Restaurant Leadership Podcast: Overcome Burnout, Embrace Freedom, and Drive Growth

86: How to Turn Slow Restaurant Nights Into Revenue-Driving Opportunities

Christin Marvin

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Every restaurant faces the challenge of slow nights—but what separates the average from the exceptional is how leaders respond. In this powerful coaching conversation, we sit down with Andrew Roy, General Manager at Mahogany Prime Steakhouse in Omaha, to explore how he turned traditionally low-performing Sundays and Mondays into opportunities for growth and team connection.

Like many operators, Andrew’s restaurant sees strong weekend traffic, pulling in $25K–$30K, while early weekdays dip closer to $10K. That kind of inconsistency can create staffing issues, missed revenue, and cultural drag. But instead of accepting the pattern, Andrew uses vulnerability, reflection, and smart strategy to shift the approach.

At the top tier of the industry, many successful leaders surround themselves with tools and partners that help streamline operations and mitigate risk—from rethinking labor strategies to operational efficiency. Companies like Restaurant Technologies play a key role in supporting restaurants at this level, helping them run smarter so teams can focus on growth, consistency, and exceptional guest experiences.

In this episode, we dive into:

  • How to reframe slow shifts as growth opportunities
  • Re-engaging teams during off-peak periods
  • Leveraging underutilized spaces like private dining rooms
  • Moving from discounting to value-driven guest experiences

If you’re a restaurant leader looking to motivate your team, fill your weeknights, and rethink what's possible during your slowest shifts—this episode delivers clarity, inspiration, and practical takeaways you can apply right away.

Resources:

Mahogany Prime Steakhouse

Hal Smith Restaurants


More from Christin:

Grab your free copy of my audiobook, The Hospitality Leader's Roadmap: Move from Ordinary to Extraordinary at
christinmarvin.com/audio

Curious about one-on-one coaching or leadership workshops? Click this link to schedule a 15 minute strategy session.

Podcast Production:
https://www.lconnorvoice.com/

Speaker 1:

Today I'm joined by Andrew Roy, who is the general manager at Mahogany Prime Steakhouse in Omaha, nebraska. Andrew has 20 years of experience working his way up through multiple positions within the restaurant business and today we're going to focus on what his biggest issue is. Current problem Again he's focusing on similar to last week driving sales. Take a different approach this time and really start to dive into who he is as a leader, what he knows about his business, and you're going to see him go from being in this vulnerable place an honest place of really not knowing how he can drive sales on Sundays and Mondays to us brainstorming many things that have worked for him in the past and specifically what areas of the restaurant he wants to grow business, and then having him come out on the other side understanding that where the real opportunity is is providing value even more value to the guests. They've got a very successful restaurant. They're doing really really well. It's a very successful restaurant group, but he's just looking at how they can continue to grow and get better, because growth and consistency are their core values that are really really important to him. So again, as you're listening to this, think about some clarity and focus that you can gain in your own restaurant and some things that you can take away from Andrew and I's conversation.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Restaurant Leadership Podcast, the show where restaurant leaders learn tools, tactics and habits from the world's greatest operators. I'm your host, kristen Marvin, with Solutions by Kristen. I've spent the last two decades in the restaurant industry and now partner with restaurant owners to develop their leaders and scale their businesses through powerful one-on-one coaching, group coaching and leadership workshops. This show is complete with episodes around coaching, leadership development and interviews with powerful industry leaders. You can now engage with me on the show and share topics you'd like to hear about, leadership lessons you want to learn and any feedback you have. Simply click the link at the top of the show notes and I will give you a shout out on a future episode. Thanks so much for listening and I look forward to connecting.

Speaker 1:

Running an independent restaurant is no joke. You're doing it all Managing your team, maintaining quality, keeping things safe, and the back of the house can sometimes feel like organized chaos. That's where Restaurant Technology steps in. They've created a system called Total Oil Management that helps take one big job off your plate managing cooking oil. No more lugging jugs of oil or dealing with dangerous spills. Their system does four things for you delivers fresh oil automatically, removes used oil safely no mess, no stress. Helps your team stay safe and your food consistent. And even turns your used oil into biofuel, which is pretty cool. Thousands of independents across the country are already using it to cut costs, save time and make their kitchens run smoother. If you're curious about this and want to learn more about how it could work in your space, visit gorti Ccom slash restaurant leadership podcast. Again, that's gorti-inccom slash restaurant leadership podcast. Andrew, thanks for joining me for a coaching session today on the podcast. Really really appreciate it. How can I make this an extraordinary conversation for you today?

