

The Hospitality Hangout | Restaurant Industry Trends & Hospitality Leaders
Michael Schatzberg & Jimmy Frischling - Hospitality Insiders | Expert Strategies & Trends.', Hosts: Michael Schatzberg and Jimmy Frischling | Branded Hospitality Media, Hospitality Insiders | Michael Schatzberg & Jimmy Frischling | Branded Hospitality Media
The Hospitality Hangout is where the restaurant industry gets real.
Hosted by Schatzy, the Restaurant Guy, and Jimmy, the Finance Guy, this funny, unfiltered hospitality podcast dives into restaurant trends, food service innovation, hospitality technology, and the investment strategies shaping the future of the industry.
With decades of hands-on experience operating restaurants and structuring capital markets deals, these two bring real-world insight from the kitchen to the boardroom. They connect the biggest operators, boldest founders, and sharpest investors in hospitality for conversations you won’t hear anywhere else.
Each week you’ll hear from C-suite restaurant executives, franchise leaders, emerging brand founders, hospitality tech innovators, and private equity investors who are building the next era of food and hospitality.
Expect insider stories, sharp opinions, real numbers, and plenty of laughs. No fluff. No corporate spin. Just honest conversations about what is actually happening in restaurants and food service.
If you care about scaling restaurants, raising capital, building brands, or staying ahead of hospitality trends, this is your show.
Grab a drink, pull up a chair, and let’s talk shop.
Welcome to The Hospitality Hangout.
Hosted by Schatzy, the Restaurant Guy, and Jimmy, the Finance Guy, this funny, unfiltered hospitality podcast dives into restaurant trends, food service innovation, hospitality technology, and the investment strategies shaping the future of the industry.
With decades of hands-on experience operating restaurants and structuring capital markets deals, these two bring real-world insight from the kitchen to the boardroom. They connect the biggest operators, boldest founders, and sharpest investors in hospitality for conversations you won’t hear anywhere else.
Each week you’ll hear from C-suite restaurant executives, franchise leaders, emerging brand founders, hospitality tech innovators, and private equity investors who are building the next era of food and hospitality.
Expect insider stories, sharp opinions, real numbers, and plenty of laughs. No fluff. No corporate spin. Just honest conversations about what is actually happening in restaurants and food service.
If you care about scaling restaurants, raising capital, building brands, or staying ahead of hospitality trends, this is your show.
Grab a drink, pull up a chair, and let’s talk shop.
Welcome to The Hospitality Hangout.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 10, 2021 • 43min
Hospitality Robotics | Season 3, Vol. 6: Miso Robotics
In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Mike Bell, the chief executive officer of Miso Robotics, to explore how robot technology is transforming the restaurant and hospitality landscape.Miso Robotics is a robotic restaurant platform powered by artificial intelligence. The platform was created to support high-volume restaurant operators by making back of house processes safer, simpler, and seamless. Clients include CaliBurger, White Castle, and Levy Restaurants at Dodger Stadium.“There hasn’t been any real automation since the dishwasher,” says Bell. “Computer vision… is now available to the restaurant industry and it performs really well. The next wave of adoption for this technology is upon us.”“Flippy” is the platform’s autonomous robotic kitchen assistant. At present, the latest iteration of “Flippy” is a robotic arm that hangs from a frame right over a fry station at an existing restaurant, managing the dirty, repetitive, and often dangerous tasks that humans generally do not want to do.The goal for Miso Robotics was to humanize the robot for restaurant staff and make it like a colleague.“Flippy does a lot more than flipping burgers,” says Bell. “It is really hard for operators to recruit and retain people to do this job. It’s just not a job people generally want to do… it’s about $2500 for one shift—for one human being to stand over a fry station. So we thought, we’re going to provide our robots for the same amount of money.”Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.
Episode Credits:Sponsored by: DirecTVProduced by: Branded Hospitality MediaHosted by: Michael Schatzberg, JImmy FrischlingProducer: Julie ZuckerCreative Director: Adam LevineShow Runner: Drewe RaimiPost Production: GrodMediawww.thehospitalityhangout.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

May 4, 2021 • 44min
Supporting and Growing Brands | Season 3, Vol. 5: Aurify Brands
In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with John Rigos, the founder and co-chief executive officer of Aurify Brands, to explore the culinary, marketing, and technology behind building a brand.Aurify Brands is committed to conceiving, building, and growing original concepts that last for the long-term. Their brands include Melt Shop, Little Beet, Table, Fields Good Chicken, and Five Guys. The goal is to foster brands with a great culture and lasting value that stay true to each business’s mission.“One of the nice things about how we’re structured as a platform is that we can pretty readily do a bolt-on acquisition to leverage the platform and integrate it into our portfolio more readily than a typical restaurant company,” says Rigos. “A typical restaurant company has a management team that supports the growth of the brand. We have that at each of the brand levels, but we also have this platform above them that supports the brand.”Aurify recently secured a major acquisition: Le Pain Quotidien. The popular chain was going to go bankrupt before the purchase.“We did pivot very strategically… we proactively started looking in the marketplace for brands that were great brands but were struggling on the liquidity side,” adds Rigos. “The company was sold to a private equity firm in 2016. In the ensuing years, some of the decisions at the management level crushed a lot of what made the brand special.”For Aurify, the bankruptcy was an opportunity for them to acquire the brand.“Either the company was going to go bankrupt or the company needed capital to take it through the bankruptcy process,” says Rigos. “The beauty of the bankruptcy process is it enables you to revisit your contracts. We started negotiating with all the landlords, as the bankruptcy process enables you to shed all the leases you don’t like… we felt really good being part of the solution that was going to be bringing back jobs and paying landlords and start paying suppliers.”Click here for more recovery and relief information for restaurant, hospitality and food service operators. And to keep listening, check out The Hospitality Hangout podcast on Spotify!This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.
