How Quiznos Is Attempting One of the Biggest Restaurant Comebacks in America

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Unknown Speaker (1:41): Private dining clubs. It creates an extremely personal experience.

Unknown Speaker (1:44): That's a good point. It really is.

Speaker 3 (1:46): Connects connecting experiences

Speaker 2 (1:49): because these dining clubs these ideas I mean, Jim, you traveled to London a lot. That's always been there.

Unknown Speaker (1:54): It's been

Unknown Speaker (1:55): part of their DNA. You know, they never let in those clubs. This guy is Live from the DailyPay studios at the Restaurant Leadership Conference. It's the hospitality hangout podcast featuring the restaurant guy and the finance guy. Jimbo, we got an electric show right now.

Unknown Speaker (2:10): Electric. Am I right? Electric. I can't hear you. I can't hear you.

Unknown Speaker (2:13): It is electric.

Unknown Speaker (2:13): I gotta tell you that I I feel like you lost your voice last night.

Unknown Speaker (2:16): You know what? It's been a fantastic conference.

Speaker 2 (2:18): You're usually the loudest person I know.

Unknown Speaker (2:19): You're, like, whispering. I gave a speech last night over an entire audience of of how many

Speaker 2 (2:23): were you. You know what? I wanna say we had a great time last night, and your speech It was the first time you gave a speech without a microphone in a very packed restaurant or club, whatever you want to call it, and everyone actually shut up and listen to you.

Unknown Speaker (2:36): I give credit to you. Me? Yes. You, Julie, Drew and Greg Majewski saying everyone pay attention. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker (2:42): Everyone pay attention. To

Unknown Speaker (2:43): the crickets, man.

Speaker 3 (2:44): We got a we got a we got a really great show tonight.

Unknown Speaker (2:46): And a great guest. This moment,

Speaker 3 (2:47): a great guest. I wanna dive into this. I'm Jimmy Frischling. I'm the finance guy. I had the privilege you privilege of welcoming you more formally to the hospitality hangout, hospitality focused podcast where we bring in executives and industry leaders that are making things happen in the industry we love.

Unknown Speaker (3:03): Today You didn't formally introduce me. You noticed that. Yeah. Usually, you formally introduce me.

Unknown Speaker (3:07): Formally introduce my brother from another mother Right. Mister Michael Schatzberg

Unknown Speaker (3:11): Thank you.

Speaker 3 (3:12): Aka Shatzy, aka the restaurant guy.

Speaker 2 (3:16): Thank you for that kind introduction, Jimmy. I appreciate that.

Speaker 3 (3:18): You're very welcome. Yeah. But I also wanna make sure I introduce our guest, the CEO of Regal Restaurant Group, the man behind Quiznos, and I apologize to Neil for saying this, but tasty.

Unknown Speaker (3:31): Toasty.

Unknown Speaker (3:32): Was toasty? Oh, Jimmy heard he didn't hear toasty. Heard tasty.

Unknown Speaker (3:34): I heard tasty.

Unknown Speaker (3:35): That's what he's

Speaker 3 (3:35): saying. Quiznos, Taco Del Mar, mister Neil Patel. K. Neil, you know what? Not our most fluid introduction, but you know what?

Speaker 3 (3:44): We we appreciate you being here. Let's let's dive in. I'm here

Unknown Speaker (3:47): for it.

Unknown Speaker (3:47): Yeah. No. We're gonna dig in a little bit, Neil. Gonna dig in? I'll tell you, it's great to have you on this show.

Speaker 2 (3:51): Let's get a little background because we always like to know how does one become the CEO of such amazing operation with so many restaurants and so many franchises. So you went over there, UNC Chapel Hill. So you're Tar Heel.

Unknown Speaker (4:06): Tar Heel.

Unknown Speaker (4:06): Right? You gotta go to Go Hills. Jimmy, you know why you could never be the CEO of your restaurants?

Unknown Speaker (4:11): Yeah.

Unknown Speaker (4:11): You know why? I have a because you went to an all girls school. You went to, Wellesley.

Speaker 3 (4:16): I went yes. I went to an all girl all woman find out that

Unknown Speaker (4:20): Wellesley college. When did you find out that you accepted an all girls school?

Unknown Speaker (4:23): Neil, by the way, if I had a dollar for every time I went to Wesleyan University, and I have people saying

Unknown Speaker (4:27): Wellesley.

Unknown Speaker (4:28): I thought that was an all girls school. Wellesley. And I'll be like, yeah. It is. And they're like, they don't understand.

Unknown Speaker (4:32): I'm like, yeah. Don't understand how you mixed up Wesleyan and Wellesley,

Unknown Speaker (4:34): but but it Jimmy Jimmy, digress. Girls school is very,

Unknown Speaker (4:37): very

Unknown Speaker (4:37): good for you, by the way. The only the only guy my odds. Yes. Did. It definitely did.

Speaker 2 (4:42): So, yeah, Jimmy, you didn't go to Chapel Hill. No. You spent six years at McKinsey

Unknown Speaker (4:47): Mhmm.

Speaker 2 (4:47): Doing all sorts of crazy things. And I can't even pronounce some of the things you were doing, but there were analytics. It was optimization.

Unknown Speaker (4:53): I can't pronounce them either.

Speaker 2 (4:54): So Unbelievable. Page. And then and then you go to Church's Chicken, and you become an adviser, eventually a big shot over there, and eventually becoming the CEO of Rigo Restaurant Group, which, which has Quiznos and Taco Del Mar, as Jimmy said. And this is a this is a relatively recent Yeah. Appoint appointment.

Speaker 2 (5:13): So let let me just see here. There's a quote here. First week quote, building the plane while flying it. Jimmy, that was his first quote. Do

Unknown Speaker (5:21): wanna just talk a little about that? I'll just say I I have used similar similar expressions like the train's in motion. The train's going. Left the station. Okay?

Speaker 3 (5:30): Train has left the station, and we still gotta we gotta make things work, but we ain't stopping. K? We just keep going.

Unknown Speaker (5:35): I I think the entire industry now is building the plane while we fly. So navigating the entire AI space, we're doing that. We're all doing that now.

Unknown Speaker (5:42): Right. But

Unknown Speaker (5:42): again, I think with with our with our brand and and with with Quiznos and Taco Del Mar, it's a 100% been, you know, completely finding ways to transform the business while also needing to deliver growth in the short term.

Speaker 2 (5:52): Did you really grow up eating Quiznos?

Unknown Speaker (5:54): I did. There was one in Eastgate Shopping Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina that I went

Unknown Speaker (5:57): to So you were born and raised in Chapel Hill?

Unknown Speaker (5:59): Oh, I grew up so in my first ten years, I lived in the eastern part of the state called in a town called Roanoke Rapids.

Unknown Speaker (6:04): Okay.

Unknown Speaker (6:05): So I thought the big town the big city was Rocky Mountain, North Carolina.

Speaker 2 (6:09): Then Nobody gets into UNC unless you live there. Exactly. Am I right?

Unknown Speaker (6:12): That was the only way I got in.

Unknown Speaker (6:13): Yeah. Because no one gets into that school. Nobody. Nobody. Jimmy.

Unknown Speaker (6:16): By way, don't go to the school? There's no one there.

Unknown Speaker (6:18): I don't just me. I was just was the only guy.

Unknown Speaker (6:19): I don't wanna I don't wanna derail our conversation. Okay. And by that, I'm gonna say something to Neil. And there's a small chance

Unknown Speaker (6:25): he wants a jet seat?

