Restaurant Start-Up

An interior of an upscale neighborhood restaurant, with the primary focus on the large center bar
by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Growth Isn’t the Reward, It’s the Responsibility

Let’s be honest, the hospitality industry still talks about growth with far too much romance and not nearly enough discipline.

In 2025, a survey of more than 300 multi-unit operators found brands were planning to open 20 percent more locations despite economic headwinds. Additionally, the National Restaurant Association’s 2026 outlook pointed to continued investment in growth and technology even under ongoing cost pressure.

At the same time, our friends at Black Box Intelligence have warned that closures are still part of the equation, particularly for concepts that expanded without the operational strength to absorb volatility.

I feel a duty to address and interpret this tension.

Scaling isn’t about opening another location because the dining room is full, the group chat is excited, or a landlord brought you a deal. Scaling means duplicating a business model, a guest experience, and a profit engine without diluting the brand or increasing dependency on the founder.

by Doug Radkey

An interior of an upscale neighborhood restaurant, with the primary focus on the large center bar

Think this looks ready to scale? The answer is much deeper than you may think.

Whether you’re preparing to start down the path to opening your concept or are already operating a venue or venues, you need to understand one key point clearly: You do not scale because you’re busy, you scale when you’re stable.

The Growth Trap Operators Keep Falling Into

There is a story I have seen too many times, and perhaps you have as well.

A founder opens their first location. The concept gets traction: social media looks good, and Fridays are packed. There’s a line at brunch. Guests start asking when the second location is coming. Some people start referring to this single location as a brand. Investors start circling, and the founder begins to believe growth is the next logical step. So, they open their second location.

The first store slips because leadership attention is divided. The second store opens with a team that knows the idea, but not the standard. Service becomes inconsistent, costs drift, and training becomes informal. The founder starts working more, not less. The brand has expanded, but the business has not scaled.

This is a mistake that continues to happen, time and time again. Operators confuse popularity with repeatability, revenue with readiness, and ambition with infrastructure.

Let’s remember that a second location isn’t scale, it’s a test.

Scaling is not Expansion. It is Repetition Without Degradation.

This is the first principle serious operators need to lock in: Expansion means you opened another box; scaling means the box performs without diluting what made the first one work.

That means five things must remain true as you grow:

  1. The guest experience stays recognizable.
  2. The culture transfers.
  3. The economics remain disciplined.
  4. The systems hold.
  5. The founder becomes less essential, not more.

If one location only works because the owner is in the building, that’s not a scalable model; it’s a founder-carried operation.

That distinction matters for both startups and existing venues alike.

For Startups

Startups love to talk about growth early because growth feels validating and makes the concept feel real. I can’t count how many times I’ve been on a discovery call where the prospect talks about opening multiple locations before there’s even one built.

For a startup, scale should not even be in the conversation until the business has moved beyond survival and into predictable performance, or what we like to refer to as “stabilization.”

That means:

  • the model is validated.
  • the guest is clearly defined.
  • the programming and labor model are in sync.
  • the opening and operational playbooks exist.
  • the business is not being held together by adrenaline.

For Existing Venues

Operators who are already operating venues can fall into a different trap: they assume that because the business has been open for some time, maybe even years, the model is automatically mature enough to scale.

Let me put this simply: It is not. Longevity does not equal readiness.

A ten-year-old restaurant can still be founder-dependent, undisciplined, and financially fragile. A boutique hotel can have strong occupancy and still be too inconsistent operationally to replicate.

Age isn’t an indicator that a concept is ready to scale; stability is.

The Precondition: Stabilization Before Scaling

This is where too many operators get impatient. They want the growth story before they have the control story.

But stabilization comes first, always. A stabilized business isn’t perfect, but it is predictable.

Operators who operate a stable business know:

  • what drives profit.
  • what standards matter most.
  • what labor model is sustainable.
  • what guest experience can be repeated.
  • what systems protect consistency.
  • what happens when sales soften or costs spike.

Stabilization is where the business stops behaving like a hustle and starts behaving like an operating system. Without that, scale will expose every weakness.

If your labor model is emotional, scaling magnifies it. If your menu is bloated, scaling magnifies it. If your communication is weak, scaling magnifies it. And if your leadership bench is thin, scaling magnifies it.

Growth doesn’t fix fragility; it multiplies it.

The Mindset Required Before You Scale

Most founders and operators need the hardest mindset reset right here. They need to understand that scaling isn’t a reward for effort, it’s a responsibility to the model.

Before scaling, leadership needs to answer one question honestly: “Why do we want to grow?”

Do not give the polished answer; answer with the real one. Be honest.

Is it ego? Is it fear of missing the market? Is it investor pressure? Is it the belief that more locations will solve financial stress? Is it the desire to turn a founder-led business into an actual asset?

Scaling for the wrong reason usually creates the wrong outcome.

The right mindset before scaling looks like this:

  1. Growth must serve the model, not rescue it.

A weak first location does not become healthy because you add a second one.

  1. The goal is duplication without dilution.

If the second, fifth, or tenth location changes the guest experience, the culture, or the economics in the wrong direction, the growth is not strategic.

  1. The founder must become less central.

If every key decision still runs through the owner, the brand is not ready.

  1. Clarity matters more than speed.

The market will always create pressure to move faster. Serious operators know disciplined growth compounds more than rushed growth.

  1. Scale is a long-term value decision.

This isn’t just about opening more units; it’s about creating a more valuable company.

The Signs That You’re Ready

This is the part many operators want to skip to: the checklist, the green lights.

And I’m sharing them with you below. But know this: You must understand that the green go-ahead lights sit on top of everything noted above.

  1. Your numbers are predictable.

Not just revenue: contribution margin, prime cost, labor productivity, cash flow timing, and break-even thresholds.

  1. The business performs without your physical presence.

If you can’t leave for two weeks without panic, you are not ready.

  1. Systems are documented.

Not in your head, and not in your managers’ memories. In actual playbooks, SOPs, training sequences, and leadership rhythms.

  1. Leadership depth exists.

You have more than strong employees. You have future operators, future GMs, and future department heads.

  1. Guest experience is repeatable.

The guest experience isn’t amazing only when the founder is there. It’s repeatable at standard, by system.

  1. Culture is clear.

The values are visible in behavior, not just language. Standards are reinforced consistently, even under pressure.

The Takeaway Any Serious Operators Should Save

The industry still loves the story of growth.

Bigger. More locations. New markets. New flags. New addresses.

But the operators who win the next decade will be the ones who earn it. They will:

  • stabilize before they expand.
  • know their numbers before they open another door.
  • build leaders before they sign another lease.
  • document systems before they copy the concept.
  • understand that growth is not proof. Performance is.

So when are you ready to scale?

Not when the room is full. Not when the next landlord calls. Not when investors get excited. Not when your ego wants the headline.

You are ready to scale when the business is stable enough to duplicate without depending on your exhaustion.

That’s the standard.

And if you’re not there yet, that isn’t failure; it’s clarity. Because the smartest move in hospitality is not scaling early, it’s scaling when you’re truly and honestly ready.

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Interior of a light, relaxing restaurant with a focus on the modern, sophisticated light fixtures and open window to the sidewalk and street.
by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Emerging Brands are Compound Startups

Why the smartest one to 15-unit hospitality brands are not “small chains” yet. They are startups learning how to repeat themselves without breaking.

Growth in this industry has entered a new era. From recent conference discussions, what we are seeing and hearing is that bar, restaurant, and even boutique hotel operators still plan to open more locations despite cost pressure.

However, the conversation has shifted from raw expansion to sustainable growth, stronger unit economics, and operational readiness.

At the same time, industry data continues to show that closures remain part of the landscape, particularly for brands that grew faster than their model matured. Black Box Intelligence has warned that unit closures are likely to continue, even as some operators keep developing more locations.

That’s why this thought matters: emerging brands are just compound startups.

A second, fifth, or 15th location does not magically make a brand “corporate.” It simply means the founder is attempting to repeat a business model under more pressure, with more people, in more places.

by Doug Radkey

Interior of a light, relaxing restaurant with a focus on the modern, sophisticated light fixtures and open window to the sidewalk and street.

This article breaks down what “compound startup” means; why so many operators misunderstand scale; and what serious bar, restaurant, and boutique hotel entrepreneurs must build before growth becomes an asset instead of a liability.

The Growth Illusion: Why More Locations Can Hide a Weaker Business

In hospitality, growth is seductive:

  • A packed dining room turns into a second site conversation.
  • A strong summer in one market becomes an excuse to test another.
  • Friends, investors, landlords, and even guests start asking the same question: “When are you opening the next one?”

That question flatters the ego; it does not validate the model.

Too many operators assume that one good location means they have a scalable brand. What they often have is a founder-carried success story.

The owner still approves too many decisions. The best managers still rely on the founder’s instinct. The menu still works because one chef protects it. The guest experience still lands because the founder is in the room.

That is not scale. That is heroics, and heroics do not compound.

A Story Every Growing Operator Will Recognize

A founder opens a strong first location. Maybe it is a cocktail bar, maybe a neighborhood restaurant. Maybe it is a small lifestyle hotel with food and beverage anchors.

The first unit performs well enough. Reviews are good and revenue looks strong. Staff is stretched, but the energy feels high. There is momentum.

Then the founder opens a second location. Almost immediately, the cracks widen.

The first unit loses focus because the founder is no longer present every day. The second unit opens with a team that knows the standards in theory but not in rhythm.

From there, costs and inventory variance increase, culture starts to split, and guests notice inconsistency. Managers become messengers instead of coaches and leaders. The founder begins working more, not less.

This is the point where many operators say “Growth is hard.”

But here’s the thing: growth is not the issue. Unrepeatable success is the issue.

An emerging brand is still a startup because every new unit is a new test of the model. The only difference is that the cost of failure gets higher with each location.

Pillar One: Scaling is Not Expansion. Scaling is Repetition Without Degradation.

The first truth serious operators need to accept is this: opening more units is not scaling. Repeating a model without dilution is scaling.

That means the following must remain true from location one to location five:

  • The guest experience still feels intentional.
  • The unit-level economics still make sense.
  • The culture still transfers.
  • The systems still hold.
  • The brand identity still lands clearly.

If any of those degrade with each unit, you are not scaling; you are stretching.

This is where a lot of emerging brands get trapped. They call themselves a “chain” because they have multiple addresses. But operationally, they are still improvising. They have expanded their footprint without maturing their infrastructure.

A second location should not prove ambition, it should prove repeatability. That is a much higher bar to reach.

Pillar Two: Systems Compound. Effort Does Not.

Startups are fueled by intensity. That is normal. Founders often work harder, stay later, and solve more problems than anyone else in the building. In the early stage, effort covers a lot of weakness.

But effort has a limit. What has no limit? Systems.

The brands that become scalable stop asking “How do we keep up?” They start asking “What must be documented, standardized, and delegated so this works without us?”

That simple mindset shift changes everything.

Systems do not automatically make a brand bureaucratic or corporate. They ensure that knowledge leaves the founder’s head and enters the business in usable formats:

  • strategic playbooks
  • programmed SOPs
  • role clarity
  • service standards
  • training flows
  • decision rules
  • opening and closing disciplines
  • vendor and purchasing frameworks

This is where compounding begins.

Every time a system replaces memory, the business becomes more transferable. Every time a process becomes trainable, leadership gets lighter. Every time expectations become standardized, culture gets stronger.

The founder who still solves everything manually is not building an emerging business; they are scaling personal exhaustion.

Pillar Three: Every Unit Should Be a Feedback Loop, Not Just a Revenue Line.

This is where serious operators separate themselves from the hopeful.

A new location should do more than add top-line revenue. It should teach the brand something.

Every additional unit should refine the model:

  • program complexity
  • labor deployment
  • average revenue per guest behavior
  • service pacing
  • production flow
  • local marketing
  • daypart demand
  • guest retention patterns

That is how compound startups evolve into disciplined brands.

You are not just opening more bars, restaurants, or boutique hotels. You are gathering intelligence. Every unit is a live test of what is truly core to the concept and what was only working because of geography, novelty, or founder presence.

The smartest operators treat each location as a strategic lab. The struggling operators treat each location as proof they were already right.

One mindset compounds wisdom, the other compounds blind spots.

Pillar Four: Leadership Depth, Not Real Estate, is the True Growth Constraint.

Most people think growth is limited by capital, real estate, or timing. In hospitality, growth is usually limited by leadership depth.

You can always find another space. Just as you can always raise more money or can always negotiate another lease.

What is much harder is building a bench of people who can lead the brand at standard without the founder becoming the glue for every decision.

This is the hidden scaling trap.

A business can look ready on paper while being leadership-fragile in practice. Ask better questions:

  • Can your current GMs develop managers into future AGMs who can then become future GMs?
  • Can someone open a new unit without you holding every meeting?
  • Can your business and developed culture survive your physical absence?
  • Can the business solve problems without escalating them all upward?

If the answer is no, you do not have a scaling problem. What you have is a leadership development problem, and this is where many emerging brands stall.

Not because demand disappeared but because the founder never stopped being the sun in the solar system. Real scalable businesses are not built on charismatic founders. They are built on distributed leadership, reinforced systems, and cultural consistency.

Pillar Five: Unit Economics Turn Growth Into Wealth or Waste.

This is the point many operators avoid because it feels less fun than branding, design, or buzz.

But this is the pillar that determines whether an emerging brand becomes a wealth-building machine or an expensive ego project.

Revenue is loud, unit economics are quiet.

The industry is full of businesses that grow volume and revenue faster than profitability. That is why sustainable expansion has become such a focus. Operators planning new locations are doing so under heavier cost pressure, more scrutiny around labor and inventory, and growing emphasis on profitability discipline.

If your first location does not have healthy unit-level economics, your fifth location will not solve that; it will amplify it.

That means serious operators must know:

  • contribution margins.
  • prime cost discipline.
  • ADR + TGRM for hotels.
  • labor productivity (not just labor costs).
  • sales per square foot.
  • cash flow timing.
  • return on invested capital by unit.
  • payback timeline.
  • break-even thresholds under pressure and volatility.

This is where emerging brands become compound startups in the truest sense. They do not just add units, they improve the model so each new location has better odds, better data, and better operational intelligence than the one before it.

That is compounding; not ambition without infrastructure, and not “we’ll figure it out later.”

Compounding means the business gets smarter as it grows.

What This Means for Small Hospitality Brands Right Now

If you operate between one and 15 locations, this should reframe how you see yourself.

You are not “small” in some dismissive sense, and you are not “too early” to think like a chain.

But you are also not “there” just because you have multiple units. You are an emerging brand, which really means you are a compound startup.

That requires a different mindset:

Stop asking:

  • How fast can we grow?
  • Which market is next?
  • How do we get bigger?

Start asking:

  • What in this model is actually repeatable?
  • What still depends too much on founder energy?
  • What is documented versus assumed?
  • Where are margins strongest and weakest by unit?
  • What are we learning with each location?
  • Who can lead without us in the room?

Those questions build a legacy business. The others just build motion.

The Strategic Takeaway Serious Operators Should Save

The brands that win the next decade will not be the fastest to expand. They will be the most disciplined in how they repeat. That is the entire game.

A startup proves an idea. An emerging brand proves a system. A great hospitality company proves that the system can grow without sacrificing the soul of the brand.

So if you are sitting at one, three, or ten locations right now, remember this:

You are not done being a startup. You are simply in a more expensive chapter of it.

Treat each unit like a lesson. Treat systems like assets, leadership depth like oxygen, and unit economics like truth.

Emerging brands are not just growing businesses, they are startups that learned how to compound. And in hospitality, that is the difference between becoming a brand and becoming a cautionary tale.

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by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Three Lies Hospitality Operators Need to Stop Telling Themselves

Revenue vanity, generational myths, and the expensive distractions hurting operators.

The hospitality industry spends an extraordinary amount of time talking about the wrong things.

Operators debate generational stereotypes. They brag about revenue numbers, and chase the newest technology platform.

Meanwhile, the operators who actually build durable businesses are focused on something far less exciting: structure, discipline, and profit.

Spend enough time walking trade show floors, reading hospitality headlines, or sitting through conference panels and the pattern becomes impossible to miss.

Hospitality doesn’t suffer from a lack of passion; it suffers from distraction.

And some of the loudest conversations in the industry right now are built on myths that waste operators’ time, money, and attention.

by David Klemt

A closeup image of a hand attached to the leads of a lie detector, with the small polygraph machine sitting on the bar top.

Illustration generated using AI

Here are three of the worst lies distracting operators.

Lie #1: Sales Equals Success

Revenue is hospitality’s favorite number. Or, phrased a bit differently, sales are hospitality’s favorite vanity metric.

Operators proudly announce they’ve done $3 million or $5 million in annual sales. Trade show rooms applaud when they hear big sales numbers. Social media celebrates. Award nominations start rolling in. Hospitality publications write features.

But revenue alone tells you almost nothing about whether the business is healthy.

A venue doing $3 million in sales and netting $100,000 isn’t a success story. It’s really a stressful job disguised as a business. A significant number of hospitality entrepreneurs end up giving themselves jobs instead of building businesses and empires.

Sales tells you how busy you were. Profit tells you whether your model actually works.

Too many operators chase volume (full dining rooms, long lines, packed weekends) because volume looks impressive. However, the reality is busy doesn’t equal profitable.

Busy rooms and long lines look impressive to some. But profitability, not popularity, is what determines whether a business survives.

The operators who survive long-term aren’t chasing top-line numbers, they’re protecting margins.

Lie #2: Generations Explain Everything

Another long-standing distraction is the industry’s obsession with explaining everything through generational stereotypes.

We’ve read and heard them all: Boomers are entitled, Millennials have killed restaurants, and Gen Z doesn’t drink.

Did you notice I skipped Gen X? That happens a lot when discussing generations.

These narratives make for easy articles and viral social media posts. However, they rarely reflect what operators actually see inside their venues.

Guests aren’t demographic caricatures, they’re people.

Yes, preferences evolve. But successful operators pay attention to how guests behave in their rooms, not how someone online claims an entire generation behaves.

When operators get distracted by generational mythology, they miss the fundamentals that have always mattered: hospitality, atmosphere, consistency, and value. They also miss another key factor when serving people: speaking to guests’ personal values.

Hospitality doesn’t need better stereotypes; nobody and no industry does. Hospitality needs better observation.

Lie #3: Critical Thinking is Optional

This is where the industry’s most expensive mistakes happen.

Operators will hesitate to invest $30,000 in strategic planning that could protect hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in capital. But they’ll sign a $50,000 equipment order without blinking.

Operators will overspend on technology platforms they barely use. They’ll chase design trends that photograph well but do nothing for the business. They’ll throw open their doors and add complexity before they’ve built stability.

It happens constantly.

People under-invest in critical thinking and over-invest in shiny equipment, overpowered tech, and unnecessary design.

The irony is that thinking—strategic clarity, concept development, operational structure, financial discipline—is the part that determines whether a venue survives.

Equipment doesn’t fix a weak concept, technology doesn’t repair broken operations, and beautiful interiors don’t create profitability.

You know what does tick all those boxes? Systems and structure.

The Reality

Bars, restaurants, nightclubs, eatertainment, hotels, and every hospitality business in between rarely fail because operators lack passion.

They fail because operators chase signals that look impressive and buy into stereotypes disguised as actionable data points. Failure comes because they’re distracted by revenue headlines, generational myths, shiny equipment, trendy technology, and, possibly the most damaging of all, refusing to change because “we’ve always done it this way.”

If these distractions dominate so much operator thinking, what’s the answer to this key question: What really creates truly durable hospitality brands?

Signals that actually matter.

The operators who build durable businesses focus on something much less glamorous: building businesses with real pull.

They develop and build out clear concepts. They adhere to disciplined operations, and implement profitable systems.

Everything else is noise, and noise is expensive.

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Drizzling hot honey onto a pepperoni pizza
by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

2026 Pizza Industry Trends: Styles, Ingredients, Pricing, and Strategy for Operators

There are 75,736 pizzerias operating in the United States right now. Together, they generate an estimated $49.6 billion in annual revenue despite a slight (0.3%) dip year over year, according to IBISWorld.

Meanwhile, 86 percent of Americans ate pizza or flatbreads in 2025, and 40 percent of Gen Z consumers are eating pizza at least once per week.

Demand isn’t the issue; competition is.

Pizza is one of the most democratic menu items in hospitality. It works in a 20-seat neighborhood bar, a 200-seat restaurant, a food hall, a hotel lobby, a stadium concourse, or a multi-unit chain spanning multiple states… Pizza even works via automated vending machines.

It thrives at lunch, during a beer-and-shot-soaked visit to a dive bar, and over late-night cocktails. That said, ubiquity is a double-edged sword.

When nearly everyone sells pizza, differentiation—not dough—becomes the battleground.

Reports from Pizza Today, PMQ Pizza, IBISWorld, and Datassential show competition shifting beyond style and price toward positioning, operational precision, retention, and tech fluency.

Detroit and tavern-cut are surging, hot honey and Calabrian chiles are climbing. Anchovies and sun-dried tomatoes may be sliding. The average large cheese pizza now sits at $16.92 nationally, with some regions pushing past $20.

Data alone doesn’t answer the structural question: How do you turn pizza’s mass appeal into brand gravity? The real structural question is: How do you turn pizza’s mass appeal into brand gravity?

Going further: How do you convert one-time traffic into repeat behavior after investing to acquire it? And how do independents win when chains can often absorb margin pressure more easily?

Let’s break down what the 2026 pizza data actually means for independent operators.

by David Klemt

Drizzling hot honey onto a pepperoni pizza

Pepperoni and hot honey are hot ingredients heading into 2026.

