Episode 616: Building Community, One Table at a Time: Ken Stemke, Main Street Social, Libertyville, IL

Wil welcomes guest Ken Stemke, owner of Main Street Social in Libertyville, IL, an upscale Italian-American restaurant with its own wine label. Ken traces his hospitality spark to bussing tables in high school, then a 35-year career in banking that armed him with the financial discipline many restaurants lack. He shares how a seasoned team, empowerment, and a recent, internally driven menu refresh (60+ dishes tested) improved culture and guest experience. The convo dives into COVID cash-flow planning, POS frustrations, the importance of listening to staff and guests, policy headwinds like tip-credit changes, rising costs/tariffs, tech overreach, and why independent restaurants—and local coalitions—are essential to community life.

Key Takeaways

1. Banking → hospitality advantage: Ken’s finance/accounting background gave him crucial cash-flow and planning skills most operators need but often lack.
   
   
2. Seasoned staff pays off: With servers averaging ~40 in age and long tenures, May Street Social avoids much of the turnover drama.
   
   
3. Empowerment drives innovation: Shifting decision-making to loyal team members led to a broad menu refresh without outside consultants.
   
   
4. Manufacturing mindset: Treat each dish like a mini job—know costs, margins, and process control just as in production.
   
   
5. Plan for storms: During COVID, Ken worked off daily cash-flows and prebuilt “Plan A/B/C” responses to policy changes.
   
   
6. Policy ripple effects: Eliminating the tip credit (e.g., in Chicago) raises labor costs significantly and can hurt independents more than chains.
   
   
7. Tariffs & uncertainty pinch demand: Cost shocks (produce, glass, wine) and scary headlines can temporarily depress traffic.
   
   
8. Right-sized tech: Restaurants should resist feature bloat; deploy only tools that simplify ops (Ken is doubling down on using Schedulefly fully).
   
   
9. POS matters: Weak reporting and lack of integrations create friction; handhelds and better data can smooth service pacing.
   
   
10. Community is the moat: Independent restaurants anchor local identity; forming downtown/indie coalitions amplifies marketing and advocacy.