Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / From Bartender to Director: Trevor Micklow's Journey in Restaurant Excellence | Restaurants & Franchises Series

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From Bartender to Director: Trevor Micklow's Journey in Restaurant Excellence | Restaurants & Franchises Series · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:03
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast,
0:07
where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from
0:10
their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
0:13
adversity. My name is Anthony Kotaspodi and
0:16
today's guest is Trevor Miklow. He is the Director of Operations
0:20
at Doughboy Restaurant Group, A growing collection of full
0:24
service restaurants and fast casual concepts.
0:27
Founded by Rich Labriola. This group operates multiple
0:31
commercial manufacturing facilities to supply bread and
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Donuts to their locations, and they continue to expand at a
0:38
rate of two to three new spots each year.
0:42
Trevor has over 10 years of experience in the Chicago
0:45
service industry, moving from serving roles to top level
0:49
management. He has introduced new training
0:52
standards, improved team Wellness initiatives, and LED
0:55
the launch of fresh restaurant concepts like Pizza Joint.
0:59
Now, under his leadership, Doughboy Restaurant Group has
1:02
refined its operations and created a strong culture
1:05
grounded in collaboration and customer care.
1:08
Trevor's past roles, including general manager, helped shape
1:12
his focus on efficiency, strategic planning, and team
1:15
development, and I'm excited to learn from his insights on
1:18
growing a dynamic restaurant business.
1:21
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1:50
All right now back to our guest today, the Director of
1:53
Operations for Doughboy Restaurant Group, Trevor Miklow.
1:56
I appreciate you making the time to Share your story today.
2:00
Thank you so much for having me, Anthony.
2:02
I'm excited to be here. OK, so Trevor, tell us about the
2:06
Doughboy Restaurant Group. What was the genesis for this?
2:09
How did it all get started? Sure, sure.
2:12
So Doughboy Restaurant Group or DRG as we refer to it internally
2:19
started with Rich Labriola, sole owner.
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So Rich is from Chicago. He's a Southside guy.
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He grew up in Blue Island, grew up baking with his parents and
2:32
their pizza place. When he was a kid he was the
2:36
chief doughboy at his parents pizza restaurant.
2:41
Learn how to stretch dough. You know, everything baking in
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terms of pizza. So you know, that's, that's
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Rich's origin story right there. And he ended up starting
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Labriella Baking Company, which was super successful.
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They were baking bread for tons of restaurants in the city.
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It was going into the grocery markets, very, very popular,
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became this iconic South Side Chicago brand in the early 90s.
3:12
So Rich eventually sold the baking company in 1993 and then
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started Doughboy Restaurant Group in the early 2000s.
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So the first restaurant was La Briola Cafe and Bakery that's in
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Oak Brook. And that was a fast casual
3:29
concept. So you know, your morning
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croissants, your baked goods, your breakfast sandwiches,
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Donuts, coffees, the whole deal. It was order at the counter, go
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sit at a table, and they'll bring it out to you.
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And that was, you know, the first restaurant in the group.
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And then about five years later, he ended up opening La Barra and
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La Briola Restaurante downtown, which is our flagship
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restaurant. It's on Michigan Ave.
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Oh. Nice.
3:59
It's right. It's right next to the
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Intercontinental Hotel. So it was 3 restaurants, La
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Briola, La Barra, and then La Briola Cafe in Oakbrook.
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Recently, this past summer, in July, we merged the two
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restaurants in Oakbrook into one restaurant.
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So now that's called La Briola Restaurante Oakbrook, and we
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have La Briola Restaurante Chicago, and both those
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restaurants mirror each other. We have a restaurant commissary
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where all the pizza sauce is made, all the dressings, all the
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soup, it's all made in one kitchen and then it's dispersed
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to both restaurants. So you could go to La Briola,
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Oakbrook and then Labriella, Chicago, and you're going to get
4:37
the same exact soup, the same exact pizza sauce.
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We even shred our cheese out there for consistency.
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So we're serving the same pizza. And you know, that's rooted back
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to Rich's baking history, where, you know, bakers are super
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meticulous. Everything's measured perfectly,
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everything's timed perfectly. It's all about the details.
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And he's taking that style of thinking and cooking and moving
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it to the restaurant side so where everything's dialed in
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and, you know, we're tasting the marinara sauce and saying, are
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the tomatoes a little different? Are they out of season?
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Should we switch it up and fall? And constantly making those
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little tiny adjustments in the commissary kitchen that will,
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you know, translate to both restaurants in our group and the
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third pizza joint down in the loop.
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So it's super unique. It's a great restaurant group to
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work for. It has those humble roots in or
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in Blue Island of Chicago, and we're growing right now.
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So super excited. Yeah, Let me ask you this.
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You make an interesting point about how bakers are very
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precise, right? You got to get the ratios of the
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ingredients just right. You got to have the timing to
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let the bread rise. You know, it just the right
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intervals and he's sort of taken that precision level thinking
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into, you know, other areas of the restaurant which, you know,
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it sounds like you guys have to be extremely efficient
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operationally. And so it's interesting to me
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that you guys have discovered that it was more time and cost
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effective to prep a lot of the food materials at a central
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location rather than to do it at each of the individual
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restaurants. Yep, exactly.
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And you know, that's a complicated process saying what
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does it cost us to make all these dressings, shred all this
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cheese, make the soups, you know, blend the tomatoes for the
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sauce? What does it cost us to have a
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person at each location who we trust is going to do it
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identical to the other location when we can all just have it in
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one spot and then buy it from that commissary And then you
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have an internal purchase. You can control quality, you can
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control consistency, and you can forecast your needs for products
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to that internal commissary. So it's super unique and you
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know, there's lots of learning opportunities.
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I was growing and I was trying to be more efficient and, you
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know, provide a quality product. That's the main goal.
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So I'm curious, what was the bigger driver?