Top Pizza Styles in the US

Pizza Today

  1. New York
  2. Traditional American
  3. Chicago Thin (including Tavern)
  4. Detroit
  5. Neapolitan/Neopolitan
  6. Sicilian
  7. Deep Dish
  8. Grandma
  9. California/American Artisan
  10. Roman

Hot Pizza Styles in the US for 2026

Pizza Today

  1. Detroit
  2. New York
  3. Chicago Thin (including Tavern)
  4. Deep Dish
  5. Sicilian

Datassential

  1. Chicago Tavern-Cut
  2. Detroit
  3. Brick Oven
  4. Chickpea Pizza Crust
  5. Flatbread Pizza
  6. Neapolitan
  7. New York

Top Pizza Ingredients

Pizza Today

  1. Pepperoni
  2. Sausage
  3. Mushroom
  4. Bacon
  5. Onion
  6. Extra cheese
  7. Chicken
  8. Black olives
  9. Canadian bacon
  10. Jalapenos
  11. Ham
  12. Red/Green pepper
  13. Meatballs
  14. Pineapple
  15. Basil
  16. Beef
  17. Fresh garlic
  18. Banana peppers
  19. Spinach
  20. Artichoke

Datassential

  1. Plant-based pepperoni
  2. Pepperoni
  3. Mozzarella
  4. Tomato
  5. Mushroom
  6. Sausage
  7. Chicken
  8. Peppers
  9. Bacon
  10. Garlic

Hot Pizza Ingredients on the Rise in 2026

Pizza Today

  • Brisket
  • Calabrian chili pepper
  • Chorizo
  • Figs
  • Nduja
  • Pistachios
  • Ricotta

Datassential

  1. Plant-based pepperoni
  2. Hot honey
  3. Pepperoni cups
  4. Paneer
  5. Dill pickle
  6. Honey
  7. Calabrian chili pepper
  8. Barbecue pork
  9. Mint
  10. Cotija

Ingredients on the Decline in 2026

According to Pizza Today, most pizzeria operators (at least among those they surveyed) aren’t planning on pulling any ingredients from their menus.

Some respondents are indeed planning to ditch a number of toppings this year:

  • anchovies
  • artichokes
  • shrimp
  • sun-dried tomatoes

It’s likely these eliminations are due to price increases.

Pricing Across the US

PMQ Pizza analyzed pizza trends and data, including pricing.

They engaged Slice, the app that for several years released their own Slice of the Union report, for several data points. I used to look forward to this study each year, but Slice appears to have stopped releasing their report after 2024.

One of the bits of info PMQ asked Slice to provide is the average price for a large cheese pizza. On average, a large cheese pizza costs $16.92 in the States. That said, pricing can be region-specific.

In New England and on the East Coast, a large cheese pizza is under the national average, ringing in at $16.71 and $16.82, respectively.

Moving to the Central US, that price climbs to $17.10. A large cheese pizza, on average, costs $20.17 on the West Coast.

How to Win with Pizza in 2026

It’ll take more than keeping up with pizza style and topping trends to with pizza.

This is particularly true for independents going up against regional, national, and global chains. Chains can often weather rising costs more easily than independents.

Get Personal & Meaty

You likely already have a lunch-daypart-focused menu. It’s possible you’ve even dialed your operation into the snack space, a growing and important revenue driver.

If so, you’re already offering pizza by the slice or personal pizzas. That means you’re well positioned to succeed by tempting proteinmaxxers, diet-conscious guests, and guests on GLP-1 weight loss drugs.

Another way to leverage the trend toward boosted protein consumption is to promote your meat-lover’s pizza.

Cool It

Frozen pizza from independents isn’t exploding, but it is growing. PMQ Pizza has taken note of a handful of indie pizza operations that have managed to take their pizzas nationwide via frozen (and refrigerated) pies.

Indies interested in doing the same can reach out to local retailers, a suggestion made by PMQ Pizza. If doing so proves successful, scale from local stores.

Focus Your Marketing

Pizza Today addresses effective and ineffective marketing techniques in their 2026 Pizzeria Industry Trends Report.

Split into two categories, marketing strategies with less to no effectiveness and strategies with moderate to high effectiveness, the pizza publication helps operators focus their time and resources.

For example, it may be time to consider ditching:

  • flyers
  • direct mail
  • search ads
  • door hangers
  • billboards
  • public relations or press releases
  • geofencing
  • radio ads
  • TV ads
  • magazine ads
  • newspaper ads

Some of the above are more costly than others. If you’re using any of these without seeing ROI, redirect time and money toward higher-performing channels.

Pizza Today identifies social media advertising, word of mouth, loyalty programs, community/sporting events, email, text, video marketing, in-store advertising, and social media influencer campaigns as marketing approaches with moderate to high effectiveness.

Lasering in on loyalty programs, both the Pizza Today and PMQ Pizza reports encourage the development and implementation of this marketing tool. As any operator knows (or learns quickly), guest retention is much less expensive than guest acquisition.

So, focus on transforming first-time guests into valuable repeat guests. Build out a loyalty program, ensure you have a website and that it’s easy to find and use (fast, stable, intuitive, easy to customize orders, etc.), and try to convert most of your traffic into online orders. Free up your phone lines and you’ll likely find you’re capturing more orders and decreasing labor costs, keeping your teams working on more lucrative elements of the operation.

Tighten Your Tech Stack

PMQ Pizza’s 2026 Pizza Power Report includes a checklist on its last page. Using it, you’ll be able to easily identify where your tech stack is strong, where there are gaps, and what to focus on to truly dial it in.

Does every other tool or platform in your stack integrate into your POS? Do you own your online ordering and delivery functions, or are you still using Uber Eats and DoorDash (and losing money, data, and control)?

Is your stack collecting, parsing, and giving you deep, data-rich insights? If so, do you know how to find relevant data, generate useful reports, and track your inventory, other costs, analytics, KPIs, etc.?

And, bringing up everyone’s favorite two letters, are you implementing AI? I’m not asking you to replace humans—that remains a red line for me. Instead, I’m asking you to consider where AI can safely and responsibly streamline your operations, ensure you’re not missing orders, and help control your costs.

Hospitality-focused AI tools can monitor your inventory and automatically place or adjust orders, make staffing more efficient and less costly, and help you implement, optimize, and automate your marketing efforts.

This checklist alone is worth downloading PMQ Pizza’s 2026 report. In fact, I encourage operators to download and review each report directly:

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A close-up view of the gourmet plating of proteins, taken in Toronto, Canada
by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Canada’s Emerging Culinary Hubs and Why Strong Ecosystems Matter Now

Canada’s culinary identity isn’t defined by a handful of famous restaurant cities, but by a nationwide shift toward chef-driven regional expression.

These are culinary hubs where local ingredients, immigrant influence, and cultural revival are turning entire neighborhoods and secondary markets into the country’s next great dining destinations.

For years, conversations about Canadian dining have centered on a few obvious cities. However, that myopic view misses the real story unfolding across the country.

What’s happening now isn’t just growth, it’s decentralization. Chefs are leaning into regional identity, immigrant culinary traditions are shaping modern menus, Indigenous and heritage cuisines are experiencing a resurgence, and smaller markets are building serious food credibility.

The result? Canada’s culinary gravity is spreading outward, neighborhood by neighborhood, province by province. It’s creating a network of emerging hubs that operators, investors, and food travelers alike should be watching closely. Established culinary hubs are positioned for even more growth, and new, exciting destinations are poised for their time to shine.

Canada’s most exciting food scenes are no longer limited to major cities. Chef-driven regional cuisine and culturally rooted neighborhoods across every province are creating the country’s next wave of culinary destinations.

While this is exciting, it reveals a stark truth: closures will also reshape Canada’s culinary markets. Survival won’t be random.

The areas most likely to endure are those with strong culinary identity, independent operator density, regional ingredient stories, and genuine destination pull. These are ecosystems that tend to consolidate rather than collapse. This makes them particularly valuable ground for operators selecting a location to start their first concept, those working to stabilize operations, and for brands preparing to scale, offering a more resilient foundation than generic commercial strips.

by David Klemt

A close-up view of the gourmet plating of proteins, taken in Toronto, Canada

Ontario

How best to boil down Ontario’s rich culinary scene? If I had to pick just a few accurate descriptors, I’d say it’s chef-driven, globally-inspired, and diverse, and that last one may be an understatement.

It’s also undeniable that the farm-to-table movement has taken hold throughout the province.

Watch Riverside/Leslieville in Toronto, where independent, chef-driven concepts continue to cluster east of the core, and Prince Edward County, which is evolving from wine-country getaway into a year-round culinary destination. Also, monitor Ottawa’s Wellington West corridor, where neighborhood-scale dining energy keeps building beyond ByWard’s traditional gravity.

Toronto

Top Culinary Hubs

  • Chinatown
  • The Danforth
  • Gerrard East
  • Kensington Market
  • Koreatown
  • Queen West

Ottawa

Top Culinary Hubs

  • ByWard Market
  • Elgin Street
  • The Glebe
  • Little Italy
  • Wellington West

Québec

Anyone looking for rich and indulgent dining experiences will be rewarded in Québec. Smoked meats, duck, pork, wild game, incredible cheese production, a focus on charcuterie and pâtisserie, and a vibrant maple syrup culture all define the province’s approach to cuisine.

Rather than focusing on broad, already-established neighborhoods, watch micro-corridors within Montréal’s Mile End and Plateau. These areas are where new independent kitchens are pushing modern Québécois and immigrant-influenced cuisine forward.

In Québec City, Saint-Sauveur and the expanding Saint-Roch fringe show the strongest signs of becoming the city’s next chef-driven growth zones.

Québec City

Top Culinary Hubs

  • Grande-Allée
  • The Island of Orléans
  • Limoilou
  • The Old Port
  • The Petit Champlain District
  • Saint-Roch

Montréal

Top Culinary Hubs

  • Atwater Market
  • Chinatown
  • Downtown
  • Le Central
  • Little Italy
  • Mile End
  • Old Montreal
  • Plateau
  • Time Out Market

British Columbia

Anyone who has spent time diving into BC’s culinary scene knows a few things to be true: the food is clean and captures the Pacific’s terroir, the province’s chefs are masters of seasonal fare, several Asian cuisines are well represented, and seafood and wine are shine.

Kelowna is solidifying itself as BC’s most complete emerging culinary city, where wine, agriculture, and chef ambition intersect. Kamloops is building quiet momentum through event-driven food culture and local-forward dining. Within Vancouver, watch continued restaurant density growth in Mount Pleasant and the Commercial Drive area, where neighborhood dining culture is deepening.

Vancouver

Top Culinary Hubs

  • Chinatown
  • Gastown
  • Granville Island
  • Kitsilano
  • Richmond
  • The West End

Victoria

Top Culinary Hubs

  • Downtown
  • Chinatown
  • Fisherman’s Wharf
  • Inner Harbour
  • James Bay
  • Old Town

Alberta

Where’s the beef? It’s in the finest restaurants across the world, as Alberta’s known for its ranches and super-premium beef. Of course, there’s also elk, bison, and incredible wild game.

The province is largely renowned for its rustic cooking, bold flavors, and growing craft beer and spirits scenes.

In Edmonton, keep an eye on the Jasper Avenue corridor and adjacent downtown-adjacent districts, where revitalization and restaurant clustering are aligning. In the Rockies, Canmore is steadily transitioning from tourist stop to serious dining town, with chef-led concepts raising the ceiling on expectations.

Calgary

Top Culinary Hubs

  • 17th Avenue SW
  • Downtown
  • Eau Claire
  • Inglewood
  • Kensington

Edmonton

Top Culinary Hubs

  • 104th Street
  • 124th Street
  • Brewery District
  • Downtown
  • Garneau
  • Glenora
  • Mill Creek
  • Old Strathcona
  • Ritchie
  • Wîhkwêntôwin (formerly Oliver)

Manitoba

The province is known for freshwater treasures like Lake Winnipeg pickerel, along with cuisine influenced by immigrant comfort foods. Of note, Ukrainian, Mennonite, and Eastern European dishes.

Manitoba is also making a name for itself through foraged foods and wild rice.

Beyond Winnipeg’s established districts, Corydon Village continues to evolve into a more chef-driven dining strip, while Wolseley shows signs of strengthening as a neighborhood-scale food destination built around independent operators rather than chains.

Winnipeg

Top Culinary Hubs

  • Downtown
  • Exchange District
  • The Forks
  • Red River
  • Sports, Hospitality and Entertainment District (SHED)
  • Waterfront

Brandon

Top Culinary Hubs

  • Downtown
  • 18th Street Corridor
  • West End

Saskatchewan

New Prairie cuisine is a chef-driven movement putting modern spins on traditional dishes. In Saskatchewan, the province’s status as an agricultural powerhouse helps this movement shine. Saskatchewan is also experiencing an indigenous culinary revival.

Riversdale in Saskatoon is evolving from up-and-coming to culinary identity district, driven by independent restaurants and walkable density. In Regina, the Warehouse District continues to position itself as the city’s most concentrated food-and-nightlife corridor.

Saskatoon

Top Culinary Hubs

  • Briarwood
  • City Park
  • Downtown
  • Nutana
  • Stonebridge

Regina

Top Culinary Hubs

  • Albert Street
  • Cathedral Village
  • Downtown

Nova Scotia

Given its status as “the Seafood Capital of Canada,” driven in part by the billions in seafood the province exports to dozens of countries, it’s tough to beat Nova Scotia’s maritime-focused food scene. While there are rustic bites, there’s pride in Nova Scotia in producing elegant and refined dishes.

The Annapolis Valley (in particular, Wolfville) is becoming a true food-and-wine ecosystem rather than just a scenic stop, with agriculture, vineyards, and ambitious chefs converging into destination dining appeal.

Halifax

Top Culinary Hubs

  • Agricola Street
  • Argyle Street
  • Downtown
  • Halifax Seaport Farmer’s Market
  • The Halifax Waterfront

New Brunswick

A coastal powerhouse, New Brunswick will give any coastal location a run for its culinary money. Just consider that Shediac is referred to as “the Lobster Capital of the World,” and Cap-Pelé is considered by many to be “the Smoked Herring Capital of the World.”

And those are but two examples of New Brunswick’s incredible seafood. It’s undeniable that the province’s vibrant Acadian culture has influenced New Brunswick’s maritime mastery and rich food scene.

In Moncton, watch downtown-adjacent corridors near the core rather than any single street; restaurant growth is spreading outward. Coastal communities like Cap-Pelé and Shediac will continue gaining attention as regional seafood identity centers rather than purely seasonal stops.

Fredericton

Top Culinary Hubs

  • Downtown
  • Historic Garriston District
  • Northside

Moncton

Top Culinary Hubs

  • Downtown
  • St. George Street
  • West End

Newfoundland & Labrador

If rustic, heritage-driven cuisine is what someone craves, this province’s chefs deliver. Newfoundland & Labrador’s culinary scenes are rich with both traditional and modern takes on comforting, nostalgic dishes, and chef-driven concepts are modernizing dining options throughout the province.

The Bonavista Peninsula (including Bonavista and nearby coastal communities) is developing into a recognized culinary subregion, where chef-driven coastal gastronomy and heritage cooking are drawing national attention.

St. John’s

Top Culinary Hubs

  • Downtown
  • Duckworth Street
  • Quidi Vidi Village
  • Pleasantville
  • St. John’s Farmer’s Market
  • Water Street

Prince Edward Island

It may be the smallest province but Prince Edward Island boasts super-clean ingredients, be they in the form of seafood or its agricultural bounty. PEI delivers huge flavor and pristine bites.

Beyond Charlottetown, Rustico and Brackley Beach show the strongest signs of developing into seasonal micro-hubs built around seafood, agriculture, and destination-focused dining. These may be smaller in scale, but they’re high in culinary quality.

Charlottetown

Top Culinary Hubs

  • Downtown
  • Richmond Street
  • Victoria Row
  • Waterfront
  • West Royalty

Outside of Charlottetown

  • New Glasgow
  • New London
  • Summerside
  • Victoria-by-the-Sea

Image: Javon Swaby via Pexels

Along with other sources, the author reviewed the Destination Canada website for information.

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Ocean Drive in South Beach, Miami, Florida, during the daytime
by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

WalletHub Ranks the Best Foodie Cities in the US for 2026

Personal finance and financial education company WalletHub has ranked the top 182 foodie cities in the USA for the year 2026.

Several metrics were considered, scored under two primary dimensions, Affordability, and Diversity, Accessibility & Quality. These include:

  • Accessibility & Affordability of High-Quality Restaurants
  • Restaurant Meal Cost
  • Average Beer & Wine Price
  • Restaurants per Capita
  • Ratio of Full-Service Restaurants to Fast-Food Establishments
  • Growth in Number of Full Service Restaurants

The company has been releasing this list since 2014, and released their latest ranking at the end of September of last year. Their rankings give operators several considerations for starting, stabilizing, or scaling their concepts in 2026 (and beyond).

For example, will their concept face stiff competition in a particular city due to market saturation, or will it stand out because it fills a gap? Will a market’s economics, demographics, and pyschographics support an operator’s expansion, or would it perform far better elsewhere? Just these two questions highlight the importance of a feasibility study, among other fact-based approaches and considerations.

When they first started, WalletHub ranked 150 cities. That expanded to more than 180 quite quickly.

This year’s number-one city also earned the top spot on the 2024 list. Scroll down to check out the latest ranking of American foodie cities. Cheers!

by David Klemt

Ocean Drive in South Beach, Miami, Florida, during the daytime

Hint for the city that earned the top spot.

America’s Top Foodie Cities

The Top 25

  1. Miami, Florida
  2. Portland, Oregon
  3. San Francisco, California
  4. Seattle, Washington
  5. Orlando, Florida (#1: Most Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Shops per Capita)
  6. Austin, Texas
  7. Tampa, Florida
  8. Las Vegas, Nevada (#1: Most Restaurants per Capita)
  9. Sacramento, California
  10. San Diego, California
  11. Atlanta, Georgia
  12. Denver, Colorado
  13. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  14. St. Louis, Missouri (#1: Most Gourmet Specialty-Food Stores per Capita)
  15. Houston, Texas
  16. Los Angeles, California
  17. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  18. Richmond, Virginia
  19. Cincinnati, Ohio
  20. Washington, DC
  21. Fort Lauderdale, Florida
  22. San Antonio, Texas
  23. Chicago, Illinois
  24. Grand Rapids, Michigan
  25. Dallas, Texas

26 to 50

  1. New York, New York
  2. Wilmington, Delaware
  3. Oakland, California
  4. Louisville, Kentucky
  5. Phoenix, Arizona
  6. Scottsdale, Arizona
  7. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  8. Salt Lake City, Utah (#1: Most Coffee Shops per Capita)
  9. Buffalo, New York
  10. Portland, Maine
  11. Long Beach, California
  12. Omaha, Nebraska
  13. Anaheim, California
  14. San Jose, California
  15. Minneapolis, Minnesota
  16. Nashville, Tennessee
  17. Vancouver, Washington
  18. Raleigh, North Carolina
  19. Rochester, New York
  20. Charlotte, North Carolina (tie)
  21. Cleveland, Ohio (tie)
  22. Madison, Wisconsin
  23. Aurora, Colorado
  24. Indianapolis, Indiana
  25. Baltimore, Maryland

51 to 75

  1. Fresno, California
  2. Boston, Massachusetts
  3. Providence, Rhode Island
  4. Tucson, Arizona
  5. Tulsa, Oklahoma
  6. El Paso, Texas
  7. Honolulu, Hawaii
  8. Bakersfield, California
  9. Reno, Nevada (#1: Lowest Average Beer & Wine Price)
  10. Albuquerque, New Mexico
  11. Springfield, Missouri
  12. Stockton, California
  13. Virginia Beach, Virginia
  14. Santa Ana, California
  15. Charleston, South California
  16. Santa Rosa, California (#1: Most Craft Breweries & Wineries per Capita)
  17. Colorado Springs, Colorado
  18. Spokane, Washington
  19. Jersey City, New Jersey
  20. Columbia, South Carolina
  21. Greensboro, North Carolina
  22. St. Petersburg, Florida
  23. Dover, Delaware
  24. Columbus, Ohio
  25. Newark, New Jersey

76 to 100

  1. Tempe, Arizona
  2. Jacksonville, Florida
  3. New Orleans, Louisiana
  4. Tacoma, Washington
  5. Modesto, California
  6. Detroit, Michigan
  7. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
  8. Salem, Oregon
  9. Knoxville, Tennessee
  10. St. Paul, Minneapolis
  11. Billings, Montana
  12. Amarillo, Texas
  13. Plano, Texas
  14. Fort Worth, Texas
  15. Tallahassee, Florida
  16. Manchester, New Hampshire
  17. Warwick, Rhode Island
  18. Missoula, Montana
  19. Wichita, Kansas
  20. Sioux Falls, South Dakota
  21. Burlington, Vermont
  22. Cedar Rapids, Iowa
  23. Lincoln, Nebraska
  24. Durham, North Carolina
  25. Des Moines, Iowa

To check out cities 101 through 180 and learn more about WalletHub’s methodology, click here.

173 to 182

The following cities complete the list, earning the final ten slots on the list.

  1. Columbus, Ohio
  2. Yonkers, New York
  3. Rancho Cucamonga, California
  4. Shreveport, Louisiana
  5. West Valley City, Utah
  6. Jackson, Mississippi
  7. Montgomery, Alabama
  8. Moreno Valley, California
  9. Lewiston, Maine
  10. Pearl City, Hawaii

Top 10 Foodie Cities in the US (2024)

The top ten foodie cities heading into last year are listed below.

  1. Miami, Florida
  2. San Francisco, California
  3. Orlando, Florida
  4. Portland, Oregon
  5. Tampa, Florida
  6. Sacramento, California
  7. Las Vegas, Nevada
  8. Seattle, Washington
  9. Denver, Colorado
  10. San Diego, California

Top 10 Foodie Cities in the US (2014)

For those who are curious, WalletHub’s first list, published in 2014, is below. For their inaugural list, the company ranked 150 cities.

Things have certainly shifted over the course of more than a decade.

