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The Return

Author: Anthony Valletta

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Most hospitality shows sound like a conference panel that never ends. Everyone nods along. Nobody actually risks anything. You forget it before you reach your car.

The Return runs the other way.

I spent my career on the floor, not in a studio, and that's the whole point. Every episode picks a fight the industry would rather avoid. The guest matters more than the employee. Margin erosion isn't a cost problem, it's a sign you stopped building value. Loyalty programs don't buy loyalty. The only number that survives the long run is whether people come back.

Guests get pressure, not a platform. We disagree on purpose. And every episode ends the same way, with one question nobody in this business wants to answer out loud: where is the industry lying to itself right now?

If you want comfortable, there are other shows. This one's for operators who'd rather be right than liked.

15 Episodes
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Every great GM is supposed to want the next title. Regional. Director. Bigger scope. More locations.But what if promoting your best operator is the fastest way to weaken your best restaurant?Anthony sits down with Christin Marvin of Columbine Hospitality to argue about the career ladder hospitality treats as inevitable: whether moving up is real development, or just churn we’ve learned to call growth.They get into why the GM chair should be a destination job, not a stopover; why autonomy matters more than another training program; and what happens when a company’s growth plan gets mistaken for an individual leader’s ambition.Plus The Lie: that up is the only direction that counts.
I argue loyalty programs don't create loyalty, they just find the guests who were already loyal and put a price tag on them. Zach Goldstein, founder and CEO of Thanx, builds those programs for a living. They get into why most loyalty metrics are meaningless, what the "40% of revenue through the app" number actually tells you, and why a program that hasn't changed in two years is holding your brand back instead of growing it. 18 minutes, no filler.
In this episode, JJ Perino of TwoTen Strategy discusses the evolving approach to site selection, emphasizing the importance of understanding what locations communicate about a brand beyond traditional metrics. He explores how data, customer behavior, and brand strategy intersect to make smarter real estate decisions.
This episode explores the challenges of hiring and talent retention in the hospitality and restaurant industry with Rikin Lakhani, a seasoned operator and recruiter. It emphasizes the importance of trust, understanding the candidate's holistic profile, and adapting recruitment strategies to modern expectations.
The Labor Lie...

The Labor Lie...

2026-05-2716:57

Jim Taylor challenges traditional labor cost metrics in restaurants, emphasizing the importance of understanding labor as an output rather than an input. This conversation explores innovative approaches to managing labor, improving employee satisfaction, and enhancing operational efficiency.
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