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Restaurant Operator

Restaurant Operator

By: Connect Group Media
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This podcast series from the publishers of FastCasual.com, PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com provides restaurant owners and executives with the insights and inspiration they need to grow their brands. Each episode features interviews with experienced restauranteurs, industry experts, and thought leaders, who share practical tips and advice for running a successful restaurant business.

© 2026 Connect Group Media Art Cooking Economics Food & Wine Management Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • From the boardroom to the prep line: How Stonefire Grill's CEO is fueling legacy growth

    From the boardroom to the prep line: How Stonefire Grill's CEO is fueling legacy growth
    25 Aug 2026

    When David Youngberg stepped into the CEO role at Stonefire Grill in 2023, his first 90 days weren't spent analyzing spreadsheets in a boardroom — they were spent baking the brand's signature carrot cake and prepping food alongside front-line workers.

    In an industry increasingly pivoting toward automation and individualized grab-and-go efficiency, the leader of the 12-unit Southern California fast-casual concept is proving that a relentless focus on human connection and from-scratch operations still drives sustainable growth.

    In the latest episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, Youngberg unpacks how evolving his leadership style for a new generation of workers, leveraging real-time guest feedback technology and balancing a massive catering-and-dine-in trifecta are fueling the legacy brand's future. Mandy Wolf Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb, hosts the podcast.

    Click the link to listen to learn more about Youngberg's leadership style, how the brand maintains hospitality and emotional connections in an increasingly tech-driven industry and putting people first.
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    25 min
  • Why Dillas Quesadillas simplified its menu to prepare for growth

    Why Dillas Quesadillas simplified its menu to prepare for growth
    23 Sep 2026
    Sometimes growing a restaurant brand means adding more, but for Dillas Quesadillas, the path forward meant taking things away.The Texas-based concept recently overhauled its menu, cutting the number of signature quesadillas from 10 to six and simplifying its meal structure. The changes weren't driven by a lack of ideas but by something much more fundamental: learning from how the customers ordered.Co-founders Kyle and Maggie Gordon discussed the strategy during a recent Restaurant Operator Podcast with Mandy Detwiler.When Dillas opened 13 years ago, the founders envisioned a menu built around 10 signature quesadillas. Over time, however, the company began eliminating lower-performing items that required additional ingredients. That move was made after watching how customers actually ordered. One behavior stood out: About 75% of customers were turning their quesadilla orders into meals by adding sides and drinks.So Dillas made the decision to simplify its menu based on customer preferences.Today, the streamlined menu features six signature quesadillas, with meals including fries and a drink. Fries already were the brand's most popular side.Simplifying the drive-thruThe changes were particularly important when the Gordons considered how customers interacted with Dillas. More than half of its business comes through the drive-thru, and 85% of its food leaves the restaurant in a bag rather than being consumed in the dining room. That means convenience, speed and accuracy are critical.New customers also sometimes found 10 signature quesadillas overwhelming, requiring employees to spend more time explaining the menu.Since deploying the simplified menu last year, Kyle Gordon said Dillas has reduced drive-thru times by approximately 30 seconds. The benefits have extended to employees as well.Knowing that every meal comes with fries and a drink means restaurant teams can continuously cook fries instead of waiting to see which sides customers select. That simplification also has helped address another issue the Gordons heard through customer feedback: order accuracy."You need to simplify the menu to help us be more accurate," Kyle Gordon said of feedback from the team.Don't alienate the diehardsSimplification came with a potential risk: What happens to customers whose favorite quesadilla gets cut?Dillas found a compromise. While four lower-selling quesadillas disappeared from the main menu, customers can still recreate them through customization and a "secret menu."One example is the Bluebonnet, a vegetarian quesadilla featuring grilled zucchini, portobello mushrooms, spinach, peppers, and onions. It wasn't a strong enough seller to retain a spot on the main board, but its fans can still order it."No customers during the transition period ever came to Dillas and ordered their old quesadilla and got told no," Kyle Gordon said.That strategy allowed the Dillas to present a simpler experience to first-time customers while preserving more variety for loyal guests who know the brand. That's particularly important for a concept with ambitious growth plans. Dillas currently has 11 locations, but the founders envision growing to 1,100. And as the company introduces itself to more customers, the Gordons don't want complexity to get in the way."We're still in the process of building a really big pool of diehards," Kyle Gordon said.Giving the quesadilla 'main character energy'The Gordons' growth strategy rests on their belief that quesadillas deserve a much bigger place in the restaurant industry. They see portability as one of its biggest advantages, particularly as consumers increasingly eat on the go. The format also is familiar enough that it doesn't require much explanation, while providing a platform for customization and experimentation."We're always talking about the quesadilla having main character energy," Kyle Gordon said.The Gordons believe the format can accommodate changing consumer preferences because almost anything can be placed inside a tortilla. Customers can make a quesadilla simple, indulgent or customized to their preferences.Despite some of Dillas' more elaborate offerings, however, its best-selling quesadilla remains one of its simplest: the Plano, featuring chicken and cheese."Customers, for better or worse, they just want it simple the majority of the time," Maggie Gordon said.Be brilliant at the basicsThat lesson extends beyond the menu. As Dillas grows, the founders said they're resisting the temptation to chase every food trend or constantly introduce new products. Instead, they want to focus on consistency."If we can't deliver on the basics, if we can't be brilliant at the basics, if we can't deliver great service and a smile and an experience and hot, fresh, fast, flavorful food, we don't have any business changing up the menu to add new things," Kyle Gordon said.When the company does experiment, it uses limited-time offers to gauge customer response without adding permanent operational ...
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    23 min
  • Dodo Pizza’s playbook for international success

    Dodo Pizza’s playbook for international success
    15 Jul 2026

    In this episode of the Pizza Marketplace podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace, chats with Ilya Kholodnov, head of international marketing and sales for Dodo Pizza, and David Sweeney, champion of international franchising for Dodo Pizza, The brand was founded in Russia but is headquartered in Kazakhstan.

    Dodo Pizza has 1,500 stores and revenue of nearly $2 billion. It's sister company, Drink It, a coffee concept, has 150 stores in five countries.

    Sweeney attributes the brand's strong sales to its customer service. "I think the key thing is to have a really good customer experience to allow the technology or the technology should enable us to have a really good customer experience because we really look after the customer, make it easy to transact business, make sure the order is easy to place, that there is good variety, but not so much that confuses everybody. Make sure that when the order arrives into our stores, that order is processed in a way that is accurate and then it's timely and priced at roughly the right level for it to be at for the consumer to accept it as a really good value product and for it to arrive on time, hot and the order to be accurate. So the systems enable all of that to happen."

    Why did a pizza brand move into coffee?

    "Coffee was actually quite a logical step," Kholodnov said. "So maybe during conversation, you'll find out that our business is based on tech platform. And so it was very logical when we built a strong platform to scale franchise businesses, it was logical to add something more to that. So coffee seemed like a logical step to us."

    To learn more about Dodo Pizza's international operations, growth and foray into the coffee business, listen to the podcast in its entirety.
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    25 min
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