  1. Orlando, Florida
  2. Grand Rapids, Michigan
  3. Madison, Wisconsin
  4. Boise, Idaho
  5. Cincinnati, Ohio
  6. Reno, Nevada
  7. New Orleans, Louisiana
  8. Austin, Texas
  9. Lexington, Kentucky
  10. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Henderson, Nevada, was ranked 150.

Image: Luise and Nic on Unsplash

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A bar and restaurant with very few guests but many empty tables, chairs, and barstools.
by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

The Public Has Spoken: How Guests View Bars and Restaurants

A few weeks ago, a popular bar and restaurant in Toronto closed its doors after more than 25 years in business.

Not quietly. Not without attention from local PR. And not without commentary from the public online.

What followed wasn’t just nostalgia or sadness. It was a wave of blunt, uncomfortable public opinion, with comments that should stop every operator in their tracks. Comments such as:

“Bars and restaurants are a cultural wasteland.”
“Not surprised. Kids don’t drink anymore.”
“Why pay $25 for a burger and fries?”
“I can’t afford to go out anymore anyway.”
“Going out is a waste of money. I can cook better at home.”
“Charge less and you’d still be open.”

These weren’t trolls. These were guests (or potential guests). This is a trend we are seeing on many other closure announcements.

Every day, consumers are starting to react honestly to what dining out now feels like to them.

Whether operators like it or not, there is a perception problem that the hospitality industry must confront head-on.

by Doug Radkey

A bar and restaurant with very few guests but many empty tables, chairs, and barstools.

Image: Canva

Operators Must Reinvent the Hospitality Industry

This isn’t just Toronto. It’s everywhere.

Across Canada, the United States, the UK, Western Europe, Australia, and even parts of Mexico, the same themes are emerging: demand still exists, but tolerance is shrinking. Guests are no longer willing to blindly accept higher prices, inconsistent experiences, or unclear value.

Recent data paint a sobering picture:

  • Canada is projected to see roughly 4,000 net restaurant closures in 2026, following a “bloodbath” of approximately 7,000 closures in 2025 (Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab)
  • Over 86 percent of consumers say they plan to cut back on dining out due to high costs.
  • Input costs for food, labor, rent, and supplies have increased 20 to 30 percent year over year.
  • Many small independent operators, already running on razor-thin margins, are the most vulnerable.

In the UK, net closures continue, though the pace has slowed.

In Europe, bankruptcies in accommodation and foodservice jumped more than 20 percent in 2025.

Australia has seen one of the highest closure rates in hospitality relative to other sectors.

The US looks more stable on paper, but that stability masks aggressive adjustments in casual dining and a widening gap between winners and everyone else.

Mexico remains growth-oriented, but performance is uneven and increasingly value-sensitive.

This is not a localized issue. This is a structural issue, and requires a reset for the industry as a whole.

The Calm Before the Storm

Here’s the part that confuses people.

Just months ago, many headlines talked about recovery, stabilization, and momentum. Many articles boasted about new records in revenue. But as we always say, revenue is a vanity metric.

So what happened? Well, while the perception was about recovery, the fact is, it was just the calm before the storm.

Many operators were surviving on deferred debt, temporary relief programs, optimism, and sheer willpower. Balance sheets were stretched. Lease terms were aggressive. Margins were compressed but ignored. Now, reality is catching up to many operators.

Our working theory is this: This era may become the largest period of restaurant closures in modern history. Not because people stopped eating out, but because years of inflated optimism, weak unit economics, and bad financial discipline finally collide.

The market isn’t cruel, it’s just indifferent.

How the Public Actually Sees the Industry Right Now

This is where operators need to listen more than they talk.

From the guest’s perspective, dining out is judged through a simple lens for most:

“Is it worth it?”

That’s it.

Guests are not anti-bar or anti-restaurant; they are anti-disappointment.

They still want experiences. They still want social connection. They still want great food and drink (and yes, even alcohol). And, of course, they want hospitality.

But what is happening is they are rationing their frequency and raising their expectations.

Across markets, several narratives dominate:

  1. “Dining out costs too much for what you get.”

Affordability is the loudest theme. Inflation, tariffs, and prices rose fast, portions are often viewed as shrinking, and consistency in service has slipped. Guests don’t just feel sticker shock; what they are feeling is uncertainty. They don’t trust that the experience will justify the bill.

  1. “Tipping and surprise charges are out of control.”

Tip fatigue is now mainstream. It’s in the media. Guests are sharing screenshots of their bills on social. People are frustrated by auto-gratuities, hidden service charges, and unclear checkout moments. The final bill often feels disconnected from the experience they just had.

  1. “I’m cutting back, but I still want real nights out.”

This is critical. Again, guests aren’t quitting bars and restaurants; they are choosing moments. Routine dining is being replaced by occasional, intentional experiences. When they do go out, they want it to feel special, even if it is not a typical special occasion. Operators need to fight for that earned dollar more than ever before.

  1. “Value wins. Convenience gets questioned.”

Convenience still matters, but tolerance for fees is collapsing. Delivery, once a savior (particularly during the pandemic), now carries a perception problem. Guests are questioning all-in costs and choosing where value feels honest, even when it comes to convenience.

  1. “I feel bad for operators—but I won’t overpay forever.”

There is an element of sympathy, but not blind loyalty. Understanding cost pressures does not equal unlimited patience. However, the public still doesn’t understand the economics of the industry. Of course, that begs the question: Should they have to?

In short, the public still wants bars and restaurants, but they want proof. They want proof of value, proof of consistency, and proof that the cost makes sense for them.

Where Operators Went Wrong

This is the hard part.

Many closures were not food or beverage problems. They were not service problems or not demand problems. What were they? Strategy problems, or what we refer to as strategic clarity problems.

Too many operators:

  • built concepts without clear strategy and value ladders;
  • raised prices without visibly improving the experience;
  • allowed menus to sprawl, increasing labor and waste;
  • operated with thin or negative margins and called it “temporary”; and
  • treated leases and debt as fixed realities instead of negotiable strategy.

The middle of the market, particularly casual dining, has been hollowed out. Legacy QSRs are fighting traffic declines and digital fatigue. Only a handful of unicorn brands are truly winning at scale.

Being busy is no longer enough. Neither is just being liked. Being open for 10 or 15 or more years is no longer a shield for your brand, as we saw at the start of this article.

Consumer Education Starts with Operator Discipline

As I alluded to a moment ago, guests don’t understand restaurant economics—and they shouldn’t have to. It’s not their job to subsidize inefficiency or poor planning.

Consumer education will not come from lectures or defensiveness. It will come from intentional design. When the word “value” is used, the industry must remember that it does not mean “cheap.” “Value,” to most guests, means “I understand what I paid for, and it was worth it.”

Winning operators are doing a few things differently:

  • Creating clear value ladders on the menu. Entry items that feel generous. Mid-tier bestsellers that anchor frequency. Premium items that sell identity and margin.
  • Engineering portions and prep so guests feel abundance in the right places while margins are protected behind the scenes, which takes planning and strategy.
  • Pairing price increases with visible improvements in speed, cleanliness, hospitality, or consistency. Being intentional with onboarding, training, and culture.
  • Eliminating billing friction. Fewer surprise fees. Clear compensation models. Simple, human scripts at checkout while still providing frictionless payment methods.

The goal is not to race to the bottom, it’s to rebuild trust for the consumer’s earned dollar.

The Real Estate and Balance Sheet Reckoning

Many recent closures weren’t hospitality failures. They were financial failures. It was the period of rent structures, debt servicing, and cash flow timing.

Operators must treat the lease and balance sheet as core strategy, not background admin. That means you should become disciplined about the following:

  • Negotiate harder than you are comfortable with. Rent structure and tenant improvements can make or break the business before the first guest arrives.
  • Build a real cash flow plan: 90-day cash runway targets, weekly dashboards, and a contingency action plan for slower weeks.
  • Price for reality. If your model only works at “perfect” sales, it is not a model, it is hope.

Realistic Opportunities Still Exist

Despite some of the negatives, there is plenty of room to win. The opportunities are just more specific.

  • Focused fast-casual restaurants and QSRs with a strong value story continue to shine. Simple menus, fast throughput, and a reason to believe.
  • Small-footprint, high-productivity concepts. A footprint of 1,200 to 2,500 square feet with disciplined labor, high sales per square foot, and lower build-out costs can outperform larger venues.
  • Occasion-based concepts. Places built for specific moments like brunch culture, late-night, celebrations, and business lunch, where the guest is not comparing you to cooking at home.
  • Hybrid revenue models. A restaurant that also has a catering engine, packaged goods, a market component, a chef’s counter, or private events that deliver add-on experiences.
  • Operational turnarounds and acquisitions. In a churn cycle, buying a distressed asset with good bones can beat building from scratch, if you know how to fix the model.
  • Neighborhood loyalty plays. The public is cautious; become the trusted local go-to and you can win with frequency and reputation, even without hype.

This is not about creativity dying. In reality, it’s about creativity being protected by fundamental discipline.

Design Hospitality for a More Skeptical Guest

So, where do we start? Let’s look at the guest journey first. The first five minutes matter more than ever.

  • Improve the arrival sequence: greeting time, seating clarity, and “what happens next” cues.
  • Upgrade service pacing and check-back timing so guests feel cared for without being interrupted.
  • Ruthlessly remove the things people complain about online: noise management, restroom cleanliness, waitlist confusion, cold food, and delayed drinks.

Look for patterns during the entire guest journey: from awareness to bookings/ordering, from arrival to experience, from payment to post-visit experience.

Shift from Marketing to Conversion Systems

With consumer pullback, attention is not the problem. It’s conversion and frequency that are the culprits.

  • Own your best channels: Provide search and AI-focused profiles, reviews, email and SMS, and a simple loyalty or bounce-back offer that drives the much-needed second visit.
  • Sell occasions, not just items. Give people reasons to choose you this week, such as date night sets, lunch bundles, and fixed-price midweek menus. Curate a memorable experience that has a trackable ROI with guest data capture.
  • Build two off-premise lanes that make money (revenue and profit), such as catering for offices and small events, and pickup bundles that do not collapse food quality.

The New Definition of Winning

Moving forward from here, winners will not be the loudest or trendiest. The winners will be the operators who:

  • deliver a clean, honest value promise;
  • eliminate friction at all guest touch points;
  • run tight systems with both people and technology;
  • build consumer trust through service consistency;
  • know their numbers better than their accountant; and
  • create experiences that guests feel are worthy of leaving home to try.

This is why strategic playbooks and guidance matter more than ever. Not templates, not blind optimism, but real playbooks and guidance. Frameworks that integrate market validation, financial stress-testing, operational discipline, brand positioning, and leadership execution.

What New Entrants Must be Prepared For

This is still a great industry to enter, but the bar is higher. You need more money, more discipline, and more clarity on your lane within the industry. Building a legacy in this industry is still possible.

You must be prepared to navigate the following:

  • Slower ramps: Assume early on that it may take longer to stabilize sales and team performance, and fund that slower ramp up accordingly.
  • Higher operating precision: Guests notice inconsistency faster, and they do not give many second chances. Therefore, building intentional systems early in the process is a non-negotiable.
  • A tougher labor environment: Hiring is not the hard part; retention, training, and performance management are the real challenges. Build your brand on people, processes, and profit.
  • Vendor volatility and margin compression: Your best protection is menu engineering, purchasing discipline, and systems that control costs and reduce waste.
  • Real estate risk: A “great location” can still fail if the lease structure is wrong or the space forces too much labor.

That is exactly why the KRG Roadmap exists.

Most hospitality failures don’t happen after opening, they happen when clarity is skipped. The KRG Roadmap helps you validate readiness, numbers, and sequencing before the pressure begins.

The KRG Roadmap gives you an experienced strategic partner early, helping you think clearly, validate assumptions, and move forward without second-guessing every decision.

The KRG Roadmap clarifies if you are truly ready: financially, operationally, and personally. It defines what your project will actually cost in today’s market. It outlines what comes first, what comes next, and what can wait. And it answers what life looks like before and after opening.

Most importantly, the KRG Roadmap is designed to create a predictable outcome for you as a new or seasoned operator looking to start, stabilize, and scale in this ever-changing industry.

The Final Thoughts

This is still a great industry but the bar is higher than ever.

The good news is this: there is enormous opportunity for those willing to reinvent. Not by guessing better, but by planning better. Stress-testing faster. Executing with both intention and discipline.

The public hasn’t abandoned hospitality, they’ve just raised the standard of what they expect.

The question for operators is simple: Are you listening?

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Fine-dining plating of beef at a gourmet dining experience in Alberta, Canada
by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

2026: Animals vs. Plants?

2026: Animals vs. Plants?

by David Klemt

Fine-dining plating of beef at a gourmet dining experience in Alberta, Canada

Gourmet dining experience featuring Canadian beef.

According to Datassential, plant-based meat and seafood alternatives have reached a plateau, meaning that animal meats should go hard in 2026.

Last September, the F&B intelligence platform surveyed 993 consumers who eat both animal and plant-based meats. Most indicated that they were more interested in the former than the latter.

There are three primary factors driving this sentiment, per Datassential. The top factor is how natural one category is in comparison to the other. Second is versatility. And third, which is perhaps the most important to operators with food programs, is craveability.

More Natural

Of the 993 survey respondents, 65 percent indicated that animal meat is more natural to consume than its plant-based counterparts. This appears to be the top concern or motivating factor, as it represents the greatest sentiment per respondents.

This does make some sense, at least to me. Over the past several years I’ve heard variations of this point of view at restaurants, inside kitchens, in discussions with F&B peers, while speaking with clients, and at trade shows. A common misgiving can be summed up thusly: “We don’t know exactly what they’re putting in these products.”

That doesn’t bode well for overall consumer perception.

More Versatile

Survey respondents also expressed that they feel animal meats are more versatile than plant-based alternatives. In fact, 61 percent shared that opinion.

Again, I’ve heard variations of this statement several times, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. You’ll hear “But what do I do with it?” at trade shows where there are plant-based brands exhibiting at booths and doing demos.

More Craveable

Finally, craveability. This is an interesting one. Nearly 60 percent of respondents (59%) stated that they crave animal meat on a regular basis. On its own, that’s not an incredible stat. However, that majority opinion consists of people who don’t follow through on that craving.

In other words, even people who don’t eat animal meat regularly feel its pull. That doesn’t necessarily include people who adhere to vegetarian or vegan diets, but it’s possible.

More Meat

Along with this comes some insight into consumption habits. Per the Datassential survey, 37 percent of respondents increased their consumption of animal meat more than they boosted their intake of plant-based counterparts.

This is logical when we take the three sentiments above into account as a whole. If something is more natural, more versatile, and more craveable, it stands to reason consumers are going to choose to consume it, and even consume more of it more often.

It’s also possible this increase relates to consumer interest in proteinmaxxing.

More Choices

So, where does this leave operators and their food programs?

Well, it leaves them needing to make programming, menu, and inventory choices.

Datassential suggests that plant-based meats have plateaued in the retail space. It certainly seems that consumer sentiment toward plant-based meats has also plateaued among consumers, based on their survey results.

However, that doesn’t mean operators should abandon plant-based meats and altogether. The better, more intentional approach is to run reports, analyze the data, and make choices with surgical, informed precision.

What do the numbers indicate? Are plant-based meats lagging, and are they taking up valuable inventory space? If orders for plant-based meats are declining, what do sales for “center-of-plate” vegetables look like? What can be leaned into harder, what can be adjusted, and what should be removed?

And, crucially: Are the choices for moving forward being made in a well-considered, intentional manner, or are they just knee-jerk reactions and guesses?

It’s worth noting that Datassential’s consumer sentiment survey focuses on plant-based meats, not just plants. The survey respondents didn’t indicate a decline in interest for items like cauliflower or portobello steaks.

Whatever choices are made, operators need to leverage data and facts, and follow the Three Ps: People, Processes, and Profits.

Image: Deane Bayas via Pexels

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Clear glasses filled with tea, served from a silver teapot at a restaurant
by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Tequila may Drive These 2026 Trends

Tequila may Drive These 2026 Trends

by David Klemt

Clear glasses filled with tea, served from a silver teapot at a restaurant

Is there alcohol in that teapot? Maybe.

While some of us continue to cross our fingers that tequila will have their year as the top spirit, other similar sips may rise up in 2026.

One can argue that tequila finally clinched the Top Spirit crown in the US and made 2025 its year. After all, it showed the fastest growth of any spirit last year.

Further, some sources report that tequila generated more revenue than any other major category in the US. Per reporting, premiumization is believed to be a major driver of tequila’s 2025 success.

However, other sources report that vodka still holds the throne due to volume sales. It probably won’t shock a single person that Tito’s holds the number one spot as 2025’s top-selling brand.

In Canada, beer earned the top spot by overall market share. However, Canadian whisky led in 2025 as the top spirit, though tequila garnered notable interest.

Meanwhile, two spirits similar to tequila may finally have meaningful moments in 2026 as vodka and the world’s most-famous agave spirit battle for the title. If Datassential and Nation’s Restaurant News are accurate in their predictions, raicilla and sotol may finally become even more well known to consumers this year.

What is Raicilla?

This agave spirit has been produced in Jalisco, Mexico (for the most part), for at least three centuries. And yet, it wasn’t granted its own Denominación de Origen (Designation of Origin, or DO) until 2019.

Authentic raicilla can only be produced in 16 municipalities throughout Jalisco, and, for some reason, one municipality in Nyarit, called Bahía de Banderas.

There are essentially two regional types of raicilla, de la costa and de la sierra. As the names imply, the former are coastal raicillas, and the latter are from mountainous areas.

Some varieties of raicilla will be familiar to tequila drinkers: joven, reposado, and añejo. There are also varieties that have been aged or matured in glass, abocado (infused raicilla), and artisanal double-distilled raicilla.

Unlike tequila, which can only be made from Blue Weber agave, raicilla is made from several different types of agave. Intriguingly, most raicilla is made with wild agave. The reason is simple: raicilla production is nowhere near the scale of tequila, so for the most part, producers don’t need to cultivate huge fields of agave.

Generally speaking, there are two primary approaches to cooking agave for raicilla, resulting in different flavor profiles. De la sierra producers tend to cook the agave above ground. Conversely, de la costa producers mainly utilize underground or pit ovens.

So, de la sierra raicilla usually doesn’t have smoky notes like mezcal, whereas de la costa raicilla is more likely to share that profile. Generalizing again, raicilla is characterized most often as being more floral and vegetal than tequila and mezcal. Really, a raicilla’s flavors and aromas are highly dependent on terroir.

What is Sotol?

Contrary to a common misunderstanding, sotol isn’t derived from agave. One common thread connecting tequila and sotol is the fact that they’re both traditional Mexican distilled spirits.

Another similarity is the production method: piñas are harvested and cooked, then fermented and distilled.

However, it’s a plant known as Dasylirion that’s used to produce sotol. Commonly known as “desert spoon,” this plant is a member of the asparagus family, as is agave. This may be what leads some to believe that sotol and tequila are both agave-based spirits.

Like tequila and raicilla, sotol is protected by a DO. This means true sotol can be produced exclusively in the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Durango. It must be noted, though, that there are producers in Texas “don’t recognize” the DO and bottle what they call sotol.

A detail that may appeal to more sustainability-minded guests: sotol production is considered more eco-friendly in comparison to tequila and raicilla. When harvesting desert spoon for sotol, the roots aren’t dug up, meaning a single plant is capable of producing several bottles of sotol over its lifetime.

Desert spoon piñas are cooked in an earthen pit, and terroir is a factor. Depending on the region—desert, forest, or prairie—a sotol will have different flavor and aroma profiles.

For example, a forest sotol may have notes of pine, eucalyptus, and mushroom. In contrast, a desert sotol may be characterized by leather and pepper. Sotol is complex and will keep the adventurous engaged for quite some time.

How can Operators Capitalize?

One of the most effective ways to introduce guests to raicilla and sotol is to leverage the undeniable and seemingly unstoppable popularity of tequila.

And while it’s fun to nerd out over production, it’s likely a better idea, initially, to taste guests on tequila, raicilla, and sotol. While you’re there, you can also include mezcal.

Particularly notable is NRN itself predicting sotol as a trend of its own this year. Further, Datassential has identified raicilla as a trend in their own report.

Of course, there are also some compelling 2026 trend predictions you can leverage with these two traditional Mexican spirits.

Both raicilla and sotol are more than capable of standing in for tequila and mezcal in cocktails. However, raicilla can also tag in for gin, and sotol can act as substitute for gin and vodka.

Off the top of my head, raicilla or sotol Margaritas and Negronis should appeal to a wide range of guests.

This brings me to a simple trend that NRN predicts may take off in 2026: smaller cocktails.

Think (and Price) Small

That’s it; it’s that simple. People seem to be drinking less, not just in frequency but in ABV.

So, it may behoove operators to offer smaller cocktails, accompanied by appropriately reduced prices. This means the drinks are priced appropriately rather than offering discounts in the hopes of driving traffic.

Not only does this move, when intentional, speak to a current shift in guest imbibing behavior, and appeals to those who want to go out to bars and restaurants but don’t want to spend much.

The New Happy Hour

This is where a few trends converge. According to Datassential, “teatime is the new happy hour.”

And per The IWSR, playfulness may also take hold in 2026. I’m sure you can see where this is going.

In Datassential’s view, teatime rather than traditional happy hour gives operators more leeway in terms of dayparts. Noon, early afternoon, early evening, brunch… It’s all on the table, and there isn’t confusion around start and stop because it’s not referred to as a happy hour.

It also allows operators to offer tea-based cocktails made with raicilla and sotol (or any other spirit), and low- and no-ABV tea drinks. Again, this speaks to a range of consumer behaviors and expectations.

The Three Ps

Whatever trends operators choose to pursue this year, their decisions must be intentional.

That means viewing them through the lenses of People, Processes, and Profits.

