695: Megan and Dino Santonicola on Knowledge, Organization, and Persistence
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Release Date: 02/24/2020
Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Join the TODAY! Restaurant Unstoppable - - Eric of Restaurant Unstoppable is now taking consultation and coaching calls! Book a consultation today! Schedule your call to become UNSTOPPABLE! Check out the website for more details: https://www.restaurantunstoppable.com/evolve Today's sponsors: - Thinking about franchising your restaurant? Success doesn’t have to mean 100 units overnight. With the right plan, you can build a profitable, local or regional franchise brand. The team at Internicola Law Firm — franchise lawyers and franchise development experts — will...
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Chris Florczak is the CEO of . Risen consists of one concept with four location and a fifth soon to open. The concept is Rise, originally located in Dallas and opened in 2008. Chris got his start with an internship at Hillstone Group and he quickly was given a job offer and worked there for 16 years. In 2016, he was offered the COO position at Rise and in 2021 he became CEO and the umbrella group, Risen, was created with sights set on scaling. Join the TODAY! Restaurant Unstoppable - - Eric of Restaurant Unstoppable is now taking consultation and coaching calls! Book a consultation...
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Samir Watter is the COO at based in Dallas, TX. Samir joined Layne's in 2021 when there were only 7 total locations. Before that, he held impressive roles and big franchise companies like Denny's, where he worked for 10 years starting as AGM until heading the opening of 30 locations by the end of his tenure there. He also worked for La Salsa for 10 years as director of ops, where he opened 30 locations for that company as well. Today, Layne's has 25 locations and continues to grow. Join the TODAY! Restaurant Unstoppable - - Eric of Restaurant Unstoppable is now taking consultation and...
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Thom Crosby is the CEO of , HQ'd in Kingstwon, TN. Pal's Sudden Service was first opened in 1956 in Kingstown, TN. Thom came on board in 1981 to help them grow. Thom's experience prior to Pal's was in corporate McDonald's and corporate Long John Silvers, as well as a franchisee with Wendy's. Today Thom is the CEO of Pal's and the company has 31 locations. All but 2 Pal's locations are drive-thru only. Thom is a true believer and member of . David McClaskey was featured on the podcast, episode 1182, and you can learn more about him and his company here:...
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Zane and Brandon Hunt are the co-founders of . VIA 313 is a Detroit-style pizza chain. This is The Hunt Bros. third time on the show. They first joined us for episode 560 in 2018 and again in 2021 for episode 826. In 2021, they had 5 locations and today they have 24! Interested in as recommended by the Hunt Bros.? Check it out here: https://www.restaurantunstoppable.com/mcclaskey-institute Join the TODAY! Restaurant Unstoppable - - Eric of Restaurant Unstoppable is now taking consultation and coaching calls! Book a consultation today! Schedule your call to become UNSTOPPABLE! Check...
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Matthew Mabel is a consultant, advisor, coach and President of . Surrender is a hospitality and management-consulting firm based in Dallas, TX. Matthew was last on the show for episode 518! For this in-person workshop, Matthew will take the listeners through growing restaurants in three different major and specific phases of growth. Join the TODAY! Restaurant Unstoppable - - Eric of Restaurant Unstoppable is now taking consultation and coaching calls! Book a consultation today! Schedule your call to become UNSTOPPABLE! Check out the website for more details:...
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Garrett Reed is the CEO of . Garrett got his start in the real estate business right out of college as a site selector for Radio Shack in he 90s. By the early 2000s he had moved on to Starbucks where he served as Real Estate Director for the east and west coasts. In 2005 he started his own real estate business and in the mid-2010s he began the search to own a restaurant brand and/or franchise. He bought Layne's Chicken Fingers in 2017 and became CEO and Partner. Layne's began in 1994. There are 25 locations as of this recording (April of 2025) with plans to open a new location every month for...
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Michael Praver is the founder of Michael's company specializes in helping businesses secure capital without the stress of traditional lending. Their mission is to help businesses secure fast, reliable, and customized funding solutions that empower businesses to thrive. This workshop covers How To Get Funding with expert Michael Praver. Workshops can be found every Thursday in the Restaurant Unstoppable podcast feed or on YouTube. Most have a visual component, so consider watching the video version . Join the RUNetwork to take part in workshops and ask the experts YOUR...