Speaker 2:

Well, so I was just interested. I wanted to see if you could help me with my current problem, and we can probably talk a little bit about the restaurant and just get into some of the details, but I definitely could use a little advice with one thing I'm facing.

Speaker 1:

Okay, what's your biggest challenge right now?

Speaker 2:

So at the moment, you know, sales are decent, but we are struggling. Sunday, monday Both days, you know, I work in a steakhouse, so neither of those days are typical. Go out and celebrate, have big meal days. Days are typical, go out and celebrate, have big meal days. Uh, sunday, obviously it's usually more of a family day and Monday just started the week we're just. You know, if we can fill those days a little more, I think our just whole business and our whole outlook for the future really does dramatically change. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Have Sunday and Monday sales always been down.

Speaker 2:

Usually, yeah, so typical. And you know we we grow in some days or more or less, but typical mid weekdays are between 15, 20,000. Weekends 25 to 30, but Sunday Monday it's always about 10. Weekends 25 to 30, but Sunday Monday it's always about 10.

Speaker 1:

And then you know, it really hurts sometimes when it's like, yeah, and and what is it about this moment right now that is showing you, or presenting a challenge, that Sunday and Monday sales are an issue for you at this moment?

Speaker 2:

Well, they've always been less than the rest of the week, I guess. To give some of the background, mahogany Prime Steakhouse, where I work, we recently moved locations directly across the street and it was just a newer and kind of improved building and that first year since we moved there was excitement with the new building. So rising tides, all ships are lifted, so we saw a lift even in those sort of edge days. But now that it's been almost exactly a year things are starting to level out to where we kind of assume they will be for the future. And with that pullback you're looking at every penny you can here and there. So all of a sudden, if you take a few thousand off each day, monday and Sunday, look like the prime targets you know.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah. So they're kind of rearing their ugly head a little bit of, as here's the biggest opportunity for us to make an impact in the business.

Speaker 2:

Okay, the biggest opportunity for us to make an impact in the business. Okay, the people that work in some of our strongest employees, because they're slow, they're trying not to work those. So you have this vicious cycle of less people work them, and if you have less staff you can take less reservations, and it just kind of spirals down from there.

Speaker 1:

And I would assume that because the volume is down, that you're probably not getting your key people saying I want to work those shifts to increase that check average.

Speaker 2:

Exactly.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so you've been in the business for 20 years. You started as a dishwasher, worked your way up to GM, right.

Speaker 2:

I have. I just wanted to make sure it was said not with the same restaurant. Sure, sure, yeah.

Speaker 1:

but you've been in the industry for a long time. You've seen a lot, you've been through a lot. You've overcome some pretty crazy challenges.

Speaker 2:

I'm I was at a place called Smokin' Joe's Bar and Grill when I was a kid and I was the dishwasher, the cook and the waiter when I worked on those slow Monday, tuesday shifts. Give you an idea of how small the space was.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Long way from there.

Speaker 1:

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Speaker 1:

All you have to do is go to nationalrestaurantshowcom to register and grab your ticket. Don't wait, though, because this offer expires May 9th. The 2025 show is where the future of food service comes to life. Don't miss it, and I hope to see you there. What's one of the biggest challenges that you've overcome over the last 20 years as a leader?

Speaker 2:

Ooh, this challenge. You know, I honestly think during COVID I was the kitchen manager at the same concept, just a different location, and that was probably one of the craziest things I've ever experienced. Say more yeah, you know just the uncertainty of the entirety of the whole experience. It, you know, from day to day. We didn't know if we were going to close at first and then it became clear we were going to close, and you know the inability to give clear and you know complete information, because we didn't have it either was definitely a challenge. So balancing that act of being upfront and communicating with our team was also just the uncertainty of I don't know if I'll have a job in a month.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, how did you navigate that uncertainty as a leader, as the KM, knowing that you were responsible for, for everybody?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think the first word that came to mind was vulnerability. I mean, I I'm not one who is afraid to say I don't know, and I definitely had to say that several times. Know, and I definitely had to say that several times. And then, just being honest, you know, if I was telling people, you know I can't guarantee that we'll come back, but I know that if we do that, you're coming back with us and we'll have a position for you always, as long as we do survive this challenge. I don't know if that was a very clear answer. No, that's great.

Speaker 1:

No, it's beautiful. So you chose to show up vulnerably and you were honest with your team and in love that you said. You're not afraid to say I don't know.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's a very powerful leadership trait. You know, we look back five years ago. None of us knew yeah.