People: Do we have the right people in place in the right roles? Are we serving our guests to the best of our abilities? Team member or guest, are we truly treating everyone with respect and gratitude?

Processes: How often are we reviewing each operational element? Are we reviewing our menus at regular intervals over the course of 12 months, or are we doing this annually (or not at all)? How are we approaching our pricing? When was the last time we reviewed and tested each and every one of our systems?

Profits: Total sales are great, but are we making money? As Doug Radkey, president and principal consultant of KRG Hospitality says, “Sales are a vanity metric. Profits tell the real story.” Do we know our numbers? Are we controlling costs? Do we make pricing and labor decisions proactively and strategically, or are we panicking and reacting without careful consideration?

Those are by no means all of the questions we need to ask on a regular basis, but they’ll give operators a solid baseline.

Image: Davey Gravy via Unsplash

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Bar Hacks Spotify for Creators Wrapped 2025 cover
by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Bar Hacks 2025: Top Episodes

Bar Hacks 2025: Top Episodes

by David Klemt

Bar Hacks Spotify for Creators Wrapped 2025 cover

Thank you to every one of our incredible guests and our amazing audience for listening to Bar Hacks and Bar Hacks: ReFire this year!

Season six, which spanned 2025, was another fantastic year for insightful and fun conversations.

Among our informative and engaging guests were Hayden Lambert, who shared his “simplexity” philosophy. Michael Suomi, the creative mind behind several award-winning designs, dropped by for a great chat.

Matty Rangel popped in to chat tending bar, dive and neighborhood bars, crafting engaging content, and more. KRG Hospitality design partner Nancy Kuemper of Mabel Design Co. shared her journey in hospitality design, and her tips for maximizing the client-designer relationship.

Bar Hacks host David Klemt addressed real-world hospitality business situations with Bradley Knebel over the course of several Bar Hacks: ReFire episodes.

Of course, that’s just a handful of the guests and topics from 2025. We’re grateful for everyone who takes the time to stop by and chat with us, and for everyone who listens, subscribes, likes, and shares.

Thank you all so much!

Below, the top episodes of 2025. We’ll see you in 2026! Cheers!

Episode 136 with Hayden Lambert

Our number one episode of 2025! Hayden Lambert, co-founder of the unique and award-winning Above Board bar in Melbourne, Australia, pops by for an incredible chat.

When Lambert would explain the reductionist philosophy behind the concept for Above Board to others in the industry, he was told it wouldn’t work. Well, nearly ten years of operation, a few appearances on the World’s 50 Best Bars list, and other accolades later, Above Board continues to prove that its unique approach works.

On this episode of the Bar Hacks podcast, Lamber discusses his journey through hospitality, traveling the world, still being tested as a bartender, “simplexity,” how brands can succeed in a bar without a back bar, the magic that is making guests feel like their experience was easy, and much, much more.

Lambert drops a ton of useful information and experience in this episode that veteran, new, and hopeful bar owners need to hear and consider.

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

Episode 141: Brand Authenticity: Robert Minucci of Talkhouse Encore

On this episode of Bar Hacks, host David Klemt sits down with Rob Minucci, CEO and co-founder of Talkhouse Encore, a premium RTD brand inspired by the legendary dive bar Stephen Talkhouse in the Hamptons. Together, they delve into the story behind the brand’s inception during the pandemic, discussing how Rob’s business partner Ruby Honerkamp (whose family owns the iconic bar), sought to bring the spirit of the Talkhouse to the masses through gluten-free vodka and tequila seltzers. Or, as Rob explains, dive bar classics in RTD form.

Rob shares insights into the challenges of launching a new beverage brand, from navigating distributor relationships to the importance of creating a standout product that resonates with consumers. He emphasizes the significance of authenticity and flavor, particularly for the Gen Z demographic, who are looking for more than just a drink;they want a story and a connection to the brand.

You’ll learn about the strategic decisions that shaped Talkhouse Encore, including its unique approach to market research and branding. Rob explains how they focused on building a strong local presence before considering expansion, ensuring that they meet consumer demands with quality ingredients and an engaging brand narrative.

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

Episode 134 with William Brooks

On this episode, host David Klemt sits down with William Brooks, the Global Brand Ambassador for Tequila Herradura. With a background from Johnson & Wales University and extensive experience in the spirits industry, William shares his fascinating journey from whiskey to agave.

Discover the unique qualities of tequila, as William dispels common myths and misconceptions. He dives into the importance of terroir, the differences between lowland and highland agave, and how these factors influence flavor profiles. The conversation also covers the innovative practices at Tequila Herradura, including sustainability efforts, and the creation of the reposado category.

Plus, William shares his favorite tequila cocktails, perfect food pairings, and tips on how to properly taste tequila (hint: replace the lime). Whether you’re a seasoned agave enthusiast or just starting to explore, this episode is packed with valuable insights and delicious ideas.

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

ReFire: Brilliant Burgers, Sloppy Service & Persnickety Perception

Guest experience drives perception, and perception shapes value. As you may have already learned, perception can be impacted on what may feel trivial to operators and their teams but is incredibly important from guest to guest.

On this episode of Bar Hacks: Refire, David Klemt, partner at KRG Hospitality, and co-host Bradley Knebel of Empowered Hospitality break down a real-world story of two restaurants offering the same menu and pricing, but with vastly different outcomes. One felt like a letdown because of disorganization and sloppy service; the other delivered a memorable experience simply by getting the fundamentals right.

The duo dig into why poor guest experience makes food and drinks taste worse; why discounting without strategy sends the wrong message; and why every detail—from lighting and music volume to greetings and check drop—matters. If your guests don’t feel good about the experience, they won’t feel good about the value. And if they don’t see value, they won’t see a point in returning for more visits.

Tune in to rethink what you’re really selling.

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

Episode 133 with Michael Suomi

Suomi Design Works is an award-winning hotel design studio dedicated to approaching every hospitality project with an exceptional level of creativity. In fact, Michael Suomi, president of the studio, actively seeks out unique, challenging projects.

On this episode of the Bar Hacks podcast, host David Klemt chats with Michael about a number of these extraordinary projects. Further, Michael shares his approach to onboarding clients, building unique teams for exceptional projects, trends he thinks may stand out in 2025 (and which he’d like to see disappear), and more.

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

Episode 139 with Matthew Rangel

We sit down with real-life bartender, actor, and social media creator Matthew Rangel (@therealmattyrangel) an hour before he needed to open one of the three bars at which he works in Wisconsin to talk neighborhood bars, dive bars, mental health, social media, and the Midwest.

For those who haven’t yet come across Matty’s bartending videos, they’re quick, funny, and relatable to anyone who has worked behind the stick, or worked at a bar or restaurant. Matty breaks down his approach to creating his videos, which is a quicker process than most would likely expect. He also explains that people don’t need to buy the most expensive recording gear or spend hours editing to make impactful videos.

Matty also discusses mental health and the hospitality space, in particular bartending. He hosts Mental Health Mondays each week, hoping for people to reach out, share, connect, and work through their struggles.

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

Episode 140 with Finian Sedgwick

Long-time listeners know we love it when previous guests return! On this episode, Finian Sedgwick, chief growth officer at BAXUS, comes back onto the podcast.

Finian and David chat about the growth of BAXUS and the BoozApp, including new features for the peer-to-peer marketplace, popular bottles and spirits categories, and the rabbit hole members can go down when searching for items to purchase and trade. They also talk about bottles that have grabbed Finian’s attention, why he’s bullish on wine, and how alcohol-free cocktail menus are more important than some operators may think.

Speaking of operators, the two also discuss the doom-and-gloom articles blaming Millennials and Gen Z for “killing” or otherwise “ruining” alcohol consumption and sales. Is that really the state of booze, or are people rage-baiting for clicks, and are some operators failing to meet their guests where they are?

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

Episode 130 with Giuseppe Gallo

Giuseppe Gallo has accomplished a lot in his two decades-plus in the hospitality and beverage spaces: he’s a respected vermouth and amaro expert, the winner of the 2014 Spirited Award for Best International Brand Ambassador, an educator and drinks historian, and a bartender’s bartender.

Among other topics, this episode explores the creation of SAVOIA Americano (and ITALICUS). Giuseppe introduces SAVOIA Orancio, an innovative new aperitivo made with natural orange wine. Throughout the conversation, Gallo
emphasizes the importance of bartender insights in shaping successful beverage brands, and the guest experience.

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

ReFire: Bad Behavior & Ridiculous Regulars

Hosts David Klemt and Bradley Knebel tackle two real-life restaurant and bar situations in the first ReFire of 2025.

The two tackle the topic of an operator who’s hesitant to believe it when multiple employees claim a culinary team member is rude, hostile, and abusive…but believes that team member when they make the same accusation against a quiet but hard-working back-of-house peer. Don’t worry – it gets worse!

Then, David and Bradley take a look at a stunning, on-the-spot termination of a bartender who had been in role since day one. The restaurant was busy, the bar was slammed, and the word of a regular got the bartender of five years fired instantly. Something doesn’t add up!

Look, firing someone is never pleasant. However, it’s going to happen. Operators and leadership team members need to have standards in place and communicated clearly, a process for terminations, and the understanding that how they fire people speaks to their credibility and reputation.

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

ReFire: “We’re Having Dinner—You’re Not”

We managed to squeeze three real-world hospitality situations into episode five of ReFire!

On the last episode, David and Bradley talked about guest perception, and how the “little” things can have a big impact. This time, they discuss brand perception, and how quickly a misstep can turn into a catastrophe.

Then, they talk about “skunking,” and how it impacts your team.

Finally, David and Bradley take a look at a restaurant’s new SOPs shared by a team member, and why they’re a problem.

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

Image: Spotify

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by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Project Management in Hospitality

Project Management in Hospitality

by Doug Radkey

A person reviewing project progress tracked via organized Post-It notes attached to a black brick wall inside an office

There’s a crucial element of hospitality that almost no one talks about publicly. It’s not glamorous, and it isn’t Instagram-worthy.

It isn’t the incredible plating or glassware moment, or even the lobby reveal.

It’s the part that happens long before the first cocktail is poured, before the first plate leaves the pass, before the first guest forms an opinion of your brand.

It’s the real work: the often messy, complicated, high-stakes world of project management for new hospitality concepts and brands.

And whether you’re opening a bar, restaurant, boutique hotel, or entertainment venue, what happens behind the scenes will determine your outcome far more than any design detail or menu item ever will.

This is where leadership begins. Where clarity is built, and chaos either begins or ends.

At KRG Hospitality, we’ve developed a 500-point pre-opening checklist for bars and restaurants, and a 750-point version for hotels. Both are testaments to the true magnitude of what it takes to open a hospitality business successfully.

These tasks aren’t theory, they’re scars. They’re lessons from the past 15-plus years. They’re real-world evidence of what separates the operators who crush it from those who crumble under the pressure.

Read on to learn why project management is leadership in motion, why the pre-opening phase is the heartbeat of your future, and why the way you lead this stage will shape your systems, your culture, and your guest experience directly for years to come.

The Illusion Killing new Concepts

There is a dangerous misconception in this industry that opening a hospitality business is about the vibe.

That it’s about the look, the food, the coffee. The room, or the furniture and fixtures.

People fall in love with the surface level.

But what they don’t see are the hundreds of steps below the surface: zoning, permitting, design, engineering, millwork, logistics, lead times, vendor negotiations, and inspections.

They don’t see the playbook development, constant budget balancing, financial modeling, team recruitment, and brand development.

The guest (and even many first-time operators) only ever see the top 20 percent of the iceberg.

The seasoned operators and consultants deal with the remaining 80 percent, the part that determines whether you open with strength or with struggle.

And this is why so many first-time operators get blindsided. They underestimate the workload and the decisions required. They underestimate the cost of rework.

But most importantly, they underestimate the need for leadership.

Because here’s the reality: In hospitality development, something always goes wrong, no matter how many times you’ve done this. Something always changes. Something always costs more or takes longer than expected.

This is normal. What’s not normal is having no leadership framework in place to respond to it.

Leadership is not Force, It’s Direction

Leadership during pre-opening isn’t about intensity, it’s about direction. It’s the ability to organize complexity so that people can function inside it.

A great leader creates simplicity inside the complexity. A great leader knows the difference between preferences and priorities. Greatness is anticipating friction instead of reacting to it.

A great leader protects momentum.

Without leadership, the project drifts. That costs time and money. When the money disappears, stress increases. When stress increases, decision quality collapses.

The project collapses long before the doors ever open.

This isn’t about charisma, it’s about clarity. Pre-opening leadership is the anchor that holds the entire system steady during the most difficult of times.

You Cannot Build Alone: The Power of a Support Team

A hospitality business is never built by one person.

It’s built by a support team, an often complex network of architects, engineers, designers, contractors, vendors, operators, inspectors, consultants, coaches, advisors, accountants, and legal professionals.

And here’s what every seasoned operator knows: Your support team can either elevate or drain you.

When communication breaks down between just one member of the team, the entire project feels the effect. If just one person delays, everyone is delayed. When one person misunderstands the concept, the project loses alignment and coherence.

This is why building the right team early matters so deeply. You need people with experience, people with judgment, people with accountability.

Most importantly, you need people who have clarity.

Hospitality development isn’t a place for ego, guesswork, or passengers along for the ride. Everyone must respect their lane and the responsibilities within it.

Teamwork is infrastructure. It’s the backbone of communication, and the foundation of execution.

Communication: The Number one Predictor of Success

Communication is the lifeline of any hospitality project. But communication cannot depend on memory or mood; it must be systematized.

This means having scheduled support team calls, shared documents, version control, project trackers, approval pathways, defined ownership, and deadlines.

The number one killer of hospitality development projects is not incompetence, it’s silence. Silence leads to assumptions. Assumptions lead to errors. Errors lead to rework. Rework leads to delays. Delays lead to cost overruns.

A project with poor communication becomes reactive. A project with structured communication becomes proactive.

Great communication isn’t noise, it’s clarity delivered consistently and intentionally.

Decision-Making Under Pressure

In the pre-opening stage, hundreds of decisions must be made before you generate a single dollar of revenue. The challenge isn’t the sheer number of decisions, the challenge is making decisions with intention.

Great decision-making in hospitality development is based on the concept, the budget, your market positioning, operational feasibility.

Above all, it’s centered on the staff and guest experience.

You do not decide based on emotion, comparison, pressure tactics, or impulse. You do not decide based on what your competitors are doing, or what your long-time friend might think would be “cool.”

This is where discipline comes in.

Decisions build the foundation of the business. Make quick decisions, yes, but decisions made from a position of clarity, never panic.

Tools Don’t Replace Leadership, They Amplify It

Hospitality development is too complex to track in your head. This is why communication tools and organized emails, plus project dashboards, timelines, and checklists must exist.

Our 500-point and 750-point checklists exist to prevent blind spots, anticipate missteps, and avoid costly oversights. They were crafted from real pain points experienced by real operators who learned the hard way.

But let’s be clear: technology and AI can only support you, they can’t lead for you.

AI can’t walk a construction site or negotiate with a contractor. AI can’t inspect equipment or interpret tension in a room. It can’t handle nuance, emotions, or judgment.

AI can accelerate thinking, but it can’t take responsibility. That responsibility belongs to the leader.

Responsibility is the heart of project management leadership.

Chaos or Clarity: You Choose Your Opening

The pre-opening phase of a bar, restaurant, or hotel will set the tone for everything that comes after.

If your development is chaotic, your opening will be chaotic.

If your opening is chaotic, your systems will be chaotic.

Your guest experience will be chaotic if you systems are chaotic.

Teams inherit the energy of the build-out. Guests feel the residue of your process in every detail and every decision through timing, cleanliness, flow, and service.

If your development is structured, your opening will be structured. Your team will feel your clarity, and your systems will reflect it. Your guests will experience your clarity.

Remember, opening day is not the beginning, it’s the result.

The Real Transformation of Project Management Leadership

When you lead development with discipline, communication, and intention, you reduce costs, delays, rework, and stress.

When you lead development with discipline, communication, and intention, you increase alignment, quality, team trust, operational efficiency, and long-term profitability.

This is the transformation.

This is how you open strong instead of scrambling.

It’s how you create a culture that respects clarity instead of chaos.

The businesses that succeed in hospitality aren’t always those with the most capital. Those businesses operate with the most clarity. They are guided by people who lead the development process as if their entire future depends on it, because it does.

Project management in hospitality is leadership in motion. It’s coordination, communication, and clarity repeated every single day. It determines your systems, your culture, your guest experience, and your future profitability.

Everything begins long before the first guest walks through the door.

Final Word: Lead with Intention or Risk Losing Momentum

If you’re developing a hospitality concept or planning to open one soon, here’s the greatest leadership lesson you can take from this:

Lead with clarity. Build with intention. Communicate relentlessly. Surround yourself with a team that respects the responsibility of development.

Do this, and you won’t just open, you’ll open strong. You’ll create a business built on discipline instead of chaos, a business that grows instead of reacts. You’ll create a business that lasts.

Hospitality isn’t built in the spotlight. It’s built behind the scenes through systems, leadership, and the courage to do things right long before the world ever sees it.

This is how you create hospitality brands that win. It’s is how you move from chaos to clarity.

Image: cottonbro studio via Pexels

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Where Americans are Moving

Where Americans are Moving

by David Klemt

An AI-generated image of a highly modified semi-truck and trailer in red, white, and blue livery, with a matching sportbike next to it.

If you’re going to move, move with some style. (AI-generated image. Shocking, I know.)

Migration has always reshaped the American hospitality landscape, and every wave of movement creates new winners, gaps, and demand curves.

The last several years have accelerated that reality.

People aren’t just moving for work anymore. While that’s still definitely happening, people are moving for many other reasons.

Affordability. Opportunity. Lifestyle. Emotional, mental, and physical safety. Sense of community.

Unsurprisingly, when people move, a market’s hospitality scene also changes.

Operators who understand where (and why) population is flowing hold an advantage. They can get a jump on emerging nightlife pockets, establish their brand, fill gaps in experiential demand, and shape the competitive landscape before it’s saturated.

I’ve addressed this topic a couple of times in the past, and I’ll say now what I’ve said then: Proceed with caution. Don’t move into an entirely new (to you and your business) market just because you see it on a list. Do your due diligence, collect data, and make an informed decision.

One source used for this article, the 2025 PODS Moving Trends dataset, gives us compelling insights. It identifies the top 20 move-in (inflow) markets and top 20 move-out (outflow) markets across the US.

Below is a breakdown of the cities Americans appear to be running toward, and the ones they may be running from, along with my thoughts on what this all may mean for operators who want to look toward the near and distant future.

Top 20 U.S. Inflow Cities/Regions (Operator-Focused Table)

Rank Market / Region Key Drivers Hospitality & Nightlife Opportunities
1 Myrtle Beach, SC/Wilmington, NC Cost, coastal lifestyle Strong tourist and transplant mix. Experiential nightlife.
2 Ocala, FL Affordability, space Upside for casual dining, sports bars, and entertainment hybrids.
3 Raleigh, NC Tech growth, livability Elevated cocktail, chef-driven concepts, and late-night growth.
4 Greenville–Spartanburg, SC Manufacturing boom Fast-growing bar scene. Needs mid-tier nightlife.
5 Dallas–Fort Worth, TX Jobs, affordability One of the hottest nightlife expansions in the US.
6 Charlotte, NC Banking/tech migration Strong brunch, rooftop, and upscale/ultra lounge demand.
7 Boise, ID Outdoor lifestyle Craft spirits, brewery culture, and boutique venues.
8 Knoxville, TN Affordability Venue conversions, and approachable F&B concepts.
9 Nashville, TN Cultural magnet Hyper-competitive but high upside for differentiated concepts.
10 Jacksonville, FL Space, weather Large-format nightlife, and beach-driven experiences.
11 Chattanooga, TN Quality of life Cocktail bars, and neighborhood venues.
12 Huntsville, AL STEM growth Upscale casual. Modern nightlife remains underrepresented.
13 Portland, ME Coastal lifestyle Elevated F&B, and small-format high-end bars.
14 Johnson City, TN Rising affordability Mid-market restaurants, and breweries and brewpubs.
15 Spokane, WA Outdoor migration Coffee/café culture. Need for mid-tier nightlife.
16 Atlanta, GA Urban migration High-volume nightlife, and premium dining.
17 Greensboro, NC Cost Local-driven, neighborhood-first hospitality.
18 Asheville, NC Tourism, creativity Craft-forward bars, chef-driven restaurants, and experiential concepts.
19 San Antonio, TX Population boom High-energy nightlife, and experiential, fusion-driven dining.
20 Dover, DE Cost, proximity Community-focused F&B concepts.

Top 20 U.S. Outflow Cities/Regions (Operator-Focused Table)

Rank Market / Region Key Push Factors Hospitality & Nightlife Challenges
1 Los Angeles, CA Cost of living Talent and guests disperse. Local nightlife softening in mid-tier venues.
2 Northern CA (SF Bay) Cost, taxes Dining scene polarizing: very high-end on one end, budget on the other.
3 South Florida (Miami) Cost spike High-end clubs thrive. Aid-market operators squeezed.
4 Long Island, NY Affordability Retention issues, and older venues struggle.
5 San Diego, CA Housing cost Neighborhood bars lose regulars.
6 Central Jersey Tax + cost Casual dining loses volume.
7 Chicago, IL Crime perception, taxes Migration draining mid-market dining spend.
8 Boston, MA Cost + limited housing Strong tourism but locals moving out.
9 Hudson Valley, NY Rising prices Saturation in small-town dining.
10 Denver, CO Cost, congestion High competition, and nightlife plateauing.
11 Santa Barbara, CA High cost Smaller venues face labor pressure.
12 Seattle, WA Cost + policy fatigue Operators shifting to suburbs.
13 Stockton–Modesto, CA Spillover cost Limited nightlife growth.
14 Washington, DC Cost + remote work Lunch and after-work traffic decline.
15 Hartford, CT Stagnant wages Weak nightlife demand.
16 Tampa Bay, FL Overheating housing Volume-driven nightlife cooling.
17 Fresno, CA Low wage growth Margins get even tighter for restaurants.
18 Austin, TX Cost spike Boomtown-to-bust warning signs.
19 Bakersfield, CA Cost stresses Entry-level dining shrinking.
20 Philadelphia, PA Cost + crime narrative Suburban shift in nightlife spend.

