A Deeper Dive

How do franchisees pick winning concepts?This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Martha Olmos, chief operating officer with Damm Fine Restaurant Group, a franchisee of Dave’s Hot Chicken and Blaze Pizza. Damm Fine got into both Blaze and Dave’s early in their history. We talk with Olmos about what goes into operating such brands and how they found those concepts in the first place. We also talk about why they felt confident enough in the brands to get into them. We spent a lot of time talking about how to build a good company culture and to develop good employees. This is a great conversation for people who operate restaurants. We talk about the performance of Blaze and Dave’s and the difference in operating the two. We talk about operating restaurants in California and how they got through the state’s increase in the minimum wage. And all sorts of other things.

What is the outlook for restaurants in 2026?This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Technomic Senior Principal David Henkes. We wanted to talk with Henkes about what will happen in 2026.Restaurants are coming off a 2025 in which consumers cut back on dining frequency. Henkes talks about exactly why that happened and whether Technomic believes things will improve over the course of the year.We get into a lot of other issues, including the state of the economy and what it will take to get people dining out more frequently again. We’re talking 2026 outlook on A Deeper Dive so please check it out.

Restaurant sales and traffic challenges were a huge story in 2025.This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive takes a look at the most popular episodes of the year.Perhaps unsurprisingly, each of them dealt with the challenged industry environment. We spoke with Circana’s David Portalatin about consumers buying on a deal. We spoke multiple times with Technomic’s Rich Shank about the state of the restaurant industry.We also spoke with National Restaurant Association Chief Economist Chad Moutray about the impact this is having on profitability.And we wrap it up with Savory Fund Cofounder Andrew Smith on what private equity thinks of all this, specifically why this can be a good time to find high-quality chains.

How will AI truly change the way restaurants do business?This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive concludes our series on the impact of AI on the restaurant industry with a discussion of exactly where the technology will be felt the most.Over the past five weeks, we’ve looked at how AI is affecting fast-food restaurants in the drive-thru, how it’s influencing menu and marketing along with back-of-house tasks. We discuss which of these areas the impact will be felt the most, and where we’re more skeptical. We also talk about what areas surprised us, and how all this will change the industry over the next five years. 

AI is already having a big influence on restaurant marketing. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive continues our examination of the impact artificial intelligence is having on restaurant marketing. The technology is having an impact on marketing for everything from local restaurants to major chains.Senior Tech Editor Joe Guszkowski speaks with Khara Mangiduyos, who uses AI to help her restaurant, Kalei’s Kitchenette. He spoke with Bikky cofounder Abhinav Kapur and Presto cofounder Krishna Gupta, who each talk about their AI-based technology. Guszkowski also talks with former Sonic executive Craig Miller about how these can work with a big chain.We’re talking AI in marketing on A Deeper Dive so please check it out.