Hi, I’m Matthew Mabel (learn more about me here). Welcome to our Restaurant Success Newsletter in written and podcast forms.
Every edition of my newsletter—in both written and podcast form—shares some of the same valuable insights I share with my clients, teaching ways to improve your business while also building a flexible life for you and increasing your net worth.
While every restaurateur is unique, they all face similar challenges with these core issues: Building brand and culture; Improving management; Increasing profits; Creating a consistent experience; Optimizing operations; Staying up to date on changes in the industry; Developing a growth strategy; Maintaining work-life balance.
As a business owner, you should be in control of your own destiny and work-life balance. You own your business; it doesn’t own you. What good is expanding your restaurant business in any way that doesn’t work best for you? I’m truly excited you’ve made the conscious decision to follow my thoughts about growing your business while improving your personal life. When you grow your business intentionally, you can have both. That’s why I encourage you to “be as good to yourself as you are to your guests.”
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If you have any questions please shoot me a message, or schedule a free 15-minute conversation here.
Three Ways Fantastic Bosses Make Restaurant GMs Great
This week I tackle one of the most overlooked opportunities in multi-unit restaurant business growth: developing the bosses of your general managers. While most restaurant owners focus on training GMs, the real breakthroughs in guest count, profit, and culture happen when investing in your operations directors, area managers, and district managers. Learn the three keys that separate exceptional multi-unit leaders from the rest.
The Key to Fantastic Growth? Knowing What You Don't Know
Explore why even successful multi-unit restaurateurs can hit a growth ceiling — and how to break through it. The key to fantastic growth lies in identifying and addressing what you don't know. I explain how first-time multi-unit owners often develop blind spots that hold back their operations, profitability, and long-term expansion – and how the best operators seek out the unseen to catapult their businesses forward.
How to Actually Increase Guest Count and Lead the Industry
This episode breaks down exactly what it takes to grow guest count. Drawing on real-world observations from top-performing restaurant groups, I reveal the specific behaviors that are quietly holding some restaurants back from reaching their full revenue and profit potential by not maximizing guest count.
Six Beautiful Improvements Can Happen When You Take a Break
I share six powerful improvements that happen when independent restaurant owners take a vacation. From stress-testing your business systems and discovering hidden operational gaps, to breaking old habits and returning with fresh entrepreneurial energy, this episode is a must-listen for any owner who struggles to unplug. Sometime taking a break is the smartest business decisions you can make!
Remembering Ed Murph, America’s Only Cafetuer
In this special episode I pay tribute to the recently departed Ed Murph, a friend, client, and the owner and driving force behind Norma's Café in Dallas. Whether you're a seasoned restaurant entrepreneur or just starting your journey in the food and hospitality industry, Ed's story is a masterclass in building a lasting independent restaurant brand with heart, purpose, and operational excellence.
How To Wake Up Your Brand and Increase Guest Count
In this episode I tackle "Sleepy Restaurant Syndrome" — the slow decline that happens when restaurateurs defer updates to their branding, marketing, menu design, culture, and physical spaces. I give the warning signs that your restaurant may be falling behind the competition, and deliver actionable strategies to help you stop coasting and start growing.
Increase Guest Count Now by Doing These Five Things
In this episode, I break down why guest count is now the most critical metric for independent restaurant entrepreneurs—and why menu price increases could be masking a deeper problem. I share five actionable strategies restaurant owners can implement right now to reverse guest count decline, win back lapsed customers, attract new diners, and drive sustainable business growth.
Why Avoiding Risk Isn’t Actually a Great Strategy
Is playing it safe actually the riskiest business strategy of all? For multi-unit owners navigating a flat market, the comfort of stability can mask the slow deterioration of brand strength, business performance, and net worth. I share the context needed to calm nerves and explain why the downside risk of doing nothing outweighs the fear of taking action. I give the specific steps owners can take right now—to achieve six to eight percent annual growth.
The Best Ways Restaurants Activate and Retain Excellent Management
One of the most pressing challenges in the restaurant industry is how to activate and retain excellent management talent. I break down what managers truly want from their organizations, including professional development, inspiration, and pride. I also explore two competing approaches to building strong restaurant leadership teams—recruiting experienced talent, or hiring and developing from within.
Why You Miss the Biggest Hidden Opportunities in Your Restaurants
Why do successful restaurant entrepreneurs often overlook their greatest opportunities? Drawing from my extensive consulting work with multi-unit restaurant owners, I explain how focusing solely on problems can blind operators to the untapped potential hiding in the parts of their business that already seem to be working well. Discover from two client examples where your greatest returns may be waiting!
Only 3 Worthwhile Places to Look When Developing a Healthy Restaurant Business
This week I cut through the noise of restaurant entrepreneurship to reveal the three essential areas every owner must examine to have a healthy, profitable operation. Discover why leadership, people, and systems form the foundation of restaurant business success, and learn what happens when any one of these elements is missing.
Improve Your Restaurants Big Time by Taking a Buyer's Perspective
In this episode I share a powerful mindset shift a restaurant owner can make: viewing your business as if you just bought it. This approach helps identify hidden opportunities for profit growth, improved guest experience, and operational efficiency. I explain the difference between "store blindness" and "owner blindness," and how to evaluate menu, branding, food costs, labor costs, and employee training with fresh eyes.