The Hospitality Hangout
The Hospitality Hangout
Join Michael Schatzberg aka Schatzy (The Restaurant Guy) and Jimmy Frischling (The Finance Guy) on The Hospitality Hangout as they explore hospitality, food service, and investment trends while connecting with industry leaders. Each week, receive insider insights and funny stories that shape the hospitality landscape. They live at the intersection of hospitality, food service, technology, and investment, connecting the biggest players and boldest ideas shaping the industry. Each week, they serve up funny, informative, and wildly entertaining conversations with the insiders who are leading a new era of hospitality. From emerging brands and breakthrough tech to industry trends and restaurant success stories, no topic is off the table. It’s where the who’s who of hospitality hangs out – packed with expert insights, laugh-out-loud moments, and must-know trends that keep you ahead of the game. 🍽️ Tune in, grab a drink, and let’s talk shop! 🚀
The Hospitality Hangout

Welcome to the Hospitality Hangout

Join Michael Schatzberg (The Restaurant Guy) and Jimmy Frischling (The Finance Guy) on The Hospitality Hangout for bold, hilarious, and insight-packed conversations with the power players redefining hospitality. From hot trends and tech breakthroughs to behind-the-scenes stories, no topic is off the table.

Recent Episodes

154
Sept. 1, 2026

The Friday Feeling: Inside TGI Fridays’ Comeback

Ray Blanchette joins Hospitality Hangout to talk about capturing the Friday Feeling and rebuilding TGI Fridays for its next chapter. From potato skins and Jack Daniel’s ribs to menu upgrades, bar flair, off-premise, Olo, social media, mocktails, global growth, and the return of casual dining, this is the TGI Fridays comeback story.
153
Aug. 27, 2026

The 2 P.M. Snack Brand Taking Over Grocery Shelves

Jake Karls of Mid-Day Squares joins Hospitality Hangout to talk about the chocolate bar built for the 2 p.m. crash and the content strategy that made the brand impossible to ignore. From a condo kitchen to thousands of grocery stores, Jake shares how Mid-Day Squares used storytelling, social media, founder drama, Hershey buzz, food influencers, and loyal fans to turn functional chocolate into a movement.
152
Aug. 25, 2026

The SONIC Way: Custom Drinks, Drive-Ins and Doing It Their Way

SONIC Brand President John Kelly joins Hospitality Hangout to talk custom drinks, dirty soda, drive-in culture, SONIC ice, tots, loyalty, AI, and why SONIC still feels different after more than 70 years. This one is about nostalgia, weirdness, beverages, and building a QSR brand that knows exactly what it is.
150
Aug. 18, 2026

Why Busy Restaurants Still Fail: Bruce Nelson on the Math Behind Profit

Bruce Nelson, founder of Tempo Hospitality Group and author of Restaurant Management: The Myth, the Magic, the Math, explains why busy restaurants can still fail if the math does not work. From menu pricing and cash flow to POS data, AI analytics, fractional CFO services, and restaurant profitability, this episode breaks down what operators need to know to manage profit, not just expenses.
149
Aug. 11, 2026

Maui Roots, San Diego Hustle: The Kalei’s Kitchenette Story

Kalei’s Kitchenette grew from a farmers market table into a San Diego Hawaiian food and catering brand rooted in Maui flavors, Filipino hospitality, and family-owned grit. Co-founder Khara Mangiduyos shares how she and Chef Andy built Kalei’s around Huli Huli chicken, Spam musubi, Kalua pork, catering, community, and the aloha spirit, while using technology to help a small restaurant operate like a bigger brand.
148
Aug. 4, 2026

How The Mudpuppy Used AI Menu Engineering to Grow Restaurant Sales

Is your restaurant menu leaving money on the table? Amir Harpaz of The Mudpuppy explains how a seasonal dockside restaurant on Tellico Lake used AI menu engineering, menu psychology, POS data, and smarter restaurant technology to improve sales without simply raising prices. From Menu Mind to SpotOn integrations, this conversation looks at how independent operators can use AI and better systems to grow.

Recent Blog Posts

Sept. 1, 2026

DRIPS by Pepsi: Crafted Beverages as a Restaurant Growth Strategy

Dirty soda, cold foam, popping boba, custom drinks — at what point does a beverage trend become a real growth strategy? On a new episode of The Hospitality Hangout, PepsiCo's Scott Finlow and Alison Dempsey explain how DRIPS by Pepsi is turning craf…
Sept. 1, 2026

Restaurant Profit Math: Why Busy Restaurants Still Fail

A packed dining room feels like success — but a full house can still lose money. On a new episode of The Hospitality Hangout, Bruce Nelson, founder of Tempo Hospitality Group and author of Restaurant Management: The Myth, the Magic, the Math, breaks…
Sept. 1, 2026

Mid-Day Squares: How Jake Karls Built a Functional Chocolate Brand

Most functional-food brands sell the function. Mid-Day Squares sold the story. In a new episode of The Hospitality Hangout, co-founder Jake Karls explains how a chocolate bar built for the 2 p.m. energy crash went from a condo kitchen to thousands o…