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PODCAST

Take-Away with Sam Oches

Nation"s Restaurant News

Hosted by Nation’s Restaurant News’ editor in chief, Take-Away with Sam Oches features interviews with CEOs and founders of restaurant companies big and small, sharing their stories and ideas for the future but also real, tangible insights for how to innovate in our foodservice future. Each episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches provides key take-aways from Oches’ interviews, with on-the-go observations about how each leader’s strategy fits within the broader foodservice context and what actionable

business entrepreneurship

All Episodes

39:01

Jim ’N Nick’s CEO Larry Ryback on making the switch...

Take-Away with Sam Oches ·

2025/07/08

In thisepisode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talkswith Larry Ryback, the CEO of Jim ’N Nick’s Community Bar-B-Q, a chain of more than 50 locations across the South that is celebrating 40 years in business with a new store design that is helping to drive double-digit sales growth. The new store prototype takes into account its big growth in off-premises sales and shifts away from a full-service model to what they’re calling fast casual plus, giving customers more control over their experience by

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31:13

Savory CEO Shauna Smith on the importance of unity,...

Take-Away with Sam Oches ·

2025/07/01

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talkswith Shauna Smith, the CEO of Savory Management, the operational arm of the Salt Lake City based private equity group Savory Fund. Savory invests in emerging restaurant concepts like Swig, Via 313, PINCHO, and Mo’Bettahs, and Shauna oversees the operations of these concepts, which includes a team of 65 in-house specialists who support the brand founders and leaders who choose to bring Savory in as equity partners in their businesses. Sam sat down

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35:27

Chef from “The Bear” restaurant on creating memorable...

Take-Away with Sam Oches ·

2025/06/24

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talkswith Curtis Duffy, the James Beard award-winning chef and owner at the Michelin-starred Chicago restaurant Ever —a restaurant that features prominently in the FX show “The Bear.” Curtis has consulted with and cooked for the show, which is starting its fourth season this week. But long before “The Bear,” he was a renowned chef who trained under Charlie Trotter and Grant Achatz before opening the restaurant Grace in Chicago’s West Loop in 2012

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44:11

Insomnia Cookies’ founder on winning in the booming...

Take-Away with Sam Oches ·

2025/06/17

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talkswith Seth Berkowitz, the founder and CEO of Insomnia Cookies, the cookie delivery concept that has been around now for 22 years and grown to more than 300 locations in the U.S., helping to carve out an early niche in the so-called “indulgence” category that has been booming the past few years. Insomnia announced that two investors had stepped in to acquire the majority stake previously owned by Krispy Kreme, a move that the brand thinks could

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49:49

2 KPOT execs share how experiential dining is key to...

Take-Away with Sam Oches ·

2025/06/10

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talkswith Maggie Farrell and Victor Chow, the VP of marketing and VP of operations for KPOT, the fast-growing Korean barbecue and hot pot chain with a unique, do-it-yourself experience at its core. According to this year’s Technomic Top 500, KPOT grew its location count by 72% in 2024, and its sales by 34%. Already in 2025 it’s opened more than 20 locations, with 115 open today — and it didn’t even exist until 2017. Maggie and Victor joined the

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43:19

Mountain Mike’s CEO on thriving in an off year for pizza

Take-Away with Sam Oches ·

2025/06/03

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talkswith Jim Metevier, CEO of Mountain Mike’s Pizza, a California-based brand with more than 300 locations in 10 states. Pizza as a category had a pretty rough year in 2024, with the major players mostly seeing flat or negative traffic over the prior year. Mountain Mike’s, meanwhile, enjoyed year-over-year sales growth of 5% and unit growth of 7%. So how did this pizza concept with big-box stores and a hybrid service model manage to thrive last year

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39:38

(Pt. 2) Denny's CEO Kelli Valade on making the brand...

Take-Away with Sam Oches ·

2025/05/29

In part 2 of Sam's interview with Kelli Valade, CEO of Denny’s and Keke’s Breakfast Cafe, he talks with her about the business of Denny’s, its status as “America’s diner,” the potential she saw in the brand when she took the CEO reins in 2022, and her vision for the company going forward. They also talk about Keke’s Breakfast Cafe, the emerging fast-casual brand that Denny’s acquired right about the same time that Kelli joined the company, and the role it plays in franchisees’ success.In this

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59:29

Denny’s CEO Kelli Valade on building a successful...

Take-Away with Sam Oches ·

2025/05/27

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talkswithKelli Valade, CEO of Denny’s and Keke’s Breakfast Cafe. This is the second edition in NRN’s new Signature Series, which are conversations with some of the biggest CEOs in the restaurant industry, powered by The Coca-Cola Company. This interview is rolling out in two parts, and in this episode Kelli talks about her career, her leadership style, and the lessons she imparts to young and upcoming leaders in the restaurant industry —particularly

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40:42

Pluckers Wing Bar cofounder on how a $12 lunch deal...

Take-Away with Sam Oches ·

2025/05/21

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talkswithDave Paul, cofounder of Pluckers Wing Bar, a beloved sports bar concept in Texas with 32 locations in the Lone Star State. Pluckers is celebrating its 30thanniversary this year and has seen plenty of change in the chicken category as competitors like Raising Cane’s, Chick-fil-A, and Wingstop have come to dominate the space. But Dave and his business partners are happy with their slow pace of growth as they double down on a high-quality,

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46:50

Clutch Coffee CEO Darren Spicer on how to stand out...