Episode Credits:Sponsored by: DirecTVProduced by: Branded Hospitality MediaHosted by: Michael Schatzberg, JImmy FrischlingProducer: Julie ZuckerCreative Director: Adam LevineShow Runner: Drewe RaimiPost Production: GrodMediawww.thehospitalityhangout.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Apr 27, 2021 • 44min
The Rise of Ghost Kitchens | Season 3, Vol. 4: Zuul
In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Corey Manicone, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Zuul, to explore the growing popularity of ghost kitchens.This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.
Episode Credits:Sponsored by: DirecTVProduced by: Branded Hospitality MediaHosted by: Michael Schatzberg, JImmy FrischlingProducer: Julie ZuckerCreative Director: Adam LevineShow Runner: Drewe RaimiPost Production: GrodMediawww.thehospitalityhangout.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Apr 20, 2021 • 48min
How to Engage Investors | Season 3, Vol. 3: MATH Venture Partners
In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Troy Henikoff, the managing director of MATH Venture Partners, to offer best practices for investing, as well as advice for young entrepreneurs fundraising for their new business.This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.
Episode Credits:Sponsored by: DirecTVProduced by: Branded Hospitality MediaHosted by: Michael Schatzberg, JImmy FrischlingProducer: Julie ZuckerCreative Director: Adam LevineShow Runner: Drewe RaimiPost Production: GrodMediawww.thehospitalityhangout.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Apr 6, 2021 • 48min
The Restaurant Evolution | Season 3, Vol. 2: 7shifts
In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Jordan Boesch, the chief executive officer of 7shifts, to explore how the restaurant and hospitality industry has evolved over the course of the pandemic.This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.
Episode Credits:Sponsored by: DirecTVProduced by: Branded Hospitality MediaHosted by: Michael Schatzberg, JImmy FrischlingProducer: Julie ZuckerCreative Director: Adam LevineShow Runner: Drewe RaimiPost Production: GrodMediawww.thehospitalityhangout.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mar 23, 2021 • 45min
AI & Data-Driven Analytics | Season 3, Vol. 1: Amazon
In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Steve Elinson, the worldwide head of restaurants and foodservice for Amazon Web Services (AWS), to explore what Amazon offers restaurants today.This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.
Episode Credits:Sponsored by: DirecTVProduced by: Branded Hospitality MediaHosted by: Michael Schatzberg, JImmy FrischlingProducer: Julie ZuckerCreative Director: Adam LevineShow Runner: Drewe RaimiPost Production: GrodMediawww.thehospitalityhangout.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Mar 9, 2021 • 36min
Merging Hospitality, Technology, and Finance | Season 2, Vol. 12: Personica
In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Andrew Feigenson, the new chief executive officer of Personica, to explore the relationship and connections between hospitality, tech, and finance.This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.
Episode Credits:Sponsored by: DirecTVProduced by: Branded Hospitality MediaHosted by: Michael Schatzberg, JImmy FrischlingProducer: Julie ZuckerCreative Director: Adam LevineShow Runner: Drewe RaimiPost Production: GrodMediawww.thehospitalityhangout.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Feb 23, 2021 • 38min
Helping Operators With Their Digital Advertising | Season 2, Vol. 11: Targetable
In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Andrew Nash, the chief executive officer at Targetable, to explore two-for-one branding and rethinking your digital advertising strategy.This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.
Episode Credits:Sponsored by: DirecTVProduced by: Branded Hospitality MediaHosted by: Michael Schatzberg, JImmy FrischlingProducer: Julie ZuckerCreative Director: Adam LevineShow Runner: Drewe RaimiPost Production: GrodMediawww.thehospitalityhangout.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Feb 9, 2021 • 43min
Upgrade Your Online Ordering | Season 2, Vol. 10: ChowNow
In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Chris Webb, the chief executive officer and co-founder of ChowNow, to explore how restaurants today are enhancing and elevating their online ordering system.This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.
Episode Credits:Sponsored by: DirecTVProduced by: Branded Hospitality MediaHosted by: Michael Schatzberg, JImmy FrischlingProducer: Julie ZuckerCreative Director: Adam LevineShow Runner: Drewe RaimiPost Production: GrodMediawww.thehospitalityhangout.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jan 26, 2021 • 31min
From Fast Casual, to Fine Dining, to Finance | Season 2, Vol. 9: FAST Acquisition Corp.
In the latest episode of the Hospitality Hangout podcast, Michael Schatzberg “The Restaurant Guy” and Jimmy Frischling “The Finance Guy” sit down with Kimberly Grant, the co-sponsor and chief strategy officer at FAST Acquisition Group, to explore her rise in the restaurant industry, and what lies ahead for FAST.This syndicated content is brought to you by Branded Strategic Hospitality.
Episode Credits:Sponsored by: DirecTVProduced by: Branded Hospitality MediaHosted by: Michael Schatzberg, JImmy FrischlingProducer: Julie ZuckerCreative Director: Adam LevineShow Runner: Drewe RaimiPost Production: GrodMediawww.thehospitalityhangout.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.


