¶ Importance of Hospitality in Restaurants
Welcome to another edition of Give An Ovation , the Restaurant Guest Experience podcast , where I talk to industry experts to get their strategies and tactics you can use to create a five-star guest experience .
This podcast is always sponsored by Ovation , an operations and guest recovery platform for multi-unit restaurants that gives them all the answers without annoying the guests . With all the questions . Learn more at ovationupcom .
And today we have a legend , a titan and , what I recently found out , a movie star Andy Husbands , the owner of the Smoke Shop BBQ , author of Pit Master . And not just Pit Master , but Pit Master is the book that I have behind me on my shelf . That wasn't your first book , Andy , right ? No ?
that's my best-selling book . I like to say . It took me four books to write a really good one . I've written six books all together . Yeah , yeah , yeah .
Because starting restaurants is just too easy , right . So you're like ah , I'm bored , I'm going to write some books . That's crazy man .
Um , I just like to stay busy . In some ways , writing a book is really , really challenging , but in other ways it's not that bad . It's like writing a really big report . That's really what it is .
As someone who's written a book , I got to disagree with you , man . It was so much work and so much harder than I thought it would be and took so much longer than I thought it would be , and the road show and the book signings and Barnes Nobles and stuff was so much less fun than I thought it would be . It was just like a grueling process .
But you're someone who's done it and then wrote about it because you've got some good food , man , I mean Boston Magazine . Thanks , Greg . If I'm wrong , they've given you the best barbecue award four times .
Yeah , yeah , four times .
Yeah , I mean , that's a pretty hefty mark , and so obviously you're doing a lot of things right , and the question that I want to ask you is you obviously are an icon in the industry . A lot of people look up to you , a lot of people look at your restaurants as being something they're aspiring to . I mean , your volumes are just insane .
So the question is what are most restaurants getting wrong ? What are you doing that they're not ?
Gosh , I don't know , because I certainly don't want to think that I'm better than anyone else . You said all those nice things , but I have the same issues that everybody has my name is the sales . Of course I mean yeah , I think you know it's deciding what's important .
I think that's probably really really one of the big things , and I used to roll with a bunch of chefs and like fancy chefs so you still have a fancy restaurant than a barbecue restaurant and I love my barbecue restaurant .
But I had this guy that told me aside , we were kind of having an argument about the industry and he told me that I was going off about my food and he was like , yeah , so you know , hospitality , trump's food and as a chef , by training and all I've ever done all my life , it somewhat angered me . And Trump's food , yeah , it's more important than food .
I thought a lot about that and , as much as I hate to say it , tommy was right and if you think about it , great food like unbelievable food , not great service why would I come back ? Okay , food , think about diner it's fine , it's good and that awesome service you get . You're like that was a great experience .
It's really about hospitality and how you feel and how you are treated , and we think a lot about this . We think about what is the customer's experience as they walk into the door all the way to when they pay their check and leave , and we try to work on every single step that happens , and we're not a high touch restaurant .
We're a barbecue restaurant with a great bourbon list . That stuff matters to us too . Our philosophy , this is our philosophy , and I can say this to any employee and say as long as you follow this , you're going to be good , you're going to be great . Our philosophy is treat everybody like grandma . Oh , okay , I like that , you know .
And what's great about grandma is you know you can tell grandma to pump the brakes on the drinks . It can be like grandma . Probably we're good . But if you had to move grandma from one seat no-transcript you should be horrified . If your grandma's like A I'd really like an avocado with this the answer should be if I've got one , and it's right , it's yours .
What would you say to your grandma ? Love and reverence . We think a lot and talk a lot about this and it doesn't mean we don't make mistakes . I don't wanna get a bunch of hate mail . We make mistakes and we're always continually growing and learning and doing the best we can .
Often I see restaurant tours doing what they think is best for them or cooking what they like , and that's not really who you're cooking for . Hopefully what you like is what they like .