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Was it like economic efficiency or was it quality control?
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And of course, you're going to say both, yeah.
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It's both. Well, you know, we operate a
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restaurant in downtown Chicago, and space is hard to come by in
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this city. I'm sure you've heard that
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before. And our kitchen is not massive
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in the back. You know, we're, we're a $9
7:45
million restaurant. We're going to be a $10 million
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restaurant this year. We are pumping out pizzas and
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pastas like no other. So our our prep space is so
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small that to achieve those numbers, it actually wouldn't
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even be possible without that commissary kitchen.
8:02
Interesting. And you said that you're
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growing. Is that growth just coming from
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being able to put more butts in the seats at the existing
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restaurants or are there any new concepts, any new locations
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opening up? Yeah.
8:17
You know, I think the growth is fueled by a couple of things.
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It's fueled by the success of both of our restaurants, the
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popularity Labrial is growing. We're starting to hear Labrial
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his name more and more throughout Chicago.
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I feel like, you know, we've finally taken off and we've
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we've hit the the pavement, we've put the tire to the road
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and we're going. We just opened pizza joint in
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December. That's in the loop, that's at
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the Washington Food Hall at 15 W Washington.
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And that's a super special concept because it's three
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different pizzas that we don't serve at either restaurant, only
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Pizza Joint. And it's a proprietary new pizza
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that no one's heard about in Chicago, which is the handheld
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deep dish. Say more handheld, deep.
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There's something new. There's something new in pizza.
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Look, I just did a plug there. Yeah, let's hear it the.
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Handheld deep dish, man, it's, you know, it's, it's just a
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little bread pan that we take the deep dish dough that we make
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at these commissaries, right? Just form a little mini deep,
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you know, those little bread pans that, you know, looks like
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you could serve like a single banana bread piece.
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And so you put the dough on the bottom, same deep dish sauce,
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the cheese, and we bake them all individually.
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So now we have caramelized crust around each edge.
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You know, it's about this big, we wrap it in parchment paper so
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you can just grab it and you can eat it literally like a sandwich
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on the go. It's a handheld deep dish.
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And also the thing about deep dish pizzas is they're massive.
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You know, our smallest deep dish is a 12 inch deep dish.
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If we get smaller, the pizza starts to burn and we're
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jeopardizing the integrity of the product.
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So this offers someone the ability to try Chicago's iconic
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deep dish pizza without having to order a meal for four people.
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So super exciting. So pizza joints offering the
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handheld deep dish. We're also doing a Sicilian pie,
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which is, you know, that like square cut focaccia style crust.
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And then we're doing a New York slice as well, which, you know,
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I didn't realize the need or want for New York slices in the
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city of Chicago, but people love them and they're coming in for
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them. Got to give the customer what
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they want. I'm excited about this handheld
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deep dish for a couple of reasons.
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The the first thing that drew me in was you're talking about that
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smaller size. It allows the, the cheese to
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caramelize around all the edges, which you know, when you sort of
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get a traditional deep dish, I mean, everybody sort of likes
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something different. But I like that, that
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caramelized cheese around the edge.
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I want like a little bit of that, that crust edge, but
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there's only so many pieces that have that and none of the pieces
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have it on all four edges. And then the other thing that
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you're talking about that's cool is this is like a grab and go.
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This is, you know, Chicago, you know, it's a it's a big city.
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People are on the move. You know, they're they're
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jumping in a cab. They're they're getting on the
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the metro system there, you know, take this and you know, I
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can eat this while I'm on the move.
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So that's kind of fun. So it's already available in
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which location? Sorry you broke up there,
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Anthony. Which location is the the
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handheld deep dish available in now?
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So it's at the Washington Food Hall.
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It's 15 W Washington State Street in Washington.
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We're open six days a week, Monday through Saturday.
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Opens at 11:00 AM. Closes at 7:00 PM.
11:58
Yeah. So I know that you're not
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involved with the stands donut side of things, but let's talk a
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little bit about that. Tell us, 'cause this this also
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falls under the the DRG umbrella.
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Tell us about this brand. Sure, sure.
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So Stan's came to Chicago in 2004, but Stan's originated in
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LA. The owner was Stan Berman.
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Rich met Stan, they formed a friendship.
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You know, Stan actually recently passed away this year or this
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past year, 2024 I believe. I never personally met him, but
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I heard he was a great guy. But it was this iconic LA donut
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shop. And you know, Stan was getting
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older and he met Rich and said he wanted someone to, you know,
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you know, pass his legacy to right.
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So Rich said, I think I'm the guy, you know, I'm your Baker
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from Chicago handed over. So the rest is history.
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I mean, we have 17 standalone stand stores.
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We have 8 or 9 in Mariano's that the Mariano's kind of runs for
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us. But you know, it's like one of
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those management deals, but it's, it's becoming that brand,
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you know, and everyone sees Stan's Donuts, they see the pink
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sign of Stan's. It's becoming one of the most
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popular donut shops in the city. So we.
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Have one in La Briola at the Michigan Ave. location, so under
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the same roof there's just a half wall separated in the
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restaurant with stands. So it's a super dangerous place
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to work. I got a donut and coffee shop
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over there. I got deep dish pizza over here
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and you know, every other day I got to choose a salad for lunch
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because it's. You know, got to balance it out
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a little bit, do your body a favour, give yourself a little
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break there. And so are most of the locations
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in the Chicago area. I know you said this started out
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in LA. Yep, Yep.
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So all locations are in the Chicago area currently.
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OK, so the the original locations in LA are no longer
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around, you know? I I'm not sure.
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Fair enough. I don't want to speak to that.
14:24
Let's let's shift gears back to you and I'd like to hear about
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how your the opportunity for you first became available at DRG.
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OK, see, this is the part I'm nervous about because I always
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hate talking about myself. And you know, I'm super humbled
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to have been able to get to the position where I'm at.
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I started in the restaurant industry 12 years ago.