Speaker 3 (6:27): No. No. Just both of you, Bob. I went in 1985, I went to Duke basketball camp. Coach Yashevsky, coach K was in the second year, and I have to say, I a little befriended.

Speaker 3 (6:39): Like, it had took he

Unknown Speaker (6:40): gave me some quality time. I gotta get out of here.

Speaker 3 (6:41): And I wanna say I root for Carolina because I've an I've extended family. They're all Tar Heels, but they've never forgiven me for not only going down to Duke basketball camp, but for having an affection and and really care for coach K. He was nice to me. A New York kid goes down to basketball camp, and he was nice to me.

Unknown Speaker (6:56): We we give him a hard time. We've always given him a hard time. At the same time, there's such deep respect

Unknown Speaker (7:00): for attitude. I mean, coach K.

Unknown Speaker (7:02): It's incredible, and he's still, you know, one of the greatest coaches ever. A still Dean Smith fan. I love

Unknown Speaker (7:06): the rivalry, and I am a Dean Smith fan.

Unknown Speaker (7:08): Yeah.

Speaker 3 (7:08): Alright. I wanna dive in because we're talking about we have a really excellent storyline here. K? We we've talked about, you know, the comebacks. Okay?

Speaker 3 (7:16): We've had Scott Drake on, from Chuck E. Cheese. We've also had George Felix on for Chili's. There's a moment happening in hospitality where iconic and legacy brands are people are coming back. There's this endearment to them.

Speaker 3 (7:29): Now it's not it's not the comeback story doesn't work unless the product, unless the people, unless the commission you had to have a comeback. Otherwise, it's Yeah.

Unknown Speaker (7:38): Oh, I remember them when. It's just a story. It can't just be comebacks to at the time.

Unknown Speaker (7:41): You had to come back.

Unknown Speaker (7:42): Just a story.

Speaker 3 (7:43): You know? So, actually, we'll stick we'll stick with Carolina. Michael Jordan retires from basketball. You know what? Makes his comeback.

Unknown Speaker (7:49): Although, I don't think he ever had a I don't think he ever missed a beat. No. I don't think so. But at at its peak, Quiznos had 5,000 locations. Okay?

Speaker 3 (7:57): 90% of those locations today are gone. It had a bankruptcy in 2014. This means I'm the asshole. But now record breaking opening day sales in Tucson. Okay?

Speaker 3 (8:09): A new modular restaurant format, c store partnerships, new menu items. People are paying attention. So my question, which is, Shats, is like, is there a question? You just keep talking. I was gonna say

Unknown Speaker (8:20): it's like, do you see the am I right? Or you're selling the He was like, this great. Talkers.

Unknown Speaker (8:24): I gave I gave the the let's say, of the the I shared some of the dirty laundry. Of course. Now we're on the comeback. So talk about this beloved brand. It's on the brink, and now you're bringing it back.

Unknown Speaker (8:34): It's a that's not just nostalgia. K? So what are you doing that justifies? How are you effectuating this comeback?

Unknown Speaker (8:41): So, again, I think a lot of folks think, okay. If you build it, they will come. What I've been blown away with by the Quiznos brand has been in the last again, I fly around, go to a lot of my restaurants, I'm wearing a of Quiznos merch all the time. I've had two people ask me for the shirt off my back that had Quiznos on it. I've never had I've worn a lot of brands in my life.

Unknown Speaker (9:02): I've not seen people react to the brand like they react to Quiznos. Why do you think that is? Well, so and again, I'll I'll continue this, right? So Yeah. They'll they'll say, hey, do you work for Quiznos?

Unknown Speaker (9:13): I'll tell them I'm the CEO of Quiznos. They're like, wow, Quiznos still exists. I'll say, we do. We're in 140 locations in The US, we've got another 90 in Canada. Did you know we have 60 in South Korea?

Unknown Speaker (9:23): So we still have a strong presence, smaller than what we what we once were. Every single time I I say that we're still here, I get a story about what the brand meant to that person. It was I went to the I went and had Quiznos every single time after baseball practice with my dad on the way back Right? You see it there all the time.

Unknown Speaker (9:41): Tasty? Tasty.

Unknown Speaker (9:43): And toasty

Unknown Speaker (9:43): at the same time. Toasty.

Unknown Speaker (9:44): What? I

Unknown Speaker (9:45): thought it

Unknown Speaker (9:45): was tasty.

Unknown Speaker (9:46): I can't I can't believe you made that mistake. Didn't you choose? I'm embarrassed. We should edit that out, Chatty. Who would you like?

Unknown Speaker (9:52): I still like the tasty.

Unknown Speaker (9:55): They are tasty sauce.

Unknown Speaker (9:56): Tasty.

Unknown Speaker (9:56): Yeah. Mean, maybe we need

Unknown Speaker (9:57): a new spokesperson.

Unknown Speaker (9:58): I don't know. Oh, book me in coach.

Unknown Speaker (10:00): Yeah. I love it.

Unknown Speaker (10:01): But but, again, I think I think the brand again, at that at a at a scale of 5,000 units, you you can't not leave a mark on on the entire industry. And, it's well documented why the brand has contracted so much, but there was never a consumer failure. Our fans are still the same the same fans and still have the same love for the brand.

Unknown Speaker (10:18): So let

Speaker 2 (10:19): me ask you something. So, I mean, you work at McKinsey. You go to UNC. You're a smart guy. Right?

Speaker 2 (10:24): Right? Jimmy? Chat Is Neil a smart guy?

Speaker 3 (10:28): Chat you. And my best Matt Damon. Okay? Sorry. My best Matt.

Unknown Speaker (10:35): Goodwill Hunting.

Unknown Speaker (10:36): Yes. Goodwill Hunting. Yeah. Our boys

Unknown Speaker (10:38): our boys wicked smart.

Unknown Speaker (10:39): Wicked smart. Wicked

Unknown Speaker (10:40): smart. Wicked smart. Think Wicked smart.

Unknown Speaker (10:41): You do that Apple thing with me.

Unknown Speaker (10:42): You always do the Apple quote. Because because I was I was gonna sneak that in later. You like apples? So, I mean, Quiznos, at what point did they

Unknown Speaker (10:48): have 5,000 stores? Right?

Unknown Speaker (10:50): Yep.

Unknown Speaker (10:51): Yep.

Unknown Speaker (10:51): When was that? Like, when was

Unknown Speaker (10:52): 5000? February. Okay. Say, like, 2016.

Speaker 2 (10:55): Someone comes to you and says, hey. Do you wanna take over this brand? We've got a 160 stores. We used to have 5,000. Do you look at that as like is that like insanity?

Speaker 2 (11:05): Like, why would I do that? That's like a sinking ship or like, oh, no. This is incredible opportunity. Like, if they had 5,000 at one point, well,

Unknown Speaker (11:14): then we can get it back

Unknown Speaker (11:15): to that again. Like, like, it's a beloved brand. And then and what do you and then, like you said, like, what do you do to turn this around?

Unknown Speaker (11:21): Well and that that we hit the nail on the head. It's an incredible opportunity. I'm extremely honored to be able to to work on bringing this brand back. The whole thesis is get the brand back to the fans who love it. Right.

Unknown Speaker (11:30): So that's the entire the entire thesis. It's scary to to say, hey. You're inheriting a system that's 5% the size of what it used to be. Right. So that's the it's a 100%

Unknown Speaker (11:39): the the scary would think. Be like, I'll let someone else do this. There's no way you're gonna come back.