Yeah , I love the fact that obviously I've got this podcast . This is like we're approaching 300 episodes . I've talked to a lot of experts about this and I think a lot about hospitality . And let me tell you my definition of hospitality and tell me how you think .
Hospitality , in my mind , is proving to the guest that you care about them , because you could care about a guest , but that doesn't matter . I could love someone in my family , that doesn't matter if they don't know it . I want that guest to have undeniable proof that I care about them , that they're important to me .
So , anyway , that's how I define hospitality it's proving to the guest that you care . What's your take on that ? Agree , disagree .
I actually think that's a pretty good example . I think we're kind of saying the same thing . I don't think you need to prove grandma that you love her , but you show that you love her , yeah . And it's like when you see her , like hey , I'm nice to see you , I haven't seen you in a while . I think it's the same thing , just different ways .
I see behind you . You also have set in the table by Danny Meyer and , of course , the amazing , unreasonable Hospitality .
Yeah , you mean the New Testament and the Old Testament of hospitality .
Yeah , unreasonable Hospitality is sick . That's what a great book . That book changed the way I cook my barbecue , believe it or not ? Really , yeah , so it's all you can hear . I'm not from the South and that's not my background . I did not grow up cooking barbecue . I had a lot to learn , you know . In fact , I never had a real rib .
I never had a real rib or a real pork . So I was 22 , working for Jaysport Beer and War Winning Chris Laxinger that's where I first had it and I fell in love with barbecue . Then I come from the competition trail . So you know I'm a member of a world champion barbecue team , or a , led by a guy named Chris Hart . He's amazing .
I'm so focused on how you do a competition rib and you cook it to about 192 to 193 , at least you used to . Now they've done a little something different . I mean , you can do whatever you want , but we used to cook them to 194 . That was it , 194 . 200 degrees is when things start to shred . 194 is where we cook our ribs too . That's it .
So when you bite and you pull away , you have a mouth mark . How does everybody want their ribs ? What do they say about ribs ? Fall off the bones Right and so fall off the bones . Hundreds of comments . You know I respond to all our Google reviews .
Hundreds of comments about the ribs aren't good , the ribs are undercooked , the ribs aren't falling off the bone , and we would get that comment in the restaurant and everybody was trained I would respond to the Google reviews the same way . Hey , this is the style we're doing . It's a competition style .
It's a little differently different than you used to , has a little bit of pull , but I think you're going to really like him when you think about him like this In Unri's hospitality he talks about , he walks by a server talking to a guest about .
The guest wanted a medium rare steak and the server was explaining to him that they cook this sous vide which is like exact and they cook it to 135 . Exactly medium rare , like this is perfect medium rare . There is no other better medium rare than this thing . But what he wasn't doing is he wasn't listening to the guest .
The guest wasn't really arguing that it was or was not medium rare . The guest wanted cooked more . That's it what I saw . After I read that , I'm like I'm such an idiot . I'm like , oh my God , cook the ribs more . We went from 194 to 196 and now we're at 198 .
And we have not gotten a comment that they are undercooked and it's actually a kind of split hairs meaning it's not right , falling off the bone , but it's like so close and nobody , it's like perfect and everybody wins in that . So instead of me trying to educate the guest right and no , you're wrong , sir how about I cook for you ?
That's how , maybe not how I would cook the ribs at home . Right now we're serving about 8,600 people a week . In about a couple more months , you know , when barbecue season really gets going , we'll be doing about 12,000 people a week , a little more , maybe . You know I need them to be happy . Yeah , it's important to me .
I love that because it's just such a slight change . It's a couple of degrees difference , but you could sit there and be right , or you could sit there and be rich .
I don't remember me rich , but I certainly can be right . I've had a huge growth in this industry and in my mind and how I think about things , from when I was 14 working in a bakery you know the only in my first restaurant at 26, . I was back then when I was 26 years old . We were like what they want ? The soy seared spinach on that dish ?
