week's episode is brought to you by: MARGIN EDGE Take control of your costs with using MarginEdge. Best of all? No contract. No setup fee. Free and unlimited training and support. VISIT: marginedge.com/chip ***** Inc Tank GTM was founded by Michael Beck and Chad Horn, who have learned a thi…

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From Maxed-Out Credit Cards to 41 Locations: John Gelastopoulos on Building Broken Yolk’s Lasting Momentum 35:49

1M ago35:49

35:49

Most people buy a restaurant and inherit someone else’s problems. John Gelastopoulos bought a closed breakfast spot, maxed out his credit cards to keep it alive—and turned it into a 41-location powerhouse. The secret? Relentless persistence and an obsession with people. In this conversation, John shares how he went from washing dishes to franchisin…

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A-Players and SOPs: The Foundation of Agency Growth | Alec Winter 48:34

1M ago48:34

48:34

✅ A-Players and SOPs: The Foundation of Agency Growth | Alec Winter 👇👇@kaizenmarketing8420 🙏🙏 Watch The Video & Don’t Forget to Like, Comment, Subscribe, & Share 🧡 💠 Meet Alec Winter, founder of Creators Collective, who went from living in his mom's basement after a failed VR startup to building a 45-person marketing agency dominating niches like a…

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Kitchen Efficiency and Waste Reduction Systems 21:41

1M ago21:41

21:41

#479 - Kitchen Efficiency and Waste Reduction Systems ***** Food waste represents as much as 5% points on your P&L. Do some quick math and you'll realize that for a $2MM restaurant, that's as much as an extra $100,000 that drops to the bottom line. It's a meaningful amount, and so that's why we're going to dig deep on today's episode. ***** Are you…

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Geoff Alexander on Leveling Up Leadership Skills 37:57

1M ago37:57

37:57

After 30 years with restaurant conglomerate Lettuce Entertain You, Geoff Alexander could teach a masterclass on building and scaling a restaurant brand. And that’s exactly what he’s done for us today. In this far reaching conversation we discuss the essential elements of leadership, how to build a brand from the ground up, turnaround strategies for…

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The Revenue Flywheel: From Operations to Retention | Italo Leiva 51:47

1M ago51:47

51:47

✅ The Revenue Flywheel: From Operations to Retention | Italo Leiva 👇👇@kaizenmarketing8420 🙏🙏 Watch The Video & Don’t Forget to Like, Comment, Subscribe, & Share 🧡 💠 "Failure isn't failure unless you quit." In this episode, we sit down with Italo, founder of Pedal, who transformed early business disappointments into a revolutionary approach to reven…

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Office Hours: Sell the Thing People Dream About 7:42

1M ago7:42

7:42

I’m Josh Kopel, a Michelin-awarded restaurateur and the creator of the Restaurant Scaling System. I’ve spent decades in the industry, building, scaling, and coaching restaurants to become more profitable and sustainable. On this show, I cut through the noise to give you real, actionable strategies that help independent restaurant owners run smarter…