CRAZY IDEA - What If We Got Rid of Waiters?

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey there. Chip Close here, host of the Restaurant Strategy podcast. If you've been following this show for a while, and we've been at this for over six years, but if you've been following for a while, you know that for the last couple of summers, I do something different. I do a 10 episode arc, always revolving around a different theme. And this summer, I'm gonna do the same thing. This summer I'm sharing crazy ideas, crazy ideas for reinventing, reinvigorating our industry, to continue to evolve our model so that we can to be successful, profitable, we can continue to not just survive, but thrive. I'm gonna start off today, the very first episode, asking a crazy question. What if we got rid of waiters? All of that. On today's episode of Restaurant Strategy. There's an old saying that goes something like this. You'll only find three kinds of people in the world. Those who see, those who will never see, and those who can see when shown. This is Restaurant Strategy, a podcast with answers for anyone who's looking. Hey, everyone, thanks for tuning in. My name is Chip Close. This is the Restaurant Strategy Podcast. Two episodes every single week where we try to build a more profitable and more sustainable business. This show is for independent owners, independent operators, people who are serious about leveling up. I do this show. You can find me on social media. I write books, I give talks. I also host two live events every single year. The next one is coming up. The P3 profitability summit happens in Fort Worth, Texas. There are less than 30 tickets left. It happens in October 2025. The link is in the show notes. If you've never been to one of my events, you got to be there again. We cap it at 100 tickets. It is a tight, intimate room. Two days, tons of learning, over 14 hours of education, workshops, panel discussions, speaker sessions. You've gotta be there again. Fort Worth, Texas, October 19th, 20th and 21st. You're going to find that link in the show notes. Avi, you love to go out to eat. So as a guest, what's your biggest pet peeve when you're trying to choose a place to eat? [00:02:21] Speaker B: Yeah, as the father of two children, I can't leave the house for less than $30 an hour. My wife has celiac. So when we're going to make a dining decision, I live and die by that menu. I'm in there researching what's available. What can my wife eat? What can we share? What do I get to eat off of her plate? And so that menu is just a crucial part of all decision making for me as a consumer. It's why at Marquee we focus so much on our menus, our menu integration, so that as operators, your menu that lives in your point of sale that you want customers to see is available and up to date everywhere. [00:02:54] Speaker A: To learn more about Marquee, go to marquee.com, m A R Q I-I.com to learn more about this and all of the incredible features they have. Create a safer, more efficient kitchen and better protect your bottom line with restaurant technologies. Its total oil management solution helps minimize the dangers that come with traditional oil management such as oil burns, spills and slip and fall accidents. The end to end automated oil management system delivers filters, monitors and recycles your cooking oil, taking one of the dirtiest jobs out of the kitchen and no upfront cost. Control the kitchen chaos with restaurant technologies and make your kitchen safer while maximizing efficiency. Visit rti inc.com you can email customer care at rti hyphen inc.com or call 888-796-4997 to get started. All of those links will be in the show Notes okay, so we are at the beginning, the first episode of a 10 episode arc. These are shorty episodes where I'm going to share crazy ideas for thinking outside the box, for reinventing and reinvigorating our industry. First crazy idea is this. What if we we just got rid of waiters. Now if you've been following the show for a while, you know that this is not an original idea. I'm fascinated with this idea. The further I go, the further I dig into profitability of restaurants, the more convinced I am that this is the future of restaurants. I think we're watching sort of the fast, casual and quick service blow up largely because labor is getting expensive, right? We are watching fine dining become gratuitously expensive. And I love those experiences. I love to be able to save up and splurge on those experiences. But there there are a whole lot of restaurants in the middle. It's becoming very hard to convince a family of five to come out on a Wednesday night, a Thursday night, or even more than one Saturday night a month to enjoy a meal out simply because the food is so expensive and the labor has become so expensive. So it begs the question, why don't we just get rid of waiters? Now you'll know. I had Anthony Valletta on the show a while back. He is the president now CEO of Bar Taco. Bar Taco has really been at the forefront, reinventing a whole new Style of service. Thought it would have caught on by now. It is not. I'm not seeing a lot of other concepts do it yet, but I promise you, this is where we're going. I think there's going to be quick service, fast casual, right? Which is counter service. You go up, you order your food, you take it away or they bring it to you. I think on the other end of the spectrum, we're going to have fine dining where we're going to have tons of staff and you're going to pay for the luxury of having a lot of people there to take care of you. But then that leaves that messy middle. That messy middle, the casual dining or the upscale casual experience. Right. And our people, consumers, Right. And this is not about what I want. This is about what the consumers want and what the consumers are willing to pay for. Will a consumer pay top dollar? Because it does cost a certain amount of money for us to staff a dining room with bussers, with runners, with servers, with bartenders, bar backs, hosts are ordinary customers willing to spend what it costs to pay for all that labor to take care of them. And I think over the next couple of years, we are gonna see a resound. Something new is going to emerge. And the beauty of technology, technology has come along and it is not there yet. It has to get better. We have to put pressure on our technology partners. The POS system, the kiosk systems, those table ordering