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The Restaurant Strategy podcast is dedicated helping independent restaurant owners increase the profitability of their restaurants and grow. The show is hosted by industry expert Chip Klose, who asks the question: What would your life look like if your restaurant could deliver consistent, predictable 20% returns?
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Chip Klose turns restaurant operations into concrete lessons about margins, marketing, staff performance, technology choices, and guest value.
Chip Klose keeps bringing restaurant decisions back to measurable consequences. Through solo teaching and conversations with guests, RESTAURANT STRATEGY connects the dining-room experience with revenue, margins, marketing, and operational discipline.
A box of steak knives has you rethinking what guests remember about dinner.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A plainspoken case for staying power, profit, and discipline over theatrics.
The episode treats restaurant ownership in 2025 as a long haul, not a quick win. Chip Close argues that the job is to stay in the game long enough to build a business that actually makes money, then uses the idea of the infinite game to link Wall Street and car dealerships…
A restaurant has to design for word of mouth, not wait for it.
It makes a simple business case: restaurant marketing cannot run on hope that good food and steady service will do all the talking. The stronger point is that word of mouth has to be earned on purpose, by giving people something memorable enough to repeat.
Practical restaurant onboarding advice focused on training, churn, and steady handoffs.
Restaurant Strategy makes a plain case for fixing churn at the start: training has to begin on day one and keep going after that. Chip Close argues that many restaurants still leave new hires to figure things out too early, and replacement costs make that a mistake that is hard…
A clear look at how restaurant empathy can sharpen marketing.
The episode treats empathy as a working tool for restaurant marketing, not a soft slogan. It keeps the focus on who the business is trying to reach and how the message changes when the audience is local regulars, special occasion diners, business people, or tourists.
A birthday list of restaurant lessons that keeps circling back to accountability.
Restaurant Strategy turns Chip Close's 45th birthday into a compact run of restaurant advice. It spends most of its time on systems and goals, then moves through accountability, clear expectations, and the idea that work should still leave room for personal life.
A blunt case for replacing markdowns with a real reason to buy.
Restaurant Strategy takes on a familiar operator mistake: treating discounts as a stand-in for urgency. Chip Close opens with three questions, why buy, why buy from you, and why now, and turns them into a workable sales frame.
A clear reminder that the guest experience is the product, not the side effect.
Restaurant Strategy treats hospitality as the product, not the backdrop. Chip Close, with Sal Rotolo, keeps the focus on what guests feel from the moment they walk in until they leave.
Practical social media inspiration for restaurants that want concrete examples, not theory.
The episode treats restaurant social media as both paid and organic work, and it keeps returning to the idea that the two belong together. It also points to ten accounts that are doing the work well, using them as concrete reference points rather than leaving the advice at the…
Rob Walling on bootstrapped SaaS growth, plateaus, and exits — with founders who lived them.
Abbey Ashley's playbook for turning your job skills into a virtual assistant business.
Naval Ravikant on epistemology, startups, and crypto, from David Deutsch to Vitalik Buterin.
Alex Theuma interviews SaaS founders and investors on scaling to $10M-plus ARR.
Guy Raz traces founders' origin stories and fields live advice-line calls from entrepreneurs.
Alex Blumberg interviews guests like Megan Phelps-Roper and Shane McAnally about failure and reinvention.
This episode provides guidance on effective year-ahead planning for restaurant owners, emphasizing profitability as essential for business sustainability and growth.
This episode provides eight practical do's and don'ts for restaurant owners to quickly upgrade their websites to capture more traffic and enhance their digital presence.
This episode introduces the three essential marketing channels for restaurants and promotes a mastermind program to help owners achieve consistent 20% profits.
This episode discusses the essential growth metrics for restaurant owners, focusing on maximizing revenue from existing customers and attracting new ones through effective operations and marketing strategies.
This episode presents eight practical strategies for increasing restaurant revenue without additional marketing spending, focusing on operational improvements and overlooked tactics.
This episode challenges the myth that busy restaurants are successful, arguing that true profitability requires intentional design rather than just hustle, and introduces strategies for restaurant owners to improve their operations and marketing.
This episode discusses why being 'good enough' is no longer sufficient for restaurants in 2026 and offers strategic solutions through coaching programs to improve profitability and scalability.
This episode features an interview with Greg Majewski, CEO of Craveworthy Brands, discussing how to scale small restaurant brands into large, profitable businesses.
This episode features an interview with Ron Cardwell about RTI's services for managing cooking oil in restaurants to improve operations and profitability.
This episode introduces the concept of 'figure eights' as a strategy for restaurant owners to improve staff productivity, enhance service, and increase revenue by keeping employees focused and engaged.
This episode features an interview with James Beard Award-winning chef Katie Button, discussing her non-traditional career trajectory and insights into growing restaurant brands.
This episode of Restaurant Strategy explores business development and expansion strategies for restaurant owners, featuring insights from biz dev expert Edie Weintraub.
This episode presents two case studies from the P3 Mastermind group coaching program to demonstrate how effective coaching helps independent restaurant owners increase profitability.
This episode presents eight bold predictions about the future of the restaurant industry, emphasizing the need for operators to adapt to fundamental changes in hospitality and operations to achieve higher profitability.