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I moved to Chicago from Michigan and I got an internship at a
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music house writing music for commercials and movies and TV
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and stuff. It was an unpaid, it was my
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passion, it's what I wanted to do.
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So it was this unpaid internship to try to break into the Chicago
15:14
music industry. But I needed to supplement my
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income so I ended up getting a serving job at a pizza place in
15:20
the Loop. Couple years later, moved over
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to another restaurant, continued to serve, wanted to grow, so
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started bartending and I bartended for a long time,
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learned a lot about the liquor, beer, wine program.
15:35
And you know, that's really where I sowed my oats in this
15:38
restaurant industry. I'd probably still be bartending
15:43
if it wasn't for COVID, to be honest with you, because I loved
15:46
it so much. And I loved making drinks and
15:49
being active and moving and making regulars and talking to
15:52
customers and coming up with new cocktails.
15:56
And, you know, I was so lucky to be on this bar team with this
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senior group of bartenders who really taught me that if you do
16:08
anything for the customer or you make them the best drink or you
16:12
make them feel like you, you know, they're the only person
16:17
that matters at that bar, that they will keep on coming back to
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you. And you will, you will grow this
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base that is so rewarding. You'll love your job.
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So that's what I did. I did it for a long time and
16:29
then COVID hit and I said, all right, I got to go.
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I got to do something else. So that's when I stepped into
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management, stepped into bar management, did that for a
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while. What?
16:42
Hang, hang on, Trevor, I want to interrupt you here because I
16:44
understand why you kind of had to shift gears during COVID from
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the bartending gig that you love, but how are you moving
16:52
into bar management now if the bars are closed?
16:58
So this was right when we came out of COVID.
17:02
OK. And so what's the timeline for
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this? What do you mean?
17:08
When, when, when did you get into bar management then?
17:11
When were things kind of coming back around and opening up in
17:13
Chicago? I think 20/21/19 or 20/20.
17:19
Well, 2020 was when COVID hit, So maybe like a year or so
17:22
later, things were kind of getting a little bit more back
17:24
to normal there in Chicago. Yeah, it was August or September
17:28
of 2020 is when I went into. OK.
17:31
So it was several months, sort of things are shut down and then
17:35
that summer you there's an opportunity and you you kind of
17:39
find yourself in bar management. Yep.
17:43
Yeah. OK.
17:44
All right, So go ahead. What happens next?
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So go into bar management and, you know, learn as much as I can
17:52
with the current restaurant group I'm at.
17:54
And then a former colleague reached out to me who was
17:58
actually the general manager of La Riola and asked me to come
18:03
over as the assistant general manager.
18:06
And this was about two, 2 1/2 years after I started managing
18:11
the bar. So came over great opportunity,
18:16
opportunity to work with a colleague who I worked with for
18:19
many, many years. And then he ended up stepping
18:25
down about a year later and I took over as general manager and
18:31
did that for about a year. And then the opportunity arose
18:34
to be director and you know, the rest is history.
18:38
So I understand, Trevor, you're a little humble.
18:43
Don't don't like to talk about yourself a whole lot, but try to
18:46
break outside that shell a little bit here.
18:48
And what is it that you think that they saw in you at Labriola
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that they first invited you to be the assistant general manager
18:57
and then to move up in the general manager and then
19:00
eventually your current role director of OPS?
19:02
What? What was it you were bringing to
19:04
the table that they were like, Yep, we want this guy and we
19:07
want to keep moving him up through the ranks?
19:09
Sure, sure. I, I think the main thing is
19:13
focusing on the customer experience.
19:17
And that's something that has been ingrained in me since the
19:22
beginning, is making sure that every person that walks through
19:24
that door has the best experience of their life.
19:27
Because you know, it's about the food, but it's also about the
19:32
people. And I don't know about you, but
19:35
when we decide where we're going to go eat and what we're going
19:38
to do on our days off, the first thing we ask ourselves is who do
19:43
we know that bartends there? Who do we know that works there?
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And I feel like everyone does that, you know, and maybe that's
19:49
the bartender in me where, you know, I will do anything for
19:53
that person that's sitting at that bar.
19:55
And now who's dying in that restaurant?
19:57
If you have a kid who's screaming and crying and the
20:01
only thing they eat is Chick-fil-A chicken tenders.
20:05
I'll go over to Chick-fil-A, I'll buy some chicken tenders,
20:08
we'll put them on a plate and we'll give them to the kid
20:10
because what that's going to mean to that parent and that
20:13
family is so much more than anything else you can do.
20:17
So it's, it's the need for customer satisfaction.
20:21
And I just think I have this constant drive to continue to be
20:25
better every single day. So I, I think the combination of
20:31
those two is what's led me to the success that I've had.
20:36
There's never an off day. Every single day is an
20:39
opportunity to be more efficient, be better and say,
20:43
how can you know? We grow as a team.
20:46
Where do you think that drive comes from?
20:48
Is there something in your upbringing?
20:50
Is it just innate in your genes? Did you have kind of a some
20:53
transformative experiences along the way?
20:57
I think it comes from my parents.
20:59
I think it comes from my parents, it comes from my
21:01
brother. You know, both my mom and my dad
21:06
were super hard workers. My mom was a high school science
21:10
teacher. You know, she ran the
21:15
negotiations for the entire school for them.
21:19
She got awarded some awards in the state of Michigan for being
21:24
an incredible teacher. She truly, truly cared about our
21:27
students and it shined through her work and her passion to
21:32
teach people. And then my dad owned a custom
21:35
cabinetry shop, which I grew up working in as a kid.
21:40
So, you know, he has a really interesting story.
21:44
He was going to go to Med school and then he ended up hitting the
21:48
cancel button, went to the library, got a book on how to
21:52
make roll top desks, opened up this wood shop. 30 years later,
21:57
sold it to his two foremen and retired in his late 50s.
