When Adam Brotman joined Starbucks, the company didn’t even have free Wi-Fi. A few years later, he helped architect one of the most powerful digital ecosystems in restaurant history: the Starbucks app, Rewards program, and Mobile Order & Pay system that changed how every brand thinks about loyalty.
In this episode of Restaurant Reset, Adam breaks down how it all happened and what every operator can learn from it.
We cover:
• How Starbucks built the “digital flywheel” connecting loyalty, mobile, and in-store ops
• The five-year journey from idea to mass adoption
• The operational chaos (and magic) behind Mobile Order & Pay• How to earn cross-functional trust across tech, ops, and baristas• The real value of guest data — and what happens when you don’t own it• Why AI will make loyalty more personal, not less• How operators can use ChatGPT to analyze data and optimize decisions• Why Adam believes AI is about to make hospitality more human
Adam also shares his playbook for evaluating new technology (from Web3 loyalty to AI-powered personalization) and the lessons he’s carried from Starbucks to J.Crew, Brightloom, and Forum3.
If you’ve ever wondered how digital transformation actually happens inside a restaurant brand, this is the episode to study.
Timestamps:
00:00 — Intro
01:30 — The moment Starbucks Rewards became a revenue engine
03:10 — Building the Starbucks “digital flywheel”
06:30 — Learning the business from ops before pitching innovation
11:40 — How long it really took to launch Mobile Order & Pay
16:50 — Balancing sexy tech with store-level practicality
24:00 — The unseen problems new tech creates
35:00 — Delivery apps and the cost of losing your data
43:00 — How operators should really use ChatGPT
45:00 — The next evolution of loyalty: personalization + community
50:00 — AI and the future of hospitality
53:00 — Adam’s top book recommendations
Most operators try to scale their restaurants by tightening systems or adding tech and somewhere along the way, they lose the soul that made guests fall in love in the first place.
Chef Jackson Kalb never made that trade.
From being fired at 26 and sleeping in his childhood bedroom to now running seven successful restaurants across Southern California, Jackson has built a hospitality group that scales without sacrificing humanity.
In this episode of Restaurant Reset, host Andy Grindstaff sits down with Jackson to unpack the lessons, systems, and failures behind his rise from rejection to resilience.
You’ll learn how to operationalize gut instinct, design systems that listen to guests, and build culture that embraces iteration instead of fearing it.
Episode Timestamps
00:00 — Introduction and why breakfast burritos still matter
01:30 — How a free burrito giveaway turned into a line around the block
04:30 — The secret to the perfect breakfast burrito (and why details matter more than hype)
06:00 — Balancing gut instinct and data when making big decisions
09:00 — The power of learning through mistakes: “Mistakes aren’t optional. They’re required.”
11:40 — Pivoting Jemma di Mare into Ospi Brentwood: how to evolve a concept without losing culture
15:50 — Getting fired at 26, hitting rock bottom, and the vow that started it all
20:30 — Raising $90K after 450 rejections and opening a 22-seat restaurant on $3K rent
28:40 — Why ignorance can be an advantage when starting out
34:30 — What competing on Top Chef without taste or smell taught Jackson about resilience
40:00 — The invisible systems that make or break profitability
44:20 — Scaling across cities: balancing standardization with local adaptability
47:30 — How to use guest feedback as your most valuable data source
48:00 — Why stoic philosophy powers Memento Mori Hospitality (“Remember you’ll die” really means “Remember you’re alive”)
50:00 — Closing thoughts and what’s next for Jackson and Memento Mori Hospitality
Listen to this episode on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube
And make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode.
How do you bring a legacy restaurant brand back to life?
Not with buzzwords. Not with gimmicks. But by giving people food they actually crave (and making sure your team can execute it flawlessly).
Chef Mike Gieseman has spent two decades building craveable, profitable menu items for brands like Qdoba, Quiznos, and Taco Del Mar. As VP of Culinary & Innovation for REGO Restaurant Group, he led Quiznos’ comeback—reviving an iconic brand through smart menu design, operational discipline, and an obsession with flavor.
In this episode of ‘Restaurant Reset,’ host Andy Grindstaff digs into:
• The playbook for brand turnarounds and why it starts in the kitchen, not marketing• Why "approachability" beats novelty• The LTO formula that makes franchisees love innovation (and drives higher margins)• The story behind the Burnt Ends Sandwich and Bison Reuben that brought Quiznos back into the spotlight• The truth about plant-based proteins and what's next for sustainable innovation• Why outsourcing culinary is killing originality in restaurants• How to keep innovation craveable and operationally achievable
Mike’s approach blends chef creativity with business pragmatism: simplify the kitchen, respect your brand DNA, and make food that guests can’t stop talking about.
Chapters:
00:00 — The hidden world of culinary R&D
03:00 — Why testing too much can kill innovation
07:30 — The profitability formula behind LTOs
14:00 — How to innovate inside a turnaround brand
19:30 — Nostalgia vs. novelty: getting guests to try something new
24:30 — Overhyped trends (sorry, Nashville Hot Chicken)
29:00 — Why outsourcing culinary is killing creativity
36:00 — The future of plant-based proteins
40:30 — How to revive a tired brand without losing your identity
Under 25% turnover isn’t luck. It’s a proven system.
Nick Sarillo (Nick’s Pizza & Pub) breaks down how a carpenter’s mindset turned two suburban Chicago units into high‑throughput, low‑churn operations: a purpose the team actually uses on shift, training that certifies to a 1–5 standard (not “shadow me”), a visible ladder (Rookie → Pro → Expert) tied to pay, and an accountability test that fixes problems fast: Don’t care, Don’t know how, Can’t do it. We also cover his open‑book huddles, the email that drove a 110% sales surge in five weeks, and the hard lessons from closing a Chicago location. If you lead a team, this is a blueprint you can steal tomorrow.
If your “help wanted” budget is bigger than your training budget, you’re buying turnover. Nick shows the opposite approach—engineer the job, teach life skills, and make excellence objective. The result: sub‑25% annual turnover and a team of mostly first‑job teenagers who run a 9,000‑sq‑ft, high‑volume room with confidence.
What you’ll learn:
Chapters