platforms, we have to make them make us better products. But when we make that experience as seamless as it needs to be, I promise we will not need waiters anymore. And now let me be really clear, because people go, well, I like waiters. I like getting to know the people in my neighborh, blah, blah, blah. You're right, there are some waiters that actually, actually give a crap and actually add to the experience. But the vast majority, I think if you really paid attention, the vast majority of servers do nothing to embellish the experience. They are order takers, they are frazzled, they are overworked, they are grumpy, they are sassy. Every time I go out to a diner, that's what I get. Most times. When I go out to a casual restaurant, with very few exceptions. And now, make no mistake, I love this industry and I love to support this industry. I like to dine out a lot. My family and I go out a lot, I go out with friends. But most times, if I'm being totally honest, the server is not helping to drive more revenue. They are not helping to give me a Better experience. They are going through the motions and doing what they can, the bare minimum to get through the shift. They are not adding what we need them to add to the experience. And I hear people all the time. I need better training. I need better training. Need to hold my people accountable. They don't care about blah. They don't care. They are never going to care as much as you. You care. So you can't beat them. Join them. Technology is going to be the gap to fill in the space. Here in Bartaco is the perfect example. They got rid of all their waiters. They basically put like brand ambassadors or I forget what they call them. They're basically their three managers and they still have first approach. They go up to the table and say, hi, how you doing? My name is Chip. Welcome to Bar Taco. Have you been here recently? Meaning, have you been here since we changed the service model? And they'll say one of two things. Yep, we know, we get it. We know how it works here. Thanks so much. Or they'll say, no, I've never been here. Or I haven't been here in a while. And they'll say, great, no problem. Let me explain to you how this works. They are there to provide hospitality, to answer questions, to get them going, to move them along, to make sure they have everything they need. But the actual order taking is done via computer, right? Either handheld, either iPad, whatever. That is the future of casual dining in America, that we still have somebody who owns our table, an employee who is overseeing us, but they are not there to get us every little thing. If we want another drink, we just go order another drink. If we need a side of something, if we need to return something, we go in and flag them and they come over and they say, hey, just like we do in an airplane, right? If you need the person, you ring the bell and they come over and they say, hi, is there something I can get for you? There's no reason at a certain level of dining why we can't rely on that. So as we move forward, and certainly any west coast restaurants will acknowledge this, right? California, Washington, Oregon, it's becoming very difficult to keep an army of front of house staff out there on the floor to take care of all the guests. And I think what we're going to see, and now we're seeing Minnesota and Michigan change all kinds of other states that are getting rid of the tip credit. It's becoming very expensive to keep front of house staff. I think we are going to have to reinvent the service style again. Fast, casual, quick service. It's already counter and on the other end, fine dining. You're already paying for those extra people. And I think everything in the middle will start to change. So here's my crazy idea. Why don't you get rid of waiters? That's what this 10 episode arc is all about. Me just giving you ideas, me just sharing my observations about what I see. I am seeing this in real time. So let's not hold onto the romance of oh, I love this kind of restaurant or that's what we grow up with and all of that, that's fine. But that fails to acknowledge a reality of what is happening in real time all over the world. I think waiters are a luxury we just aren't gonna have. And I think if we're really honest, I think the computers can do of what our order taking servers are doing. And now if that bristle, if that makes you bristle, if that, that, you know, makes you think I'm crazy, you have to look around at the realities here and you have to look at your staff and you have to look at the other restaurants you go to. Last night I went out with friends of mine, my wife and another couple and we had a great server who actually embellished the experience and it drew attention to the fact that she is the exception that proves the rule. And I wish I didn't feel like this. I wish people were there to greet me the way they needed to greet me and would anticip all of my needs and would upsell and would talk me into things that I didn't know I wanted. It just doesn't happen. So if we can't beat them, then join them. And technology is meeting us to fill this gap. Again, it's not there yet. We have to put more pressure on our technology partners. But that I think is a crazy idea that actually doesn't seem so crazy to me and I wanted to share it with you. That's what these 10 episodes are all about. And again, we're not just going to focus on the service. We're going to talk about all kinds of things. This is the first episode in a 10 episode arc about crazy. Thank you very much for joining me, guys. Again, friendly reminder, the P3 Profitability Summit happens in October in Fort Worth, Texas. There are less than 30 tickets left. If you want to be there, I want you there. We camp this event at a hundred people and it is the best room to be in. It's one of the best shows I've attended every year and it's not just because I throw it. It's because of all the people and what these people bring to the table. Both our guest speakers and our attendees, our sponsors. It is an incredible event. It sells out every single year. I am convince this will sell out as well and I want you there. You're going to find the link in the show notes to go learn more, to watch a video, to see everything and to explore. Tickets. Go get your tickets again to the P3 profitability summit. Tune back in for next episode for more crazy ideas. Sam. [00:12:58] Speaker B: Sa.