22:03
And, you know, same with my brother.
22:05
My brother went to law school. He was a lawyer.
22:07
He said, I'm done with this. This doesn't make me happy.
22:11
He ended up going into financial management.
22:14
So I, I feel like our whole family has this drive to be
22:18
successful and to never let up and just keep on climbing.
22:23
And it's funny, I was just having this conversation with my
22:25
parents that sometimes you need to stop and just say, OK, I'm
22:30
going to sit here for right now and I'm going to master the spot
22:33
and not be focused on how can I grow tomorrow, next week, next
22:38
month. I think that's interesting what
22:42
you say there about because I think people who like, you know,
22:46
like you, Trevor, who are kind of motivated to advance in life.
22:52
I think most people sort of look at, you know, how can I get to
22:56
the next position? How can I get the next pay
22:58
raise? How can I, you know, kind of
23:01
advanced my career in that way? And so it's really interesting
23:04
to hear sort of the mindset that you have, which is more about,
23:07
listen, this is where I am right now.
23:09
How can I master this? How can I be the best version of
23:13
Trevor Miklow at this thing that I'm doing right now and have
23:17
that be your primary focus rather than, you know, how do I
23:21
get the next pay raise? And from my experience, people
23:26
who can do that and just kind of be lasered in on leveling up on
23:32
this this present task, those are the people who will see
23:36
those other things fall in line for them more quickly.
23:41
For sure. And you know, you have to think
23:45
I need to be the best at this task because I'm going to have
23:49
to teach it to somebody. And I need to know every single
23:54
detail of it. Because first of all, I'm not
23:57
going to progress if I don't teach someone everything I know
24:01
so they can come up behind me and step into that role.
24:05
And I, I think that's a role. I think that's a detail that a
24:09
lot of people miss is if you just focus on developing people
24:16
under you, you're just going to continue to grow because it's
24:19
going to make you better at your job.
24:21
It's going to make you sharper. It's going to help you know your
24:24
industry better and it's going to fuel your growth because the
24:28
people who are going to give you those promotions and those
24:31
raises are going to say this person develops leadership.
24:35
That's a coveted skill. You know, that's a very unique
24:39
skill. If you can't develop people and
24:43
teach people and get people to follow you, then what are you
24:47
doing, you know? And I think the other side to
24:50
that, I agree 100% with what you just said, Trevor.
24:53
And the other side to that is in order for you to teach something
24:57
to somebody else, you have to know it inside out, upside down,
25:01
left to right. And so getting yourself to that
25:04
position of being able to teach it and train somebody else in it
25:08
means that you've had to level up your own understanding of it,
25:13
which kind of goes hand in hand with, you know, what you were
25:15
just saying before about, hey, I want to be laser focused on
25:18
being the best at this current task that I can.
25:22
Sure, sure. So talk us through now, you know
25:27
as the Director of Operations at DRG, what what are your daily
25:33
duties look like? What is the responsibility of
25:36
somebody in that role? Sure, you know the daily duties
25:44
are always changing, but you have to think of it, what's
25:49
what's the main purpose of my job, What am I here to do?
25:53
And it's to make sure our customers happy and are happy
25:56
and it's to make sure that the restaurants are profitable.
26:00
So on a daily basis, that can change from being inserted into
26:05
operations for a day, a week, a month, or it can shift from
26:14
being behind the computer and reviewing the purchase orders,
26:18
reviewing the PNL, reviewing the financial statements.
26:22
How do we purchase food? How do we purchase liquor?
26:26
How do we purchase dry goods? What are the systems for those?
26:30
Sit down with that person. How do you do it?
26:32
Walk me through how you do it. Where is your order guide?
26:36
How is it different in January than it is in July?
26:39
Asking those questions. So it's a lot like everything in
26:45
the service industry is so intertwined.
26:48
And being a server or a bartender has the same inherent
26:52
qualities as being a floor manager, an AGM, and GM and
26:56
director. It's all about listening to the
26:58
needs of whatever you're in charge of, right?
27:02
If if you're a bartender, you need to listen to the needs of
27:05
the customers. Are you hungry?
27:07
Do you want privacy? Do you want me to talk to you?
27:10
Are you guys on a first date? Are you a couple that's been
27:13
together for 20 years? Bartenders naturally develop all
27:18
those skills, right? And you read every single person
27:21
differently. It's the same thing.
27:23
As a director, what does this restaurant mean versus what does
27:27
this restaurant mean, right? Do does this management team
27:32
have everything locked down or are they a little deluded in
27:37
what they should be focusing on? Well, in that case, I'm going to
27:41
spend more time directly with each manager.
27:43
If we're getting good reviews, if financials are looking good,
27:48
then I'm going to focus more on how can we be better?
27:50
How can we be more efficient? You know, I want to go back to
27:54
the idea of the commissary that you guys opened up to supply the
27:57
other restaurants because you made the point that, you know,
28:01
real estate's limited in Chicago, right?
28:03
And so you can't really afford to have the necessary prep space
28:08
at each individual restaurant. So would I be correct in
28:11
assuming then that the commissaries may be located a
28:13
little bit outside the city where it's a little bit more
28:16
cost effective to have a larger space to do that prep work?
28:19
Correct, correct. Commissaries in Oakbrook.
28:21
It's actually in the kitchen of La Briola Restaurante Oakbrook.
28:26
OK. Which makes it even more
28:28
efficient. Yeah, you've got a single lease
28:31
for all of that. Yeah, they can make the food for
28:35
or you know, all the sauces and stuff for that restaurant and
28:37
then deliver it to us as we order from them.
28:41
Gotcha. Are they supplying other
28:42
restaurants as well or just within your group?
28:45
Also a pizza joint. Everything's within our group.
28:49
OK. You know, Trevor, you were
28:51
talking about sort of the importance of being able to
28:54
train people, bring them up behind you, you know, be a good
28:59
leader. Any like innovative practices
29:04
that you've implemented that's had a big effect either on a
29:09
staff performance or morale that might be fun to talk about?