Unknown Speaker (11:43): But I saw when I spent some time with the brand, I saw a couple proof points that got me excited.

Unknown Speaker (11:46): What what is it? What was it

Unknown Speaker (11:47): that that that opening I mentioned in Tucson, Arizona. Mhmm.

Unknown Speaker (11:50): Again, a a record breaking record. Sales.

Unknown Speaker (11:53): And that's across the street from a Raising Cane's. I mean, it's

Unknown Speaker (11:55): in it's in the competitive dollar list. Sorry. Raising numbers.

Unknown Speaker (11:58): Raising Cane's?

Unknown Speaker (11:59): He's playing with you. He's just but, I mean, that's a that's a great I mean, Raising Cane's is on fire. It it is. And So if you're doing business across the street from And, them

Unknown Speaker (12:07): again, we see that. I I see activations that we do. I see a couple of our core restaurants in the Vegas Airport and Denver Airport. And you see crazy lines, and you see the reaction of people going there. Because I sat one time or actually several times, I'll sit at the Denver Airport, and I'll just ask people.

Unknown Speaker (12:23): Just Oh, you're toast off.

Unknown Speaker (12:24): Hey, like, you know, if you come here a lot or is this your first time there and a lot of times I get I used to love Quiznos. I was flying through. I have a connection. I saw that there's a Quiznos here. I wanted to come check it out.

Unknown Speaker (12:34): And I asked them, okay, well, what'd you get? And they'll tell me their their favorite sub. They'll tell me it's a baja chicken or a Mexican chicken. And I asked them, does it taste the same as you remember? And they look at me and they say, yes, because we haven't changed our product.

Speaker 2 (12:45): I love it. I love it. So what about this the the cube? This is part of your your two point o Quiznos. Right?

Speaker 2 (12:52): The cube spelled q u p e. Right?

Unknown Speaker (12:55): Yeah.

Speaker 2 (12:55): So let's talk about the cube. This is a fully prefabricated modular restaurant, which sounds pretty cool today because, you know, we're where CapEx is a big deal. It sounds like you're building something, taking advantage of all the technology that we have today. So you get this modular restaurant that could be literally dropped anywhere, right? And it's very small footprint.

Speaker 2 (13:18): It can have a drive through and a walk up window. Drive throughs are super hot, right? Six fifty square feet, which is just enough room to, to to to to function as an op you know? Yep. Get bang out food.

Speaker 2 (13:30): Right? The first one was in Michigan, I guess, about a year ago. Right? Where what was the idea behind this? Was it when it had 5,000 stores, you're like, was the problem, oh, it was too big or it was too expensive, and let's try this.

Unknown Speaker (13:44): Like, what's the what's the idea behind this?

Unknown Speaker (13:46): I think the impetus one was you said it. Real estate's becoming more and more challenging. Uh-huh. And then we have to think creatively about where we put our units. Right.

Unknown Speaker (13:54): And so for me, what that looks like is your traditional greenfield development opportunity may not be the right opportunity. You may need to look at retail outlets. You may need to be at the edge of a of a retail center.

Unknown Speaker (14:05): So what

Unknown Speaker (14:05): do you

Speaker 2 (14:05): do with these cubes? Who do what mean, so you get a franchise operator Mhmm. Who's operating a bunch of different things, and now you're offering this as, hey. You could do our traditional four four wall, but then where do you put it? Like, do you

Unknown Speaker (14:18): You you can put it on

Unknown Speaker (14:20): It's the same thing?

Unknown Speaker (14:20): You can put it you can put it pretty much wherever you wherever you need to put it. Okay. So and, most of them are drive through, but you if as long as you have a a quarter to a third of an acre or more, you can you have the space to be able to put it.

Speaker 2 (14:29): So the whole thing so it's not so it's just that it's prefabricated. So it's just a quicker it's speed quicker

Unknown Speaker (14:35): costs, speed. And again, as you start as we start to scale the ability for us to bring these units online, you know,

Speaker 2 (14:41): we'll baby in a parking lot, you know, of a space that's been zoned for this. You drop it in. You hook up the water. You hook up the electricity. Utilities?

Unknown Speaker (14:50): And you're open in what? In a couple days?

Unknown Speaker (14:51): In a few days.

Unknown Speaker (14:52): A few

Unknown Speaker (14:53): days. The the installation could take a day.

Unknown Speaker (14:55): The the longest time you get utilities in a a traditional four wall Quiznos?

Unknown Speaker (15:00): At least at least ninety to a hundred days to to build up the building after you've got the pad down.

Unknown Speaker (15:05): I love it. Jimbo.

Unknown Speaker (15:06): The speed's there.

Speaker 3 (15:07): I love that you're addressing what I imagine a lot of operators do not go into this industry to then start working on construction projects. And you've allowed them to say they wanna focus on basically delivering the best value for their guests as possible. And all that other stuff you just took care of, well, that's just it. You took care of it for them. And I love that.

Unknown Speaker (15:27): And and yeah. And some of some operators definitely are, but most of them don't wanna be property developers. Yep. They don't wanna spend the time doing that.

Unknown Speaker (15:33): I That's not their business, man. They're restaurant guys.

Speaker 3 (15:36): I wanna dive in. We there's no question that the product and I really do love your product, but the product's critical. There's no question that you know we just talked about the real estate and how we develop these properties but when people ask me about the hospitality industry and we do a lot of work in tech at branded but this is not a technology business I'll even say before you get to the food and beverage it's a people business So let's talk about the workforce because for so many people, it's not just about the delivering of of these of the sandwiches. It is is the workforce, and our workforce skews young. Okay.

Unknown Speaker (16:12): It does.

Speaker 3 (16:12): And and people often are working multiple jobs and, you know, so let's talk about when your brand's in growth mode. Okay. And the way Quizos is right now, your workforce is one of the most valuable things that you and all your partners have. So my question is, how do you think about attracting and retaining and maybe taking care of the people who are taking care of your brand and helping you grow?

Unknown Speaker (16:33): So I think one of the best parts about being in the restaurant industry and why I love it is it is the entry point for so many people into the workforce.

Unknown Speaker (16:41): First job.

Unknown Speaker (16:42): First job. People remember most of their first jobs. It a lot of times touches on

Unknown Speaker (16:45): a little dinner dinner last night. First job. First job. First concert.

Unknown Speaker (16:48): First job. First concert.

Speaker 2 (16:49): And there was, there was actually more grocery than I, had anticipated. But I think I feel like grocery is similar to restaurants. It's it's kind of in the same realm, you know?

Unknown Speaker (16:56): Exactly. And and so so you have to treat that entry point as sacred. But I think the the big the big thing here is when someone enters the workforce, that's not where that, you know, they wanna end up long term. And so providing pathways to grow, providing pathways to shift leadership, to management, to ownership, those are things that we have to work on and work on building, because those are the real opportunities for folks entering the workforce. And nowadays we're challenging what it means to get an education too.

Unknown Speaker (17:20): So, I mean, some people some of the best education you can get is learning how to be a manager, learning how to be a business owner or or a or a GM or a restaurant. You learn We

Speaker 2 (17:28): talk about it all the time. I think, you know, getting a job in a restaurant Jimmy and I always talk about this. Jimmy was his first job was bartending. No. I started as a busboy, barback.

Unknown Speaker (17:37): Busboy.

Unknown Speaker (17:37): And I got promoted the waiter. Yeah. And then I got the pinnacle. Yeah. I got behind the bar.

Unknown Speaker (17:41): That's why that was my happy space.