That's an Italian dish , they can't have that . I'll put it on the side . You know it's like , because I know better . I know what people should eat Like . Come on , I was you know I was fooling myself and a fancy chef and got a new right and the reality is the customer knows what they want .
And I think that's the thing is . Obviously we're huge about guest feedback and listening because , to your point earlier , the way that we look at this is the thing that's going to get someone to come in one time is about convenience , which basically is like is the hype ? Is what I think the experience is going to be .
My expectations of the experience is that , more than the effort it takes to have the experience , if I see that you won Best Barbecue in Boston four times , then hey , that creates a little more hype and it could be a little more inconvenient . Parking doesn't have to be super accessible .
I don't have to be able to walk in and walk out in three minutes , but that'll get someone in the door . But if you want someone to come back a few times , you have to be consistent . You can't keep changing things around or have a good experience one time , bad experience the other , have it cooked one way and then having it cook another .
But then the highest level to get someone to come in for a lifetime is what we've been talking about , andy , which isn't just convenience , it's not just consistency , it's about connection . It's about that one to one connection and I love how you talk about grandma , because what is it about with grandma ? Like , you sit down and what does grandma want to do ?
Grandma wants you to listen , grandma wants you to just spend some time with her , and I love that . That's how you describe it .
¶ Importance of Guest Experience in Hospitality
In thinking about that , what do you think is the most important aspect of guest experience nowadays ? Would it be that hospitality , that connection ?
Oh yeah , I mean , I don't even think these days there's always outliers , right . We used to have a place here that was known for their rude service or whatever . There's always outliers and exceptions to any rule . But yeah , no , it's always been hospitality .
And I think what happened is in the 80s , late 80s , early 90s , people really started to understand that it was more than just eating food or good food even that . It was an experience , like it was a night out , understanding why guests come and what kind of experience they're looking for . I mean , I really liked what you said . It was funny .
We were talking the other day . We were looking at a place where we can overlook all our guests in a little secret area in one of the restaurants , and I'm like , just look at all these people and try to figure out why they came here . There's like 10 restaurants right around that area . We're packed and I'm like we got to think about this .
What an honor that they chose us . And they may have chosen it just by walking by , or they may have chosen it just by looking at something the internet or whatever , whatever it is and it's such an honor that someone chooses your place and then to kind of show that you're honored and give that customer that experience . That's how you win the game .
Just totally . And I think what happens is what's very interesting . I'm sure it happens in your industry . You're adjacent to us . People forget what they're doing . They've young chefs . I used to have interns that like , oh , did you try this ? No chef , what are we doing here ?
We're like putting food in people's body , so it should taste good , and people will become just do the motions . Well , I'm just taking food and I'm bringing it to this table and I'm dropping it off and I'm going to get some drinks and bring it over there . Or I'm actually like taking care of somebody for the evening , like there's a difference , right , yeah .
And again , like Will says , make it cool to care Right , that's really hard to do , but I love how he says that . And speaking of Will and making it cool to care and all this hospitality talk , I like the philosophy of it . What are the many tactics that you've used to improve the guest experience recently ?
Well , we're looking at it a lot always . We're looking at a lot of what they call solutions , just trying to figure out from . We've had big success in our packaging , which is really neat , so that's one of our .
You feel I know what you're saying when you're saying , yes , you're thinking in the chair , right , but just so we're clear , 20 to 25% of my business is not in a chair , it's in a bag , right , and that's something which is something that we talk a lot about , because we want the Uber and the DoorDash drivers , we want them treated really well because they're
part of our business . And we want to make sure that everything in that bag is really good and looks good . So that is something we've really looked at . And then I'm telling you anybody that listens if you have problems where people say this exact thing works somewhere , it's not worth it .
If you see that , look at your brand and look at what you do , look at what they're saying . So we got that a lot in our bags . This suite isn't worth it . We simply changed our packaging A more solid packaging . The size went up about a half ounce , but I don't think that really was the issue . We made it look really good .