29:15
That's a good question. Innovative.
29:18
I don't know. I'm, you know.
29:19
Stop being humble. What's what is what is something
29:22
that you've introduced that has had a positive effect on
29:28
performance or morale? Look at it that way.
29:30
Well. You know, training's all about
29:32
structure and it's all about being organized.
29:36
And, and I think the most important part about training is
29:41
whatever new employee is being brought in, making them feel
29:44
that they are part of an organized family that is excited
29:49
to have them join the family, right.
29:53
So if you're a new server or you're a new host or you're a
29:56
new manager, when you show up, I should have already, let's say a
30:02
new manager. You know, I've already completed
30:04
setting up your e-mail. I've already set up all your
30:07
logins for you. I already have your business
30:10
cards ordered. You know, I have everything
30:14
printed out in this folder ready to go.
30:17
I have the HR team ready to run orientation for you.
30:21
All these steps have been preparation before you even step
30:24
foot in the building. And that's a message that says,
30:28
OK, these people are excited to have me here and they're serious
30:32
about what they do. So not only has my decision to
30:36
join this group been validated, but they're pretty serious.
30:41
So I better, you know, bring my a game, right?
30:45
So I, I think getting all that stuff in line is one of the most
30:51
important things that I've, I've helped develop.
30:53
And then just the structured training programs, you know, I
30:57
didn't personally develop all of them, but my, I had my hand in
31:00
all of them. And you know, each position is
31:02
different, whether it's back of house, front of house, whether
31:05
it's a line cooker, a pizza cook or it's a sous chef or a
31:09
manager, They all require different setups of training.
31:14
They all need to be given that schedule and that
31:16
responsibility. The most recent training that I
31:20
worked on was just the general that the basic floor manager
31:24
training and what that process looks like.
31:27
And we extended that to be a six week program where they go
31:32
through every position in the restaurant.
31:34
They start in the back of house, they spend time with the prep
31:37
team, they get to know our product and how we make it.
31:41
They move to the line, they move the pizza station, they spend
31:45
half a shift with the dishwasher and with the busser.
31:48
Then they move to the front of house, you know, host, server,
31:51
bartender. So not only does this person get
31:54
to see every area of the restaurant and how it's ran, but
31:58
they get to form relationships and meet people along the way
32:02
and individually, kind of, you know, build the culture that
32:06
they're one of the leaders in the restaurant and they're
32:09
willing to do every position and know a little bit about every
32:12
position. So here's what I liked about
32:16
your answer there, Trevor, because I was asking for
32:18
something innovative, right? And that caused you pause.
32:21
You're like, you know, I don't know and I think a lot of times
32:25
we get and I I was just guilty of that too wrapped up.
32:28
And what was this huge new explosive like first of its kind
32:34
idea that you came up with and we discount what was your
32:40
answer, which was lots of attention to detail.
32:45
Now you're talking about, you know, getting things prepped
32:47
for, you know, new hires coming on board, having business cards,
32:50
just sending that message to people that, hey, we're happy
32:53
you're here. You know, you're part of the
32:55
team. Now we're we put a lot of effort
32:58
into sort of rolling out the welcome map for you.
33:01
And because I, I've been guilty of this in, in my
33:05
entrepreneurial career so many times where I am always looking
33:09
for that, you know, next new Big Bang, wow, you know, fireworks
33:14
kind of a moment. And there is such beauty in the
33:18
simplicity of just focusing on the tiny little details and
33:22
making sure that what we're doing now, we're doing the best
33:26
way possible. Sure, sure.
33:29
And you know, I could be wrong here, but focusing on the
33:34
details takes a lot of energy. It requires a massive amount of
33:39
energy and but sometimes you have to force yourself to do it
33:44
because you don't have any left and you worked a long shift and
33:47
it's been a long day. And that's when that extra hour
33:52
of work or that extra time or, you know, sitting on the couch
33:56
at home at 11:00 PM on the laptop right in a training
34:00
schedule sometimes is necessary. Now, I would never tell anyone
34:04
to do it, but I'm going to do it.
34:06
If it means that you're showing up to the job tomorrow and we're
34:09
not prepared for you, well, that's on me and I need to hold
34:13
myself accountable for that. Yeah, it's, you know what, that
34:17
that attention to detail, it's not sexy, right?
34:20
It's not as fun to talk about as the what was it, the handheld
34:24
deep dish pizza that I got really excited about.
34:28
But it is just as important as ideas like that, in fact more
34:33
important so that all the infrastructure, the lattice that
34:36
exists, you know, throughout the the operation, it is, you know,
34:41
able to support, you know, everything that you guys are
34:43
trying to do. Definitely.
34:47
Talk to me about community, community engagement, Trevor.
34:51
Is that something that's important to the organization to
34:53
get involved with that at all? Yeah, yeah.
34:56
So you know, we are involved in Laurie's Children Hospital.
35:02
DRG runs an event for them every year.
35:05
We do a Stan's 5K donut race for charity.
35:12
Trying to think what else? We're involved in Pizza Fest
35:15
with Steve Delinski. We get tons of donation emails
35:20
all the time and we find a way to get involved one way or
35:24
another. Why is that so important to you
35:27
guys? Well, you know, it's, it's
35:31
important to be a part of the community of Chicago and to be
35:37
involved and to have our group out there and donate back to,
35:43
you know, just causes so. Tell us about that pizza fest.
35:47
That one sounds fun and interesting.
35:50
Oh yeah, Steve Delinski Pizza Fest.
35:52
It's actually held at the Salt Shed, which is the old Morton
35:58
salt factory in Chicago that's been converted into a concert
36:02
venue. Still has that big Morton salt.
36:06
Are you familiar? I'm not no, but please go on.
