Episode 672: COVID, Then Helene, Then Their Best Year with Amy Wester of Biscuit Head

SummaryAmy Wester, managing partner at Biscuit Head, returns after three years to talk about surviving a brutal stretch: COVID, then Hurricane Helene in September 2024, which destroyed their Swannanoa cannery and left Asheville without running water for 52 days. She describes hauling and boiling water in buckets, switching to single-use containers and three compartment sinks, opening an evening concept just so staff could earn hours, and feeding desperate neighbors for free when cash was the only currency. Five straight years without a clean recovery, and this is finally the year it feels good again. Tourism is approaching pre-Helene numbers and all four locations are still open. Amy credits an owner group that still works weekends, answers the phone at any hour, admits mistakes out loud, and retrains constantly, plus a hyper-local Asheville restaurant community that lent each other supplies and information instead of competing.Key takeawaysShow up. The partners still work shifts and never ask staff to do what they won't do themselves.Answer the phone. Every employee has all three partners' cell numbers and they use them.Culture beats scale. They had franchise manuals half written when COVID hit and walked away from the idea.Distance is the real growth constraint. Greenville is 90 minutes out and standards slip when they can't get there.Retraining is permanent, not onboarding. Thirteen year employees still get reminders.Let staff flag a bad day and move off the register instead of pushing through it.Owners admit their own mistakes first so employees stop hiding theirs.Know which decisions are open to staff input and which are the owners' alone.Guests can send anything back. Free swap, taste every gravy, no argument.Independent restaurants act as first responders, and that goodwill comes back around.