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Restaurant Rewind

`Those who don’t know their history are destined to relive it', to riff on the words of a famed philosopher. For anyone in the restaurant business, that oft-quoted saying may be more of a heartening promise than a dire admonition. The industry’s past is packed with tales of scoundrels and heroes, big thinkers and pinheads, colossal successes and dismal failures, breakthrough moves and self-inflicted destruction. Few soap operas pack as much color and drama. Yet those yellowed snapshots provide insights relevant to the challenges of today. Join Peter Romeo, a 41-year veteran of the business with a penchant for restaurant history, as he explores those pivotal moments from the past. 

Leadership

If past is prologue, what's next for Jersey Mike's?

 By Peter Romeo on Nov. 21, 2024

Restaurant Rewind: The chain’s history is largely the story of founder and owner Peter Cancro doing what he believed was right for the brand, convention be damned. Now a majority stake will be held by a private-equity firm, a breed hardly known for being hands-off. Will Jersey Mike’s prove an exception?

Marketing

Is that the Big Boy driving my Uber?

 By Peter Romeo on Nov. 14, 2024

Restaurant Rewind: Restaurant mascots are seeing less career opportunity than stagecoach drivers these days. Here's the sad tale of how their fortunes have tanked.

Marketing

TGI Fridays needs to get its bad rep back

By Peter Romeo on Nov. 07, 2024

Restaurant Rewind: Once a true convention smasher, the casual-dining pioneer gradually sanded away the quirks and irreverence that made it saucier than anything the industry had seen before. Here’s a reminder of what it once was.

Operations

Decades later, Jack in the Box's E. coli outbreak is still being recalled. Here's why

By Peter Romeo on Oct. 31, 2024

Restaurant Rewind: The food-safety crisis was a turning point for the industry. Some say it was a long-overdue wakeup call that still has even giant fast-food chains like McDonald's on edge.

Operations

The pioneer of daytime dining is a chain you've likely never heard of

By Peter Romeo on Oct. 24, 2024

Restaurant Rewind: Before there was a First Watch or Another Broken Egg, there was Le Peep and its godfather, Allen Bernstein.

Leadership

Don't be surprised if your kids follow you into the restaurant business

By Peter Romeo on Oct. 17, 2024

Restaurant Rewind: Plenty of second and third generations have opted for the career paths their elders took, undercutting the popular perception that the field is the last place a sane person would want to work.

Operations

Hurricane Milton was expected to be nearly as bad as Katrina. Here's why the comparison should scare restaurants

By Peter Romeo on Oct. 10, 2024

Restaurant Rewind: The hurricane that hit New Orleans 19 years ago knocked the whole city onto its back, its famed dining scene included. Can the damage from Milton be remotely as severe?

Leadership

Norman Brinker also ran a pretty good CEO prep school

By Peter Romeo on Oct. 03, 2024

Restaurant Rewind: At one point, most casual-dining brands were led by the legendary chain builder's proteges. Now a similar grooming role is being played by Yum Brands.

Leadership

Carl Karcher's rags-to-riches story would make a killer mini-series. Here's the outline

By Peter Romeo on Sep. 26, 2024

Restaurant Rewind: The founder of Carl's Jr. borrowed against his old Plymouth to fund his first venture. The $326 bet would grow into a multi-billion-dollar empire Karcher would subsequently lose and regain, leaving behind a rich legacy in the process.

Operations

How the restaurant industry winced when butts were kicked

By Peter Romeo on Sep. 19, 2024

Restaurant Rewind: Two decades ago, many in the business pleaded with lawmakers to let patrons continue smoking. It would be a while before the whole industry would exhale and admit the sky wasn't falling.

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