36:09
OK, so this huge salt factory and it says Morton Salt along
36:14
this, you know, giant roof that's one of our main highway
36:18
highways going through the city 1994.
36:20
You can see it as you're driving down and the Factory closed
36:24
down. I don't know when, but they
36:27
ended up converting it into a concert venue called the Cell
36:31
Shed, right on the Chicago River.
36:34
Huge patio. So it's really fun.
36:37
You know, pizza restaurants go and they participate and there's
36:42
a big line and people buy tickets.
36:44
I think they're like $200 a person or something.
36:48
And there's bands playing and, you know, you can buy unlimited
36:52
pizza or you can try like 8 to 10 places.
36:55
And it's just a super fun event to get exposure and, you know,
37:00
be more involved in the community.
37:04
You know, you are somebody who has and continues to oversee
37:08
multiple locations and kind of different restaurant types, full
37:13
service, fast casual. Curious if there are any
37:17
unexpected kind of operational insights that you've gained from
37:22
juggling these different concepts.
37:26
Yeah. I mean, you know, fast casual
37:30
versus sit down, they're both very different concepts and they
37:34
require different attention to detail.
37:38
You know, fast casual, you have to kind of switch your brain and
37:44
think that there's a screen with a clock up there ticking down
37:48
from 3 minutes because if you're going to a food hall and you
37:51
want some pizza and you're on your lunch break, you know, time
37:55
is very important to those people.
37:58
So it's that balance of efficiency and maintaining
38:01
integrity of the quality of food.
38:04
And then, you know, focusing on that personal touch and making
38:08
sure that, you know, the cashier, the manager or the cook
38:12
is interacting with the guests and making regulars.
38:16
And you know, that's still that touch of that like sit down
38:20
service, but focus on the quality of the product and how
38:24
quickly we can get it in their hands, right?
38:28
With sit down, you know, it's the exact opposite.
38:32
It's, well, you know, there's the quality of the product, but
38:35
that focus is entirely on how can you make this person
38:38
remember you? How can you have a moment that
38:42
impacts them in their day? You know, and it's all about
38:46
reading the guests and what do they want.
38:50
Yeah. You know, a lot of folks I
38:55
talked to, Trevor still talk about how it's a pretty tight
38:58
labor market out there. So hard to find good folks.
39:01
Once you find them continues to be hard to hold on to them.
39:05
I'm curious any things that you guys have tried and found
39:08
success with? How do you find and then hold on
39:11
to good employees? Yeah.
39:16
Well, there's a couple of things that I'd like to address here.
39:21
The labor market super tight and you know, everyone in Chicago is
39:27
pretty scared about the tipped minimum wage increase and how
39:31
that will affect restaurant profitability and how you're
39:35
going to deal with it. Because as it increases year
39:37
over year, you need to adjust your labor model and say, how do
39:44
we get out of this and be profitable?
39:46
Because the goal is usually 18%, right?
39:50
And as that tip wage increases, that target becomes harder and
39:54
harder to hit. What I've been finding is.
39:59
Sorry, real quick Trevor, but before you kind of go into the
40:02
the details of this, probably a lot of people listening that
40:05
don't understand the context of the tip minimum wage increase
40:09
kind of explain it for like a A5 year old if you wouldn't mind.
40:14
So traditionally in the restaurant industry, tipped
40:17
employees like servers, bartenders, bussers, food
40:20
runners, they would get paid a tipped minimum wage which is
40:25
lesser than the hourly minimum wage.
40:27
This is because they make tips from customers.
40:30
So their wage is supplemented by the tips from the customer,
40:35
right? Well, a law was passed two years
40:39
ago increasing the tip minimum wage over the next five years up
40:44
to the hourly minimum wage. So now restaurants need to make
40:48
a decision. Do we continue to accept tips
40:51
from customers? Do we make a wage adjustment and
40:55
start focusing only on our hourly?
40:59
What's the solution here? And we're still working on that
41:03
ourselves. But what I have found is as
41:07
tipped minimum wage increases and our availability to have
41:13
more people on the floor decreases, the pressure on
41:18
management to maintain quality employees who can handle larger
41:24
sections, who are reliable. A food runner who produces, as
41:30
you know, who runs twice the amount of food than your average
41:32
food runner, you start to focus on those people and employ those
41:37
people because that's the only way you're going to hit your
41:40
labor goals and create a profit for the restaurant, which you
41:44
know, we need. We need that to continue to
41:46
serve food, right? And it's always this double
41:48
edged sword of how profitable can we be versus how can we
41:56
provide the best product, best experience for the customer and
41:59
not sacrifice it. Does that make sense?
42:04
It does. And I know that you guys, you
42:06
said that you guys are still kind of working through that.
42:09
Do you have any sense where you're going to kind of land on
42:11
this? What actually, first of all,
42:13
what is the timeline for when we're recording this in January
42:16
2025? What's the timeline for when a
42:18
Chicago tip minimum wage is supposed to increase to the
42:22
regular minimum wage? So I believe by 2028 it should
42:30
be even. So the the next part of the
42:34
question is how do you keep good employees?
42:38
You know, hire good employees, retain good employees.
42:41
And you know, that is the culture thing.
42:43
And I've always, I preach about this constantly is it's a top
42:49
down culture thing and it needs to trickle down from the
42:53
management team to the hourly staff.
42:56
And it starts with me. It starts with me taking care of
43:00
my management team and making sure that that team is in the
43:03
best spot they can be in. They're doing what they want to
43:06
do each day. They feel fulfilled each day,
43:10
they're growing, they're learning new things and that
43:14
there's opportunities for them to grow within the company.
43:18
If they're happy, they're going to take care of that hourly
43:21
staff and they're going to push that energy on to the hourly
43:25
staff and say, does the service staff have everything they need?
43:29
Do they have all the tools they need to be successful?
43:32
Where are the bartenders at? Are they bored?
43:34
Are they happy with the new cocktail program?