A really great experience when they open up the bag and what they see and how they see it and all those things . And we'd stop getting those comments . It wasn't worth it . That's one of the things that we did . We always . It's like paying the broken branch , where we'll do one thing and another .
We were back on table touches just really important that we're having more than just the waiter touching the table . It's got to be a host or it's got to be a team leader or somebody . They are double checking , making sure and then this is the one that I love and we've been . Really this last month was all about . It was holos and your buys , that's it .
I want people to get said hello to by like five or to 10 people , depending which restaurant Like , I want the host say hello , then I want to bartender yell at them and say , hey , what's up ? And I want like a coke to go hey , thanks for coming . And then on the way out I wanted to be like just too many people say goodbye to me . That's what I want .
I'm really angry that so many people say goodbye to me . That's what I want .
That's awesome . There's some fire tactics right there , Andy .
But those things like so I have young team members and I talk about those so close to buys and they'll circle back and I'll be like , have you thought about what I was talking about ? And they're like , oh my gosh , I just realized how many people never say anything to me when I go into places . And I'm like , exactly yeah .
Right , right . It's just like humanity of it all and it sits a tone of what the whole experience is going to be , and I think that's awesome .
Well , who's to come to your house ? Let me ask you a surprise . Coming to your house , right , and I have 20 , and you know I was going to give you 20 bucks . When I got there You'd be like hey Andy , what's up ? And I give you the 20 bucks , I'm leaving . I'm like thanks a lot Every time . What do people think guests are doing ?
They're coming to coming Like we know what you're going to do , we know what you're going to buy , we know it's going to be in the sandwich or a platter , maybe you'll get a side , you're probably going to get a whiskey and maybe maybe not a dessert . Like that's got to everybody . So like we know you're coming in to spend money .
That's why people go into businesses , that's why we're there , yeah , right , so let's just acknowledge that Love that .
Who's someone in the restaurant industry that deserves an ovation ? Who's someone that we should be following ? Andy .
Oh gosh , well , garrett Harker . If you're not following Garrett Harker , you know what ? I don't even know if he's on Instagram . If you , that's what you meant by fall , but I think he is . It's Eastern standard . Eastern standard , maybe , restaurant or something , I don't know what it is , but they just reopened . They closed during the pandemic for gosh knows why .
A bunch of reasons , but they reopened . Really great place . They have a secret bar inside . I think it's called , equal measure , jackson Camons the bartender . It's super fancy and swanky , that little secret bar , so cool . These guys are top of the game of hospitality . I really think he's really , really great and it's just a cool place . Jeremy Sewell , row 34, .
Come to Boston , eat some seafood . That's the place to go . This guy again . They're all about hospitality and local seafood . It's just phenomenal what they do . I love it Awesome .
Yeah , jeremy Sewell and Garrett Harker .
Yeah , some of the best in Boston and I've known these guys forever and I appreciate them a lot . Awesome , really good talents up here .
Well , Andy , how do people find and follow you ?
Great question . Well , I'm at Andy Husbands pretty much everywhere , so Twitter , LinkedIn , Instagram , Facebook . I'm not really on Facebook much , nor am I on Twitter much , but I'm always scooping around on Instagram . Give me a shout from the Boston . I think that's a pretty good way to get me .
If you want to go to my website , thesmokeshopbarbecuecom always has what we do I teach barbecue classes If you're interested . We're going to have a new set coming out pretty soon for the spring , and we do them spring , summer and winter . That's awesome .
Well , andy , for being the healthiest smoker that I know . Today's Ovation goes to you . Thank you for joining us and giving Ovation Thank you . Thanks for joining us today . If you liked this episode , leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite place to listen . We're all about feedback here .
Again , this episode was sponsored by Ovation , a two-question SMS-based actionable guest feedback platform built for multi-unit restaurants . If you'd like to learn how we can help you measure and create a better guest experience , visit us at ovationupcom .