The State of Restaurants: Real People, Real Challenges, Real Hope

What this episode covers

The restaurant industry has been one of the hardest hit industries amid COVID-19, and yet, we’ve seen businesses and leaders across the industry do some incredible things to rise above the ashes. To portray this, we chatted virtually with three restaurant owners, a CMO of a successful chain and an industry expert—all of whom share the same appreciation for the support and unity we’ve seen between restaurants across the nation, in their various communities and right within the walls of their own businesses. Restaurant expert Chris Keating starts off with some statistics around the past and current state of the industry (1:36). Then, we hear from Los Angeles restaurant owner Karim Megji and esteemed New York chef Tony Mangieri about their initial reactions to mandated closures (3:57) and their decision to move into to-go options, despite fears over quality (7:03). Boston pizzeria owner, Brian Schofield, expresses his gratitude for the way his community stepped up to support his business (10:51) as does Karim, who also reveals some of the ways he was able to give back to medical professionals on the frontlines (12:49). Sarah then dives into the inspiration behind the Great American Takeout initiative (15:29), while Chris makes some predictions over the innovation we’ll see from restaurants as the economy begins to reopen (19:15) as well as new sanitization processes (22:15) and the effects on labor (25:21). We end on an uplifting message around togetherness (26:50). For More, Follow Us Here: Chris KeatingLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-keating-9381b84/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-keating-9381b84/) Karim MegjiWebsite: https://www.woodandwaterla.com/ (https://www.woodandwaterla.com/) (https://www.woodandwaterla.com/)Tony Mangieri Website: http://www.unapizza.com/ (http://www.unapizza.com/) (http://www.unapizza.com/)Sarah GroverLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-grover-a9148b/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-grover-a9148b/) (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-grover-a9148b/)Brian Schofield Website: http://www.wickedcheesy.com/ (http://www.wickedcheesy.com/) Fritz NelsonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fritznelson/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/fnelson   Grow WireLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grow-wire/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrowWire Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growwire/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrowWire/ (https://www.facebook.com/GrowWire/)