This episode discusses how busyness differs from productivity, offering strategies for independent restaurant owners to increase profitability and reduce workload, with a focus on efficient tip management using Kickfin.
This episode shares surprising statistics about goal setting and provides actionable strategies for independent restaurant owners to automate profits and achieve consistent financial success.
This episode discusses how restaurants need to adapt their search strategies for AI tools like ChatGPT, focusing on profitability and growth through marketing and operations.
This episode features an interview with consultant Sam Maddox about selecting the right POS system and optimizing processing rates for restaurant businesses.
This episode discusses shifting from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset for restaurant owners planning their year, emphasizing gratitude over greed.
This episode explores how independent restaurants excel in soul and community connection while chain restaurants outperform in revenue management, offering strategies for independent owners to improve profitability.
This episode focuses on the two essential things restaurant owners need to do to build a strong marketing foundation and achieve consistent profitability.
This episode explains why labor feels out of control in restaurants and offers solutions through intentional design and management strategies.
This episode provides eight practical leadership tips for restaurant owners to implement immediately for better effectiveness in 2026.
This episode discusses how restaurant owners can build a sustainable business that doesn't collapse when they take time off, focusing on increasing profitability and reducing workload.
This episode argues that restaurant owners should raise prices every month to achieve higher profitability and business sustainability.
This episode argues that marketing struggles in restaurants stem from a lack of clarity rather than ineffective marketing tactics, emphasizing clarity as the key growth lever.
This episode explores how marketing and culture intersect in the restaurant industry, focusing on influencing both employee and diner behavior to drive business success.
This episode explores practical, free strategies for restaurant owners to enhance hospitality, build deeper guest connections, and boost profitability through return visits and increased revenue.
This episode explores how improving employee retention and the guest experience can increase profitability for independent restaurant owners, featuring insights from industry operators.
This episode argues that Google should be central to restaurant marketing strategies because it's where potential customers search for services, and offers practical guidance on implementation.
This episode explores what constitutes good marketing, with a focus on applying specificity and intention to marketing strategies, particularly for restaurant businesses.
Chip Klose answers the common question of how much to spend on marketing by reframing it as an investment rather than a cost.
Chip Klose shares 10 restaurant accounts excelling on social media, offering inspiration and practical tips like prioritizing video content and using social media as a lookbook rather than for discovery.
Chip Klose explains how restaurants should approach community events not for immediate revenue but as customer acquisition opportunities, using tactics like the fishbowl method and gift card incentives to drive traffic back to the restaurant.
Restaurants struggle.
The host turns a recent trip to Greece into five marketing lessons, tracking where he chose to eat and what made those restaurants stick.
Chip Klose discusses why running a profitable restaurant is harder than ever in 2025, framing business as an infinite game where survival depends on understanding and adapting to new rules around rent, labor, and cost of goods.
Chip Klose and guest Sal Rotolo discuss the importance of guest experience in restaurants, emphasizing that it's about selling an experience, not just food.
Chip Klose discusses the importance of creating remarkable experiences to drive word-of-mouth marketing for restaurants, using examples like free hand rolls, bacon on a clothesline, and helium balloons to illustrate actionable strategies.
Chip Klose challenges the common restaurant industry advice to avoid selling desserts, arguing that it's a missed opportunity to increase check averages.
Why should anyone buy now?
Empathy comes first.
Twelve takeaways, three days, one problem.
Revenue alone is not the rescue plan.
Start with the problem.
Chip Klose addresses the restaurant industry's high employee churn and poor training practices, proposing a three-tiered system to improve onboarding, skill development, and long-term retention.
In this 500th episode, host Chip Close outlines six constraints holding restaurant owners back: poor expense management, chasing revenue, time mismanagement, weak team leadership, lack of knowledge, and no clear vision.
In this special birthday episode, host Chip Klose shares 45 pieces of advice from his 25-year career in the restaurant industry, covering topics like profitability, culture, marketing, and leadership.
Chip Klose shares five simple four-walls marketing tactics for independent restaurants, focusing on internal strategies like better customer greetings, bounce-back offers for first-timers, soliciting Google reviews, engaging conversations, and effective goodbyes to boost profitability.
Chip Klose explains how to run effective pre-shift meetings in restaurants, covering common mistakes like long lectures and offering solutions like the 80/20 rule and structured participation.
The host discusses how being overly nice can hurt restaurant profitability and culture, and offers leadership advice for independent restaurant owners.
The host discusses why word of mouth is not a strategy but a result, and aims to replace it with a more powerful marketing approach for restaurant owners.
Chip Klose discusses the importance of delegation and trust in restaurant leadership to improve profitability.
Chip Klose explains that social media is communication at scale, not just content, and offers strategies for restaurant owners to attract new customers.
The host argues that a restaurant menu is an operating system, not a creative document, and explains how to rebuild it for profitability.
Host Chip Klose interviews Jason Coe about how to obtain a liquor license to boost restaurant profitability.
The host introduces the topic of influencer marketing for restaurants and promotes his coaching program for independent restaurant owners.
This episode discusses labor management strategies for independent restaurant owners to increase profitability and reduce employee churn.
The host provides quick tips on using organic social media effectively to increase restaurant profitability.
Host Chip Klose asks listeners to leave a review and previews an interview with founders of NoCo Restaurant about innovative restaurant building approaches.