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Unlocking Restaurant Growth with Newk's Eatery CEO Frank Paci

·32 min·2 clips

Frank cut mortadella and capicola from an Italian sandwich after waste showed a 50% problem.

1. The Restaurant Technology Guys Podcast episode centers on The Restaurant Technology Guys Podcast and Newk's Eatery CEO Frank Paci's approach to growth and operations. 2. Host Jeremy Julian, the Chief Revenue Officer at CBS Northstar, interviews Frank Paci, who says he has worked at Burger King, Pizza Hut, McAlister's Deli, and Corner Bakery. 3. The episode asks how Newk's Eatery keeps quality high while simplifying restaurant execution and expanding the brand. 4. Frank says Newk's was founded in Jackson, Mississippi, by the same Newcomb family that founded McAllister's Deli. 5. He says the Newcomb family sold McAllister's to private equity and launched Newk's after the non-compete expired. 6. Frank describes Newk's as a sandwiches, salads, soups, and pizza brand with almost 100 locations in the Southeast. 7. He says the brand is strongest in Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, and the Atlanta metro area. 8. Frank says about 45% of sales are dine-in, 55% are off-premise, and roughly 12% comes from catering. 9. He says pizza is about 15% of sales and helps the dinner daypart because pizza skews later than lunch. 10. He points to pairings, family meal deals, and a kid's pizza as ways Newk's uses pizza to drive demand. 11. Frank says Newk's simplifies operations by using conveyor ovens instead of microwaves and by cooking sandwiches and pizzas in a standardized flow. 12. He says the brand uses premium ingredients like fresh chicken, shrimp, and salmon while keeping the process hard to screw up. 13. Frank says the company evaluates actual versus theoretical cost to find waste and standardize recipes. 14. He gives the example of changing pepperoni counts on pizzas after finding that the extra complexity hurt training and execution. 15. He says an Italian sandwich was simplified after waste on mortadella and capicola showed up in the numbers. 16. Frank says a founder reaction to that change later turned into higher sales for the Italian sandwich. 17. The interview style is practical and operational, with Jeremy pushing on menu design, staffing, and cost control. 18. Frank's tone is measured and specific, and he uses examples from Newk's stores rather than broad theory. 19. People who run fast-casual chains or franchise systems will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners wanting celebrity stories or light banter will probably skip it.

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