In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of QSRweb and Pizza Marketplace, chats with Amanda Potts, vice president of marketing and innovation for A&W Restaurants, about Potts' diverse background and how she returned to a foodservice career after working in the automotive industry.

Potts has more than 30 years of experience working in diverse industries including Valvoline and Fazoli's. She graduated from college and achieved her dream job working for an agency for Fazoli's. She left the food service industry for about seven years and worked in automotive, where she learned a wide range of new skills. She wanted to return to restaurants given she considers herself a foodie. "I love food. I still kept up with all the (food) industry news in restaurants and so I saw this opportunity to and thought, 'What a great chance to get back into restaurants,'" she shares in the podcast.

At the time of our interview, Potts had been with A&W for just two months, but the brand is already thinking about next year.

"There's been a lot of advances, a lot of changes since I've been gone but the business itself is the same," Potts said. "You're just trying to provide a great experience and hope customers come back to you."

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, host Mandy Detwiler, editor of QSRweb.com and Pizza Marketplace, chats with Heather Neary, president and CEO of Taco John's which has nearly 400 units in 23 states.

Neary took her leadership role last year, but Taco John's has been serving up tacos and its signature Potato Oles since 1969.

"We're a great legacy brand," Neary said. "We've got second-generation franchisees in the business. We've got a lot of really amazing operators who are here to honor the integrity of the historical brand that's got a lot of legs in front of it to grow forward."

Honoring the brand's rich history while innovating to gain new demographics is one of the brand's current operational goals. Neary said continual communication with the brand's franchisees and guests to understand the core assets of Taco John's that it "can't sway from" and where it can innovate to take it to the next level are primary targets.

For instance, the brand is testing AI in its drive-thru and has been for the past year or so.

"We're at a 93% to 94% accept rate which means that 6% of the time a human has to intercept the order because it's not going smoothly, but 93%, 94% of the time the AI voice ... is able to take the order for the guest and is able to do a great job delivering that great Taco John's experience that people are used to," Neary added.

To learn more about Taco John's and its innovations, listen to the podcast in its entirety. Don't forget to subscribe to the Networld Media Group podcast channel for more great restaurant interviews.

In this episode of the Restaurant Operator Podcast, Mandy Detwiler, editor of Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb, chats with Jeff's Bagel Run founder Jeff Perera.

Perera and his wife, Danielle, call themselves bagel fanatics. When Perera lost his job in 2019, he began making bagels for his wife at home. He then spread the love to family and friends, who told him he should sell the bagels. Eventually, he did locally.

In 2021, they opened the first Jeff's Bagel Run in Ocoee, Florida. Today, the brand has 15 stores in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Texas.

Perera said consistency across his brand starts with quality training.

"Whenever we have a new team start, a new franchisee join the system, we're going to put them through really extensive training so they can learn what it's like to be an owner of a Jeff's Bagel Run and to make sure that they have that as part of their DNA," Perera said. "That is going to be the first foundation."

To learn about about how Perera has expanded his bagel empire, click the link at the top.