A customer walks into a bar on opening night, leaves a $100 tip… and changes the entire relationship for the rest of the summer. 🍸 This Hospitality Hangout story breaks down the psychology of loyalty, hospitality, tipping culture, and why smart regulars understand how service really works. “He knew exactly…
Live from the Restaurant Leadership Conference, the crew from Hospitality Hangout Podcast is back with stories, laughs, restaurant industry banter, and one absolutely legendary Mel Brooks disaster story. From AI-generated photos saves to bartender psychology and the infamous missing celebrity photo, this clip is a fun teaser of everything coming…
Peter Piper Pizza has built a loyal following across Arizona, New Mexico, and South Texas — and according to Scott Drake, it’s because the brand became part of people’s routines. Unlike Chuck E. Cheese, Peter Piper Pizza is heavily food-focused, with lunch buffets, takeout, and huge repeat traffic. 🍕 #PeterPiperPizza…
Chuck E. Cheese went from selling 75,000 summer passes… to over 640,000 memberships and annual passes. 🤯 In this clip, CEO Scott Drake explains how memberships completely changed customer frequency, guest value, and the family entertainment business model.
Live from the Restaurant Leadership Conference in Scottsdale, the Hospitality Hangout team sits down with Scott Drake to talk about how Chuck E. Cheese has evolved with a new generation of families, kids, and consumers. Scott shares how the brand modernized the Chuck E. Cheese experience through digital interactive environments,…
Inside the New York Stock Exchange with No Kid Hungry as restaurant leaders, chefs, and hospitality brands come together to support the fight against childhood hunger. From Toast to some of the biggest names in hospitality, the message was simple: no kid should go hungry.
Happy international Pickle Day to one of the most talked about foods on The Hospitality Hangout.
Is Hockey the BEST Sport to Watch Live? 🏒 Let us know in the comments. From Dallas to Vegas, the conversation dives into how NHL teams turned nontraditional markets into diehard hockey cities — and why even casual fans fall in love with the sport after going to a game.
Could modular restaurants become the future of fast casual? In this conversation on Hospitality Hangout, Neel Patel explains how Quiznos is experimenting with fully prefabricated restaurant units designed to open dramatically faster than traditional builds. The concept: • Small footprint • Drive-thru capable • Walk-up window • Delivered prefabricated •…
How are restaurant brands actually using AI right now? In this conversation on Hospitality Hangout, Neel Patel explains how modern hospitality companies are building AI workflows to operate faster, organize better, and think more strategically. One surprising takeaway: Different AI models are becoming specialized tools for different tasks. Image generation.…
Before ranch, chipotle mayo, and bold sauces became standard at sandwich shops… there was Quiznos. In this conversation on Hospitality Hangout, Neel Patel explains how Quiznos helped reshape fast casual sandwiches in the 1990s and early 2000s by pushing flavor innovation far beyond the standard mayo and mustard model. Now…
What actually makes something a sandwich? 🤔 During this hilarious conversation on Hospitality Hangout, Neel Patel of Quiznos jumps into one of the internet’s greatest food debates after a Michelin-starred chef offered a surprising definition: “It depends how you hold it.” So… is a burrito a sandwich? What about a…
We went behind the scenes at the CIA Annual Leadership Awards and the energy was absolutely unreal. Top chefs, VIPs, incredible dishes, and one very important debate: Is a bagel actually a sandwich? 👀 From smoked trout and turnip mousse to buttery potato pancakes, this night brought together some of…
Live from the Restaurant Leadership Conference, the crew from Hospitality Hangout Podcast is back with stories, laughs, restaurant industry banter, and one absolutely legendary Mel Brooks disaster story. From AI-generated photos saves to bartender psychology and the infamous missing celebrity photo, this clip is a fun teaser of everything coming…
In this episode of Hospitality Hangout, hosts Michael “Schatzy” Schatzberg and Jimmy Frischling sit down with Neel Patel, CEO of Quiznos and Rego Restaurant Group, to discuss one of the most fascinating comeback stories in the restaurant industry. Once a 5,000-unit sandwich giant, Quiznos has spent the last decade rebuilding…
Apparently restaurant operators are DONE being called “SMBs.” 😂 On HospitalityHangout, Sterling Douglas and the crew go completely off the rails debating restaurant industry terminology… specifically whether independent operators should ever be called “small and medium-sized businesses.” Because let’s be honest. Nobody opens a restaurant and says, “Hi, I’m an…
Wait… tomatoes are only considered vegetables in the U.S. because of taxes? 🤯 On HospitalityHangout, Amanda Cohen explains the bizarre legal history behind one of food’s oldest debates: Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? Turns out, there was an actual court case over it. And it completely changed…
AI Could Finally Give Independent Restaurants the Edge! For years, massive restaurant brands had all the advantages. Bigger teams. Bigger budgets. Bigger systems. With AI tools becoming more accessible, independent restaurant operators may finally be able to compete at the same level as enterprise brands… and in some cases, move…
SEO still matters. A lot. But according to this conversation on Hospitality Hangout, the next big shift is already happening: GEO. Generative Engine Optimization is changing how restaurants get discovered through AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other AI search platforms. The wild part? AI referred traffic to restaurant websites…
What actually makes a sandwich… a sandwich? We’ve been arguing about this on Hospitality Hangout for years. Then Amanda Cohen from Dirt Candy came in with maybe the best answer yet. According to Chef Amanda, it has nothing to do with the bread. It’s all about how you hold it.…
We went behind the scenes at the CIA Annual Leadership Awards and the energy was absolutely unreal. Top chefs, VIPs, incredible dishes, and one very important debate: Is a bagel actually a sandwich? 👀 From smoked trout and turnip mousse to buttery potato pancakes, this night brought together some of…
AI is changing restaurant operations faster than most operators realize. In this short from Hospitality Hangout Podcast, Sterling Douglas explains how connected restaurant systems + AI can automatically optimize pricing, marketing, POS data, and more behind the scenes.
Live from the Restaurant Leadership Conference, the crew from Hospitality Hangout Podcast is back with stories, laughs, restaurant industry banter, and one absolutely legendary Mel Brooks disaster story. From AI-generated photos saves to bartender psychology and the infamous missing celebrity photo, this clip is a fun teaser of everything coming…