Speaker 1:

How did that vulnerability impact your role as a leader?

Speaker 2:

Hmm, well, I definitely think that there, you know, there is a sense people can tell when you're not being upfront and honest with them. So I think I did get a lot of respect from the different people on the line going through that. Um, I think there are a lot of people who won't say I don't know. And if you can't, I don't know. And if you can't say I don't know, how can you trust any of the things you're saying? You have to be willing to admit the gray areas, especially when it's very obvious that things are uncertain in the atmosphere.

Speaker 1:

How did you see your staff react when you started leading by example in that way and just showing up vulnerably and honestly? I mean.

Speaker 2:

I mean it was the time we were all living through a little bit of fear. But then I think that there was also this acceptance that things were happening and you know, no one can guarantee but there was a future, there was kind of a way out of it and if, if things did come back, that they've come back and come back better.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah. What don't you know right now, with your current situation of sales being down on Sundays and Mondays?

Speaker 2:

What don't I know how to fix it. Yeah, yeah, I know that's a silly answer, but that's the first thing I thought of. Yeah Was there a direction you were thinking about with that?

Speaker 1:

No no, just kind of dive in deep. It's what we do. What else don't you know?

Speaker 2:

What else don't you know? What else don't I know? Yeah, I'm drawing a blank there. I don't know if there's an avenue you're asking about, sorry.

Speaker 1:

No, that's okay, Don't apologize. Yeah, there's a lot of uncertainty right now. There's a lot of fear right now in the economy, in the restaurant scene and industries, everywhere. You said you struggled with not having clear information during the pandemic to help you guide your decision-making. How can you use and gain clear information right now to help you figure out what you don't know?

Speaker 2:

I think I kind of see what you're saying, so let me see if I can say it back. So essentially, I'm facing a similar situation to one I faced five years ago, but it's just kind of a micro example of that where things have pulled back. We're a little uncertain on the financial markets. As a steakhouse that's a big part of our clientele how can I look around the restaurant in our current scene and see in what? How can I look around the restaurant in our current scene and see, you know, in what ways can I deal with this situation? That near how I dealt with COVID? Is that that kind of where you're getting at?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, how can you use facts right now and data to replace the fear and uncertainty of what's happening? Sure to replace the fear and uncertainty of what's happening.

Speaker 2:

Sure, so I guess if I could show up with my staff and say, like you know, we do a pre-shift meeting every day at 445. You know, as we go through the open table reservations, say something along the lines of like you know, I know this isn't Saturday, on Sunday, you know we don't have 200 covers, we have 40 or 50. But you know, well, I'm sorry, I'm trying to think through that.

Speaker 1:

No, take your time.

Speaker 2:

I think we can. There's also a value in looking around at the other restaurants in town. You know, I'm sure that there are places that they're doing 20 to 30 covers that night. So, you know, even though it's pulled back from what we kind of got used to over the last year, I always think there's a value in saying it's not as bad as it could be. You know, we still do have these people coming in, we still do have awesome food and this awesome service. And, you know, let's control the things we can control within our own four walls and just make sure and focus on getting hot food to the guests and let the macro environment of the outside world sort of take care of itself.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, who are those people that come in on Sundays and Mondays?

Speaker 2:

You know it's a mix. Most nights it is about 40% to 50% the people we see every day and then travelers, so we have a bunch of people being right in the middle of the country. A lot of people fly through Omaha and come through here on their way to other places.

Speaker 2:

So we see a lot of our regulars, especially at the bar top. A lot of the people that we have that we consider our regulars come in during the week for business meals and so we get a lot more of their family and sort of light dining on those Sundays and then on days that you should stop in for a quick drink on the way home you know Monday. After the weekend, usually people are a little more stressed and a little more run down than the rest of the week.

Speaker 1:

I mean, it sounds like you've got a really great mix of regulars and first-time diners.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, that is a nice part about working in a steakhouse, where people land and search where's a great steak. We also have an ad at the airport, so that helps, yeah absolutely.

Speaker 1:

What are your regulars looking for, from an experience standpoint, when they come into Mahogany? What are your regulars looking for?

Speaker 2:

from an experience standpoint, when they come into Mahogany, you know one of the things that we really focus on. I think one of our competitive advantages is consistency. That's one of our core values. So our motto is to consistently exceed our desk expectations. So we're always looking for ways to make sure you know, every time you come in, you know when you're getting that eight ounce filet it's going to be prepared perfectly, seasoned, perfectly, and it doesn't matter if it's Tuesday or Sunday, five o'clock or 930,. You'll get the same thing in the same way, with same high quality service.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and what are the first time guests looking for?