The Story the Data Tells

1. The Southeast: America’s New Nightlife Frontier

Both Carolinas, Tennessee, Florida (particularly the northern region), and parts of Georgia are capturing massive lifestyle-driven migration.

Importantly, these states are luring more than retirees.

These markets reward:

  • approachable, high-vibe nightlife;

  • chef-driven but not overly precious dining;

  • hybrid concepts (sports lounges, social-gaming eatertainment, music-forward bars); and

  • suburban entertainment anchored in community.

I’m confident in saying that the southeastern US is where the next wave of innovative, experiential F&B will emerge.

2. High-Cost Coastal Metros: Bleeding Residents

It’s not like Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle are ghost towns. When it comes to hospitality, they’re destination cities with bars, restaurants, clubs, and hotels that are recognized on national and global stages routinely.

But the magnetic, tourist-attracting, accolade-winning concepts tend to be in the premium tier. Those concepts are winning (at least on the surface), but the middle in these destination cities is thinning out.

Mid-tier concepts in outflow cities are feeling the exodus. Operators firmly in the $25–$55 check average zone are exposed.

Meanwhile, comparatively, their high-end and budget peers are seeing healthier traffic and revenue.

3. Talent Migration: Reshaping Labor Markets

This may come as a shock but…hospitality professionals are also among those migrating in the US.

Chefs, bartenders, servers, bar backs, managers and other leaders… A not-insignificant number of our hospitality peers are also moving inland and south. They’re applying for roles when they arrive in inflow cities, changing up the labor pool.

Looking at outflow cities, the employment landscape in formerly top-tier markets becomes more competitive, and can become more expensive.

This is to say nothing of what migration does to demand. Emerging markets can suddenly support more concepts, particularly those that are innovative.

Some people who leave major markets may do so for a change in lifestyle. However, many still want access to a wide variety of restaurants, bars, and clubs. In some cases, they make investments in F&B concepts, reshaping the hospitality landscape of inflow cities.

On the other hand, hospitality groups see where populations are spiking, study those cities and the surrounding areas, and make their moves. Some will see an opportunity to move into a “new” market early, establishing themselves there before their competitors. Others will remain in a market in which they enjoy a strong position, planning to strengthen it even further as others leave.

4. The Mid-Sized City: Now the Sweet Spot?

Are you laser-focused on meeting guests where they are?

If you really believe in your concept, would you move to make it happen?

Would you strategize around an emerging market if a feasibility supported its viability?

Markets like Greenville, Chattanooga, Raleigh, and Huntsville are offering:

  • lower operating costs;

  • strong transplant populations; and

  • rapidly evolving taste profiles.

I think it’s safe to refer to some of these markets as the “next” Austins. They’re hot, but not so hot (yet) that they come with bloated startup costs.

Emerging markets can often offer very attractive startup positioning. This comes not only in the form of lower startup capital needs but also in the ability to stand out from already established offerings.

Key Takeaways for Operators

  • Consider following affordability trends rather than hype cycles.

  • Act early in mid-sized southeast and inland markets before saturation hits.

  • Expect tighter margins and slower traffic in coastal outflow markets, and in cities traditionally seen as premium, top-tier destination markets.

  • Anchor new concepts to emotional safety, community, and consistency. Each of those factors is contributing, at least in part, to today’s migration decisions.

  • Data > Vibes. Predicting the next market requires data—intelligence, facts, evidence—not vibes. There’s a reason KRG Hospitality starts with a feasibility study and follows it up with six other playbooks before completing the business plan, the final playbook in a set of eight.

Main source: PODS 2025 Moving Trends Report

Image: Microsoft Designer

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Where Canadians are Moving

Where Canadians are Moving

by David Klemt

An AI-generated image of a highly modified tuner car turned into a moving truck, with a long trailer adorned with Canadian maple leaves.

I don’t think anyone understands how much I need this “moving truck” to be real, and how much I want to drive it.

Data relating to inflow and outflow throughout Canada point to implications for major metros, mid-size markets, and hospitality.

On one side of the coin, there appears to be affordability-driven migration (mainly to Alberta). Flip that coin over and we see lifestyle-oriented shifts into smaller Ontario and BC markets.

U-Haul’s 2024 Growth Index gives us the cleanest nationwide list of the top inflow cities across Canada. For outbound trends, I’m analyzing StatsCan’s inter-provincial migration data, which shows where Canadians are exiting.

Most notably, Montréal, Toronto, and Vancouver appear to be experiencing the greatest outflow. And when people move, hospitality follows.

The hospitality implications of significant migration are enormous. Talent pools shift, concept viability changes, new nightlife pockets emerge, and major metros face softened demand outside tourist cores.

Before I get any further, a word of caution: As I’ve said countless times in articles, on podcasts, and in conversations, don’t move to a new-to-you (and your brand) market without data supporting that decision. (Scaling within a market in which you already operate also requires data.)

Below, the top inflow and outflow cities across Canada. Both charts also include possible opportunities and impacts.

Top 20 Canadian Inflow Cities (Operator-Focused Table)

Rank Market Key Drivers Hospitality & Nightlife Opportunities
1 Calgary, AB Affordability, jobs Massive opportunity for mid- to high-energy nightlife, and modern dining.
2 Edmonton, AB Jobs, cost Strong demand for new concepts; large population of younger guests and workers.
3 Belleville, ON Affordability Community-focused dining, pubs, and breweries.
4 Trenton, ON Military, cost Family dining and approachable bars.
5 Pembroke, ON Affordability Neighborhood restaurants, and pubs.
6 Brantford, ON Growth corridor Casual dining, lounges, and modern pubs.
7 Medicine Hat, AB Affordability Simple, approachable concepts.
8 Collingwood, ON Lifestyle, tourism High-end dining, wine bars, and boutique nightlife.
9 Parry Sound, ON Outdoor lifestyle Seasonal F&B and experiential venues.
10 Chatham–Kent, ON Affordability Family and value-driven dining.
11 Innisfil, ON GTA spillover Suburban nightlife.
12 St. Thomas, ON Industrial growth Mid-market restaurants.
13 Barrie, ON Boom-town status Strong bar and nightlife demand.
14 Woodstock, ON Growth hub Casual dining and social eateries.
15 Lindsay, ON Cost-driven migration Local-first hospitality.
16 Chilliwack, BC Less expensive than Vancouver Breweries and modern-casual concepts.
17 Owen Sound–Meaford, ON Lifestyle Seasonal and local-driven experiences.
18 Peterborough, ON Education and affordability Bars and casual dining.
19 Sydney, NS Cost, lifestyle Pubs and maritime-inspired dining.
20 Sidney, BC Vancouver Island draw Café culture and upscale casual concepts.

Top 15 Canadian Outbound Cities (Operator-Focused Table)

Rank Market (CMA) Key Push Factors Hospitality & Nightlife Challenges
1 Toronto, ON Housing cost, density Outflow of both talent and spend; mid-tier F&B softens.
2 Montréal, QC Wages vs. cost of living Growth slowing; nightlife remains strong but barbell-shaped.
3 Vancouver, BC Extreme housing cost Smaller venues under pressure; locals priced out.
4 Ottawa–Gatineau Cost and limited housing Restaurant scene stabilizing, slower growth.
5 Hamilton, ON Spillover cost Casual restaurants feel the squeeze.
6 Mississauga/Brampton Rising costs Suburban nightlife flattening.
7 Winnipeg, MB Slow wage growth Low spend-per-guest challenges.
8 London, ON Cost pressures Hospitality demand shifting outside city core.
9 Québec City, QC Aging population Limited nightlife expansion.
10 Kitchener–Waterloo Tech slowdown Bars and casual dining face softer demand.
11 Halifax, NS Post-COVID cost spike Tight labor, and slower local traffic.
12 Laval, QC Cost, suburban stagnation Dining segmentation increases.
13 Surrey, BC Cost pressures Strong immigration, but inter-provincial losses.
14 Burnaby, BC Housing strain Small-format restaurant pressure.
15 Richmond, BC Cost and saturation High competition, and tough margins.

The Story the Data Tells

1. New Growth Engine: Alberta

Calgary and Edmonton are growing. And with that growth both cities are also redefining Canadian hospitality demand.

Younger populations, strong wages, and realistic housing costs mean:

  • nightlife is expanding;

  • new F&B concepts can find traction quickly; and

  • talent is more readily available than in major coastal cities.

This signals, at least to me, that Alberta is on track to become Canada’s hospitality growth engine.

2. Booming: Smaller Ontario Cities

From Collingwood to Barrie to Belleville, these markets reward:

  • neighborhood-first hospitality;

  • experiential dining at accessible price points; and

  • venues with strong community roots.

Quality-of-life migration is strengthening the hospitality scene outside of larger markets.

It’s important for operators from major markets looking at such areas to keep in mind that they can’t simply swan in and expect success. They need data to support their move, and they need to prove themselves as supportive, beneficial members of the community.

3. Major Metros: Tourism Takes the Lead

Let me be clear: Montréal, Toronto, and Vancouver aren’t failing cities. They’re not about to look like locations in an I Am Legend sequel or reboot.

However, Canada’s major markets are no longer “automatic wins” for operators. That is to say, metros that were once no-brainer target markets for starting or scaling must be approached with more caution.

It’s quite likely that the secondary markets surrounding major metros are now the superior choice in many instances for restaurants and bars just starting out. They’re also likely the more logical choice for brands looking to expand (particularly those operating in major metros already).

That said, primary locations like Montréal, Toronto, and Vancouver can (and should) leverage tourist traffic. Tourism is crucial to their downtowns, as is the case for essentially every destination city.

Tourists will become even more valuable to operators in major metros as locals continue to exit to more affordable, smaller cities.

However, this also highlights the importance of operators pulling every operational and guest experience thread tighter.

Support from locals remains paramount. Locals spend their money where their needs are met. They reward operators and teams for excellence, their coolness factor, goodness, and consistency.

Increasing the focus on tourists is wise; decreasing focus on locals would be foolish.

4. Risky Business: Labor and Cost Stacking

Operators are fighting:

  • high rents;

  • labor shortages; and

  • declining local spending.

This is the combination that closes otherwise good venues.

Operators experiencing this cost stack must pursue strategic clarity, and be more intentional with every detail.

Each element of the guest experience needs review, from discovery and stepping through the doors for the first time, to the exit and follow-up. Entertain your guests like you mean it, because you do mean it.

Actual processes for hiring, onboarding, and ongoing training must be carefully considered, implemented, and non-negotiable.

Costs must be controlled, not simply cut. Discounting isn’t strategic, it’s reactive.

Key Takeaways for Canadian Operators

  • Alberta and mid-sized Ontario markets look to be the near-term winners.

  • Large metros require precise, high-margin, experience-forward concepts. Generic offerings are going to close doors.

  • Lifestyle locales are emerging hot spots for elevated, boutique hospitality.

  • Follow the talent. Staff movement is often the earliest signal of a market shift.

Before making any move into a new market, remember that data is superior to vibes. Conduct a feasibility study, create a concept plan and the other playbooks you need to make an informed decision, and then craft your business plan. Your business plan does not come first; it’s informed by the seven playbooks that precede it.

Main sources: U-Haul 2024 Growth Index (Canada) and StatsCan inter-provincial migration deficits (2023–24)

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KRG Hospitality president and principal consultant Doug Radkey on stage with his fellow panelists at Bar & Restaurant Expo Denver 2025
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The Real Cost of Business

The Real Cost of Business: What Independent Operators Must Do to Win

by Doug Radkey

KRG Hospitality president and principal consultant Doug Radkey on stage with his fellow panelists at Bar & Restaurant Expo Denver 2025

On stage at BRE 2025 in Denver, Co.

We need to get much more comfortable having uncomfortable conversations about the reality of being a hospitality operator these days.

On a recent trip to Denver, I had the privilege of joining Ashley Bray, Chef Adrianne Calvo, and Lauren Barash on stage at The Hospitality Show and Bar & Restaurant Expo for a conversation that every operator needs to have.

The topic and panel title was “The Real Cost of Business: Economic Pressures & Policy Shocks for Independent Operators.”

This session wasn’t theory. It wasn’t sugar-coated optimism.

This session was raw, real, and filled with straight talk about what’s actually happening across the hospitality landscape right now.

And it was exactly the kind of conversation this industry needs more of, because let’s be honest: today’s operators aren’t just fighting one battle.

They’re fighting them all.

The Stacked Deck: What’s Hitting Operators Right Now

It’s no secret. Tariffs are up. Labor costs are up. Packaging and product costs are up. Rent is up.

And consumer spending? It’s currently on some shaky ground.

Margins continue to be thin for most operators, and while these operators are navigating inflation, interest rate hikes, and volatile supply chains, they’re also facing the human tolls: fatigue, burnout, and turnover at every level.

But here’s the thing: this industry is not broken. It may be bruised, and it may be tired. But it’s resilient.

The bigger problem? It’s too reactive. And reactivity is what often kills profitability.

Hospitality is built on anticipation, such as reading the room before the guest even realizes what they want. But too many owners have lost that skill.

Instead of leading, they fight fires. Rather than anticipate, they react.

To win in this era, you need a playbook supported by clarity, not chaos.

Back to the Fundamentals of Hospitality

Let’s start here, because it’s something I said on the panel. I’m going to keep saying it: Operators need to get back to the fundamentals of hospitality.

Hospitality is not a product, it’s a performance. It’s a feeling. Hospitality is how people are made to feel when they walk through your door.

This is a people-first business. This is a people-over-profits business.

That’s your anchor.

When operators start chasing trends instead of refining fundamentals, they lose sight of what this business is really about:connection.

The businesses that are navigating the challenges and winning right now aren’t necessarily the ones spending the most or cutting the deepest. They’re the ones doubling down on service, culture, and consistency.

Operators confronting today’s challenges successfully have strategic playbooks, onboarding systems, the right tech stack, SOPs, and leadership frameworks in place. Their well-developed systems turn daily operations into muscle memory.

That’s the foundation.

Lead with Strategy and Anticipation

One of the most powerful themes from our conversation was about mindset.

Operators who win in this climate are those who lead with strategy, not emotion.

They’re also the operators who anticipate challenges instead of just react to them.

It’s not strategic to wait for your accountant’s monthly report to tell you where you stand. By then, it’s too late.

You need to have real-time visibility into your numbers, your labor productivity, your inventory, and your guest behaviors.

That’s how you lead with anticipation rather than panic.

The right strategy doesn’t live on a whiteboard, it lives in your systems. It lives in your team meetings. It lives in the mindset you reinforce daily.

If your business only moves when you do, you don’t have a strategy, you have stress-induced operations.

Data is the New Cash

Here’s a truth that every operator should be repeating: Data is just as valuable as cash.

In a volatile market, your ability to make decisions quickly—based on evidence, not instinct—is your competitive edge.

You should know your key metrics at all times:

  • Guest frequency.
  • Average spend per guest.
  • Labor efficiency.
  • Food, beverage, and prime costs.
  • Revenue and profit per square foot.
  • Marketing conversion.

If you can’t track these easily, it’s time to upgrade your tech stack.

Technology shouldn’t stress you out, it should simplify your life. The tech you trust to help you run your business should help you see clearly.

It’s simple: When you understand your data, you control your business instead of being controlled by it.

Menus Built with Intention

Another powerful part of our discussion was about menus. During times of uncertainty, your menu is both your marketing strategy and your financial engine.

Here’s the shift: You need to develop your menu strategically. Focus on what sells, what tells your story, what aligns with your guest, and what aligns with your financial obligations.

Every menu item should have a purpose. Every ingredient should do double duty.

Have a menu of 12 to 15 items that are high-impact items.

Use storytelling to create perceived value. Guests don’t just buy what’s cheapest, they buy what feels meaningful to them.

That’s how you maintain profitability without discounting yourself into irrelevance.

As I said during the panel, “Focus on the guest experience first,” and “sales are a vanity metric. Profit tells your story.”

Perception of Value Without Discounts

Discounting can become a slippery slope. It’s a tactic that has closed more restaurants than it has saved.

You don’t need to lower your price to drive traffic or raise perceived value. Instead of discounting, you need to improve your storytelling.

Bundle thoughtfully. Offer curated experiences. Create tiered packages. Add personalization.

A guest who feels understood will spend more, and return more often.

Discounts train guests to expect less from you; experiences train them to expect more of you.

That’s the difference between a transactional business and a memorable brand.

Build Around People, Processes, and Profit

It always comes back to this: Your people, your processes, and your profit.

If any one of those three is off-balance, your business becomes fragile.

Strong operators know how to hire for values, not just skill. They know how to train through systems, not emotion. They know how to communicate relentlessly and delegate with trust.

That’s not “soft leadership,” that’s a non-negotiable to win in this industry.

It’s also the reason some independent operators are scaling to multiple venues while others are still trapped in the trenches. The old adage remains: Work on your business, not in it.

Culture: Your Ultimate Competitive Advantage

Labor is expensive. Recruiting is hard. Retention is harder.

But the best operators aren’t competing on wage alone, they’re competing on culture.

If your business doesn’t feel purposeful to your team, you’ll never build staff loyalty.

You need to make your staff experience more than a paycheck. Your staff experience is just as important as your guest experience.

Show them the vision. Create career paths. Celebrate wins. Encourage ownership thinking.

And here’s something I say often: You don’t need a “family.” You need a champion team; people who want to win together.

Create stay interviews, not just exit interviews. Find out why your team loves working for you, and document their feedback. Build engagement before burnout.

When people feel seen and supported, they become your greatest marketing engine. In fact, they become your brand ambassadors.

Leadership in a Time of Pressure

Leadership today requires a new kind of stamina.

Stop trying to control people; empower them. Don’t bark orders in the kitchen or on the floor; build alignment. In an age where stress levels are high and margins are thin, empathy is not weakness, it’s strategy.

The best leaders know when to listen, when to decide, and when to step aside. They know that delegation isn’t a loss of control, it’s the gaining of stabilization and scale.

If you want to build a high-performing culture, communication and accountability must be daily habits, not quarterly goals.

Clarity is the Currency of the Future

When you strip everything back—the data, the menus, the systems, the tech—what this conversation in Denver really came down to was one word: clarity.

Clarity around who you are, and what you offer. Clarity around your numbers, your guests, your team, and your future.

Without clarity, you drift. With it, you build momentum.

The operators who have clarity are playing offense.

They’re not waiting for the next trend, policy, or economic shift to tell them what to do. They’re already five moves ahead.

Intentionality in Every Decision

Another phrase highlighted during the panel was “being intentional.”

Intentionality is everything.

Every decision you make, from menu design to hiring to marketing, should serve a clear purpose.

Don’t do things because “that’s what everyone else does,” or “this is how we’ve always done it.” Those mindsets keeps you average.

You need to differentiate.

Every single touchpoint should feel deliberate. Each and every staff and guest interaction should reflect your values. Every operational decision should move you closer to your vision.

Operators who just chase volume lose vision; operators who chase clarity create longevity.

The Operator’s Wellness: You Matter Too

Here’s something I made sure to say on stage, and something I’ll keep repeating until it sticks:

You, as the operator, matter too.

You can’t lead effectively when you’re depleted, and you can’t make smart decisions when you’re burnt out. Make time for yourself.

The energy of an independent business starts with its owner and operator. If your energy is chaos, your team feels it. If your energy is grounded, they follow.

Hospitality demands everything from us, but it doesn’t have to take everything from you.

Remember, structure, boundaries, and recovery are leadership traits, not weaknesses.

From Chaos to Clarity

When you zoom out, the message from our session in Denver was simple:

The independent operators who continue to win move from chaos to clarity.

They have systems and strategy.

They anticipate rather than feel anxious.

Their costs are controlled, not cut.

They understand that technology isn’t replacing hospitality, it’s refining it.

Their numbers are balanced with narrative.

They know their financials before their accountant does.

They lead from clarity, not fear.

The 45-Minute Reality Check

We covered all of this, and more, in just 45 minutes. It was so impactful.

Because conversations like this aren’t just about sharing ideas, they’re about sparking a mindset shift across the industry.

This business is tough. It always has been.

However, when you step back, create structure, and move forward with intention, it becomes something incredible.

We’ve survived prohibition, recessions, and a global pandemic. We’ll survive this era too.

But not by chance, by design.

The Final Challenge

I’ll leave you with you with two questions. First, are you running your business from clarity, or from chaos?

Because the truth is, your numbers won’t lie. Your systems won’t lie. Your team won’t lie.

If you’re still chasing hours instead of strategy, still reacting instead of leading, still trying to outwork the problems instead of out-thinking them, you’re not ready for what’s coming next.

But if you’re ready to anticipate, adapt, and lead with clarity, then your future isn’t just secure, it’s scalable. The operators who build systems and culture today will be the ones setting the standard tomorrow.

The second question is, which type of operator will you be?

Image: KRG Hospitality

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The word "excellent" in a vintage script, superimposed over the image of a pint on a bar top.
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Excellence Fuels Influence in Hospitality

Excellence Fuels Influence in Hospitality

by David Klemt

The word "excellent" in a vintage script, superimposed over the image of a pint on a bar top.

Cool grabs attention. Good builds trust. And excellence? Excellence transforms your brand into an industry benchmark others want to emulate.

When someone recognizes a hospitality brand’s excellence, when they admire it, that means they respect how its team operates. They see consistency, character, leadership, and the brand’s aesthetic.

They see something that resonates with them. Something they’d recommend, talk about, maybe even want to copy to some degree. When a brand’s excellence is grounded in authenticity rather than performance, it becomes a serious competitive advantage.