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Rachel Cope is the Founder and CEO of based in Oklahoma City, OK. 84 Hospitality consists of 4 concepts in 10+ locations in and around OKC. The brand started with and the newest restaurant is , a fine-dining restaurant in OKC. They also operate , , and . Rachel was previously on the show for episode 778 in 2021. Join the TODAY! Restaurant Unstoppable - - Eric of Restaurant Unstoppable is now taking consultation and coaching calls! Book a consultation today! Schedule your call to become UNSTOPPABLE! Check out the website for more details: https://www.restaurantunstoppable.com/evolve Today's...
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David DeLorenzo is the CEO and Owner of . David DeLorenzo specializes in bar and restaurant insurance, but he is also a speaker, author, coach, as well as host of a mastermind and more than one charity organization. On top of all this, he has been an owner of 13 restaurants in his career. David was previously on the show for episode #1087 about a year ago! This workshop covers Workers' Compensation Deep Dive and Best Practices with expert David DeLorenzo. Workshops can be found every Thursday in the Restaurant Unstoppable podcast feed or on YouTube. Most have a visual component, so consider...
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Show notes…
Calls to ACTION!!!
- Subscribe to the Restaurant Unstoppable YouTube Channel
- Join the private Unstoppable Facebook Group
- Join the email list! (Scroll Down to get the Vendor List!)
Favorite success quote or mantra:
- "Nothing in the world can replace persistence."
In today's episode with Dino and Megan Santonicola we will discuss:
- Persistence is free; UTILIZE IT!
- Growing up in Italy
- Old-school mentorships
- Too focused on scaling these days; enjoy the work!
- Knowledge is power in this industry
- Shortcuts lead to negative consequences
- Pizza!
- Restaurant groups
- Scaling
- Location scouting
- Staffing struggles
- Overstaff when you first open to compensate for dropouts and potential bad hires
- Business cards for restauranteurs?
- "Choose your partners very, very well"
- Empower and recognize your staff
Today's sponsor:
BentoBox empowers restaurants to own their presence, profits and relationships. The hospitality platform disrupts third-party services that come between the restaurant and the guest. BentoBox puts the restaurant first and offers tools that drive high-margin revenue directly through the restaurant’s website. BentoBox is trusted and loved by over 5,000 restaurants worldwide including Union Square Hospitality Group, Eleven Madison Park, Gramercy Tavern, Lilia and more.
Restaurant365 is a cloud-based, all-in-one, restaurant-specific accounting and back-office platform that seamlessly integrates with POS systems, payroll providers, food and beverage vendors. It generates accurate real-time reporting and analysis in user-friendly dashboards, facilitating immediate, data-driven decision making. Restaurant365 eliminates manual, error-prone processes and is designed to help restaurant businesses grow with functionality that helps optimize labor costs, reduce food costs and increase revenue.
P&G Dawn Professional Dawn Professional is the #1 dish detergent found in almost every commercial kitchen in the US. Dawn Professional has long-lasting suds that clean 58% more dishes per sink. Using Dawn Professional reduces sink changeovers by 35%. Using Dawn Professional saves you up to 6,000 gallons of hot water per year vs. private label. Dawn Professional is a mild product with proprietary large molecules break down grease, but don’t penetrate the skin.
Knowledge bombs
- Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?
- Persistence
- What is your biggest weakness?
- Control freaks
- What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview?
- Is this what you really want to do?
- What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it?
- Staffing
- Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.
- Tone: passionate, intentional, welcoming, relaxed
- What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff?
- We really believe in what we do and stay true to our mission
- What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner?
- Setting the Table by Danny Meyer
- GET THIS BOOK FOR FREE AT AUDIBLE.COM
- What's one thing you feel restaurateurs don't know well enough or do often enough?
- Stick to your brand and thank your staff
- Name one service you've hired.
- Accounting
- What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your restaurant walls and how has it influence operations?
- If you got the news that you'd be leaving this world tomorrow and all memories of you, your work, and your restaurants would be lost with your departure with the exception of 3 pieces of wisdom you could leave behind for the good of humanity, what would they be?
- Everyone should work in hospitality for at least 6 months
- Smiling goes a long way
- There's one word that's synonymous with pizza and that's a party so everybody relax and have a good time
Contact info:
Instagram: @partenoperistorante
Facebook: @partenopedallas
Thanks for listening!
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Huge thanks to Megan and Dino Santonicola for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time!