Speaker 2 (17:43): What I mean? Starting, you know, working in a restaurant as well, first job, second job, just early on, I think the skill sets that you get, the the ability to multitask is super important. I think the ability to deal with people, other people, other personalities. I think you have to be able to fix things. Like I always say, I always joke, you gotta be an electrician, Little bit of plumbing doesn't hurt.

Unknown Speaker (18:05): Right? Mhmm. As

Unknown Speaker (18:06): a bartender, I was a therapist.

Unknown Speaker (18:07): Therap I was gonna say therapy.

Unknown Speaker (18:08): That the

Speaker 3 (18:08): the like, the whole cliche about people talk to bartenders, that's not a cliche. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (18:12): It's therapists. You know, you you really have to do everything. And and then then you have to be able to on certain times certain days, if if somebody doesn't show up, you have to do their job. So sometimes you have to be a bartender and a waiter and a hose, sometimes a dishwasher. So it's really it's a great place to start.

Speaker 2 (18:28): We talk about it all the time. I I you know, I think it's great. Do you I just wonder. Do you find a lot of your the Quiznos franchise operators, did they start in the restaurant business? Do you find that?

Speaker 2 (18:39): And that this is their and they're growing into more franchises and buying more stores?

Unknown Speaker (18:44): I I think it's really very what's interesting about franchising too is you have folks entering in at different points. Some folks have, you know, spent some time in corporate. They wanted to find a way to to kind of release those shackles, they want be able to have find a path to business ownership. Others, you know, start with a dream. I I mean, I have a a a franchisee in in Canada and British Columbia.

Unknown Speaker (19:03): It's a brother sister duo. And, you know, they're super young, but they're super excited to get into it. Their dad had a unit, but they're taking it on, and they're running it. Right. Seeing that is so exciting to see a a business pass on.

Unknown Speaker (19:15): And they've built this incredible social following, and and and and it's been really cool to see.

Speaker 2 (19:20): So, like, these are the folks that are, like, the new generation of the Quiznos two point o that, like, you're hoping that these guys are gonna be like, wow. I gotta get I gotta open another store.

Speaker 3 (19:28): I wanna I wanna add something or jump in here. You know, we're at an age and it's continuing. And I I I didn't mean our respective ages because Shats and I are old as dirt, but an age where people things are on demand. Okay? People have access to things like never before, access to information, downloads, entertainment, access.

Speaker 3 (19:49): And yet when I think about the hospitality industry or just when I think about payrolls and and compensation in general, it seems that has still been somewhat antiquated and and somewhat working off a legacy payment system or rather a timing of that is far more rigid than other things in our life that has dramatically changed. When you're, you know, really at any age, but the fact is when you're working at a restaurant, you you you you got your bills you got your rent you got your car payments whatever it might be and you want your money now or you've earned it and this idea of waiting for a schedule you know the traditional Two weeks. Weeks. Weeks. I guess my question is and here we are We're working with our partners at DailyPay.

Speaker 3 (20:32): Talk about that partnership and why DailyPay has helped is helping you and your business. Okay? Where where access to earn wages, if you can, please share because we think it's really cool. We think it's really important, and we think it's really good for the workforce.

Unknown Speaker (20:46): Well, I think, you know, part of this is, you know, the the the two week structure works for some people, but it doesn't work for everybody. And for folks who are working multiple jobs at different cycles and and in this day and age when costs are going up, you can't and and unexpected things happen, you can't plan for some things. So if you're able to if you're doing the work and you're able to get paid closer to when you've done the work Yeah. It's a great opportunity.

Unknown Speaker (21:07): So is it for for you, is there any friction in that? Do you I mean, is it just like, hey. Sure, my employees are happier. Why not? Like, because, because I mean, this is new relatively speaking.

Unknown Speaker (21:18): Mean, this is what I mean, when somebody came to me, you know, fifteen years ago, ten years ago, be like, hey, I get paid every day. Be like, what are you talking about? You know, you get paid every two weeks. That's the way we've been doing it. That's the way it gets done.

Speaker 2 (21:30): You know, take it or leave it. You know what I mean? You would that's that's just the it is. But today, there's all this technology, all these platforms like a daily pay that allows for this.

Unknown Speaker (21:39): Well, I think the world's gotten more and more real time. Yep. We're all real time now. And so we have to adapt. And so traditional structures, you ask why.

Unknown Speaker (21:47): Yeah. Right? And the the the the two week pay, pay schedule is built on the fact that administratively, you had to be able to aggregate things together, bookkeep, and make sure that you you were able to to document things appropriately.

Unknown Speaker (21:58): Sure.

Unknown Speaker (21:58): And so I think we're we're in a world now where we have to adapt. I mean, everything we're doing as a business, I mean, we have we have the cube, but we have also multiple other formats that we're looking at

Unknown Speaker (22:06): and exploring to make sure

Unknown Speaker (22:07): that we can grow.

Unknown Speaker (22:08): Right.

Unknown Speaker (22:08): So it's the same way with how we operate from a finance perspective.

Speaker 2 (22:11): Yeah. Jimmy, it's we always say it's, optionality. Yes. Right? It's like optionality with technology.

Speaker 2 (22:17): We always joke it. You you wanna order from a kiosk? You can order from a kiosk.

Unknown Speaker (22:20): You wanna

Unknown Speaker (22:20): order from a purse. You wanna order from your phone. I mean, just it's optionality, flexibility.

Speaker 3 (22:24): We're all trying to meet the guests where they're at. Why can't we also meet our employees and our team where they're at?

Speaker 2 (22:29): Well, that's it's more it's more important today than ever before, especially as the workforce evolves and, you know, just everything about the workforce has changed a lot.

Unknown Speaker (22:37): So well, so competitive. It's such a competitive workforce. I gotta make a place that we have to develop a place that folks wanna come in every day. Right?

Speaker 2 (22:44): And you're are you finding a big adoption to this kind of idea of getting paid daily?

Unknown Speaker (22:49): It's been interesting. I I think there's there are there are groups of of employees that jump to it. Mhmm. I think there's some that like the stability of being able to have it every two

Unknown Speaker (22:57): weeks. Right.

Unknown Speaker (22:57): So think it just depends on it. Again, going back to optionality.

Unknown Speaker (23:00): Right. Depends on your situation. Sure.

Unknown Speaker (23:01): Right?

Unknown Speaker (23:01): But I think it's nice if you say, hey. Do you want to get paid daily? I want to get paid every two weeks. Just let me know. Check the right box.

Speaker 2 (23:08): And who would it's great. I love Let's talk a little bit about let's dig into Quiznos and just what's going on because as you continue to grow the brand, part of the two point zero, the menu innovation, what's new, what's coming back, how important is creating new dishes that are on point with trends? Right now, protein is like the hottest going Fiber is everything's got to have fiber, it's got a protein, You know, Ozempic, these GLP-1s, whatever you want to call it. Everybody's, you know, Walmart said they saw a dip in like certain foods in the aisle, like snack foods or people are buying less. And they said, clearly it's in it because they have, like, I guess, a lot of pharmacies in their stores.

Speaker 2 (23:49): So literally they can say, I can tell we're selling a lot more GLPs and we're saying less snack foods. Yep. So how do you guys adapt and change menus to, you know, I to to these, you know?

Unknown Speaker (24:01): Innovate well, innovation is more important than ever.

Unknown Speaker (24:03): Right. We have

Unknown Speaker (24:03): a legacy brand, though. And so the nostalgia of being able to for someone to come back in and taste the honey bacon club they've they've gotten for twenty or thirty years is important as well. So you have to balance a little bit of both. But portion sizing is one of one of the pieces here. I know protein's interesting.