The Five Traits of Excellence

When I first looked into these traits, they were described as “admirable,” or the characteristics associated with “admirability.”

However, I’ve had time to sit with these traits, and I feel it’s more appropriate to view them through the lens of excellence.

With that out of the way, research reveals five recurring traits of excellence (or admirability, if you prefer):

  • Attractive
  • Competent
  • Desirable
  • Friendly
  • Trendy

These traits represent perceived value. Not just operational performance, either. They’re tied to the vibe, confidence, and cultural relevance that set brands operating at a higher level—excellence—apart from the rest.

Attractive: First Impressions Still Matter

Let’s not pretend aesthetics don’t matter.

Attractive brands look the part. They photograph well. They feel polished. However, the polish goes deeper than surface level. The aesthetic is part of a greater brand alignment.

Branding communicates and supports identity. Design supports the experience. Everything feels intentional.

You don’t need marble countertops or $300,000 lighting installs to succeed. Yes, those can be fantastic details, but they don’t automatically lead to excellence.

What’s necessary is cohesion, confidence, and strategic clarity in how your brand shows up every day.

Look like you believe in your concept. Most importantly, just don’t look it, live it.

Competent: Show Your Mastery Without Flash

Competence is often invisible when it’s done right. On the flip side, it’s painfully obvious when it’s missing.

Competent brands:

  • run tight ops;
  • deliver consistent product and/or service;
  • empower their teams to handle problems before they escalate; and
  • communicate clearly, inside and out.

Guests and staff trust competent brands because they follow through.

It’s not about perfection. As Bruce Lee is quoted as saying, “If you are cursed with perfectionism, then you’re absolutely sunk. This ideal is a yardstick which always gives you the opportunity to browbeat yourself.”

Instead, it’s all about professionalism and developing leadership skills.

Desirable: Create Pull Without the Performance

Desirability isn’t just about being booked out or trending. I’m not saying those are problems; both are excellent goals to pursue.

What I’m saying is an even better goal is to become someone’s desired brand. You want to lead your business to the level of excellence that makes it the first that comes to mind when someone wants to feel seen, celebrated, cool, or impressed.

People want to be associated with desirable brands. This absolutely applies to hospitality businesses. Guests want to be wowed and motivated to post about your business. They want to host their friends at your spot. They want to bring dates to you and your team, to visit with their colleagues and clients after meetings.

But you have to blow them away with excellence and make your brand desirable.

Desirability shows up when your space aligns with identity. It’s when people say, “This feels like me,” or, “I fit in here.”

Friendly: Be Approachable Without Losing Edge

Hospitality can’t be excellent if it’s cold. Friendliness is the bridge between capability and connection.

In admired brands, friendliness isn’t a script, it’s embedded.

It’s how the hosts greet guests. How managers lead the floor, and how bar teams communicate under pressure. Friendliness, like excellence itself, is achieved by nailing every step and every detail.

Your team is a reflection of your brand’s personality, and leadership’s reinforcement of standards surrounding tone and attitude. Regardless of personality, friendliness needs to be a pillar of your brand; it’s a cornerstone of hospitality.

That doesn’t mean dulling your edge if you, your team, and your brand have one. In that case, it means balancing edginess with professionalism and being warm and welcoming.

So, make sure friendliness isn’t something you or your team fake. Just like believing in your own brand, your team needs to actually live hospitality.

Trendy: Be Culturally Aware, Not Chameleonic

Trendiness is tricky.

Do it well and you feel current. You and your team are plugged in, exciting.

Do it wrong? You feel desperate.

Excellent, admirable brands don’t chase trends, they curate them. Excellent brands set the pace rather than follow someone else’s.

These are the brands that understand what fits their DNA, and, perhaps more importantly, what doesn’t.

Think of trendiness as a signal that you’re paying attention and evolving but not forgetting who you are and losing your brand identity.

Excellence Attracts Talent, and Keeps It

It’s no secret this industry has a labor challenge. But what’s often missed is that excellence works like gravity on guests and on talent.

People want to work somewhere led by someone that gives them a sense of pride. They want to work somewhere that gets talked about for the best reasons. They’re eager to be part of a brand that provides them near-daily opportunities to say, “I helped build this.”

So, give that to them. Become the leader in your market with the team that others are eager to join.

When your brand is admired, recruiting becomes less about chasing candidates and more about filtering them. You attract people aligned with your mission, energy, and culture.

Even better? Admiration born of excellence drives retention; people stay where they feel proud, seen, empowered, and challenged.

Excellence Inspires the Next Generation

When you lead your brand to excellence, you’re not just running a business, you’re helping shape the future of hospitality.

Operators who work toward, achieve, and maintain excellence become case studies. They get quoted, referenced, and emulated.

And whether they know it or not, they spark ambition in others. They inspire the bartender who dreams of opening their own cocktail bar. The server who’s sketching out a fast-casual concept. They’re a mentor to the GM who eventually moves on in their hospitality journey and launches their own successful concept.

Excellent leaders turn staff into students, and transform students into operators, and the cycle continues.

That’s a legacy. That’s leadership. It’s one of the most underrated impacts of getting all of this right.

Why Excellence Drives Long-Term Value

Cool is magnetic. Good is reliable. Excellence is memorable.

Excellent brands get the press, the partnerships, and the loyalty that goes beyond convenience.

They attract talent that wants to grow with them, not just collect a paycheck.

Admired brands:

  • operate with integrity;
  • evolve with purpose;
  • communicate with confidence; and
  • stay consistent in chaos.

To that last point, an excellent brand’s standards are so concrete, so non-negotiable, that they’re capable of thriving in chaotic situation. In fact, they defeat chaos and learn from it.

In short, excellence leads whether it’s trying to or not.

Reflection Questions for Operators

  1. What’s one thing your brand does that genuinely earns admiration rather than just attention?
  2. Are your aesthetics aligned with your service culture?
  3. Do your team members feel proud to represent your concept?
  4. What trends have you adopted that actually fit your identity?

The Final Bite: Know Who You Are, Then Amplify It

Now that you’ve seen all three dimensions —coolness, goodness, and excellence—you’ve got a strategic lens most operators never even consider.

It may seem overwhelming to consider 19 traits and how they relate to your brand. Luckily, you don’t need to master all of them. What you need to do is lead with intention.

Know who you are, amplify that, and remember:

  • Cool gets them in.
  • Good keeps them in.
  • Excellence makes them talk.

Want to build a brand that lasts? Get intentional about how people perceive you, and how your team lives that perception every single shift.

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Good: Trust & Comfort Build Loyalty

Good: Trust & Comfort Build Loyalty

by David Klemt

The word "good" in a vintage script, superimposed over the image of a pint on a bar top.

Cool grabs attention because it’s magnetic and buzzworthy. But if you want people to come back and bring others with them, cool isn’t enough.

You need to be good.

However, when I say “good” I’m not talking about being nice, or offering competent service. This is hospitality; those are (or damn well should be) a given.

In hospitality, in this context, good is about emotional safety, reliability, and the kind of consistency that turns a first-time guest into a regular.

The best hospitality brands do more than just impress, they reassure.

The Eight Traits of Good

According to cross-cultural psychology research, eight traits consistently define what people perceive as “good” in others. We can apply these traits to brands as well.

I shared them earlier this year:

  • Agreeable
  • Calm
  • Conforming
  • Conscientious
  • Secure
  • Traditional
  • Universalistic
  • Warm

If cool is what gets guests in the door, good is what makes them feel welcome, seen, and safe enough to stick around.

Agreeable: Cooperative and Empathetic

Just as you can pick up on tension within moments of stepping inside a given venue, you can feel it when a venue is easygoing.

The team’s on the same page. The energy is collaborative. There’s a sense of mutual respect between staff and guests, and between team members and leadership.

Notably, however, being agreeable in hospitality isn’t about people-pleasing. In reality, it’s about creating a culture of empathy and professionalism.

When you step into such a venue you notice that hospitality isn’t forced, it’s practiced.

Calm: Clear-Headed Under Pressure

Calm hospitality environments feel better. They’re emotionally steady.

The pace may be fast, but the energy is measured, controlled, and confident. Guests pick up on this instantly, and so do team members.

When your culture is calm, you and your team don’t just survive a busy night, you all come together, thrive, and make it look easy.

Conforming: Reliable and Predictable (In the Best Way)

Let’s redefine “conforming.” When I use it in this context, I’m not talking about suppressing creativity. Instead, conformity is an alignment with expectations.

Guests return when they know what to expect. They come back when they trust that the experience will meet the impeccable standard you and your team have set every time.

It’s the culmination of onboarding, continuous training, non-negotiable SOPs, structure, and consistency.

Conformity, in this way, isn’t boring, it’s dependable.

Conscientious: Detailed and Purpose-Driven

Conscientious brands care about the little things. They’re organized, thoughtful, and consistent, and that shows up every shift in a multitude of ways.

It’s how the bar team garnishes each drink. How clean the bathrooms are kept. How team members communicate with each other, leadership, and guests throughout their shifts.

It comes through in your consideration of each and every touch point that guides the guest journey.

Conscientiousness builds trust. You’re delivering on the promise to your guests and your team that you don’t cut corners.

Secure: Safe, Seen, and Stable

Safety in hospitality isn’t just physical, it’s emotional.

Guests want to know that you’re going to take care of them because you respect them. You respect their decision to visit your venue, spend their time with you and your team, and spend their money inside your business.

Likewise, your team members want to feel protected, heard, supported, and empowered. To provide an example, I’ve made it clear more than once in articles and on the Bar Hacks podcast that I expect leadership to support team members. No, the guest isn’t always right. “The customer is always right” isn’t just an abused misquote, it’s an outdated sentiment any way you slice it.

I expect leaders to step in and handle all guest complaints; that’s a crucial part of the job. Do you want your team to believe in your concept? They had better be given proof that they should believe in leadership.

Security is built through:

  • clear boundaries;
  • steady leadership;
  • well-trained staff;
  • staff that feels cared for and respected; and
  • real accountability, regardless of role.

If your guests feel nervous or confused—and they will if that’s how your team feels—you’ve lost them.

Traditional: Grounded, Not Outdated

Tradition gets a bad rap in modern branding. Traditional values—community, respect, attention to ritual—are deeply comforting.

When used well, tradition creates familiarity and nostalgia, particularly at neighborhood spots, legacy venues, or family-forward brands.

And even modern, forward-thinking spots can lean on traditional service values without feeling dated.

Universalistic: Fair, Equal, and Consistent

This is where your hospitality values shine.

Universalistic brands don’t treat some guests better than others. They don’t ignore or dismiss certain demographics.

A universalistic hospitality brand operates from a belief that everyone deserves a great experience.

That belief, that value, creates equity. Equity creates trust.

Once you’ve earned that trust, you need to commit to keeping it. As the saying goes, “Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair.”

Warm: Friendly, Kind, and Human

Warmth is the final, and arguably most important, “good” trait.

Warmth shows up in tone, body language, follow-through, and how guests are made to feel the moment they walk in.

Anyone can serve someone. Warmth is what makes someone feel welcome.

Why “Good” Hospitality Brands Last

Good is often invisible. It doesn’t always get the hype but it builds return visits.

Goodness is what builds reputation, earns word-of-mouth referrals, and retains guests and team members.

Good brands become a reliable part of someone’s routine. They’re the go-to when friends visit from out of town. The default when someone asks, “Where should we go tonight?” They’re the first venue that pops into someone’s head when they think “date night.”

Reflection Questions for Operators

  1. Where does your team already show strength in “good” traits?
  2. Which of these eight traits does your guest journey express naturally?
  3. Which ones feel like gaps, and how could they be reinforced operationally?
  4. Are your brand values visible in your culture and your service, or are they just words on a website and inside an employee manual?

Up Next: Quantifying Excellence

In the final part of this series, we’ll unpack what it means to be seen as excellent, and how that perception drives brand equity, team pride, and long-term influence.

Because once you’ve nailed cool and good, excellence is what turns your brand into a benchmark.

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Cool: Magnetism Matters in Hospitality

Cool: Magnetism Matters in Hospitality

by David Klemt

The word "cool" in a vintage script, superimposed over the image of a pint on a bar top.

We all know what it feels like to walk into a cool space. The room hums, the lighting hits just right. The music, the people, the energy…it’s magnetic.

But when we talk about cool in hospitality, too often we’re referring to aesthetic alone: the vibe, the lighting, and the playlist, among other details.

The truth? Cool isn’t just visual. And it’s not trend-chasing.

Cool is a collection of behavioral traits. When those traits are intentional, the perception of cool becomes strategic. In turn, that magnetism becomes a strategic element.

The Six Traits of Cool

Cool can feel elusive, but it’s not mystical.

Cross-cultural research has identified six traits that people consistently associate with coolness.

They are:

  • Extraverted
  • Hedonistic
  • Powerful
  • Adventurous
  • Open
  • Autonomous

Let’s break them down, and apply them to hospitality.

Extraverted: Show Up and Stand Out

Cool brands don’t hide in the background.

They communicate clearly, loudly, and often. They show up on social and in the community. Cool brands own their tone.

However, they’re not loud for the sake of making noise. It means that they own the room without apology.

Think confident service teams, guest-forward experiences, and spaces designed for connection rather than just consumption.

Hedonistic: Make People Feel Good

Let’s kill the negative spin on the word “hedonistic” right from Jump Street.

In this context, it simply means “pleasure-oriented.”

Cool brands create experiences that feel good. Not just pleasant, memorable.

Drinks that hit flavor and presentation. Lighting that makes everyone look and feel attractive. Flow that feels frictionless.

This is about sensory impact. It’s why people will choose your place even if another spot has better prices or faster service.

Guests aren’t really buying food or drink; they can make either at home. They’re buying the feeling you, your team, and your venue gives them. In reality, they’re buying your cool, expecting it to reflect onto them.

Powerful: Influence, Not Ego

Power in a hospitality setting doesn’t mean dominating the scene.

For a hospitality brand, power means having influence. That influence makes guests feel like they’re somewhere that matters.

Power shows up when:

  • your venue sets trends instead of following them;
  • your team leads with confidence and autonomy; and
  • people talk about your space and brand when you’re not in the room.

A powerful brand doesn’t have to scream, it simply can’t be ignored.

Take the phrase, “real wealth doesn’t scream, it whispers.” Now, replace “wealth” with “coolness.” Do you believe someone when they loudly tell you that they’re cool? Or do you sense when they communicate it without having to say a word?

Adventurous: Show Some Edge

Cool brands take risks.

Try new menu items, new event formats, new collaborations. Don’t wait for permission, just do it.

However, keep in mind that risk and adventure don’t necessarily require recklessness. They simply require you to indicate, with confidence, that you’re willing to experiment publicly.

This could look like a pop-up collab with a neighboring venue. Hosting an event, a person, or a brand that’s never been seen or experienced in your market. Reinventing a tired night of the week with a totally new promotion.

Predictability is comforting, but adventure creates buzz. Be the buzz.

Open: Let the Culture In

Being open means staying curious to new ideas, influences, voices, and formats.

Guests notice when a brand is receptive, diverse, and dynamic. They reward that with their loyalty.

Openness in hospitality looks like:

  • Welcoming feedback, and acting on it.
  • Hiring for perspective rather than just experience.
  • Rotating menus or programming to reflect seasonality and community.

Cool doesn’t look the same in every city or concept. Openness helps you localize your identity without diluting your brand.

Autonomous: Lead with Vision, Not Imitation

The coolest brands feel like they were born fully formed,  even if we know the reality is messier and took years to perfect.

Why? Because they make decisions as themselves, not in response to what others are doing.

Autonomy shows up when your voice and values are clear across every touch point. When you stay consistent, even when competitors pivot. Your autonomy comes through when finally figure out what you’re not trying to be.

Hospitality is full of sameness. Cool stands out when it’s driven by clarity.

Why Cool Still Matters

Cool isn’t shallow, and it isn’t fleeting. Not when it’s rooted in these six traits.

Cool matters because it creates curiosity, conversation, and connection.

It’s what gets people to check you out, to take a risk and try you. That decision to try you is the first step to becoming a loyal guest, team member, or partner.

But remember that while cool can grab people’s attention and create energy, it’s not capable of creating sustainability on its own. You need systems in place to stabilize and scale.

A Few Reflection Questions

  1. What part of your guest experience feels truly cool right now?
  2. What parts feel tired, safe, or imitative?
  3. Which one of the six traits comes to your concept most naturally?
  4. Which one could you amplify intentionally this month?

Next Up: Quantifying “Good”

In the next installment, we’ll talk about the eight traits that make a brand feel good, the kind of hospitality that builds trust, reputation, and retention.

Until then, stay cool.

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Cool, Good, Excellent: 19 Defining Traits

Cool, Good, Excellent: 19 Defining Traits

by David Klemt

"Good. Cool. Excellent." Retro baseball jersey-style font superimposed over the image of a brick wall, bar top, and pint of beer

Cool gets people through your doors. Good impresses guests and keeps them coming back. Excellence inspires people to talk about you.

We throw around words like “cool,” “good,” and “excellent” all the time in this industry.

“Cool new spot.” “Good service.” “Excellent experience.”

But what do these terms actually mean when it comes to hospitality brands and strategy? More importantly, what do they mean to your guests, your team, and your community?

The truth is that perception is everything.

Cool. Good. Excellent. These aren’t just vibes, they’re measurable. If you’re not intentional about which of these traits your brand is projecting, the market will decide for you.

Let’s dig into the 19 traits that shape how your concept is perceived, trusted, and remembered.

Cool: The Magnetism Factor

Cool is what gets people talking. It draws guests in through a mix of confidence, curiosity, and charisma.

Researchers have identified six traits that consistently define cool across a multitude of cultures:

  • Extraverted: Social, talkative, and expressive.
  • Hedonistic: Oriented toward pleasure, excitement, and sensory experience.
  • Powerful: Assertive, influential, and bold.
  • Adventurous: Willing to take risks, and try new things.
  • Open: Curious, flexible, and adaptive.
  • Autonomous: Independent, self-driven, and unconcerned with conformity.

Sound familiar? These are the brands that pop off on social. The ones that get the influencer love, and that make guests feel seen.

You probably thought of a cool brand or two when you started reading this article. Hopefully, one was your own.

That said, there’s a catch: cool alone doesn’t carry a brand. It grabs attention, but without something deeper underneath, people move on. And they move on fast.

Good: The Retention Engine

If cool gets people through the door, good is what keeps them there.

The “good” brand traits are quieter, and that’s the point. They’re what make a concept feel dependable, thoughtful, and rooted.

There are eight of them:

  • Agreeable: Cooperative, empathetic, easy to work with, and accommodating.
  • Calm: Emotionally stable, composed, and clear-headed.
  • Conforming: Consistent, reliable, and willing to follow a structure.
  • Conscientious: Responsible, organized, and focused on detail.
  • Secure: Trustworthy, steady, and emotionally and physically safe.
  • Traditional: Grounded in shared values and norms.
  • Universalistic: Treats all people equally and fairly.
  • Warm: Friendly, kind, and welcoming.

Good brands don’t always make headlines, but they build habits. They’re the spots people go back to week after week. The places that make guests feel like regulars before they even are regulars.

Excellence: The Aspiration Layer

Cool is attention. Good is trust. Excellence? That’s respect.

When a brand is seen as excellent, it carries influence. It becomes a reference point, not just for guests but for peers, media, talent, and even future collaborators.

Five traits define excellence (or admirability):

  • Attractive: Physically appealing, well-designed, and aesthetically impactful/appealing.
  • Competent: Skilled, knowledgeable, and consistently excellent.
  • Desirable: Sought after, relevant, and aspirational.
  • Friendly: Approachable, kind, and human.
  • Trendy: Aligned with current culture without being performative.

Excellent brands don’t just do things well, they inspire.

19 Traits. One Brand. What’s Your Mix?

Let’s be clear: you don’t need to embody all 19 traits at once. You shouldn’t even try to do so. That would be overwhelming for you, your team, and your guests.

But you do need to know which of these traits your brand currently embodies, and which it should emphasize more intentionally based on where you are in your journey.

Here’s a way to think about it:

  • Goal 1: Focus your brand’s defining traits.
  • Goal 2: Boost foot traffic or hype (leverage coolness)
  • Goal 3: Improve retention, reviews, and culture (leverage goodness)
  • Goal 4: Increase brand equity, word of mouth, and influence (leverage excellence)

This applies internally, too. Are you hiring for culture fit? Think about the traits your current team exudes.

Launching a new concept? Choose the traits that will define it from Day One.

At KRG Hospitality, our clients undergo an exercise that helps them identify their values. In turn, this exercise helps them identify the traits that will define their brand long before they ever open their doors for the first time.

Final Thought: Brand Perception is a Strategy, Not an Accident

You’ve built a concept. A vibe. A brand. But your guests don’t just see what you say you are, they feel what you are.

They feel cool, or calm, or cared for. They notice when things flow or when they don’t.

Cool gets them in. Good keeps them in. Excellence makes them talk.

Get the balance right, and you’re no longer reacting to perception, you’re shaping it. And in today’s market, that’s one of the most valuable competitive advantages you can have.

To help you strike that balance, I’ve got three deep-dive articles coming over the course of the next three weeks. One about coolness, one about goodness, and, you guessed it, one focused on excellence. Cheers!

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America’s Best New Restaurants Insights

What America’s Best New Restaurants Say About Us

by David Klemt

AI-generated image of a globe on a plate inside a restaurant

Garnish that includes a clock? That’s an interesting choice, AI.

Bon Appétit‘s recent release of The 20 Best New Restaurants of 2025 provides deep insight into the state of restaurants, cuisine, and guest expectations.

Each restaurant on the list was opened between March 2024 and March 2025. That means that these restaurants have now been open for six to 18 months, at most.

The list organizes the 20 restaurants into four regions: the Midwest, the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, the South, and the West.

