The difference between winners and losers in a tough restaurant market

How can restaurant chains survive in this market? This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features longtime industry executive James Walker. At the moment, Walker has multiple titles. He is the chief culinary and concept officer for Experiential Brands, a concept creation engine that has created brands such as the Original Hot Chicken, Inked Tacos and Pinsa Roman Pizza. He is also the CEO of Frisch’s Restaurants, the family-dining brand. We talked with Walker at the National Restaurant Show last month, and it was a wide-ranging conversation. We talked with him about Frisch’s and his new concepts. But we also got into a discussion on the state of the industry. Traffic has been down throughout the industry amid high prices, but plenty of chains, like Wingstop, Sweetgreen and many others, have done just fine. And plenty of hot independent restaurants remain tough to get into. We talk about that and what differentiates the winners and the losers. We’re talking all things restaurants on A Deeper Dive so please check it out.