43:37
When we're writing a new cocktail program, we should get
43:40
them involved. We take our bartenders to
43:43
Cocktail Labs and help them and give them the opportunity to
43:46
write drink menus with us, name the drinks.
43:50
We have a bartender group text. If you guys have a new cocktail,
43:54
you think it's cool, you have a name for something, send it in
43:56
the group, make it, let's try it.
43:59
So including their creativity with the bussers, with the
44:03
runners, making sure that you know they're supported and all
44:06
the tools that they have. Same with the kitchen, making
44:10
sure that the whole back of house staff is set up for
44:13
success, that the kitchen's cleaned regularly, that they're
44:16
given all the tools, new pans, not to lean on labor.
44:22
So they feel like they're, you know, grinding it out when there
44:25
should be more employees back there.
44:28
All that matters so much in terms of retaining the good
44:31
people. And then it trickles down to the
44:34
customer. So, you know, happy managers,
44:37
happy employees, happy customers.
44:42
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. What does the future of the
44:47
Labriola concepts and DRG in general look like?
44:52
So right now we're looking at a couple new locations.
44:56
We're looking at another restaurant in the Loop possibly
45:01
and then another restaurant in Fulton Market.
45:05
Those are to be determined. But the next concept is going to
45:10
be a high end Tavern concepts. You know, we have the Ritchie
45:16
Burger on our menu right now. It's a special blend house made
45:21
pretzel bun from one of our commissaries, white Diamond
45:27
cheddar. So, you know, we're looking to
45:31
transition into that elevated Tavern concept where you can get
45:37
a really good burger, you can get, you know, some elevated
45:40
Tavern food, maybe like a imperial stout and a a really
45:46
nicely lit, you know, well designed bar.
45:51
So that's that's going to be the next step for us and hopefully
45:55
it's in 2025. Oh, OK.
45:58
The way that you were talking, you were kind of looking at
46:00
locations. It it kind of suggested to me
46:03
that this could be pretty far out, but you're saying this
46:06
could happen in the next 12 months?
46:09
Yeah. Yeah, that would be fun.
46:11
And it's interesting to me, you know, you, you guys, to me from
46:16
an operational perspective, I feel like it would be a lot more
46:19
efficient if you were just opening more of the exact same
46:23
concept, right? Sort of like rinse and repeat.
46:26
Kind of like the, the, I know that you don't franchise, but
46:28
like the value of like a franchise model.
46:30
It's like, yeah, we've got this formula, We've got it figured
46:33
out now we can go and, you know, more or less rubber stamp it in
46:37
different locations. But you guys have decided take a
46:39
little bit of a different approach.
46:40
And I generally see that this comes because there's a very
46:45
strong creative flair that sort of runs through the DNA of the
46:50
company. Is that kind of what's going on
46:53
here? Like it's just more fun to do it
46:55
this way. Yeah, You know, Rich has been
46:59
called a serial entrepreneur and, you know, I don't know if
47:06
it's, I think it's fueled directly from him because he's
47:10
always creating something new, whether it's a crazy doughnut or
47:14
it's a a new dish for the restaurant.
47:18
So yeah, that that creative spark flows through the whole
47:22
company and it's one of the things that makes it so exciting
47:26
to work for DRG. Tell me about the Ritchie
47:31
Burger. What is that?
47:32
What makes that special? The Richie Burger.
47:35
So the Richie burger has a special blend of beef.
47:42
It has the house made pretzel roll, which you know, can't get
47:47
anywhere else comes from our commissary, comes from the mind
47:50
of Rich La Briola. We have the sorry, it's the
47:54
black diamond white cheddar. I said white diamond cheddar.
47:57
I always screw that up Black diamond white cheddar and then
48:02
we fry it on a flat top with unsalted European butter to kind
48:07
of caramelize it so. It it got sorry you fried the
48:12
cheese or the entire sandwich, The burger, the burger itself,
48:15
the burger Patty. Just the burger Patty, right?
48:18
So it, it got award for best burger like nine years ago from
48:24
the Tribune. And then, you know, since then
48:28
we've been identified as our pizza place, which, you know,
48:31
the pizza's the star, Everyone comes here for the pizza, but
48:36
we're in the backstage. How do we get people to notice
48:38
the burger, you know? How can we put more of a
48:41
spotlight on that? Well, which of the restaurants
48:43
can they get the Ritchie Burger at?
48:45
They can get it at Labriella Oakbrook and Labriella Downtown
48:48
Chicago. And then possibly in this new
48:51
Tavern concept that may open at some.
48:53
Point. Possibly, yeah.
48:54
Or, you know, you might just see another labriola out there.
48:57
We'll see. OK.
48:59
All right. All right.
49:00
Shifting gears a little bit here, Trevor, I'd be curious to
49:03
hear about a serious challenge that you overcome.
49:07
Maybe it's something personal, professional, maybe a
49:09
combination of the two, how you got through that and what you
49:14
learned in that process. Yeah, you know, serious
49:21
challenges thinking non specifically, I think it's a
49:28
challenge that I'm faced with on a daily basis.
49:32
And it's just battling the imposter syndrome of climbing
49:38
the ranks from bartender to manager to AGM to GM and now
49:45
director. And at every single role
49:49
questioning whether you you should be here, whether you're
49:53
good at the job, whether you're fit for the job.
49:57
And I feel like a lot of people have that.
49:59
But you know, every single day saying do I deserve this role
50:05
and am I doing enough to be in this role?
50:11
And it's that little voice inside you that I don't know if,
50:17
like, you're not good enough is the word.
50:20
But, you know, are you doing enough to be the director of
50:26
operations? What does that mean to the
50:28
company? And what does that mean to you?
50:30
And can you sleep well at night after you've completed a day of
50:34
work? Right.
