The Restaurant Success Podcast
The Restaurant Success Podcast is a weekly podcast for Restaurant owners full of information about how to run and improve your business.
What's the point of growing a restaurant company if it doesn’t maximize relationships and profits?
What's the point of being successful if you can’t maximize your net worth while enjoying every minute?
Matthew Mabel encourages successful independent multi-unit restaurateurs to "be as good to yourself as you are to your guests" in everything they do.
“Owning an independent multi-unit restaurant company ought to be a joy. Let’s make it that way," he says.
Based out of Dallas, Matthew’s devoted to improving the lives and businesses of successful independent restaurateurs.
Episodes
67 episodes
Three Ways Fantastic Bosses Make Restaurant GMs Great
In this episode of the Restaurant Success Podcast, Matthew Mabel tackles one of the most overlooked opportunities in multi-unit restaurant business growth: developing the bosses of your general managers. While most restaurant entrepreneurship f...
The Key to Fantastic Growth? Knowing What You Don't Know
In this episode of the Restaurant Success Podcast, Matthew Mabel explores why even the most successful multi-unit restaurant entrepreneurs can hit a growth ceiling — and how to break through it. Matthew reveals that the key to fantastic busines...
How to Actually Increase Guest Count and Lead the Industry
In this episode of the Restaurant Success Podcast, restaurant business consultant and advisor Matthew Mabel breaks down exactly what it takes to grow guest count and lead the restaurant industry. Drawing on real-world observations from top-perf...
Six Beautiful Improvements Can Happen When You Take a Break
In this episode of the Restaurant Success Podcast, veteran restaurant business advisor Matthew Mabel makes the case for why every restaurant entrepreneur needs to step away from their operation. Rather than focusing on revenue growth or managem...
Remembering Ed Murph, America’s Only Cafetuer
In this special episode of the Restaurant Success Podcast, veteran restaurant consultant Matthew Mabel pays tribute to Ed Murph, the owner and driving force behind Norma's Café in Dallas. Rather than the usual business strategies, Matthew refle...
Why Avoiding Risk Isn’t Actually a Great Strategy
In this episode of the Restaurant Success Podcast, Matthew Mabel tackles a critical question facing many restaurant entrepreneurs today: is playing it safe actually the riskiest business strategy of all? For multi-unit independent restaurant ow...
Increase Guest Count Now by Doing These Five Things
In today's challenging restaurant industry, many operators are watching revenue hold steady while their guest count quietly erodes. In this episode, restaurant business advisor Matthew Mabel breaks down why guest count is the most critical metr...
How To Wake Up Your Brand and Increase Guest Count
Is your restaurant brand showing signs of fatigue? In this episode of the Restaurant Success Podcast, veteran restaurant advisor Matthew Mabel tackles what he calls "Sleepy Restaurant Syndrome" — the slow decline that happens when independent r...
The Best Ways Restaurants Activate and Retain Excellent Management
In this episode of the Restaurant Success Podcast, Matthew Mabel tackles one of the most pressing challenges in the restaurant industry today: how to activate and retain excellent management talent. With restaurant owners and entrepreneurs acro...
Why You Miss the Biggest Hidden Opportunities in Your Restaurants
In this episode of the Restaurant Success Podcast, Matthew Mabel reveals why successful restaurant entrepreneurs often overlook their greatest business opportunities. Drawing from his extensive consulting experience with multi-unit restaurant o...
Only 3 Worthwhile Places to Look When Developing a Healthy Restaurant Business
In this episode of the Restaurant Success Podcast, Matthew Mabel cuts through the noise of restaurant entrepreneurship to reveal the three essential areas every restaurant business owner must examine when developing a healthy, profitable operat...
Improve Your Restaurants Big Time by Taking a Buyer's Perspective
In this episode of the Restaurant Success Podcast, Matthew Mabel shares one of the most powerful mindset shifts a restaurant owner can make: viewing your business as if you just bought it. This entrepreneurial approach helps restaurant operator...
How to Conquer My 3 Stages of Restaurant Business Growth
Every successful restaurant entrepreneur must understand where they stand in their business journey. In this episode, Matthew Mabel breaks down the three critical stages of restaurant business growth that every independent restaurant owner expe...
The Five Best Things I Told You This Year…and Why
In this special year-end episode, restaurant business advisor Matthew Mabel shares the five most impactful articles and episodes from 2025 that helped independent restaurant entrepreneurs achieve success in a challenging flat market. Matthew re...
How To Take The Right Steps Toward Mastering Your Restaurant Financials
In this episode of the Restaurant Success Podcast, veteran restaurant advisor Matthew Mabel tackles the critical yet often overlooked topic of mastering restaurant financials for entrepreneurship success. Whether you're running a single-unit bu...
Breaking Out of the Funk of this Unusually Flat Market
In this episode, restaurant business advisor Matthew Mabel tackles the challenges independent restaurant owners face in today's unusually flat market. With consumer confidence low and economic conditions uncertain, many restaurateurs feel stuck...
How Creating a Culture of Trust Benefits Top Restaurateurs
In this episode of the Restaurant Success Podcast, veteran restaurant advisor Matthew Mabel reveals why mastering your financials is one of the most powerful levers for increasing restaurant profit. Whether you're running a growing multi-unit r...
How to Conquer My 3 Stages of Restaurant Business Growth
Discover the three critical stages every restaurant entrepreneur must navigate to achieve sustainable business growth and long-term success. In this episode, Matthew Mabel breaks down his proven framework for restaurant business development, fr...
How to Overcome the Dark News About Our Industry
In this episode of the Restaurant Success Podcast, restaurant entrepreneurship expert Matthew Mabel addresses the damaging negative press plaguing the restaurant industry and provides a strategic roadmap for independent restaurant owners to thr...
How to Clarify the Best Way Forward for Your Restaurants
Navigating restaurant entrepreneurship has never been more complex, and understanding where your business stands is crucial for success in today's challenging market. In this episode, restaurant business consultant Matthew Mabel reveals a strat...
To Win the 2026 Marathon, Plan Your Rest Now!
In this episode of The Restaurant Success Podcast, Matthew Mabel explores the critical decision restaurant owners and entrepreneurs face in today's competitive business landscape: choosing between small, incremental changes and bold, transforma...
Know Yourself and Create Restaurant Success In Any Market
In this essential episode for restaurant entrepreneurship, Matthew Mabel addresses the unprecedented flat market challenging restaurant business owners today. Restaurant operators face a critical decision point: identify which of three operatio...
Avoid Pitfalls of Restaurant Expansion by Planning in Advance
Restaurant expansion requires careful planning and strategic foresight to avoid common pitfalls that can derail growth. In this episode of the Restaurant Success Podcast, we explore essential entrepreneurship principles for restaurant owners lo...
How To Learn from the Massive Cracker Barrel Debacle
Episode SummaryIn this episode of the Restaurant Success Podcast, Matthew Mabel examines Cracker Barrel's recent brand modernization struggles and what independent restaurant owners can learn from their missteps. Discover why thei...
It's A Surprisingly Easy Choice: Be Activated Or Average?
In this episode of the Restaurant Success Podcast, Matthew Mabel explores the critical choice every restaurant entrepreneur faces: embracing an activated approach to business success or settling for average results. Discover actionable strategi...