Lessons Taught at the Big Texas Restaurant Show

Episode Summary

In this episode of the Restaurant Success Podcast, veteran restaurant advisor Matthew Mabel shares valuable insights from his recent speaking engagement at the Big Texas Restaurant Show. Drawing from his experience working with successful independent multi-unit restaurant owners, Matthew covers essential restaurant business strategies including team development, financial literacy for restaurant entrepreneurship, menu optimization, and the critical importance of guest count metrics. He outlines his famous three phases of restaurant growth and provides actionable advice for restaurant entrepreneurs looking to scale their business operations while maintaining profitability and operational excellence. This episode is packed with practical restaurant management wisdom for independent restaurant owners seeking sustainable business growth and improved unit performance.

Key Topics Covered

• Building stronger restaurant teams through continuous learning and career advancement opportunities
• Teaching financial literacy to managers and implementing statement review processes for improved profitability
• Understanding why guest count is the most critical restaurant metric (not found on your P&L)
• Menu evaluation strategies and staying current with food trends without alienating customers
• The three phases of restaurant growth: "Adrenaline and Espresso" (1-3 units), "Chill Out and Relax" (4-9 units), and "Should I Stay or Should I Go" (10+ units)
• Developing managers with leadership, coaching, and teaching capabilities for successful expansion

Links Mentioned

• The Game of Restaurant Growth (Pushing Through Barriers guide): https://surrender.biz/pushing-through-expansion-barriers
• How to Take Action and Power to Boost Guest Count: https://surrender.biz/how-to-take-action-and-power-to-boost-guest-count
• Texas Restaurant Association: https://www.txrestaurant.org

Resources Mentioned

• Website: www.surrender.biz
• Free initial consultation available
• Big Texas Restaurant Show - San Antonio, July 12-13, 2026

Connect with Matthew Mabel

Matthew works with owners of successful, independent, multi-unit restaurants to improve:

• Profit growth
• Sales optimization
• Guest count increase
• Unit expansion
• Employee engagement
• Brand loyalty

How to Support the Show

• Subscribe to the Restaurant Success Podcast and Newsletter
• Rate and review the show
• Visit www.surrender.biz for additional resources

Transcript

Hello, and welcome to the Restaurant Success Podcast. I'm Matthew Mabel, veteran restaurant advisor, coach, consultant, and speaker devoted to multi-unit independent restaurant unit, profit and revenue growth, internal harmony and ownership freedom and flexibility.

This is your weekly entree of the advice, strategy and tactics that I currently provide to my best clients.

Today I want to share some valuable insights from my recent experience at the Big Texas Restaurant Show. I'll walk you through the key lessons I taught from the stage there, covering everything from building stronger teams to understanding your most critical numbers, menu strategies, and growth phases. If you missed this year's show, don't worry - I'm going to give you all the highlights right here.

At the recent Texas Restaurant Show, the biggest event of the year for the Texas Restaurant Association, I saw a lot of positive, confident, talented, and resilient restaurateurs from our state, and the surrounding states.

That's a change from other times when the industry was facing challenges. Then, many show attendees seemed like a bunch of whiners. But not in twenty twenty-five.

Today's restaurateurs show up resilient and confident in their abilities to deal with obstacles. That's great to see.

Another great thing was the sizeable crowds attracted to this big event, with both of the education sessions I participated in turning out to be standing room only. If you stayed home this year and missed out, here's a summary of how I helped the attendees from the stage.

Let's start with what I consider the foundation of any successful restaurant operation: your people.

Give your people multiple reasons to work in your company instead of the one across the street. All the data shows that your people will stay with you if they learn, grow, and advance in their careers. Improve the skills of everyone in your company every year. This isn't just about retention - it's about building a team that genuinely wants to be part of your success story.

Now, let's talk about something that many operators struggle with - understanding their numbers. 

You can increase profits by 2% by elevating the quality of information and teaching financial literacy.

Share accurate numbers in the format recommended by the NRA and Restaurant Owner dot com.

Then initiate a statement review process that General Managers will eventually lead.

When one of those GMs questions a line item on their own P&L, you are on the right track! This is exactly what you want to see - managers who understand the business well enough to spot inconsistencies and take ownership of their financial performance.

But here's something crucial that might surprise you. The most important number today is not on your P-n-L: it's guest count.

This is such a critical concept that I've written extensively about it, and I've got an article in the show notes which goes into more detail. 

Speaking of things you might not see clearly, let's talk about your menu.

As an outsider, I can see your food and beverage offerings more clearly than you can.

Make sure you have a realistic view of your core menu items. Order them today without your kitchen knowing they're cooking for you. Like one of my clients, you may end that shift inside the kitchen, deconstructing what went wrong.

You must constantly update on trend - but not too far ahead of what your guests can handle. It's a delicate balance between staying current and not alienating your customer base with changes that are too radical.

This brings us to growth, which is where many restaurant owners face their biggest challenges. We have done the important job of developing managers to run great shifts, but neglect the vital job of giving them the tools they need to lead, coach, and teach. If you plan to grow, you must course correct.

You may know about my famous three phases of growth.

First, there's one to three units, which I call the "Adrenaline and Espresso years". Then, four to nine units, the "Chill Out and Relax" phase. Lastly, when you have ten plus units - the "Should I Stay or Should I Go" phase.

Which phase you're in dictates your activities in operations, culture, branding, and strategy. This framework is so important that I've created a detailed guide about it, which you can also find linked in the show notes.

If all this sounds new to you, make plans to be at next year's Texas Restaurant Show in San Antonio on July twelfth and thirteenth, twenty twenty-six.

I want you to have the successful restaurant company you deserve, and to enjoy the freedom and flexibility you have earned now, not later.

Before we wrap up, I want to mention a couple of articles that really connect to what we've discussed today.

First, the article I mentioned earlier that tells you how to take action and power to boost guest count, which expands on that critical point about guest count being your most important metric.

In that piece, I outline four key questions every restaurant owner should ask themselves about their operation.

Second, I have a comprehensive guide called "Pushing Through Expansion Barriers" that goes deeper into those three phases of restaurant growth I mentioned. Both of these resources will give you additional strategies to implement the concepts we've covered in this episode, and you can find links to both in the show notes.

Let me tell you about how we might work together. I work with owners of successful, independent, multi-unit restaurants to grow their profit, sales, guest count, and unit count. My unique approach bonds employees and guests to restaurant brands and allows owners to enjoy the freedom and flexibility they have earned.

To schedule a call with me to discuss how to achieve your biggest goals, follow the link in the show notes. The initial consultation is complimentary, and we can discuss which big moves might be right for your operation.

Thanks for listening. If you haven't already subscribed to the Restaurant Success Podcast and Newsletter podcast, please do so, and rate and review the show. Find more information in the show notes at Restaurant Success Podcast dot com.

Also find tons of information you can use in print, audio and video form at my website, www dot surrender dot biz. Thanks again and see you next time.