Restaurant Rewind
by Restaurant Business Online
Latest episode
Kentucky Roast Beef? When KFC was in the concept creation game
Kentucky Roast Beef? When KFC was in the concept creation game
About this podcast
The industry’s past is packed with tales of scoundrels and heroes, big thinkers and pinheads, colossal successes and dismal failures, breakthrough moves and self-inflicted destruction. Few soap operas pack as much color and drama. Yet those yellowed snapshots provide insights relevant to the challenges of today. Join Peter Romeo, a 41-year veteran of the business with a penchant for restaurant history, as he explores those pivotal moments from the past.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 128 episodes
- Kentucky Roast Beef? When KFC was in the concept creation game · 8 minEditor's note: This will be the final episode of the Restaurant Rewind podcast. Thank you for listening. KFC recently opened Saucy, a chicken fingers concept that aims to…
- Restaurants have had their share of true-crime horrors, including these · 9 minRestaurants are no strangers to violent crime, as any reader of local news would attest. Occasionally the offenses are so appalling that they snag national attention. And then…
- How much updating can Chi-Chi's stand without losing its soul? · 8 minBefore burritos became as commonplace on menus as sandwiches, Chi-Chi’s was selling the Mexican staple as something called a burro, a novelty to the consumer mainstream those…
- Meet the U.S. father of mac 'n cheese. You know him as Thomas Jefferson · 10 minEnough with all the adulation of Thomas Jefferson as a Founding Father. Don’t people realize he was also the hero brought mac ‘n cheese to the American dinner table? The safe…
- If past is prologue, what's next for Jersey Mike's? · 10 minEven after a year of hints that a deal might be in the works, Monday’s announcement of a change in control at Jersey Mike’s was a stunner, particularly for anyone who’s kept…
- Is that the Big Boy driving my Uber? · 9 minThese haven’t been the easiest of times for the restaurant business, with chains closing hundreds of units and bankruptcy providing a last lifeline for former powers like TGI…
- TGI Fridays needs to get its bad rep back · 8 minPlenty of restaurant upstarts pin their hopes on building a better mousetrap. They’re not so much bringing something new to the market as promising an improvement over what…
- Decades later, Jack in the Box's E. coli outbreak is still being recalled. Here's why · 12 minMore than three decades have passed since the Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak, yet it’s still the yardstick used to gauge the impact of a food-safety crisis. Hours after…
- The pioneer of daytime dining is a chain you've likely never heard of · 10 minThe widespread closings announced this week by family-dining chains underscore the transformation that’s underway in that venerable segment of the restaurant business. Old-guard…
- Don't be surprised if your kids may follow you into the restaurant business · 9 minIf the restaurant industry is such a horrible place to make a living, why do so many youngsters follow their parents into the business? It’s a question that blunts dismissal of…
- Hurricane Milton was expected to be nearly as bad as Katrina. Here's why the comparison should scare restaurants · 9 minThe devastating force of Hurricane Milton has drawn comparisons to the fury Hurricane Katrina unleashed on New Orleans and its famed restaurants nearly two decades ago. Indeed…
- Norman Brinker also ran a pretty good CEO prep school · 8 minMany of the recent hires for restaurant CEO positions share a common listing on their resumes: Somewhere along the way, they logged time at Yum Brands, parent of Taco Bell, Pizza…
- Carl Karcher's rags-to-riches story would make a killer mini-series. Here's the outline · 13 minThe restaurant industry abounds in rags-to-riches stories, but few of the accounts illustrate the theme as vividly as the tale of Carl Karcher, the onetime feed store worker who…
- How the restaurant industry winced when butts were kicked · 10 minThe restaurant business has had its share of pitched political battles, but few were as intense as the industry’s futile effort to fend off smoking bans. The issue divided the…
- Winston Churchill's role in winning World War II is well known. His launch of a restaurant chain, not so much. · 9 minAnyone who’s ever taken a history class covering World War II (or watched more than hour of the History Channel) is likely aware of the crucial role Winston Churchill played in…
- Meet the reclusive force behind casual-dining standouts Hillstone and Houston's · 11 minAsk any veteran of the casual-dining market to name the segment’s best-in-class operation and they’ll likely cycle through two or three dominant players before a dark horse comes…
- How 3 years of union organizing has changed Starbucks · 12 minThree years ago, the restaurant industry was stunned by the news that the employees of several Starbucks units in upstate New York had banded together to form a union. The drama…
- Has there ever been a CEO change as bold as Starbucks' appointment of Brian Niccol? · 10 minStarbucks’ coup in stealing Brian Niccol from Chipotle to serve as CEO had the restaurant industry abuzz this week. Seldom has the restaurant industry been as enthralled by an…
- Here's what the industry may have forgotten about Buca di Beppo · 10 minIf half the people who read about Buca di Beppo’s bankruptcy filing had frequented the concept, the operation might never have hit a financial skid. Despite the brand’s initial…
- Here's what happened in McDonald's past attempts to go big · 11 minMcDonald’s has tried for decades to come up with an oversized premium burger that would slide easily into its operations and win a following among consumers accustomed to paying…