As someone who reviews a lot of “best of…” lists, I appreciate that New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and Chicago don’t dominate this one. A restaurant from each city receives recognition (in the case of Los Angeles, two eateries), of course. But Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and more are also represented.

Below, the 20 restaurants chosen by Bon Appétit for this year’s list.

The Midwest

Feld (Chicago, IL)

Cuisine: Contemporary American, Global

Vinai (Minneapolis, MN)

Cuisine: Hmong

Wildweed (Cincinnati, OH)

Cuisine: Contemporary American, Italian, Japanese

The Northeast & Mid-Atlantic

Baan Mae (Washington, DC)

Cuisine: Laotian, Cambodian, Malaysian, Burmese

Dōgon (Washington, DC)

Cuisine: Afro-Caribbean

Fet-Fisk (Pittsburgh, PA)

Cuisine: Nordic, Appalachian

Ha’s Snack Bar (New York City, NY)

Cuisine: French, Vietnamese

Provenance (Philadelphia, PA)

Cuisine: French, Korean

The Wren (Baltimore, MD)

Cuisine: Irish, European, American

The South

Acamaya (New Orleans, LA)

Cuisine: Mexican, Seafood

Avize (Atlanta, GA)

Cuisine: Alpine

Perseid (Houston, TX)

Cuisine: French, Vietnamese, Creole

Recoveco (Miami, FL)

Cuisine: Contemporary American, Global, Seasonal

The West

Camélia (Los Angeles, CA)

Cuisine: French, Japanese

Giovedi (Honolulu, HI)

Cuisine: Italian, Pan-Asian

Komal (Los Angeles, CA)

Cuisine: Mexican, Latin American

Lenox (Seattle, WA)

Cuisine: Puerto Rican, Cuban, Latin American, Caribbean

Mezcaleria Alma (Denver, CO)

Cuisine: Mexican

Minnie Bell’s Soul Movement (San Francisco, CA)

Cuisine: Soul Food, American Comfort Food

Sun Moon Studio (Oakland, CA)

Cuisine: Contemporary American, Global

The State of Culinary in America

These days, categorizing a restaurant by cuisine isn’t as easy (or as relevant) as it once was.

Sure, some venues still wear their culinary identities on their sleeve, proudly representing a specific region or culture. Others showcase influence from one or more cuisines, presenting them in ways that are both deliberate and nuanced.

But increasingly, restaurants are embracing a global, borderless approach to food. However, it’s not fusion for the sake of novelty. Instead, it’s inventive, thoughtful, and driven by a desire to engage guests through flavor and curiosity.

While reviewing Bon Appétit’s 2025 Best New Restaurants list, I found it somewhat challenging to pinpoint the exact culinary focus of some of these concepts. I view that struggle as a good “problem” to have.

This ambiguity signals a broader movement: today’s guest is more willing than ever to explore global cuisines. They’re curious. They want discovery to be a key element of their dining experience.

This extends into comfort foods. A great strategy for easing someone into the unfamiliar is to bridge it with the familiar.

Take Sun Moon Studio’s Taiwanese sausage on steamed brioche. Visually reminiscent of a hot dog, it invites guests to try something new without overwhelming them. It’s an accessible entry point to a new experience.

Boston is a shining example of this culinary evolution. It’s one of the most competitive, restaurant-dense cities in the country, and also one of the most dynamic. From old-school neighborhood institutions to cutting-edge, globally influenced newcomers, the city proves there’s room for everything and everyone when the food is compelling.

The Rise of Experiential Dining

A number of the concepts on this year’s best new restaurants list embrace tasting menus. Provenance, for instance, offers a four-course tasting that actually includes 20 or more dishes. Their summer menu clocks in at 21.

Tasting menus tend to split the critics. Some hail them as a canvas for culinary storytelling, while others still see them as relics of highbrow, try-hard fine dining. But based on this list, the format is very much alive, and clearly still resonates with guests.

At the end of the day, it’s about delivering an experience. Guests aren’t necessarily chasing formality or prestige when they choose a multi-course tasting menu. The way I see it, guests who enjoy such experiences just want to feel something. They want to be wowed, and they want to remember the who, how, and why that made the experience memorable.

There are plenty of ways to create that moment. One strategy? Be the only one doing what you’re doing in your market. That might mean introducing a cuisine that’s underrepresented. It could be refining a hyper-focused vision so well that you’re in a category of your own.

Avize in Atlanta exemplifies the former: it’s the only fine-dining Alpine restaurant in the city. Acamaya in New Orleans does the latter, bringing Mexican coastal cuisine to a city known more for gumbo, po’ boys, and beignets than ceviche and mariscos.

Whatever the approach, the operators behind these concepts know how to satisfy their guests’ expectations. They’re aware that the experience falls flat if the food isn’t memorable, and if hospitality is treated as an afterthought.

The Guest Influence

Designing the look and feel of a restaurant is often one of the most fun parts for operators. Some people find enjoyment in selecting everything from furniture to flatware.

However, in our experience, one vital element is often overlooked: how guests will actually move through, experience, and interpret the space.

Does the vision translate to real-world usability? If a guest walks in and isn’t sure where to go, how to order, or what to expect, you’ve already missed the mark.

It’s important to keep in mind that people can make food at home or order delivery or takeout; they don’t need to visit your restaurant for sustenance. However, we are social creatures, and the need to gather, see and be seen, and feel relevant and cool is very real.

It follows, then, that starting the guest experience by making them feel uncertain is a huge misstep.

There’s also the matter of how the guest wants to engage with your vision. Sometimes, what you intended isn’t how the concept is actually received. And when that happens, operators have choices: stick to the vision, concede entirely to guest demands, or compromise to strike a balance.

There’s no universal “right” answer here. But there is a need to make a decision, commit to it, and communicate it clearly.

Examples

Providing a real-world example, one KRG Hospitality client had a specific vision for their bar. Without giving away too many details, the bar was intended to be open for the evening and late-night dayparts.

However, not too long after opening, guests were clamoring for the bar to open a bit earlier, and for the bar to be open on a few more weekdays. Our client crunched the numbers, liked what they saw, and delivered on their guests’ wishes.

Another example comes from two friends of mine who opened a few concepts. One of these was a high-end cocktail bar for sophisticated clientele. The venue was intended to be open for dinner and closed before late night.

Well, the movers and shakers in the market wanted the space to be their after-hours spot. They appreciated the sophistication of the space but wanted to use it as an energetic party spot late at night…and they were willing to pay to support that use case. My friends adapted, and soon bottle service was available during the late-night daypart, and the place was packed.

As far as an example from Bon Appétit‘s list, look at The Wren in Baltimore. According to the Bon Appétit staff, the owners envisioned a traditional Irish pub. No reservations, not even table service. There’s nothing wrong with that, but people have discovered that co-owner Will Mester is an incredible chef. So, as far as they’re concerned, The Wren is a restaurant, not “just” a pub.

Mester and his business partner have adapted. There are still no reservations. There’s still no table service. But The Wren’s guests have said “no problem, we’re still coming to eat,” and Mester and co-owner Rosemary Liss have responded with an “alright, let’s do this” attitude.

The Final Bite

What Bon Appétit’s 2025 Best New Restaurants list tells us isn’t just which restaurants are “the best.” Rather, it tells us what’s resonating with guests right now, and what might resonate through the new year.

We’re watching the traditional playbook get rewritten in real time. The demand for global cuisines continues to rise. Fine dining is becoming more accessible and playful. Guests are more empowered and curious than ever, and operators are meeting them in that space, sometimes by design, sometimes by adaptation.

The best restaurants today aren’t just delivering food, they’re telling stories and building communities. They’re creating moments of connection, whether that’s achieved over 20 courses or a dish that looks like a street-food staple but tastes like something entirely new.

The common threads? Relevance, purpose, and identity. And perhaps most importantly, a guest experience that makes people want to return.

AI-Generated Image: Microsoft Designer

Client Intake Form - KRG Hospitality

Four neon signs that each say "waiting" in various stages of being lit up
by krghospitality krghospitality No Comments

The Risk of Waiting Until the New Year

The Risk of Waiting Until the New Year

by Doug Radkey

Four neon signs that each say "waiting" in various stages of being lit up

Sometimes “waiting” means “waiting.” Too often, “waiting” means “…until it’s too late,” or “never”

It’s that time of year again.

The leaves are turning. The holidays are approaching. And everywhere you look, people are starting to say the same thing: “I’ll wait until the new year.”

They’ll wait to start the new habit.
To launch the business.
To fix the broken system that’s draining their energy.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: waiting is one of the most expensive decisions you’ll ever make.

The Myth of January

It seems that January has become society’s magical “reset” button.

This is when people start going to the gym more (or at all). It’s when aspiring entrepreneurs tell themselves they’ll be ready to start. When current operators say the holiday season is too busy.

It’s funny that somehow the turn of a calendar gives them permission to begin.

But in business—and in hospitality in particular—the market doesn’t wait. The competition doesn’t wait. Staff and guests don’t wait.

And the risk of waiting isn’t just lost time, it’s lost opportunity and lost momentum.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

Let’s look at some numbers.

On October 1st, you still have 25.21% of the year left.
By November 1st, you still have 16.71% left.
And on December 1st, you still have 8.49% left.

That’s not scraps. That’s a quarter, a sixth, or even a full month of your calendar. This is time you’ll never get back once it is gone.

So ask yourself this question: Do you really want to burn that much equity of time waiting for a date on the calendar that somehow gives you permission to move forward?

A Familiar Story

Each year, between October and January, I take calls from operators or aspiring entrepreneurs who tell me the same things.

The aspiring entrepreneur wants to open a new concept.
A year or two after first opening, an operator wants to stabilize their operations.
The veteran operator wants to get their brand’s finances under control.

But here’s the thing: approximately 80% of them admit they already decided to “wait until after the holidays.”

By the time they wait it out until the new year, the real estate they were eyeing is gone. The investor they were courting has moved on and is backing a different concept. Or worse, a new or scaling competitor has beaten them to the punch.

The cost of inaction always shows up, 100% of the time.

The Illusion of Busy

I get it. Society and this industry seem to thrive on being busy. The closer we get to the holidays, the easier it is to convince ourselves there’s no time to think about strategy.

Well, here’s the problem: that “too busy” mindset is often just a shield. It’s easier to stay stuck in the chaos than to step back and do the real work of building clarity.

And yet, that’s exactly what separates operators who crush it from those who drift away toward mediocrity or closure.

The ones who wait? They start the new year months behind or in survival mode.

The ones who act now? They start the new year in control.

That’s why this is called “separation season.”

Momentum Beats Motivation

Motivation is fickle. It spikes in January when gyms are full and the journals or planners are fresh.

By February, it all begins to fade.

Momentum, however, is different. Momentum compounds over time.

When you take action in October, November, or December, you’re not just getting ahead. You’re strategizing and developing the foundations. Or you’re training your systems, your people, and yourself to move forward when the calendar flips.

By the time many are just warming up, you’re already moving at full speed. Think about those positive results.

The Risk of Inaction

Let’s talk about what waiting actually costs you.

  • Prime Real Estate: The space you’ve been watching doesn’t wait for January. It will be leased by the operator who had the courage to strategize and take action.
  • Capital: Investors are looking for leaders with confidence and momentum. If you show hesitation, they’ll invest their money elsewhere.
  • People: Your best staff won’t stick around forever waiting for change. If you don’t build clarity and systems, they’ll leave for a team that already has them in place.

The longer you wait, the steeper the climb is going to be in the new year.

The Power of Now

So, what happens when you act now?

  • You gain clarity. Strategic playbooks create focus for your concept, your brand, your financials, and your guest experience.
  • You create momentum. Your systems start running, your people align, and your execution gains speed.
  • You build confidence. Investors, staff, and even guests can feel when an operator is in control.

Taking action now separates yourself from the 99% who sit back and wait.

From Survival to Legacy

Let’s be clear: This isn’t about working more hours. It isn’t about grinding yourself into burnout before the holidays.

It’s about mindset. Ask yourself:

  • Do you believe long hours equal nobility or inefficiency?
  • Do you believe success is about hustle or about alignment?
  • Do you want to survive another year or build a business that outlasts you?

The entrepreneurs and operators who crush it don’t wait for January.

They strategize now. Build now. Lead now.

Why? Because survival is built on reaction. Legacy is built on clarity.

A Challenge for You

Take a hard look at your calendar.

If you start today, you still have weeks (if not months) to set the stage for the business you want to run next year, and the many years thereafter.

Lay the foundation now. Create your strategies now. Get your systems ready now.

Do it now so that when the new year arrives you’re not scrambling to catch up—you’re already miles ahead.

The Final Word

Hospitality doesn’t wait. Guests don’t wait. The market doesn’t wait.

So why are you waiting?

The real flex is proving that October, November, and December are still full of opportunity.

Because when clarity meets courage and strategy meets execution, you don’t just start the new year strong, you start it by separating yourself from others, and leading the way.

Now is the time. Take action. Build momentum. Create your legacy in hospitality.

Image: Levi Meir Clancy via Unsplash

Client Intake Form - KRG Hospitality

The car game piece on a Monopoly board, "parked" overlapping "Chance" and The Strand property.
by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Overcoming the Failure Rate

Overcoming the Bar, Restaurant, Hotel Failure Rate

by Doug Radkey

The car game piece on a Monopoly board, "parked" overlapping "Chance" and The Strand property.

Leaving things to chance rather than executing with strategic clarity? Go to jail.

So, you’re nervous about opening your own bar, restaurant or boutique hotel because your favorite spot closed after 15 years. We get it.

On a recent discovery call, a prospective client hesitated.

“What if it happens to me? I loved this bar for 15 years, and now it’s closed.”

It’s a haunting truth we’ve all seen, no matter the market.

But here’s the hard truth: you can’t let someone else’s story define yours. You don’t know what drama unraveled behind their walls.

The personal health battles, silent financial cracks, or failure to adapt? That was their story; it doesn’t have to be yours.

The Reality: A High Failure Rate

Ask the majority of investors and banks, and they’ll say to not invest in or open a bar or restaurant.

A hotel? You get a little more forgiveness.

Why? Because the National Restaurant Association estimates 30 percent of bars and restaurants fail in year one. That number climbs to close nearly 80 percent by year five. This is approximately ten percent above the normal small business failure rate.

So, yes, the failure rate is significant. But it’s not fate.

There’s plenty you can control, proven by our own 98%, five-year success rate here at KRG Hospitality.

Why They Fail: It Happens Behind the Curtains

Failures in hospitality don’t always explode overnight. They rarely make the dramatic headlines people expect.

Instead, they’re usually a slow bleed, a series of small cracks that deepen over time until the entire structure gives way.

When you peel back the curtain, you’ll find the real story. More often than not, it’s not just one big mistake, but a combination of preventable missteps.

Undefined Concept & Brand

If your concept and brand is unclear (or worse, forgettable), you’re already in dangerous territory. Too many launch with a “me-too” mentality, chasing trends instead of building timeless positioning.

Guests can feel it. If you don’t give them a reason to return beyond food, drink, or a bed to sleep in, they’ll move on.

In hospitality, experience and differentiation are crucial tools in your survival kit.

Poor Location or Visibility

Location is strategy in its rawest form.

You can have the best food, the most polished cocktails, or the most beautifully designed rooms. If you’re invisible—tucked in the wrong corner, lacking signage, or starved of targeted traffic—your odds for success and longevity diminish.

Strong operators understand the flow of the neighborhood: where people live, move, and spend. Without that foresight through a feasibility study, you’re playing uphill from day one.

Weak Leadership

Autopilot leaders create fragile cultures. They show up for the transaction but not the transformation.

A stressed, demoralized team won’t stay engaged, and turnover eats away at consistency (and finances) until guests notice.

The truth is, your team mirrors your energy. If you operate without vision, clarity, and presence, you’ve already signed your exit papers.

Thin Cash Reserves

Hospitality isn’t just about flavor and atmosphere, it’s about math.

Too little capital or unrealistic budgets in the early stages lead to corner-cutting later. And corner-cutting shows up in slower service, lower quality, and compromised experiences.

Investors and owners alike often underestimate the importance of a financial buffer. Without it, one bad month can undo years of effort.

Operational Inefficiency

Margins are the silent killers. If your prime costs are running over 60 percent, you’re bleeding profitability, no matter how strong sales look on the surface.

It’s easy to point to revenue, but revenue without efficiency is vanity.

The businesses that endure are the ones obsessed with systems, training, accountability, and profit that keep costs in check while maintaining a memorable guest (and staff) experience.

Failure to Adapt

The market doesn’t wait for you to catch up.

Technology, consumer habits, and cultural shifts move fast. If you’re unwilling to pivot, you’ll get left behind.

Look at the operators who ignored delivery, digital ordering, or loyalty platforms until it was too late. Or hotels that treated guest tech as an afterthought instead of an expectation.

Adaptation isn’t optional; it’s mandatory.

External Shocks

Rising costs. Labor shortages. Supply chain volatility. These are no longer “black swan” events, they’re the new normal.

You can’t control the shocks, but you can control your readiness. Diversified supply strategies, cross-trained teams, and strong financial playbooks soften the blows.

Operators who plan for disruption often find themselves gaining market share when others stumble.

Life Behind the Scenes

Sometimes, it’s personal.

Health crises, family issues, burnout, or the simple loss of passion can derail even the most promising venture. These don’t make the press releases or Yelp reviews, but they’re real, which is why mindset matters.

Operators who build balance and sustainability into their leadership style—along with a succession plan—are more likely to weather both professional and personal storms.

The Bottom Line

Failures are rarely about one bad Friday night or one bad quarter. They’re about the invisible, compounding gaps behind the curtains.

But here’s the powerful part: every single one of these is preventable with clarity, systems, and strategy.

That’s why I always remind operators: don’t measure your future against someone else’s downfall. Instead, measure it against your ability to anticipate, adapt, and build structure. That’s what separates the businesses that fade quietly from the ones that endure—and win—for decades.

You Can’t Build Your Strategy on Someone Else’s Story of Collapse

That struggling 15‑year-old bar? It could have simply hit burnout. The owner may have faced a personal crisis. They may have lacked systems, clarity, or financial resilience.

Their closing doesn’t frame your narrative.

Still, their story should prompt you to ask: What’s my structure? My mindset? My strategy plan? What will I do differently so that I don’t hit and fall over similar obstacles.

Why Strategic Clarity is the Only Protector

In hospitality, too many operators confuse hustle with progress. They confuse long hours with leadership.

The truth is, your meaning isn’t in hustle, it’s in alignment.

A bar, restaurant, or boutique hotel is only as strong as the clarity of its strategy. Without it, every decision is reactive, every crisis feels existential, and every day becomes survival mode instead of a path toward growth.

Mindset

Mindset is the foundation. Do you truly believe long hours are a badge of honor or a symptom of inefficiency? Because that belief alone will shape the culture you build.

Leaders who cling to the idea that 60 to 80 hours is the price of success are locking themselves into fragility.

However, those who lead with a growth-based mindset and embrace resilience, who adapt quickly and view challenges as lessons instead of setbacks, they create environments where both people and profits excel.

Your mindset is contagious. It dictates how your team views pressure, how they respond to obstacles, and, ultimately, how your guests experience your brand.

Systems

Hospitality is theater. Every shift, every service, every guest interaction is a performance—and performances require a script. Systems are those scripts.

They create operational rhythms that bring consistency even when you’re not in the building. Standard shift routines, training modules, service frameworks… These aren’t bureaucratic binders collecting dust, they’re the invisible scaffolding that protects your brand. Payroll, inventory, guest relationships, crisis response… These aren’t just admin tasks, they’re the arteries of your business.

If they aren’t governed, monitored, and optimized, you’re building stress instead of stability.

Systems create repeatable outcomes. Repeatable outcomes create peace of mind.

Strategic Clarity

None of this matters if it isn’t aligned under one vision. That’s where strategic clarity becomes your only true protector.

Do you have a unified vision that connects your concept to your brand, your brand to your marketing, your marketing to your staffing, and your staffing to your financial health?

Or is each piece operating in isolation, hoping to hold together?

Strategic clarity removes silos. It ties together the why, the what, and the how. This level of strategy, developed through a series of playbooks, is what transforms chaos into clarity.

The Difference Between Survival & Legacy

Without strategic clarity, every decision feels heavier than it should. With it, you unlock freedom.

Freedom to work 40 hours, not 80. Freedom to step out of the weeds and into leadership. To stop surviving, and start building a legacy.

Because clarity doesn’t just protect your margins, it protects your mindset, your team, your brand, and your future. And in an industry this volatile, it’s the only true shield you have.

When you operate this way, your business exists beyond your fatigue. When you don’t, you’ve just given yourself a job dressed up as a business.

Failure is Just a Data Point—Not Your Destiny

Your business doesn’t have to be there for just one year. It can endure for decades and become a legacy, because you built it to become one.

Yes, the failure rate is “high.” But survival is still statistically common. It’s time we stop packaging failure as a warning sign and, instead, build for the long game.

Your advantage is in honoring that failing statistic with strategy.

That bar closing after 15 years? A sad story. But it’s not your headline. Don’t let the fear of someone else’s failure define your ambition or limit your strategy.

Build with intent. Operate with clarity. Lead with systems and playbooks. Focus on your people, processes, and profit. Then watch your business crush it, without defining your worth by burnout.

Because in hospitality, the real flex is longevity built on clarity, not chaos.

Image: Suzy Hazelwood / Pexels

Client Intake Form - KRG Hospitality

A jewel-encrusted, gold-decorated clock inside a bank vault
by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

The Real Flex After Opening

The Real Flex After Opening a Bar, Restaurant, or Hotel

by Doug Radkey

A jewel-encrusted, gold-decorated clock inside a bank vault

Your time is a real luxury, and how you use it is a real flex. AI-generated image.

Walk into any bar, restaurant, or boutique hotel during its first year of business and you’ll see the same story play out over and over.