Unknown Speaker (24:16): I learned that most of our subs with with any of our our meats have over 40 grams of protein for a regular, which is fantastic. Yeah. Yeah. So that's

Unknown Speaker (24:25): kinda thing that you have to go promote now.

Unknown Speaker (24:26): Right? And and we learn it's a learning thing. It's actually already embedded in our in our business that You already do it and been out

Unknown Speaker (24:31): to the advantage of it.

Unknown Speaker (24:32): Right.

Unknown Speaker (24:32): Yeah. And so there's part of that. Part of it is is value. What we we we launched about a month ago, our new sliders. We have we have brioche bun sliders, two for $3.49.

Unknown Speaker (24:41): They're fan they're my my new favorite thing. They're toasty.

Unknown Speaker (24:44): Are these toasty?

Unknown Speaker (24:44): They're toasty.

Unknown Speaker (24:45): And tasty?

Unknown Speaker (24:46): And tasty.

Unknown Speaker (24:46): TNT. That's right. TNT.

Unknown Speaker (24:48): I love that.

Unknown Speaker (24:49): My Quiz note, TNT. TNT. T squared.

Unknown Speaker (24:51): My new favorite thing right now has been those sliders. And then to as a snack, we just launched a partnership with Smucker's Uncrustables. We have Toasted Uncrustables. Oh. Let me tell you.

Unknown Speaker (25:00): I love

Unknown Speaker (25:00): it. I'm a fan

Unknown Speaker (25:01): of Toasted Uncrustables.

Speaker 2 (25:03): So that's like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Unknown Speaker (25:04): Oh, yeah. In a in a little con it's contained.

Unknown Speaker (25:07): It's contained. Yeah. Is that toasted?

Unknown Speaker (25:09): Toasted. Toasted.

Unknown Speaker (25:09): It's buttered and toasted.

Speaker 2 (25:11): It is loved I always liked my peanut butter and jelly when I was younger. I mean, I know it was great on just a piece of Wonder Bread, but toasted was pretty tasty too. Like, it was warm.

Unknown Speaker (25:20): Oh, yeah.

Unknown Speaker (25:20): And the peanut butter kinda melted a little bit. You know? Jim, you getting hungry?

Unknown Speaker (25:24): I'm getting a little hungry.

Speaker 2 (25:25): Yeah. You're getting a little hungry. I I gotta tell you something. So what else you got going on? So it's not just innovation in the the cube and the and the you know, I'm going I'm doing airports and, you know, universities and this and that.

Unknown Speaker (25:36): It's also menu innovation.

Unknown Speaker (25:38): Yeah. Well, it's so there's so there's the there's the the value piece and ensuring that we can deliver for snacking dayparts or or making sure that folks

Unknown Speaker (25:44): But snacking's a big thing now.

Unknown Speaker (25:45): Snacking's huge too. And so that part of this is we didn't have a snacking offering.

Unknown Speaker (25:48): Right.

Unknown Speaker (25:48): So if you wanted to come in and get something toasty, you had to get a large sub.

Unknown Speaker (25:51): Right.

Unknown Speaker (25:51): Or one of our subs. That it's if you want a snack, that's too big. And so this gives us the flexibility and optionality. But then when I look at the origin of the branch, the branch started in 1981 from a fine dining chef in Denver named Jimmy Lombatos. And he wanted to create a New York sub sub shop

Unknown Speaker (26:07): Right.

Unknown Speaker (26:07): That had recipes that were chef created and inspired by his restaurant.

Unknown Speaker (26:11): Makes sense.

Unknown Speaker (26:11): And so what you what what crew what was created was a series of sandwiches that drove a lot of flavor leadership in the industry. When you think about the mesquite chicken, the baja chicken, and a couple of of other subs, what you find out that the the brand got big in the nineties and the early two thousands. The two biggest players at time were Subway and Blimpy. The only condiments in the industry were mayo, mustard, oil, and vinegar.

Unknown Speaker (26:34): Mayo, When

Unknown Speaker (26:35): you think

Unknown Speaker (26:35): about what we popularized, it was re ranched, Chipotle mayo, barbecue sauce on subs. And so the question for me is, next twenty years, what is what are what are gonna be our next innovations that become table stakes for any sandwich shop in the world today? I mean, you wouldn't imagine any sandwich shop today not having a chipotle sandwich or a or a some a ranch and and chicken sandwich at all.

Unknown Speaker (26:54): You gotta have it. Mean,

Unknown Speaker (26:55): ranch. Barbecue sauce.

Speaker 2 (26:56): Yeah. Ranch and barbecue sauce, you know, sweet and sour, honey mustard. I mean, are I like joke that the literally, the refrigerators that we have in our homes today have been redesigned to allow for all the new condiments.

Unknown Speaker (27:11): Oh, yeah.

Unknown Speaker (27:11): Like, you know, you said like you just said, you had ketchup, you had mayonnaise, you had mustard. That was it. Yeah. Maybe you had Tabasco sauce.

Unknown Speaker (27:18): Yeah. Exactly.

Speaker 2 (27:18): Today, I mean, my kids, I mean, there's just every different kind of sauce from every different kind of country.

Unknown Speaker (27:25): All over the place.

Speaker 2 (27:26): You know? It's unbelievable. Yeah. And But but that I love it. I love it because you know what?

Speaker 2 (27:30): Everyone's taste buds are evolving. You know? It makes it more fun, man. Things are things are more delicious. Listen.

Speaker 2 (27:35): We gotta take a real quick break. We'll be right back with more with more from Neil, and I gotta tell we got a lot more. We got a little hot or not, and we got a little branded quick fire. So don't go away. Be right back with the hospitality.

Speaker 2 (27:45): Hangout live from RLC presented by DailyPay. Be right back.

Unknown Speaker (27:51): Hey everybody, I gotta tell you, we're gonna talk about BUILT. BUILT hospitality. Millions of people use BUILT every day. That's right, every day to earn rewards on housing and in their neighborhood. But now, now it extends to your restaurant.

Unknown Speaker (28:05): That's where Built Hospitality comes in. Built Hospitality shapes how guests are recognized and taken care of. Built's restaurant facing platform is designed specifically for dining operators to drive loyalty with their guests. It combines reservations, guest preferences, VIP management, and payments all into one platform alongside an agentic concierge. That's right.

Unknown Speaker (28:31): An AI concierge that thoughtfully designs and executes experiences around your guests' tastes, using the latest and greatest in AI technology. When a guest walks in, your team already knows what they like without digging through notes. Built Hospitality works across the entire guest journey. That's right. The entire guest journey from delivering a complimentary course at the right moment, just the right moment, sending a personalized offer that brings them coming back again and again and again.

Unknown Speaker (29:03): That's right. That's what Built Hospitality is doing. It is allowing you to communicate with your guests and keep them coming back over and over. Make every guest feel like a regular every time, not just their first time, every time. They're a regular.

Unknown Speaker (29:17): Built Hospitality is available now for restaurant groups everywhere. Learn more at builtdining.combackslashhangout. That's builtdining.combackslashhangout, and check out what Built Hospitality is gonna do for you and your restaurant.

Speaker 2 (29:33): And we are back. We are back with the hospitality hangout here presented by our friends at DailyPay. And I gotta tell you, Jimmy, we're having a great time. Neil, you've been so dynamite. Let's jump into a little Hot or Not.