Take-Away with Sam Oches ·

2025/05/13

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talkswithDarren Spicer, cofounder and CEO of Clutch Coffee, a drive-thru coffee shop that has grown to 15 locations across the Carolinas since debuting in 2018. Darren grew up in Oregon and worked as a broista at Dutch Bros before going into medical device sales, and while he travelled the country for that job, he realized there were parts of the country that had no access to the burgeoning drive-thru coffee scene —meaning there was plenty of white

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28:30

Taco John’s CEO Heather Neary on recapturing...

Take-Away with Sam Oches ·

2025/05/06

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talkswithHeather Neary, CEO of Taco John’s, in-person at the Restaurant Leadership Conference in Phoenix. Heather took the reins at Taco John’s a little over a year ago, shortly after the brand experienced the bright spotlight of the Taco Tuesday trademark battle with Taco Bell. Her strategy at the chain has been to tap into Taco John’s roots as a 56-year-old Mexican QSR that has a presence in a lot of small communities across America, and to remind

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54:33

Grown founder Shannon Allen on the franchise model...

Take-Away with Sam Oches ·

2025/04/29

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talkswithShannon Allen and Zach Cohen, the founder and CFO of the Miami-based fast-casual concept Grown. Shannon opened this concept with her husband, NBA Hall of Famer Ray Allen, in 2016, driven by the fact that their son Walker was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was a toddler and Shannon struggled to find healthy foods served fast that she could feed him. Grown aims to disrupt the restaurant industry by serving fresh, nutrient-dense foods

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38:31

Philly Pretzel Factory and the power of bulk orders

Take-Away with Sam Oches ·

2025/04/22

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talkswithDan DiZio, cofounder and CEO of Philly Pretzel Factory, a Philadelphia-based snack concept with more than 170 locations primarily in the East Coast. Philly Pretzel Factory has achieved broad appeal with its paperclip shaped pretzels and wide variety of dips, and it’s especially found success with its Party Trays, which have been hugely impactful in getting the word out about the brand at parties, sporting activities, meetings, and more. Dan

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42:10

Jamba’s chief brand officer on the art and science of...

Take-Away with Sam Oches ·

2025/04/15

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talkswithNathan Louer, chief brand officer at Jamba, the legacy smoothie bowl concept that is one of seven brands in the GoTo Foods portfolio. Nathan declares that Jamba is on the comeback trail, and a big part of that comeback is the just-announced new store prototype called Hello Sunshine, which updates the Jamba aesthetic but also the experience leveraging self-order kiosks, digital marketing screens, and streamlined store layouts. It also provides

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43:39

Talkin’ Tacos’ cofounder on the keys to this South...

Take-Away with Sam Oches ·

2025/04/08

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talkswithMohammad Faraj, cofounder and chief marketing officer for Talkin’ Tacos, a fast-casual taco joint out of South Florida that has grown to 22 locations in less than five years in operation. Mohammad and his childhood friend Omar Al-Massalkhi opened Talkin’ Tacos as a food truck in the early days of the pandemic, one of the first concepts to bring birria tacos to the east coast. That menu focus plus an early pivot to halal meat helped catapult

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21:05

How restaurants can take advantage of all this...

Take-Away with Sam Oches ·

2025/04/01

In this special episode of Take-Away—guest-hosted by Restaurant Business editor-in-chief and A Deeper Dive host Jonathan Maze —Bob Vergidis, the founder ofpointofsale.cloud, joins to talk about the future of restaurants and restaurant technology and equipment.We wanted to talk with Bob simply about the future of restaurant technology and how restaurants can take the next step.A lot of technology has been brought into restaurants in the past several years and equipment is more advanced than it’s ever

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51:03

Houston TX Hot Chicken’s Edmond Barseghian on...

Take-Away with Sam Oches ·

2025/03/25

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talkswithEdmond Barseghian and Brian Simowitz, the founder and president, respectively, of Houston TX Hot Chicken, aka HHC. This brand has opened 24 locations in less than four years, and a big reason why is Edmond and his massive social media following. From the jump Edmond had big plans for the brand, and with strategic executive hires like Brian —along with an investment from Savory Fund —HHC is well on its way to opening potentially hundreds of

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40:01

Tony Roma’s CEO Mina Haque on how her law background...

Take-Away with Sam Oches ·

2025/03/18

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talkswithMohaimina “Mina” Haque, the CEO of Tony Roma’s, a legacy casual dining chain specializing in ribs that once had hundreds of locations, but which is now is in rebuild mode with a few dozen open locations, only 6 of which are in the U.S. Mina is a lawyer by trade, and she was brought on by Equity Investors of New England when it bought the chain in 2021 to do due diligence on the brand and serve as general counsel. Recognizing her potential,

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50:56

Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner on leadership lessons, vision...

Take-Away with Sam Oches ·

2025/03/11

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talkswithWendy’s president and CEO Kirk Tanner as part of a brand new series at NRN called Signature: A CEO Series with Sam Oches, powered by The Coca-Cola Company. We’re hosting 6 Signature episodes throughout 2025, and they’re designed to introduce you to the leaders of some of the nation’s biggest restaurant companies —what has shaped their approach to leadership, how they’ve maintained balance and wellbeing, and how they’re applying their life

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52:40

Sucré CEO James Vitrano on the challenges of scaling...

Take-Away with Sam Oches ·

2025/03/04

Happy Mardi Gras! In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talkswithJames Vitrano, the CEO of Sucré, a French patisserie concept out of New Orleans that has eight locations across the Southeast. James and his pastry chef wife Abney HarperboughtSucréin 2023, looking to scale the luxury patisserie concept that specializes in macrons, gelato, and a range of handmade French desserts. James joined the podcast to talk about the challenges of scaling an emerging brand and particularly building

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