June 2026 – My blog

by admin|29 June 202629 June 2026|Newsletter-Substack, Profit

When a restaurant isn't producing the margin it should, the building starts to feel like the problem. Too much rent. Too many seats to fill. Too much square footage to heat, cool, staff, and maintain. The operator looks around and...

Your Layout Is Costing You Money Every Shift

by admin|28 June 202628 June 2026|From The Playbook, Newsletter-Substack, Performance, Product

The numbers never say layout problem. They say high ticket time. Labor over budget. Team fatigue. Missed peak-hour covers. The cast running harder than they should for the volume they are doing. The supervisor filling gaps that should not exist....

Loyalty Is Not a Discount Problem

by admin|26 June 202626 June 2026|Newsletter-Substack, Product

What You're Actually Measuring When operators talk about loyalty, they almost always mean repeat visits. And when they try to drive repeat visits, they almost always reach for the same instrument — a discount, a punch card, a points system,...

Relational Hospitality

by admin|26 June 202626 June 2026|From The Playbook, Newsletter-Substack, Perspective

Not a technology. Not a data strategy. Not a luxury hotel concept. A human framework for the independent restaurant operator who wants to understand why their best servers are different from their good ones. Here is the distinction. Unobtrusive Service...

The Phone Isn’t the Problem

by admin|26 June 202626 June 2026|From The Playbook, Newsletter-Substack

The missed call isn't your problem. The overwhelmed human is your problem. There's a category of AI tool being sold to restaurant operators right now that promises to solve missed calls. Answer the phone 24/7. Never miss a reservation request....

You’re Looking Right at It. You Just Can’t See It.

by admin|26 June 202626 June 2026|From The Playbook, Newsletter-Substack

In 1999, researchers at Harvard ran an experiment that changed how we understand human attention.They asked volunteers to watch a video of people passing a basketball and count the passes. While the ball was moving, someone in a full gorilla...

You Didn’t Buy a Business Partner. You Bought a Dependency.

by admin|26 June 202626 June 2026|From The Playbook, Newsletter-Substack

Four consecutive quarters of same-store sales declines. The most recent at negative 8.7%. A 22-year streak of comp growth — gone.Same quarter: 97 new locations opened. System-wide sales up 5.9%.That's Wingstop in Q1 2026. And those two facts, held side...

You Can’t Hire Better Cast. You Can Hire Better People.

by admin|26 June 202626 June 2026|From The Playbook, Newsletter-Substack

A few weeks ago a colleague posted about hiring four cooks at $20 an hour. Three ghosted. One quit after fifteen minutes because it was too difficult.The post blew up. The comment section turned into a debate about systemic hiring...

What Warren Buffett Taught Me About How to Run a Better Restaurant

by admin|26 June 202626 June 2026|From The Playbook, Newsletter-Substack, Perspective

In 1969, Warren Buffett wrote a line in his partnership letter that most investors have read and almost none have fully applied: "Commitments of less than about $3 million cannot have a real impact on our overall performance." Three million...

The Twelve Laws of the Guest Experience

by admin|26 June 202626 June 2026|From The Playbook, Newsletter-Substack

Your Guest has already decided.Not after the food arrived. Not after the check. Before the server said a word. The emotional read landed the moment they walked in — the room, the energy, the feel of the place — and...