50:35
And I know that sounds so like serious and like I'm, you know,
50:42
acting like I'm like going to war or something, but it means a
50:47
lot to me. And I think with that like
50:51
strong meaning and just really like holding the the
50:57
accountability of, you know, are my managers happy?
51:00
Are my employees happy? Am I doing a good job?
51:03
Creates that little voice in your head every day where you
51:06
say, do I deserve this? And am I, am I worth it?
51:09
Right. So you know every day you got to
51:14
validate your your accomplishments, right?
51:18
You know, it's interesting 'cause this idea of imposter
51:22
syndrome that, and, and I see this a lot in high performers,
51:27
entrepreneurs, managers, C-Suite level people.
51:31
And for a long time and, and often times I still feel this
51:36
way when, when it kind of sets in for me, it feels like why am
51:41
I sort of dealing with this cloud of questioning myself,
51:45
right? It's like I can look at my
51:47
achievements. You can look at your
51:49
achievements, right? You wouldn't have been invited
51:51
to become an assistant general manager and then a general
51:54
manager and then director of operations and they wouldn't
51:56
keep you there if you weren't being successful in that role.
52:00
Like you can step back and you can kind of objectively like
52:04
look at that. But then there's another part of
52:05
your brain that's really questioning all that and
52:07
doubting that. And it's like, oh, you know,
52:09
they're going to find me out someday.
52:10
And you know, know that I am. I actually don't know what I'm
52:12
doing. I'm just making it up as I'm
52:14
going along. That voice I have come to
52:18
believe can actually be really helpful if, if you can hear it a
52:24
little bit and not let it get too loud.
52:26
Because I think it's a big part of what kicks us in the rear end
52:31
every day to get up out of bed and to go do something again or
52:35
to go do something new or to find a better way to do it.
52:40
And I, I had a guest who put it in a way that I've never really
52:43
thought about it and he's like it, it used to be debilitating
52:46
for me. He's like, But now I I consider
52:49
my imposter syndrome to be my superpower.
52:51
He's like, the fact that I've got this nagging voice sort of
52:55
doubting and questioning me is what forces me to get up and try
53:00
to level the bar up every day. Sure.
53:03
Sure. Does any of that ring true for
53:05
you? Yeah, yeah, You know, it's, it's
53:09
the voice in your head that says no one's going to hold yourself
53:12
accountable except yourself. And you always have to keep
53:16
yourself in check and be doing self assessments and say am I?
53:21
Am I doing enough and am I doing it correctly?
53:25
No. Any specific mentors, books,
53:29
experiences, other podcasts that you want to call out that have
53:32
been helpful to you and kind of your trajectory?
53:38
Oh, wow, yeah. You know, I'm always reading
53:45
like self help books and self growth books.
53:49
Eckhart Tolle played a huge part in my development of how I
53:55
operate within the world and just kind of living in every
54:01
moment and accepting it for what it is.
54:06
So, you know, trying to pull that ego back and, you know,
54:10
just say this is the moment. This is the moment I've been
54:13
given and I need to deal with it and not try to change it, but
54:19
accept it and live through it. So that made a huge impact for
54:24
me in in terms of mentors, I've I've had a lot throughout my
54:31
life and in the restaurant group and I'm grateful for all of
54:36
them. One is Matt Graham, who is now
54:41
the vice president of operations for Boca Restaurant Group.
54:46
So he was the general manager at a restaurant I worked at way
54:51
back when. And you know, he made a huge
54:55
impact on how I see the customer and how I manage the restaurant
55:01
on a day-to-day basis. Yeah.
55:06
Nice. It's always nice to give a shout
55:09
out to those folks who have helped us along the way.
55:12
You know, Trevor, I've just got one more question for you.
55:14
But before I ask it, I want to do 2 things.
55:17
First, for those listening today who like today's content, and I
55:20
know that's all of you because Trevor's been a great guest,
55:23
please hit the like, share or subscribe button on your
55:25
favorite podcast app. Trevor, I also want to let
55:27
people know the best way to get in touch with you.
55:30
What would that be? Sure.
55:33
So my e-mail is T Miklow. That's TMICKLOW at
55:39
labriolacafe.com or you can just come into the restaurant and see
55:45
me. I'm usually there on Tuesdays
55:47
and Fridays downtown at the Michigan Ave. location.
55:51
I'm at Oakbrook on Thursdays and I'm down at the Pizza Joint on
55:54
Wednesdays and Saturdays. You know I'll be at any one of
55:59
the three locations, but come see me in person.
56:01
I'd love to meet you and buy you a cocktail.
56:05
Oh, that's awesome. What an offer.
56:07
Who could say no to that? Last question for you, Trevor?
56:11
Yeah, right. Limited to when?
56:14
When does it expire? When people have to take you up
56:16
on that. Come see me in the next.
56:18
Come see me until March 20th. March 20th is my day when the
56:22
restaurant finally kicks into, you know, spring summer.
56:26
Season. OK, so.
56:27
Get in here in the winter. All right.
56:28
It's a little quiet for him now. He's he's got some time to kind
56:31
of chat with you if you if you hook up.
56:34
OK, So last question for you, Trevor.
56:35
I'm kind of curious to hear your thoughts on what are going to be
56:38
the big changes coming to the restaurant industry in the next
56:41
couple of years. Big changes.
56:45
You know, I, I think efficiency is where we're at right now.
56:49
How can we find other line items and points to make up for this
56:55
labor increase? So I I think efficiency will be
57:00
the focus of every restaurant group and not sacrificing the
57:05
quality of the food, but still driving those costs down,
57:08
whether it's food cost, operational cost, liquor, beer,
57:11
wine cost. So we can still survive as a
57:15
restaurant industry with all the challenges that we've faced.
57:21
Well, Trevor, I want to be the first one to thank you for
57:23
sharing both your time and your story with us today.
57:25
I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me,
57:29
Anthony. It was super fun.
57:31
Folks, that's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories
57:34
podcast. Thanks for learning with us
57:36
today.