Speaker 2:

First time guests looking for Usually celebration. We a lot of them come to us. We get a lot of our first time guests on anniversary birthdays and then business travel, so I think a lot of them are looking for just out of the park state.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, what do you know about business travelers when they dine?

Speaker 2:

I don't know if this is what you're looking for, but usually by themselves, usually looking for a decent cut of meat, usually looking for a good, strong whiskey cocktail. That's kind of our bread and butter.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah. Business travelers tend to spend a significant amount of more money when they come in to dine because they're not. They're usually not using their own money right, that's true.

Speaker 2:

That is true. There's a pro and a con to that. The pro is we stay busy when they're in town, and the con is we have to send out a lot of receipts to get reconciled I love that.

Speaker 1:

That's a good problem to have, yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, no, I take worse problems.

Speaker 1:

You mentioned consistency being one of your core values. What are your other core values?

Speaker 2:

So consistency is the main one when it comes to our service and our guests, internally with our staff. One of the big ones is growth. So we do aim to you know about growth. So we do aim to you know about say it usually works out to about 30, 40% across all of our concepts of promoting from within. So for my, my store, for instance, our current private dining coordinator started as a host at another, mahargami. Our bar manager was a bartender back in the day. Actually, I got hired back in the day as a server when I moved to oklahoma. They're always looking to let people grow and learn new things and try new things love it.

Speaker 1:

Where would you rate consistency right now on a scale of one to ten? If ten was it was showing up every single day in the restaurant in the experience in the food with the staff, and one was it's it's not showing up very well day in the restaurant in the experience in the food with the staff, and one was it's not showing up very well at all, how would you rate that?

Speaker 2:

You know, I would say if it is between the hours of 530 and 9, 8. I say it that way because one of the things that I always fear and I see like to five 30, right at the beginning, when it's slow, or, you know, late at night, right at the end I give it like a six and it's when things start slowing down that we notice the mistakes start happening.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's always been that way, hasn't it Every restaurant I've worked in?

Speaker 2:

but it's not too bad.

Speaker 1:

It's not. It's not too bad. It's not, it's not bad. What would a nine look like for you in the restaurant?

Speaker 2:

You know, I think we're on track to get it up to a nine. Last year in around October, maybe September our head kitchen manager actually we actually left to go back to Oklahoma. He has some family down there so we promoted from within another gentleman who's been doing a really fantastic job. It's the first time he's run a full-on head of kitchen so it was a pretty steep learning curve over the holiday season but he's definitely starting to get a handle on a lot of those systems down there. And then my head of training is all of our managers. We cross train them in the kitchen and so he's been back there for the last few months so he'll be coming out soon. He's a very passionate guy. Came to us from California. His attention to detail and service really elevates things, so we've missed having him on the floor but, we do like to have every manager cross-trained in the kitchen, because it helps.

Speaker 1:

Wonderful. Hi everybody. We're taking a quick break to offer you an exciting opportunity. If you're a restaurant owner or manager looking to enhance your leadership skills, I invite you to join my 12-day leadership challenge. In just 12 days, you'll receive a guided packet with actionable strategies to transform your leadership in less than five minutes a day. Join the challenge and the community and grab your copy at kristinmarvincom. Slash 12 days. Now let's get back to the show. How would you rate growth right now on a scale of one to 10?

Speaker 2:

Cool. This might be a longer answer, but I feel like I have to explain this here. I feel like I have to explain this here. One to ten, I'm going to give it a six. So if I were looking at like three to five-year outlook, I'd probably say eight If I'm looking just at this week, versus last year, like three.

Speaker 2:

So the move across the dodge to where we are now, that definitely did increase things and improve things greatly. We expanded space, definitely streamlined how many people we could serve at one time, expanded the kitchen, expanded our capacity, so that first year we did see pretty much month over month, always 10% to 20% growth, if not more. Now, with everything happening in the economy and with the stock market plus, this is like we're right in the middle of the week. When we opened last year, it just looks rough when, if you look two years ago, we're growing but like, oh, this, this hurts, yeah, but where we move? We move because it's a new area that's being developed.