An owner is behind the bar on a Friday night. Or in the kitchen on a Saturday brunch rush. Or bouncing between rooms to check housekeeping on a sold-out weekend.

They’re exhausted, and they’re often proud of it.

They’ll tell you, with a weary smile: “Yeah, I’ve been pulling 70-hour weeks. That’s just what it takes in this business.”

Let me be brutally honest: that’s not a flex. That’s a warning sign.

The Illusion of Hustle

Somewhere along the way, the hospitality industry adopted the dangerous belief that working yourself to the bone is the only path to success.

Over the years, we’ve glamorized the grind. We glorified the sleepless nights. We made it seem noble to trade years of your life in exchange for a shot at breaking even.

And far too many independent operators are still buying into this story. They go into the start-up phase expecting to work 60–80 hours a week, and they wear it like a badge of honor.

Here’s the truth: burning yourself out is not a strategy.

A Story too Familiar

On a recent success session with a client, a new operator proudly told me their plan: “I’ll just work 70 hours a week for the first year. That’ll help me keep payroll costs down.”

I had to stop them. This mindset is the exact reason thousands of great concepts fail before they ever get the chance to stabilize and scale.

Allow me to provide some clarity: Time is not a substitute for strategy. Sweat is not a replacement for systems. Anguish will never be mistaken for leadership.

When you walk into your new business with the intention of being its hardest-working employee, you’ve already put a ceiling on your growth.

The Real Flex

The real flex isn’t grinding 80 hours, it’s running your business at 40 hours.

The actual flex is spending your time orchestrating people, processes, and profits instead of drowning in the daily grind.

It’s working on the business, not being trapped inside it.

Because let’s face it—the hospitality industry doesn’t reward those who simply work harder. Victory and the rewards go to those who work smarter.

If you look around at the brands that are truly winning I guarantee you their owner is not an employee within their own business.

Why Systems are Sexy

I’ll tell you what’s really impressive. Hint: It’s not the exhausted owner mopping the floor at 2 a.m. after a 15-hour shift.

What’s impressive is the owner who can leave at 6 p.m. on a Friday, knowing their team has everything under control. It’s the operator who enjoys dinner with their family while their systems ensure consistency and control inside the venue.

That’s the difference between chaos and clarity. Between “being busy” and building wealth. And the bridge between those two worlds? Playbooks. Systems. Structure.

Playbooks Before Pain

Every hospitality business starts with energy. That’s not the problem. The problem is, too many start with energy instead of a plan.

A one-page “business plan.” The infamous generic template from the bank. A few numbers scrawled on a napkin. Basic outputs from AI.

That’s not a business model, that’s wishful thinking.

Playbooks are what separate the hopeful from the profitable. They create alignment, and anticipate risk. They prepare you for staffing issues, supply chain hiccups, and margin pressures. Playbooks prepare you for everything else that will test you.

Without playbooks, your business owns you. With playbooks, you own the business.

The Psychology of Leadership

Hospitality isn’t just about food, drink, or rooms. It’s about people, and people follow energy.

If your energy screams “burnt out, stressed, unavailable,” your team absorbs that. In turn, they’ll also burn out. They’ll make more mistakes. You’ll suffer frequent and constant churn.

However, if your energy communicates clarity, presence, and balance, your team mirrors it. They’ll rise to meet the standard. They’ll take ownership, and they’ll perform.

Leadership isn’t about working the most hours, it’s about creating an environment where others can win by exceeding expectations.

No one wins in a business run on desperation and exhaustion.

The Math of Misery

Let’s get practical. Let’s say that you save $5,000 a month by cutting labor and doing the work yourself. Sounds smart, right?

Until you realize what you’ve traded for it: your time, your health, and your ability to scale.

This is because while you’re buried in the kitchen, you’re not refining the guest journey. You’re not analyzing your data, and crafting strategy. You’re not building partnerships.

All you’re doing is saving pennies while losing thousands to millions of dollars.

The real flex isn’t a lean payroll, it’s a lean operator. Being able to step away for a week—even a month—confident that the business will perform exactly as designed? That’s the real flex.

Rewriting the Badge of Honor

It’s time to retire the old badge of honor. The “I worked 80 hours this week” story doesn’t impress anyone anymore.

Now, the flex is sustainability. The flex is empowerment. The flex is financial freedom and the luxury of time.

Because if your business only survives when you sacrifice yourself, you don’t own a business. You’ve given yourself a job with terrible hours and higher risk.

True ownership is building something that can crush it without you being in the trenches.

The Power of Why

So, why does this matter?

Because hospitality is not just an industry. When you really think about it, it’s a lifestyle. And if you destroy yourself in the process, you destroy your ability to lead, to innovate, and to grow.

The “why” is simple.

This isn’t about ego. It isn’t about showing the world how much punishment you can endure. Your aim should be to show the world what happens when clarity meets courage, when strategy meets execution, and when vision is supported by systems.

That’s what sets you apart.

Results that Speak

I’ve seen it firsthand: Operators who commit to playbooks, systems, and mindset shifts.

They’re operators who don’t just open doors and settle for average, they stay open and exceed everyone’s expectations.

These operators:

  • attract investors because they exude confidence and control;
  • build teams that stick around because the culture is sustainable;
  • deliver experiences that scale because the foundation is strong; and
  • build lives worth living, lives in which family, personal health, and travel aren’t luxuries but standards.

That’s the kind of success that matters.

Final Word

If your dream is worth the investment, it’s worth doing right. And doing it right doesn’t mean grinding yourself into long-term health problems.

The real flex after opening isn’t telling the world how many hours you’ve worked. An actual flex is showing the world how little you have to work because your systems, your team, and your strategy are doing the heavy lifting.

So, let’s stop wearing burnout as a badge of honor. Let’s start showing the world what true hospitality leadership really looks like.

Image: Canva

Client Intake Form - KRG Hospitality

A blue dumpster covered in graffiti placed against a concrete wall, resting on asphalt
by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Your One-Page Business Plan is Trash

Your One-Page Business Plan is Trash

by Doug Radkey

A blue dumpster covered in graffiti placed against a concrete wall, resting on asphalt

Subtle, no?

If you’re planning to open a bar, restaurant, or hotel using a one-page business plan or an AI-generated template, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

Let me be clear: using an AI-generated template is the absolute worst option.

I’ve seen it too many times. A passionate operator walks in with a dream and a slick one-pager (or even a 20-page document) in hand.

There are a few bullet points. A vision statement. Some rough numbers. A bit of basic demographics. Maybe a “mission.”

They think they’re ready right then and there to pitch to investors, lease a location, and operate a successful business.

Here’s the truth: a one-page plan isn’t a plan.

What it is, is a wishlist. And wishlists don’t build profitable, scalable, legacy-driven hospitality businesses.

It might feel good in the moment to have something down on paper. But when the real work starts—the budget controls, construction delays, staffing issues, supplier negotiations, licensing hiccups, margin pressures—that one-page business plan doesn’t do one damn thing to help you.

So, let’s call it what it is: lazy, outdated, and dangerous.

The Seduction of Simplicity

One-page business plans are everywhere. They’re easy. They’re free.

Maybe they’ve become trendy because some business guru got lucky and built a unicorn business with one.

One-pagers are sold as “quick-start” tools for entrepreneurs who want clarity and speed.

Well, clarity without depth is misleading. Speed without structure is reckless.

If you’re building a side hustle e-commerce business to run out of your basement or garage, fine. Maybe a one-pager can help you validate an idea.

But if you’re investing $250,000 to $2,500,000 or more into a physical property? If you want to build a business that hires teams, serves guests, signs leases, and burns through cash every day? You need more. Way more.

This is particularly true of an industry where the margin for error is razor thin. Where failure rates still hover around 60 to 80 percent. And where the smallest mistake can cost tens of thousands of dollars in a matter of weeks.

Let’s Talk About What’s Actually Missing

A one-pager or basic template from the bank or an AI program might give you a north star, but it doesn’t show you the terrain, the weather conditions, or the pitfalls along the way.

Here’s what it doesn’t give you:

1. Financial Reality Checks

You won’t see line-by-line startup budgets. You won’t understand contribution margins. And you won’t forecast labor productivity or revenue per available guest during different dayparts or seasons.

Most one-page plans have a single line called “Projected Revenue,” and maybe a “Cost of Goods Sold” and “Profit” box, if you’re lucky.

That’s not a financial strategy. That’s napkin math.

2. Market Nuance

“Target Market: Millennials.” Oh really? Which Millennials? Urban 30-somethings with disposable income? Foodies influenced by TikTok? Business travelers who value speed and convenience?

One-pagers flatten your market. What is the projected TAM/SAM/SOM?

These one-pagers don’t unpack demographics, psychographics, or behavioral segments. They definitely don’t account for neighborhood trends, transit flow, or tourism cycles.

3. Operational Strategy

Where’s your tech stack? Your vendor procurement plan? Your SOPs?

What about your training systems, performance metrics, shift structure, and flow-of-service blueprints?

A one-pager won’t even mention these, let alone show you how they connect to your financial model.

4. Brand Experience

“Cool vibes” is not a brand strategy. “Elevated, yet accessible” is not brand positioning.

Real brand work takes introspection, data, story, and soul.

A one-pager gives you slogans. A proper strategy playbook gives you meaning, and that in-depth meaning is what drives guest loyalty and differentiation.

5. Risk Mitigation

Let me ask you something: How do you know the size of property you need? How do you know what space is available to you?

If you don’t know either of those details, how do you plan to maximize your available budget, and the opportunity?

What happens if your chef walks out before you open? If your liquor license gets delayed?

Your one-pager doesn’t know. Because one-page business plans assume success.

Real strategic playbooks prepare you for failure and build contingency into every strategy.

So, Why Do So Many People Still Use Them?

Because they’re fast. Because they’re cheap. They look nice.

Because someone on YouTube said you could launch your restaurant in 60 days with ChatGPT.

And, let’s be honest, because they’re easy to hide behind.

You don’t have to face your gaps. You don’t have to confront what you don’t know. Your free to keep pretending your dream is “almost ready,” when really, you’re coasting on delusion.

One-pagers, templates, and auto-generated AI business plans might feel efficient. Most of the time, they’re simply a distraction from doing the real work.

You Need Playbooks, Not Just a Plan

At KRG Hospitality, we don’t do templated PDFs. We don’t sell cookie-cutter plans.

What we build with our clients are playbooks. These are dynamic, connected, tactical documents that actually help you start, stabilize, and scale your business.

Here’s what that looks like with our KRG Method program:

Feasibility Study

Validate your market. Understand your guests. Assess the viability of your business. Build confidence for your investors, and for yourself.

Concept Development

Design the business experience: programming, service, space, and an introduction to design. Create the DNA of your operation with clarity and cohesion.

Prototype Playbook

Layout. Flow. Fixtures. Furniture. Equipment. Zones. Build the engine that powers your day-to-day without friction.

Brand Strategy

Voice. Story. Purpose. Positioning. No more “vibe” businesses. Instead, you’ll build a brand that matters.

Tech-Stack Playbook

POS. PMS. CRM. Ordering. Inventory. We plug you into the right systems from day one.

Marketing Playbook

We map the entire journey from awareness to loyalty. Not just what platforms to use, but how to use them effectively for ROI.

Financial Playbook

Revenue models. Labor strategies. Cost controls. Funding schedules. Pre-opening cash flow. Profitability targets. Real math. Real insight.

Business Plan

This is the final product, the operation-facing doc. It’s not the starting point, it’s the summary of all your previous thinking tied into one strategic playbook.

And guess what? It works.

We’ve maintained a 98% startup success rate since 2009. And our clients average 18-plus-percet profit margins (over 24 percent for hotels). That doesn’t happen with a one-pager.

Real Story, Real Risk

We recently had a potential client come to us after trying to launch their venue with a one-page plan, hence the inspiration for this article.

They claimed they were 60 days from opening. Lease signed. Equipment was ordered.

Well, here’s the thing: There was no brand. There was no menu strategy, no staffing plan, no leadership. The financial model? Non-existent. The only semblance of a tech stack was a basic POS built for retail.

Their one-page plan had a paragraph about “innovative food,” and how they “will use social media and build great local partnerships.”

What it didn’t have was reality.

They were behind in their schedule, already $100K over budget, and couldn’t secure any investor confidence to help with their needed cash injection.

Had we been involved earlier, they could have saved thousands of dollars and months of stress.

The Bottom Line

I bet you’ve heard this one before: If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.

If your business is worth doing, it’s worth doing right from the very start.

You don’t need a shortcut, you need a system. You don’t need a one-pager, you need a proven method.

And you don’t need a “pretty” template, you need to think deeply about your business, because that’s what leads to results.

At KRG Hospitality, we don’t sell plans. We build brands, systems, strategy, and profit.

What we sell is strategic clarity.

So, if you’re serious about this business, ditch the one-pager. Because success isn’t something you manifest, it’s something you plan for. And planning requires both depth and critical thinking.

Image: Kevin Butz on Unsplash

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An AI-generated image of a dog wearing goggles, sitting on top of a motorcycle that's parked outside of a bar
by David Klemt David Klemt No Comments

Six Traits Quantify Cool

Six Traits Quantify Cool

by David Klemt

An AI-generated image of a dog wearing goggles, sitting on top of a motorcycle that's parked outside of a bar

It’s difficult to visualize cool, so here’s a dog wearing doggles on a sportbike outside of a bar. Cool!

A team of researchers published the results of an experiment spanning several years, nearly 6,000 participants, and a dozen countries to quantify cool.

The international team’s paper, “Cool People,” was published by the American Psychological Association’s Journal of Experimental Psychology.

Alphabetically, the respondents are from: Australia, Chile, China (mainland and Hong Kong), Germany, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, and the United States.

The team’s research identifies six attributes of being “cool.” Interestingly, while they focused on 13 different regions, attributes associated with being cool are found to be surprisingly stable.

For the most part, cool people share these characteristics across several countries and cultures.

“Coolness is socially constructed such that a person, object, or behavior is cool if people agree that it is cool and uncool if they agree that it is not. Thus, it is less important to know how scholars have defined coolness than to understand what people perceive to be cool and uncool. We therefore operationally define coolness as whether or not a person is subjectively perceived to be cool by an observer.”

Per the Cool People researchers, this is fairly universal.

Relevance to Hospitality

I’ve taken a look at “cool” before. My conclusions were that it’s an amorphous concept, and that most people know something is cool in the moment. So, it’s interesting to see that researchers tackled the topic over the course of five or more years.

“Okay, great,” you may be thinking. “What does this have to do with my business?”

Hospitality is, by its nature, social. Coolness is a social construct, and society (and the cultural subsets therein) decide what’s cool.

People support brands and businesses they think are cool; it’s really that simple. Being deemed cool by a significant number of guests is a key to long-term success for most brands.

This experiment inspired me to look at restaurants, bars, and hotels through the lens of the Cool People experiment. Can we apply the six Cool People attributes to a restaurant, bar, or hotel?

Let’s dive in, or whatever a cool person would say. I guess they wouldn’t have to say anything; they’d make their move and people would follow.

Extraverted/Extroverted

In simple terms, extroverts are perceived—a key word here—as sociable and outgoing. They enjoy being around other people, and want to interact in social settings.

If your restaurant, bar, nightclub, or hotel were a “cool” person, it would display characteristics of an extrovert: sociable, assertive, friendly, makes friends easily, talkative/communicative, enjoys groups, finds socializing energizing, and many others.

(Extraversion versus introversion goes much deeper, psychologically speaking, and I’m keeping things much less complicated here. Introverts can absolutely have the characteristics above.)

Were your venue and staff seen as extroverted (and therefore cool), it would be perceived by guests as welcoming and sociable, at the least. The experience would tell a story, and make guests feel like friends rather than being strictly transactional.

Look appealing? Sound like your business? It should, because that’s hospitality at its core.

Achieving this attribute requires leadership to make the right decisions, from branding and marketing to hiring, onboarding, and training, and also curating the vibe during every daypart.

Hedonistic

Hedonism is indulgence. It’s a focus on pleasure, and an aversion to pain.

Understand this: People can eat, drink, relax, and sleep at home. They don’t really need to visit your bar, restaurant, or hotel; they want to visit your business. People want to socialize, see, and be seen, to feel accepted and special.

Of course, you and your team have to make them want to visit and spend their time and money at your place. They want to leave their homes and be made to feel cool and special, but you need to do the work to lure them to your venue.

A hedonistic restaurant, bar, nightclub or hotel delivers a memorable experience that fulfills guest desires and surpasses their expectations (delivering pleasure). Hedonism in this sense also means ensuring a guest’s exterior stressors melt away while they’re spending time with you and your team (removing pain points).

In my opinion, truly cool people make others feel cool. So, you and your team need to do the same. Look at your touch points. Review your leadership’s approach to service recovery. Be honest about whether your team feels empowered to be themselves while adhering to your SOPs and expectations.

Why? Because your guests want to feel cool. They want to feel relevant, important, seen, and heard. Does your standard of service make guests feel cool?

Show your guests that you think they’re cool. Indulge their wants and needs, unreasonably so if possible. In turn, they’ll want to indulge their desire to socialize, eat, and drink at your place.

Powerful

In the context of your hospitality brand, powerful can be defined as influential.

Does your community view your bar or restaurant favorably? Do the locals in your market support and spend time in your hotel?

If you’ve led your business to becoming a destination for surrounding markets, it’s powerful. And if people aspire to be seen at your business, that’s influence, and therefore power.

Has your restaurant or bar become a destination for people in other cities, states, provinces, and even other countries? Congratulations, you and your team have built, and are running, a powerful concept.

The same is true if your business can scale successfully; a concept that resonates strongly with the public is powerful. (Interestingly, building a brand that can scale but doesn’t is also cool.)

Create a legacy brand, lead your business to achieve long-term success, and you’ll have built a powerhouse.

Adventurous

People perceive as cool any person who’s willing to try new things, and does so often. The reasoning is simple: adventure is cool.

Travel and exploration are cool, and all over social media. Overlanding—self-reliant travel to remote destinations—has surged in popularity over the past few years. The ADV (adventure) motorcycle segment is expected to grow by a billion dollars year over year for the next eight years.

People want adventure, excitement, and new experiences. Hospitality brands are positioned uniquely to fulfill this desire.

Offering guests a unique spin on even a single F&B item can be adventurous. Introducing guests to a new-to-them cuisine is you and your team taking them on an adventure. The same is true for unique amenities, or creating a new way for a guest to experience a space.

Interesting glassware, compelling F&B pairings, eccentric ingredients and presentations, distinct menus, cuisines not otherwise presented in a given market… Even how menus or checks are dropped can deliver an adventure.

Adventurous people are seen as cool. You know what’s even cooler? Being the adventure. Strive to become an escape and escapade.

Open

Along with being adventurous, cool people are viewed as “open.”

Curiosity is cool. Being open to new experiences and ideas is cool. Welcoming people from all walks of life is cool.

This characteristic of coolness is represented in multiple ways in hospitality. A restaurant or bar team can at once be open to new ideas internally, and provide the opportunity for guests to experience new items and experiences.

Empower your team to share their thoughts on your brand, marketing, menus, promotions, and the guest experience. Speaking generally, different generations and groups have different opinions on what’s cool, so ask them for their input.

Be open to change, embrace it, and see how quickly your restaurant, bar, or hotel becomes the cool place to seek out new experiences.

Autonomous

Ask someone if conformity is cool and they’ll likely pull a face and say no. Of course, that’s somewhat ironic since most people want to be—and want to be part of—what’s deemed cool.

Trying to be cool is inherently uncool; we expect cool people to be so effortlessly. It’s a double-edged sword, with cool on one side of the blade and uncool (or cringe, if you prefer) on the other.

Going against the grain, circumventing expectations, and doing their own thing? That’s what cool people do.

It makes sense, then, that a restaurant or bar that doesn’t do and offer what every other place is doing (autonomy) is cool.

From the researchers: “[I]f coolness motivates the spread of innovation, then coolness should be associated with creating and diffusing new ideas.”

To be blunt, most restaurants, bars, and hotels are selling the same shit. In recent years, some big personalities in the industry have been saying this quite plainly. One was on the Bar Hacks podcast recently.

So, if we’re all selling the same things to our guests, how can any concept be seen as autonomous, and therefore cool? It comes down to strict adherence to our vision, a commitment to developing a fully realized brand, our team’s focus on the guest experience, and unique interpretation of menu items.

Of course, that last element can go sideways, slipping away from “cool” and spiraling into confusion or frustration.

Give your guests the cool, unique experience only you and your team can deliver, but make it approachable and understandable. Otherwise, you’ve given them homework, not an escape from their everyday lives.

Cool vs. Good

There’s an additional, interesting component to the Cool People experiment.

Within their paper the researchers reference a Canadian experiment. The study found that Canadian students, at least up to 2012, “frequently” saw cool people as those who demonstrated five characteristics of admirable people: friendliness, competence, desirability, attractiveness, and trendiness.

(Personally, I’m disappointed Canada wasn’t included in the Cool People experiment. I’m comfortable saying the rest of the KRG Hospitality team joins me in my dissatisfaction.)

Cool People researchers posit that that cool people should be admired by others for their status as a cool person. But that leads to other questions: Shouldn’t we admire good people? If so, is cool the same as good?

The researchers were compelled to address those questions during their experiment. Put simply, they found that cool people are capable of being “good.” However, they’re defined, for lack of a better word, as being extraverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open, and autonomous. You’ll notice “good” isn’t on that list.

So, no, cool is not the same as good, as far as this particular experiment’s findings show.

You’re probably wondering now what characteristics are attributed to good people. Well, you’re in luck, because the Cool People researchers included them in their experiment: conforming, traditional, secure, warm, agreeable, universalistic, conscientious, and calm.

What would the perception of being “good” look like for a restaurant, bar, or hotel? I may just tackle that question in an upcoming article.

Cheers!

AI-generated image: Microsoft Designer

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