Restaurant expansion doesn’t always mean signing another lease. A new location is one option. Franchising is another. You can add revenue channels, test a market with a pop-up or food truck, launch a virtual kitchen, or even acquire an existing restaurant. The interesting part is choosing the model that actually fits your capital, operations, brand, and growth plans. We break down the different expansion routes restaurant chains can take, along with what to consider before choosing one in our latest blog. 👉 Read here: restroworks.com/blog/restaur… #Restroworks #Expansion #ChainRestaurants

From Restrocast 🎙️ COVID changed what restaurant operators could see. For Steak ’n Shake, closing the dining rooms revealed costs they had never really measured before, from the extras sitting on tables to everything it took to run the space. That discovery became part of a much bigger transformation, including remodeled restaurants, self-order kiosks, and a sharper focus on drive-thru throughput. In this episode, Jerry Baldwin talks about that transformation, along with the supply chain, vendor relationships, and operational lessons from his four decades in the industry. 🎧Listen to the full conversation: restroworks.com/restrocast/j… #Restrocast #Restroworks #RestaurantGrowth

You can start a food truck for $50,000. Sounds pretty simple when someone puts it like that. Until you start planning the actual business. The truck is only the beginning. Your equipment, permits, opening inventory, staffing, insurance, commissary kitchen, and monthly running costs can take the number much higher. We broke down the numbers behind starting and operating a food truck in our blog. 👉 Give it a read here: restroworks.com/blog/how-muc… #Restroworks #Foodtruck #startupcosts

Latest from Restrocast 🎙️ What makes a burger brand something people can come back to every day? For Shreh Madan, that question has shaped Burgrill from the beginning. The brand built its identity around grilled burgers, lighter options, and the idea of a “guilt-free indulgence.” But building that positioning is only one part of the story. In this episode of Restrocast, Shreh talks about building Burgrill, scaling through franchising, managing 69 stores, and the lessons that came with getting there. 🎧 Listen to the full conversation on Restrocast: restroworks.com/restrocast/s… #Restrocast #Restroworks #Burgrill

What does a bakery actually make money on? It’s not always the product that sells the most. The answer can change once you factor in ingredient costs, preparation time, labor, waste, and pricing. That’s why looking at sales without the cost behind them can give you an incomplete picture. We looked at the operational and financial levers bakeries can use to protect their margins in our latest blog. ➡️ Read here: restroworks.com/blog/cost-ma… #Restroworks #costmanagement #bakeries

Menu engineering gets a lot harder when every concept plays by different rules. A dish that works beautifully for one brand can have a completely different margin story for another. Different customers, pricing, ingredients, and sales patterns all change the picture. That’s where having your menu, recipe costs, inventory, and POS data connected starts to matter. Our latest blog looks at managing menu engineering across multiple restaurant concepts, and the role software plays in turning those decisions into action. 👉 Read here: restroworks.com/blog/managin… #Restroworks #MenuEngineering #MultichainRestaurant

Restroworks is heading to FS/TEC 2026! 🚀 Find us on the floor to see how unified restaurant technology can help multi-unit operators simplify operations, cut tech costs, and turn data into smarter decisions. Want dedicated time with us? 🗓️ Schedule a meeting before the show: calendly.com/explore-restrow… See you in Grapevine! 🤠

From Restrocast 🎙️ COVID was a tough time for restaurants. Amjad Barakat saw an opportunity. While everyone was pulling back, he opened three restaurants, negotiated low-rent and CapEx deals, and went all in on Dubai’s recovery. From an unsuccessful food truck to bringing Brunch’n’Cake to Dubai and eventually acquiring the brand globally, Amjad has built his career by staying open to what comes next. 👉 Listen to the full conversation on Restrocast, where he talks about the risks, decisions, and lessons that shaped the business along the way: restroworks.com/restrocast/a… #Restrocast #Restroworks #Success #Learnings

What happened last year can be a pretty good clue for what happens next. Your restaurant’s historical sales can show recurring demand, busy periods, slow days, popular dishes, and other patterns that help with forecasting. But restaurants don’t operate on history alone. Weather changes, local events, customer behavior, and promotions can all move demand in a different direction. Our latest blog looks at how restaurants can use historical data alongside real-time insights to make better predictions. 👉 Read here: restroworks.com/blog/histori… #Restroworks #forecasting #sales

From Restrocast 🎙️ Chad Mackay has a thing for history books. And there’s a reason. He believes we’ve been running the same “operating system” for 5,000 years, so there’s plenty we can learn from the people who came before us. In this conversation, Chad, CEO of Fire & Vine Hospitality, talks about leadership, purpose, sustainable growth, and the lessons that have shaped him through crises, failed concepts, and years of building hospitality teams. Listen to the full conversation: restroworks.com/restrocast/c… #Restrocast #Restroworks #Learnings