Speaker 2 (29:45): Are you ready? Let's do it. Alright. Little Hot or Not for you. Jimmy, I will do the Hot or Not, and you will opine whatever you want.

Unknown Speaker (29:52): Yeah. I only wanna say What? What? Our I love

Unknown Speaker (29:54): Oh, you wanna use Zoom?

Unknown Speaker (29:55): Producers spared no budget.

Unknown Speaker (29:57): You wanna use these things?

Unknown Speaker (29:58): Or are using it? You don't have to. I I I

Unknown Speaker (30:00): Look. If we're I

Unknown Speaker (30:01): we're already did it. We might have

Unknown Speaker (30:02): used it.

Unknown Speaker (30:03): I mean, I we really went we went above and beyond. We could've gone digital Yeah. Those are we went old school.

Unknown Speaker (30:07): Those do look really nice.

Unknown Speaker (30:09): I'm

Unknown Speaker (30:09): ready. Nice pro yeah.

Unknown Speaker (30:10): Those do look expensive, Jimmy.

Unknown Speaker (30:11): I'm

Unknown Speaker (30:12): ready. Well, you know what? By the way, I thought

Unknown Speaker (30:14): I thought it was a barbecue. Thought it a Brazilian steakhouse. And I was like, more please. But no,

Speaker 2 (30:18): no, I digress. Hot or not. Okay. Hot or not. Here we go.

Speaker 2 (30:22): Smucker's Uncrustables. Is that hot or not? It's easy. Yeah. Thanks, Julie.

Speaker 2 (30:27): That was a really good one. We just talked about that. Private dining club membership. Private dining club memberships. Private dining club.

Speaker 2 (30:37): Is that hot or not?

Unknown Speaker (30:38): It is actually very hot in the industry these days.

Unknown Speaker (30:40): It is hot.

Unknown Speaker (30:41): No, it's very, very hot.

Unknown Speaker (30:42): You don't have

Speaker 2 (30:42): to like it. It just it's hot. It's hot.

Unknown Speaker (30:45): I accessibility, right?

Unknown Speaker (30:47): So Listen. Listen. I didn't ask you to opine. That's Jimmy's job. All I asked you, was it hot or not?

Unknown Speaker (30:51): Don't don't shame our guests. Don't shame our friends.

Unknown Speaker (30:53): You know? Just you know?

Unknown Speaker (30:54): By the

Unknown Speaker (30:54): way, you don't I got

Unknown Speaker (30:55): it's your nasty drop here.

Unknown Speaker (30:56): Rules. I understand.

Unknown Speaker (30:57): Yeah. Like, two hits. Him hit you. You hit

Unknown Speaker (30:58): in the floor. Exactly. Boom. Alright. Mocktails.

Unknown Speaker (31:01): Are mocktails hot or not? Oh. For me, not. They're not hot.

Unknown Speaker (31:08): I love a I love a cocktail.

Speaker 2 (31:09): I do too. I do too. I do too. Alright. NSYNC.

Speaker 2 (31:12): Is NSYNC hot or not? It's very hot. Right? NSYNC is we laugh because what was your first concert? NSYNC.

Unknown Speaker (31:21): Exactly. He's like, NSYNC is my first concert. It's they're still hot. Still hot. They're still hot anywhere they go.

Unknown Speaker (31:27): I made my bed. Got a little sleeping

Unknown Speaker (31:29): coming to the sphere in Vegas. By the way, you get you get to do the same. Of course, you would Jimmy.

Unknown Speaker (31:33): You'll go

Unknown Speaker (31:33): to Barry Manlow the sphere.

Unknown Speaker (31:34): I love that.

Unknown Speaker (31:35): Barry Manlow comes to the sphere. Jimmy is there.

Unknown Speaker (31:38): He's a tall drink of water. That guy

Unknown Speaker (31:39): that New York style bodegas. Is that hot or not? Very hot.

Unknown Speaker (31:43): Yeah. Very, very hot.

Speaker 2 (31:44): Think we know Neil. I think we know Neil. Daily pay for restaurant workers. Is that hot or not?

Unknown Speaker (31:49): Hot. I'm making this easy. It's hot.

Unknown Speaker (31:51): Jimmy Jimmy, I gotta tell you. Everything was hot with Neil.

Unknown Speaker (31:53): You know what? He's he's he's he's He's a positive person?

Unknown Speaker (31:55): A positive person? Everything's hot.

Unknown Speaker (31:57): Everything's hot. He's a positive person. What was the first one you said?

Speaker 2 (32:01): The first one. I think was the Smucker's Uncrustable. Yes. Was it a private dining club with private memberships, which I I I mean, in New York, I just gotta text you.

Speaker 3 (32:09): No. That's that's that's the one actually, I want to expand on that one specifically. Okay. And the reason is while you while you presented the question as private dining clubs, to me, that just comes down to what guests are asking for and it's and personalization.

Unknown Speaker (32:25): Yep.

Speaker 3 (32:25): So while private dining clubs, I imagine, for the world of Quiznos, for example, is probably less important, the idea of loyalty, the idea of community, and the network effect. Again, your the sales popping in Tucson is because people were so excited Mhmm. To come back to it. So when you talk about private dining clubs being hot, I also imagine that you can expand that into how you're cultivating your community. Am I reading the room right?

Unknown Speaker (32:47): You are. Well, it's part of I mean, private dining clubs, it creates an extremely personal experience. So how do you create

Unknown Speaker (32:52): a How do you create that in yes.

Unknown Speaker (32:53): Whether that's in the in in in the restaurant or for catering. Right? Yes. For your event, if quizzes can be part of that event. Right?

Unknown Speaker (33:00): That's your event. We're coming to you. That's a version of private dining.

Unknown Speaker (33:02): No. It's a good point. It really is.

Speaker 3 (33:04): It connects it connects experiences.

Unknown Speaker (33:06): Because these dining clubs, these ideas I mean, Jim, you travel to London a lot. That's always been there. It's been part of their DNA. You know, they never let in those clubs? You.

Unknown Speaker (33:15): This guy. Say you went to the clubs, Jim. I just said they had them there. Yes. You were the guy.

Unknown Speaker (33:19): They said, I'm sorry, sir.

Unknown Speaker (33:20): You're not on the You're not the list. A member,

Unknown Speaker (33:22): and you're never gonna become a member, sir.

Unknown Speaker (33:24): He saw the door, though.

Unknown Speaker (33:25): He kicked in a little bit.

Unknown Speaker (33:26): I peeked in.

Speaker 2 (33:27): Thank you, sir. Please move away from the door. That was what Jimmy got. But yeah. I mean, so it but it is becoming very trendy now in the big cities, but I think you're right.

Speaker 2 (33:36): It's it's really about the experience now. Right?

Unknown Speaker (33:38): I think people want experiences that are their own.

Speaker 2 (33:40): Mhmm. And I still say, I mean, like we talked about, but the daily pay for restaurant workers is something that I saw coming in the industry quite a few years ago. And I just think, like anything, you know, it takes time. It it it wasn't hot because operators like, what? I don't need that.

Speaker 2 (33:55): And I don't know if the technology was there to do it. It just it seemed complicated

Unknown Speaker (33:59): Mhmm.

Speaker 2 (33:59): And and and hard on your bookkeeping team, and it wasn't ready. But today, I think everyone really likes it.

Speaker 3 (34:05): I I imagine we'll get to the point where people are like, what do you mean I have to wait this period? Again, if it's as you said, some people, it's no big deal, and it's it's fluid and fine. But the idea of of not having that optionality and choice, I think, in the very near term, we'll get to the point where I can't believe it's not an option.

