Adam Halberg’s Hospitality Hot Take: Why Barcelona Wine Bar is Doubling Down on People Over Tech

While many restaurant brands are cutting payroll and installing kiosks, Barcelona Wine Bar is taking a radically different path. CEO Adam Halberg is betting big on human connection—creating new roles like VP of Hospitality, maître d’s, and daytime guest services teams across all 24 locations. In this episode, Halberg shares his unfiltered hospitality hot take with the editors at FSR. At Barcelona and its newer sister concept, Corsica, there are no QR codes, no tablet ordering, no flashy tech gimmicks—just real people connecting with real guests. From menu pricing to design philosophy, Halberg lays out a countercultural blueprint for what the future of full-service dining could look like if operators just remember, “What’s the point without the people?”