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52:593.6K views · 4d ago · 52:59
Guest: Justin Mennen
Get Recognized: Are you building or using cutting-edge AI in your operations? Put your brand in the spotlight with the Restaurant AI Awards by SavorFM, celebrating the industry’s top operators and tech innovators. Nominate or Apply
28:398.6K views · 1w ago · 28:39
How does a 100% gluten-free Brazilian café scale beyond its core demographic into a high-growth fast-casual powerhouse? In this episode of the Fast Casual Nation Front Runners series, host Paul sits down with Pedro and Cleo Uchôa, the visionaries behind TAP.
46:341.7K views · 1w ago · 46:34
Guests: Chicken Salad Chick CFO, Drew Travis
In this episode, they break down why the rumored Starbucks and Chipotle deal was a false start, discuss how top brands are navigating traffic slumps without gutting margins, and explore bold marketing shifts like Chipotle’s "big ass bag." Plus, they are joined by Drew Travis, the new CFO of Chicken Salad Chick.
55:406.9K views · 3w ago · 55:40
Guest: Chad Coulter
Emerging Brand Survival Kit: How Biscuit Belly's CEO Turned a Cracker Barrel Exit Into a Growth Engine What does it take for an emerging restaurant brand to scale without losing its identity? On this episode of Fast Casual Nation, hosts Paul Barron and Cherryh Cansler sit down with Chad Coulter, founder and CEO of Biscuit Belly, for a practical survival kit for founders.
24:455.7K views · 1mo ago · 24:45
Nearly half of restaurants plan to replace or significantly upgrade their POS in 2026. At FSTEC in Dallas, PAR's SVP of Product told a packed room the POS market is splitting into two camps: open ecosystems and walled gardens. Which way your POS goes will shape almost everything else in your tech stack.
Topics: FSTEC and the 44% slide · What the 44% stat says · What operators want from their POS · How the tech stack outgrew the POS · A back-office view from CrunchTime · Why AI raises the stakes
47:408.4K views · 1mo ago · 47:40
Guest: Claudia Lezcano
On this episode of Fast Casual Nation, Paul Barron and Cherryh Cansler talk with Claudia Lezcano, CEO of Fuku, about how the David Chang chicken brand is growing through stadiums, airports and college campuses before it franchises. Lezcano covers the economics of "quick culinary," the lessons from Fuku's corporate restaurants in West Palm Beach and Coral Gables, and how she negotiates with landlords, sports teams and airport operators.
48:528.3K views · 1mo ago · 48:52
Bartender and James Beard nominee Ivy Leyenda joins Fast Casual Nation to break down whether cocktails belong on the fast casual menu. She talks batching for consistency, realistic price points ($12–$15), why she's skeptical of automated pour systems and pricey mocktails, and which accessible spirit brands can add a "craft" signal without wrecking your pour cost. Plus: a first look at this year's Perfect Pitch competitors ahead of the Fast Casual Executive Summit.
16:147.8K views · 1mo ago · 16:14
I read a Wall Street Journal article about fast food chains walking back the kiosk experiment, then drove to a Wendy's and ran my own live test. What I watched an older couple go through at the kiosk, while I built a five part custom Freestyle drink and bit into my burger before they finished ordering, says everything about where restaurant technology went wrong and how the biggest names in QSR are now spending real money to fix it.
41:407.9K views · 1mo ago · 41:40
Nékter Juice Bar CTO Jon Asher joins Fast Casual Nation hosts Paul Barron and Cherryh Cansler to break down how AI is reshaping guest personalization, loyalty, and data strategy at the 200+ unit juice bar chain — plus why clean first-party data matters more than any single AI tool.
39:372.8K views · 1mo ago · 39:37
Curion - We connect brands to people. Visit Get Recognized: Are you building or using cutting-edge AI in your operations? Put your brand in the spotlight with the Restaurant AI Awards by SavorFM, celebrating the industry’s top operators and tech innovators.
47:332.9K views · 2mo ago · 47:33
Guest: Daniel Ceniceros
On this episode of Fast Casual Nation, hosts Paul Barron and Cherryh Cansler sit down with Daniel Ceniceros, Founder & CEO of Connect Media, to unpack how commercial real estate is reshaping the restaurant industry.
38:2015K views · 2mo ago · 38:20
Dave's Hot Chicken CMO Brandon Rhoten joins Fast Casual Nation to break down how the fast-growing chicken chain uses AI on the back end for customer data and financial analysis while deliberately keeping it out of creative and content production.
27:558.3K views · 2mo ago · 27:55
The episode revisits the 2021–2022 wave of restaurant Web3 experiments—Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Burger King, Applebee’s, Chipotle, Bored & Hungry, and Starbucks Odyssey—and explains why none are still running by 2026. Paul Molinari argues the failures stemmed from being marketing campaigns instead of products, offering ownership without useful utility, inviting speculation that undermined loyalty, and adding customer friction through wallets and other crypto steps.
Topics: NFT Restaurant Mania · Early Brand Stunts · Bored Ape Burger Reality · Starbucks Odyssey Rise · Why Web3 Loyalty Died · Four Causes of Death
51:071K views · 2mo ago · 51:07
Guest: Suzie Tsai
Get Recognized: Are you building or using cutting-edge AI in your operations? Put your brand in the spotlight with the Restaurant AI Awards by SavorFM, celebrating the industry’s top operators and tech innovators. Nominate or Apply
Topics: The Growth of Bonchon and Its Menu · Technology and AI Integration in Operations · Challenges and Opportunities in AI Implementation · Supply Chain Innovations with AI · Measuring ROI in AI Tools · Marketing Strategies Enhanced by AI
37:519.3K views · 2mo ago · 37:51
Guest: Elisia Flores
What does it take to scale a beloved regional icon into a fast-casual powerhouse with over 240 locations? In this episode, hosts Paul and Cherryh sit down with Elisia Flores, CEO of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, to unpack the strategy, culture, and operational savvy behind one of fast casual's biggest success stories. Elisia shares how the rich, multicultural history of Hawaii’s iconic "plate lunch" translates into new markets across Texas, the West Coast, and now Canada.
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