Speaker 2 (34:20): It's not get paid before I work, Jimmy. Is that can I get paid before I start working?

Speaker 3 (34:25): Yeah. I think that's a little I think it's a little frowned upon.

Speaker 2 (34:27): Look. I'm on a schedule for next week for how long? For all week, forty hours. Can I get paid today? You didn't work yet.

Speaker 2 (34:32): I understand. Yes. But I'm gone. I'll come. I promise y'all show up.

Unknown Speaker (34:35): I'm And gonna do a damn good job, sir.

Speaker 3 (34:36): By the way, I know I know someone who who will do that for you, buddy. His name is Rocco. He's worked for Chico's bail bonds.

Unknown Speaker (34:42): Oh, really?

Unknown Speaker (34:42): And and he'll get you the money up front. 4040%. 40%. You got me a

Unknown Speaker (34:46): little juice on that. I'll give you $500, and then you owe

Unknown Speaker (34:49): me a little thousand dollars. Yep. That's not what we're talking about here with our with our earned wages. That's not what we're talking about.

Unknown Speaker (34:55): I like it. I like it, Harley. Now let's jump into a little branded quick fire.

Unknown Speaker (34:59): Branded quick fire.

Unknown Speaker (35:00): It's the

Speaker 2 (35:00): fastest fastest segment in, really, in podcasting or vodcasting as they have people like to say. This really is. It moves very quick. Stay with me, Neil. Okay?

Speaker 2 (35:09): Because it's fast. Lightning. Alright. Don't think too fast. Alright.

Unknown Speaker (35:14): Don't think too hard on me. Okay. You ready? What does the CEO of Quiznos eat at Quiznos? Like that.

Unknown Speaker (35:20): What does Neil eat at Quiznos? I think he likes the slider I well,

Unknown Speaker (35:24): my right now, it's been these sliders.

Unknown Speaker (35:26): You don't have to keep that thing in your hand, by the way. You can put that down now.

Unknown Speaker (35:29): My my classic order, classic Italian Yep. Double toasted.

Unknown Speaker (35:33): Double toasted.

Unknown Speaker (35:34): What's on the classic Italian?

Unknown Speaker (35:35): Classic Italian.

Unknown Speaker (35:36): Give me an idea.

Unknown Speaker (35:37): Ham, salami, pepperoni, Capacola. Cheese?

Unknown Speaker (35:40): Like provolone or no?

Unknown Speaker (35:41): Provolone cheese, red red wine vinaigrette.

Unknown Speaker (35:45): Right.

Unknown Speaker (35:46): Black olives, onions, and, and banana peppers.

Unknown Speaker (35:51): Toasted? Toasted? Double toasted.

Unknown Speaker (35:52): And But I double

Unknown Speaker (35:53): toasted. Why did they double

Unknown Speaker (35:54): rosemary parm. I I double toasted.

Unknown Speaker (35:57): What do mean they run it they run it through

Unknown Speaker (35:58): and then twice. And it's extra crispy.

Unknown Speaker (35:59): You might

Unknown Speaker (36:00): want little darker.

Unknown Speaker (36:01): No. I like that. I like extra crispy.

Unknown Speaker (36:02): That's that's that's what I do. Every time it's double toasted.

Speaker 2 (36:05): Alright, everybody. You heard it. Now what wait. What's that called?

Unknown Speaker (36:08): Classic Italian

Unknown Speaker (36:09): double The classic Italian double toasted.

Unknown Speaker (36:13): Listen. On Rosario Park.

Speaker 2 (36:14): Quiznos and say Neil sent me, and they're gonna say, who the hell is Neil? Exactly. He's the CEO. Hey, Neil sent me, and you order that. Alright.

Speaker 2 (36:24): Biggest sleeper item biggest sleeper on the Quiznos menu right now. What is the biggest sleeper that Neil says, I know it's it's it's gonna get really hot. It's just I need a little it needs a little more marinade. A little more, you know, one more time. Or there is no sleeper, Shazzy.

Unknown Speaker (36:40): Everything is hot on the

Unknown Speaker (36:42): Well, everything's hot. But I will say, you know, we're it's it's been a it's been a good start. But these sliders, I think Right.

Unknown Speaker (36:49): That's the new item.

Unknown Speaker (36:49): Potential for them. The new item's exciting. But it's the potential

Unknown Speaker (36:52): for the get, like, a three and an order

Unknown Speaker (36:54): with pack? You can you can get them. So it's a two pack.

Unknown Speaker (36:56): Two pack.

Unknown Speaker (36:56): But you can also buy them individually.

Unknown Speaker (36:57): Okay.

Unknown Speaker (36:58): Individually for about a dollar $99.02 for $3.49.

Unknown Speaker (37:01): Because that's also part of, like

Unknown Speaker (37:02): you said, the snacking thing. I'm not ready for a whole thing, but I would love a slider. Who doesn't like a slider? Who doesn't like one? I mean, right?

Unknown Speaker (37:08): They're so delicious. They're easy. They're healthy. Mhmm. They're good and they're good for you.

Unknown Speaker (37:12): There you go. Right? Is a burrito a sandwich, Neil?

Unknown Speaker (37:16): Oh, that's a good question. I think a burrito's closer to a oh, that's closer to a taco than a sandwich to me.

Unknown Speaker (37:22): Well, was in my next question was a taco a sandwich.

Unknown Speaker (37:24): Taco's not a sandwich. That's a taco. Taco's a category.

Unknown Speaker (37:29): By the way Category. Just so we're just so we're clear Yeah. I'm in Neil's camp on this.

Speaker 2 (37:32): I know what camp you're in. Nothing's a sandwich.

Unknown Speaker (37:34): But not every one of

Unknown Speaker (37:35): our listeners knows that that Jimmy doesn't think a hamburger's a sandwich.

Unknown Speaker (37:38): I gotta protect my territory. Sandwich is a sandwich.

Unknown Speaker (37:40): Sandwich is a sandwich.

Speaker 2 (37:41): Yes. Well, somebody told me the other day, okay, like, said, what defines a sandwich, this is a a Michelin starred chef, award winning iron chef. Okay? Okay. She said that it was how you eat it.

Speaker 2 (37:54): If you eat it like this, it's a sandwich. If you hold it like this, it's not. And she was showing me like a hot dog can't be a sandwich because you hold it like this. But a hamburger, you hold like this. That was how she defined it.

Speaker 2 (38:07): It had nothing to do with bread. Taco, if you hold it like this, it's not a sandwich. Burrito, you hold it like this, it's a sandwich. What do you guys think?

Unknown Speaker (38:15): I like the question. I

Unknown Speaker (38:17): This is tough.

Speaker 2 (38:18): Is it how you hold it, or is it what is it made of?

Unknown Speaker (38:21): I think it's I think it's really well, if it's a shape, then it's how you hold it. Right?

Unknown Speaker (38:26): I don't know. It's a question.

Speaker 3 (38:27): I find that to be a very interesting answer that I reject that I'm rejecting.

Speaker 2 (38:33): This is I gotta tell you. This show is real knowledge. I mean, you're like, you know what? This is really interesting. This is really this is really why they say this is the podcast like CNBC.

Speaker 2 (38:42): That's what people say.

Unknown Speaker (38:43): Know that the the the rapid fire would get philosophical.

Unknown Speaker (38:46): Yes. It does. It does. We go deep.

Unknown Speaker (38:47): Go deep. This is real deep. Go deep. It's yes. It's we're dropping knowledge right now.