Speaker 2:

It used to be farmland and actually putting different stores. Uh, in the summer they're opening up some apartments and then they'll have some houses opening over the course of the year hotel opening. So I think three to five years. I mean it's going to be jamming, but yeah, that's three to five years from now so yeah, so you're at a six right now what would it look like for you to be at an eight?

Speaker 2:

you know, I think, for us to be at an eight during the week, I'd want to see the bar more full, and for monday, tuesday, we have a side room that we call the grand room. It holds nine tables. We book it out for private events and most sundays, mondays, we don't have enough business, we end up closing that room, and so I think getting that room open or just having the capacity to where we could fill, that would that's where I'd want to be.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so you've started, we've started this conversation with. Sales are down Sunday, monday, not sure where to go, what to do, and now you've been able to distill it down to say you want more business in the bar and you want more business in private dining.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think that's fair to say.

Speaker 1:

Does your staff know that you have these growth goals?

Speaker 2:

I would say I mean yes and no. Do they know, in an abstract sense, that I want us to grow and make more money and make them more money? Yes, do they know specifically, I want Monday and Sunday to be better and the bar to be full during the week Actually, the bartenders do know that that's my goal. But the Sunday, monday, the side rooms. I don't think I've ever said that part out loud explicitly.

Speaker 1:

How can you empower them to help drive those sales?

Speaker 2:

I think and this may not be exactly what you're looking for, but I think I might actually approach this in the way of, instead of empowering them there, so it might be more of a painting the picture of the future that I see and just making sure not to give up on these days before we get to that future.

Speaker 1:

Does that make sense?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, creating a vision for them, and then they'll follow if I have this many servers who are able to work on Sundays, Mondays, we can take more reservations, which also allows you to make more money and kind of feeds into itself. But if everyone wants off, then we kind of have to make sure we don't overtake reservations.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, what impact would that have on the rest, on the business, or could it have on the business?

Speaker 2:

oh man. Well, if you think about I mean even simple numbers, let's say an extra 5 000 a week, I mean in a month that's 20 grand. That's that's money, you know.

Speaker 1:

How many guests is that per shift?

Speaker 2:

We usually will, and it's kind of a back of napkin math. I figured that most people spend about a hundred bucks and that allows for, you know, the business dinners where it's more extravagant, versus bar guests too. Sometimes it is just like an appetizer and one drink, so it is about 50 people coming through per week.

Speaker 1:

Is there opportunity to also create those sales from existing guests?

Speaker 2:

Oh, sure, sure, there is something we have talked about. We kind of played around with the idea of doing a discounted wine day on Sunday, monday, just to see if people might be interested and see if that might be something that we interested in. Uh, we're thinking about like 10 or 20% off all bottles on the list.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, do you have an email list?

Speaker 2:

We do have an email list.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, have you used that before to drive events and and do promotions and things like that?

Speaker 2:

we do, we, we don't, we don't try. You know, we want to respect people's inboxes, so, uh, we send out an email, usually about once every two months. Nothing, nothing crazy, and it's usually for special events around holidays. Uh, we have during covid it was a little more frequent because we had a lot of to-go features, um, but now it's usually like, you know, not doing anything for mother's day, poke your table, now that sort of thing.

Speaker 1:

Does it work? It does yeah yeah, okay, you seem a little unsure well, there's always that has.

Speaker 2:

You know, I'm a big believer in keeping my inbox very clean, so yeah I don't like, uh I I am subscribed to a lot of the local restaurants, and so there are definitely some restaurants that handle it very well, and there are definitely some restaurants that have ended up in my junk folder, so, yeah, what if those guests were just waiting for an invitation from you to come in and have an experience?

Speaker 2:

yeah, yeah, um, I mean we, we have also talked about the possibility of doing wine dinners too, getting a rep or you know, winemaker, wine owner, and selling tickets. Along that way. I feel like I'm trying to think of how to articulate. You know, we've always we've always wanted to be a, a value added place. So we always want to go above and beyond, but not just discount or not just ask for the reservation, but also like, have something to get back If that makes sense.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, create that experience.

Speaker 2:

Think about the lifetime value of the of the guest Love that.

Speaker 1:

So how? How is a what's an example of something that you could add value to?

Speaker 2:

is uh, what's an example of something that you could add value to?

Speaker 1:

Uh, I may need clarification, but I mean, yeah, like when you're talking about these wine dinners, private events how could you add value?

Speaker 2:

Um well, I think yeah. Let me say the first thing that I'm thinking, and maybe I'm just misunderstanding andrew, I'm just going to interrupt you for a second.

