A Deeper Dive

Five Guys is making some changes.
This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Molly Catalano, the chief marketing officer for the Washington, D.C.-based fast-casual burger chain.
We are talking with Catalano about a lot of things, notably its move into catering. We talk about why the company is now offering catering, how it’s doing that and how it works. 
We talk about a number of other things the company is doing. Five Guys is marketing more than it’s ever done before. That’s a big change for the company. It is also looking at things like combos and maybe even some different types of menu items.
Catalano also discusses the company’s unique culture and the important role the chain’s founding family plays in keeping its quality at the forefront.
We’re talking Five Guys on A Deeper Dive so please check it out.

How will restaurants fare in 2026?
This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Michelle Korsmo, the president and CEO of the National Restaurant Association, who talks about the trade group’s State of the Industry Report. 
Korsmo discusses the industry’s annual projection of restaurant sales, profitability and trends. We talk extensively about the association’s expectations for foodservice sales this year, projected to be nearly $1.6 trillion. 
We discuss issues with industry profitability, and why so many operators are simply unprofitable. And we talk about immigration and other association priorities.
This is a great conversation with the head of the restaurant industry’s biggest trade group so please check it out.

What is the status of Starbucks’ turnaround?
This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Mike Grams, the chief operating officer of the coffee shop giant.
Grams joined us from a Starbucks Reserve location in New York City following the company’s Investor Day presentation.
He spoke extensively about the company’s various plans to improve the operations inside the chain’s coffeehouses.
That includes the remodels the chain is making to make even the smallest locations friendlier for in-store customers. He also explains why that is important for a company that has mobile order, drive-thru and delivery.
Grams discusses the chain’s “Green Apron” service model and why that model both helps with manager morale as well as service time. He also gives an update on the chain’s push to improve service times and what else the company plans to do to speed service.
We also talk about Starbucks’ expansion plans and why the company believes it can fit 5,000 more shops, at least, in the U.S.
We’re talking Starbucks on A Deeper Dive so please check it out.

What are retailers doing to compete more aggressively with restaurants?
This week’s episode of A Deeper Dive looks at the retail sector, specifically convenience stores and grocers. I’m joined this week by Heather Lalley, the managing editor for Restaurant Business as well as sister publications CSP Daily News and Supermarket News.
We talk about how convenience stores are pushing into more prepared food options, including ways they are taking pages out of restaurants’ playbook.
We also discuss the growing demand for THC beverages, and why we haven’t seen many restaurants add these to their beverage menus.
But we talk extensively about the closures of Amazon’s Fresh and Go stores, and what kinds of lessons restaurants can take from those closures. 
We’re looking at the retail sector on A Deeper Dive, so check it out.

How will the Saks Global bankruptcy affect restaurants?
This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Stephen Cohen, a real estate attorney who does a lot of work with restaurants.
We wanted to speak with Stephen about the real estate implications of the bankruptcy filing of the giant retailer Saks Global.
No, Saks is not a restaurant, though it owns a few of them. But it is a major real estate tenant with some 8.4 million square feet.
Many of its locations are in malls populated by a lot of restaurants.
We wanted to talk about the implications this could have on restaurants, both for good or for ill. Cohen talks about the potential implications for foot traffic at some malls and potential opportunities for certain restaurants to get available space in some desirable shopping centers.
But we talk a lot about other topics, including various real estate trends and the opportunities and risks of opening in second generation real estate sites—or closed restaurants, as it were. 
We’re talking malls on A Deeper Dive so please check it out.