BIGGEST TAKEAWAYS: NY Restaurant Show, Bar & Restaurant Expo, and International Pizza Expo

Hello 2025! WE ARE ALREADY ON FIRE!!

I have picked up so much this week to share with you!

Why am I combining my takeaways from these three shows? Quite simply, they all overlapped, and they are primarily focused on independent restaurants. A lot of similar observations were made, questions answered, and conversations had at each show.

I gotta say, I've never seen independent operators in a better, smarter, more motivated energy than I experienced at the NY Restaurant Show, Bar & Restaurant Expo, and International Pizza Expo.

I had the CRAZIEST SCHEDULE!

I was at three shows in 3 days in 2 opposite US time zones, speaking, teaching, judging, and networking. I took it all in, processed my thoughts, and here's my BIGGEST takeaways from all three incredible shows:

MECHANICS BEFORE MAGIC

Yup. One. Big. Takeaway.

This should set the tone for all your success.

Big, multi-unit brands right now seem to be heavily focused on marketing, data, insights, offers, promotions, specials, and marketing moves.

Independent restaurants seem to be heavily focused on food quality and service.

Both are right. But where the win happens is combining all 3. The key is to do them in the RIGHT ORDER.

» Good service and good food are table stakes

» Even the best marketing cannot save bad operations

» Mechanics before Magic: Build a foundation before we pour gasoline in the top

And that's it. That's the formula.

Step 1: Make your food so good that people crave it.
Step 2: Make your service so good that all your guests LOVE dining with you.
Step 3: Build a marketing foundation that touches all parts of the customer journey.

Once you have done that, then AND ONLY then, do you pour in the magic. Once your food and your service are undeniably great AND you're consistently optimizing the base marketing channels, then you get creative, start to spend dollars at the brand level, and come up with unique campaigns.

Where I see a lot of restaurants get this wrong:

Trying marketing magic when there are operational speed bumps at the store level. You don't want to do marketing magic if the guests are not going to have a great time.
Focusing all efforts into one marketing channel (like social media) and hoping for success. You need an omni-channel marketing approach.
Relying solely on promotions, discounts and offers to drive sales without also improving branding and experience at the same time.

The good news, from the marketing perspective, is that building a marketing ecosystem that works is actually not that hard, and it works the same for independent restaurants, franchised locations, and corporate-owned multi-units.

Want the playbook for this? I GOT YOU!

Meet my new ebook:

Steal This Proven Marketing System - Before Your Competitors Do!

The Restaurant Marketing Ecosystem That EVERY Restaurant Should Be Using

Its 100% free, no strings attached. Just click this link, put in your email and you'll get immediate access to a book that was created to help you build a marketing ecosystem that constantly attracts new guests and keeps them coming back for more.

I've worked with hundreds and hundreds of restaurants of all service models and sizes, all over the country. This is a collection of everything I have learned and tested. It works for ALL RESTAURANTS.

This is the foundational marketing plan that works: