On this episode of The Late Night Restaurant Podcast, Jay Ashton Canada's Restaurant Guy and Domenic Pedulla sits down with Elias Hage, Founder and CEO of App8 and the force behind Rally Catering.

This is a deep, practical conversation about how restaurants, caterers, and foodservice operators use technology to move orders faster, cut admin time, and grow revenue without burning out.

Elias breaks down:

• How digital ordering replaces handwritten catering forms
• Why catering adds real margin when done right
• How schools now manage lunch programs with online ordering and government subsidies
• What operators miss when they ignore catering
• How systems create leverage across kitchens, staff, and sales
• Why speed, accuracy, and repeat orders matter more than ever

You’ll also hear how App8 evolved from solving table payments to powering catering, events, and K–12 food programs across North America, plus how operators unlock hidden sales sitting in their inbox right now.

If you run a restaurant, catering business, bakery, commissary kitchen, or foodservice brand, this episode gives you clear insight into:

• Building repeat catering customers
• Reducing order errors
• Saving hours each week
• Turning operations into growth engines

Real talk. Real tools. Real ways to scale.

👉Learn more about Rally Catering... https://www.rallycatering.com/

On this episode of The Late Night Restaurant Podcast, Canada's Restaurant Guy and Domenic Pedulla sits down with Michael Westhafer from Restaurant Rebellion to break down one hard truth...

Most restaurants are losing guests because they cannot be found online.

This conversation cuts straight to what matters right now for independent restaurants across Canada and North America.

You’ll learn:

• Why Google decides your traffic, not social media
• How PDF menus kill your visibility
• How AI now answers phones, texts guests, and replies to reviews
• Why Google Business Profiles drive real foot traffic
• What GEO and SEO mean for your menu, website, and reviews
• The first three fixes every operator needs to make

If you run a restaurant, cafe, bar, or food business, this episode gives you a clear playbook to get discovered, earn more 5-star reviews, and bring guests back through your doors.

learn more about Michael Westhafer: https://restaurantrebellion.com/

Jay Ashton, Canada's Restaurant Guy sits down with Sylvain Charlebois, host of The Food Professor Podcast, to unpack the hard numbers behind Canada’s restaurant correction.

They break down:

• Why more than 7,000 restaurants likely disappeared last year
• How labour changes, alcohol decline, tipping fatigue, and rising costs hit margins
• What GLP-1 drugs mean for appetizers, desserts, and dining habits
• Why independents face the biggest risk
• What operators need to change right now to survive and grow

No fluff. Real data. Real talk.

A must-listen for anyone in foodservice trying to stay ahead of what’s coming next on The Late Night Restaurant Podcast.