Speaker 1:

I'm never looking for anything. I'm just helping ask you some really powerful questions to get you thinking differently about your business. That's what we do, so don't feel any pressure that I'm trying to lead you somewhere.

Speaker 2:

I'm just asking no yeah Well, I would say even just having the wine dinners would be offering value. At the moment we just have. I mean I say just have, but it's a really fantastic steak meal but that's all we are offering. So having something that's more of an experience as dinner too kind of an option.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, there's more to those wine dinners than just the wine and the food right.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, there's also the experience of getting to meet someone in connection with the winery that you may either love or may not know, but are getting to know. But one of the reasons that I'm very interested in doing it it's an. You know we would sell the tickets to our guests that come in the regulars that we see and love all the time. So it's an opportunity for my managers and me to get to interact with our guest portfolio and get to know them and see what they're interested in.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, there's also an educational component to those too, right, and there's a community aspect that's built by getting a group of people together that love wine and love learning about wine. Right, you're a little like wine club.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, that's a good point. And if you say, hey, I went to this wine dinner at Mahogany, that's kind of a cool sound yeah, that's kind of cool stuff.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely does your staff every single person on your staff know how to talk about private events, what you do, how someone would go about booking who to talk to in the restaurant?

Speaker 2:

uh, oh, yeah, absolutely yeah. Um, we, because we have such a built-out private events system, uh, we have one main like director of private dining and she handles everything. She has some assistants. We have a training packet, it's, it's a whole thing, because on, you know, in april maybe we'll have for the whole month 40, 50 events. We have four different rooms for private dining, but in December we have every room booked out. I looked yesterday about half the rooms are booked out already and some of them will book early and late, so you only get two hour time slot, but that way you don't have to pay the full minimum room rental fee and everything.

Speaker 1:

So awesome.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, with that. We kind of they have to know yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, no, that's fantastic, and so if you booked a wine event, do you feel like your team would be really excited about it and be helping you sell it to the guests that are coming in the restaurant?

Speaker 2:

I do think so yeah, awesome, awesome, we're going to give it a shot.

Speaker 1:

There's a friend of mine on LinkedIn posted a couple of days ago this is pretty, pretty timely to what we're talking about, but it was talking about the importance of booking private events and said that a guest had come into his friend's restaurant, asked the server about private events. They weren't sure what to say or how to talk about their offerings or the menu or connect them with the manager or somebody that could come over to the table and be a little bit more well-versed, and they ended up going across the street and booking a private event to the tune of $50,000.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you only get one chance yeah, what are you?

Speaker 1:

what's? What's one action item that you'd like to take away from this conversation today? You know?

Speaker 2:

I do think when, when I'm going through and trying to put together our next wine dinner because we haven't done one of this new location we haven't done one since I moved up here I do think that and this isn't really you know, this isn't an action item but what you said about providing value, I think I am going to hold on to that because I thought that was a nice frame to look at this through, but that's just a state of mind Action item. I do think that when we were talking about how we can get the staff on board and how they can help grow, sunday-monday, I do think in pre-shift, we do need to discuss keeping the faith and making sure they know we see that it's slow, but we think they can grow and we want to make sure that everyone kind of stays on board and knows we're trying to look out for them and we have a vision of the future. So, yeah, I'll stay with that.

Speaker 1:

How can you take away love, that, by the way, that state of mind of always providing value to your guests? Can you bring that into pre-shift? Can you help your entire team get on the same page with that mindset?

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, I think so.

Speaker 1:

What impact could that have to your restaurant?

Speaker 2:

I mean just to be transparent. I have a pretty good crew, so I think they all do a really, really dynamite job of taking care of our guests. But I would say, probably anything you can do to elevate that is going to help. There's never too much of a good thing, right?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, love it. Andrew, thank you so much for joining me. I really, really appreciated the conversation. Thanks for letting me kind of poke and prod a little bit and just giving us a bunch of insight into so many different aspects of your business. For sure, it's incredible to see the success that you've had over 20 years in the industry, the challenges that you've been through pandemic recession here we go again, potentially right again, just just coming into a time of fear and uncertainty, and I hope that this kind of provided some some clarity and focus for you as you go into your next shift.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, thank you. It's tonight, so I'll see what I can bring in today.

Speaker 1:

I love it. Well, let me know. I'd love to hear how it goes, and let's stay connected for sure. So thank you so much for your time.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, thank you again you bet.

Speaker 1:

All right, everybody that's gonna do it for us this week. Please share this episode with anybody that you know that could benefit, and we will talk to you next week.

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