He Opened a Restaurant at 28 With No Money—Now He's Franchising | Clarke Merrell | Below the Surface

Today on Below the Surface, we sat down with Clarke Merrell — the man behind some of Eastern NC's most recognizable restaurants: Prime Bistro, Wine Bar, Circa, Dank Burrito, Merrell Estate & Gardens, Social Q, and Beaufort Olive Oil Company. In this episode, Jared and Clarke get into what it really takes to build a hospitality empire from scratch, the brutal reality of tight margins in fast casual, what "dank" actually means as a brand standard, and why he believes you're in the people business first, no matter what you're serving.They get into franchising Dank Burrito, navigating economic uncertainty, knowing your numbers when commodity prices are moving, how Clarke builds and keeps loyal teams.----------Topics covered:-Opening Circa at 28 with no capital and no experience-Franchising Dank Burrito — the lessons learned in the last 12 months-Why Dank doesn't have a microwave (and barely needs a freezer)-Managing tight margins when beef prices double-"Management is an action sport" — what accountability actually looks like-Handling Google reviews without losing your mind-Building culture through the human element-Why every chart has red candles