Your restaurant’s sales are up. Great. But what’s actually driving the increase? More customers? Higher average order value? A promotion? A particular menu item? Or are you simply charging more while traffic is falling? Sales as a number on its own tells you very little. The patterns only start making sense when you look at what is behind them — products, dayparts, channels, customers, inventory, even customer feedback. Our latest blog looks at the different pieces of restaurant data that can help operators understand performance and what to do about it. 👉 Read here: restroworks.com/blog/analyzi… #Restroworks #Salespatterns #Predictiveanalytics

Latest from Restrocast 🎙️ “𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺.” For Rusty Bills, the lesson goes well beyond restaurant operations. Working behind the counter teaches you about customers, coworkers, leaders, and the people you may never know are having a difficult day. In this episode, Rusty also reflects on how his own upbringing shaped his work ethic, the changes he sees in how younger generations approach work, and how those experiences have influenced the way he leads today as COO of Galardi Group. 🎧 Listen to the full conversation: restroworks.com/restrocast/r… #Restroworks #Restrocast #Ethics

What do your loyalty programs tell you beyond the fact that guests came back? Visit frequency. Order history. Location preferences. The offers they respond to. For a restaurant group, making the most of that customer data is where things get interesting. More so when you have 10, 50, or 500 locations under the same brand. Our latest blog looks at how multi-unit restaurants can put that customer data to work to build a strong loyalty program. 👉 Read here: restroworks.com/blog/custome… #Restroworks #customer #loyalty

From Restrocast 🎙️ What does a restaurant tech leader need to understand beyond technology? For Kyle Mark, quite a lot. From kiosks and average order value to back-office efficiency and customer acquisition, he shares how technology now plays a role across the business and why tech leaders need to understand the problems they're solving. Listen to the conversation here: restroworks.com/restrocast/k… #Restroworks #Restrocast #Technology

Cloud kitchens have a pretty compelling advantage. You can build a food business without paying for a dining room, front-of-house team, or premium street-facing location. But the interesting part is what you do with that advantage to make your business profitable. Because order volume, average order value, food costs, delivery mix, menu performance, and labor all influence the margins you can build. We broke down the economics of cloud kitchen profitability, including the seven levers operators can work on for stronger profits. Read here: restroworks.com/blog/cloud-k… #CloudKitchen #RestaurantManagement #Restroworks

Celebrating the freedom, diversity, and dreams that make India truly incredible. ✨ Happy 80th Independence Day, India! 🇮🇳 #80thIndependenceDay #IndependenceDay #India

From Restrocast 🎙️ Filippo Sgattoni, CEO of Alamar Group, talks about the challenge of keeping brands like Domino’s and Dunkin’ relevant to Gen Z and Gen Alpha, especially in a market changing as quickly as the Middle East. His approach? Don’t engage younger audiences only when there’s something to sell. Find a way to speak to their interests, their culture, and what matters to them. In the episode, Filippo talks about legacy, relevance, and what it takes to keep a global restaurant brand moving forward. 🎧 Listen here: restroworks.com/restrocast/f… #Restrocast #Restroworks #Brands

A $16/month POS can cost you more than a $100/month POS It all depends on what the ongoing costs cover. A restaurant’s transaction volume, processing rates, software fees, hardware, and integrations can completely change the total cost of a new POS. We broke down what new ice cream shops should actually budget for, which POS features are worth paying for from day one, and where they can save. ➡️ Read here: restroworks.com/blog/cost-ef… #Restroworks #RestaurantTechnology #POS #IceCreamShop

From Restrocast 🎙️ Every restaurant has an origin story. This one begins with a 16-year-old room boy. Long before Hari Bhavanam became one of Coimbatore's most loved restaurant brands, Bala's father was entrusted with running a lodging house on his own. That trust, and one unexpected decision to feed stranded guests, eventually laid the foundation of one of Tamil Nadu's most respected restaurant brands. The full episode explores the values, decisions, and family legacy behind Hari Bhavanam's remarkable journey. 🎧 Listen to it here: restroworks.com/restrocast/b… #Restrocast #Restroworks #Legacy

Most sustainability conversations for restaurants stop at the same few ideas. Use local ingredients. Reduce food waste. Switch to better packaging. But the harder question is: how do you make those decisions stick across dozens or hundreds of restaurants? Because every new location brings different suppliers, regulations, teams, and operating realities. That's where systems become more important than good intentions. Check out our latest blog for practical sustainability strategies that restaurant chains can implement at scale: restroworks.com/blog/sustain… #Restroworks #Chains #Sustainability