Unknown Speaker (38:52): We're dropping we're dropping something.

Unknown Speaker (38:54): You hold it. Yeah. We're we're dropping we're dropping listeners right now and subscribers. That's what we're that's what we're dropping. Alright.

Unknown Speaker (39:01): Neil, listen. What's the last thing you you googled or, like, chatted or co piloted or clauded or whatever you're doing now to get your information? What was the last thing? Where is RLC? Good restaurants Where's in the hospitality?

Unknown Speaker (39:18): Where did you go? Yeah, where's the hospitality hangout? What are what are you googling?

Unknown Speaker (39:23): I'm asking a lot of questions about, how we organize with AI. Yeah. So I'm asking a lot of questions about, you know, what are some of the leading leading thinkers thinking about when it comes to their organization, the plat the restaurant platform that we have? How do we operate better and more quickly and more effectively.

Speaker 2 (39:37): And are you really googling and just using what Gemini tells you or using Claude or or chat or whatever? So we

Unknown Speaker (39:44): started to build our own stack. We've we started we've used we have, like, a full stack around Claude. So we use a lot of work with Claude, Claude Code, Claude CoWork. Everyone's moving to Claude. There's a lot of work.

Unknown Speaker (39:52): Yeah. There's a lot of excitement around Claude, but we still use a couple of the other LLMs. So we're using Gemini for sure. You what we've learned is that certain models are great for certain things.

Unknown Speaker (39:59): Right.

Unknown Speaker (40:00): Right. So, like, for image generation, we use one certain model. But for conceptual thinking or structuring, we use another

Speaker 2 (40:05): Different one. And Yeah. It it really is unbelieve it's it really is unbelievable. But it was weird. Like, everyone, like like, two weeks ago, everyone's like, gotta use Claw.

Unknown Speaker (40:12): I was like, I do? I was like, I just started using

Unknown Speaker (40:14): Did you get the memo?

Unknown Speaker (40:15): Yeah. I got it. But, like, my chat was like I thought it was like, he knew me. He, like, knew me.

Unknown Speaker (40:19): I will say Perplexity has been great.

Unknown Speaker (40:20): Perplexity is another one. Yes. My brother was on Perplexity, like, literally last year, and I put my app, and he's like, you gotta use Perplexity. It blows them all away. But, yeah, it just I just got used to Like, Chad became my friend.

Unknown Speaker (40:30): Yeah. Like, Chad really knew me. Like, hi, Shatzy. You know? And then, like, I gotta throw Chad away.

Unknown Speaker (40:35): And, you know, I felt sad. Like, I lost my friend.

Unknown Speaker (40:37): I've had to tell her to stop pandering.

Unknown Speaker (40:39): Right. Exactly. It's too nice to me. Yeah. Stop emailing my friends.

Unknown Speaker (40:43): How do you take your bagel, Neil?

Unknown Speaker (40:44): How do how do how do you do?

Unknown Speaker (40:45): What do

Unknown Speaker (40:45): you do?

Unknown Speaker (40:46): So I'm an everything bagel scallion cream cheese.

Unknown Speaker (40:49): Everything bagel. I You toast?

Unknown Speaker (40:52): I go between I go between super light toast

Unknown Speaker (40:54): Super light toast.

Unknown Speaker (40:55): Or no toast depending on the

Speaker 2 (40:56): quality of the bagel. I like it. I like it. Are you finding that the, so it's everything.

Unknown Speaker (41:00): What about the egg everything?

Unknown Speaker (41:02): What do think about the egg everything?

Unknown Speaker (41:03): So I have a spot in Atlanta that I go to that has egg everything bagels every It's now and great. I do like an egg bagel. So it's been fun to go and try, you know, try an egg bagel.

Unknown Speaker (41:12): What's your Uber rating right now?

Unknown Speaker (41:15): 4.93.

Unknown Speaker (41:16): That's good. It's good. Do you have proof of that?

Unknown Speaker (41:19): Big tip.

Unknown Speaker (41:19): I do. I have my phone over there. Alright. Okay. Well, I'll I'll I checked because I heard this

Unknown Speaker (41:23): this question you asked before. So you knew

Unknown Speaker (41:25): hope that could come up.

Speaker 2 (41:26): You could come up. Well, I told you this is this is no joke. This is a serious we try and dig deep. Alright. If you had to challenge Jimmy Wright to a game of, backyard slip and slide, just the thought of Jimmy slipping and sliding in the backyard, is scary to me.

Unknown Speaker (41:41): We have better odds of beating in slip and slide. Is that even a is that even a thing? What the what is the what is the competition? Who the competition? Is?

Unknown Speaker (41:48): The goes furthest? Who will slip and slide faster and further? Hits the house? What is it? I mean, isn't that a weight issue thing?

Unknown Speaker (41:58): Like, you weigh more, will slide further?

Unknown Speaker (42:00): Witness, but I think I'm taking you down. I think

Unknown Speaker (42:01): Well, yeah. I would imagine.

Unknown Speaker (42:02): I'm giving it to Jimmy.

Unknown Speaker (42:03): Yes. Well, yeah, I would imagine. I mean, you know, I mean, I to me, it's like physics. Right? Yeah.

Unknown Speaker (42:08): You weigh a lot. You jump onto a wet

Unknown Speaker (42:10): But I don't know I don't know your techniques. Yeah. Right?

Unknown Speaker (42:12): Because Jimmy, you go belly or

Unknown Speaker (42:13): you go belly or back?

Unknown Speaker (42:14): You go in. I push do I push do I push do

Unknown Speaker (42:16): I have to get my my strategic planning?

Unknown Speaker (42:18): Yeah.

Unknown Speaker (42:18): You go full on belly.

Unknown Speaker (42:21): No shirt. No. No. No way. No shirt.

Unknown Speaker (42:23): Of course, no shirt.

Unknown Speaker (42:23): No shirt. You wear your shirt. You're still

Unknown Speaker (42:25): getting slow down here. And you put a little a little baby on baby oil? Cause friction?

Unknown Speaker (42:30): No. I've gone vast yes. I'm going I'm going full on full on grit.

Unknown Speaker (42:34): Lard. Basically like, know, those you know, Vaseline watermelons you can't like,

Unknown Speaker (42:38): Boof. Tallows big.

Unknown Speaker (42:40): These tallow is big, Jimmy. You just tallow up. I love it. I love it. Alright Listen, Jimmy, we gotta wrap this baby up because Neil's got to go and drop some cubes and, He's got he's got a lot to do.

Unknown Speaker (42:51): Got he's got a

Unknown Speaker (42:52): lot to We we like to

Unknown Speaker (42:53): have some fun

Speaker 3 (42:53): on the podcast, but in all seriousness, love what you guys are doing. Super excited for your the comeback you're on. And I have to tell you, speaking as a very loyal, when I was in college, Quiznos was my And I have to say on behalf of all my my my fraternity brothers who love going to Quiznos, we love what you're doing. Keep going. If anyone would like to get in touch with Neil directly, you can email the podcast team at podcast@BrandonNYC.

Speaker 3 (43:17): Sorry. Brandon NYC dot NYC?

Unknown Speaker (43:19): Brandon dot NYC, Jimmy. Yes. Yes. I gotta tell you, Neil. Thanks so much.

Unknown Speaker (43:23): You haven't checked out Quiznos. Check it out, man, because they're delicious and and find a cube. Go check out this cube. Let me know what you think.

Unknown Speaker (43:29): All about the cube. Cheers, buddy. Okay.

Unknown Speaker (43:31): Thank you.