FULL COMP · 2026-07-10 · 34 min
What if the reason your restaurant isn't built to last is because you designed it to survive instead of dominate? Philippe Massoud opened ilili in November 2007, a 10,000 square foot Lebanese restaurant in New York City, nearly $7 million in debt, in the middle of a financial crisis, with critics questioning whether anyone wanted Lebanese fine dining at that scale. Nineteen years later, the restaurant is still breaking records. In this conversation, we get into why going smaller and safer is often the riskiest move an operator can make, how Philippe grew revenue 30% annually for five consecutive years after weathering the financial crisis, and why running a restaurant with two guests in mind changes everything. If you're building something real in a market that keeps getting harder, this episode is the one to hear. To learn more about ilili, visit ililirestaurants.com . _________________________________________________________ Free 5-Day Restaurant Marketing Masterclass - This is a live training where you'll learn the exact campaigns Josh has built and tested in real restaurants to attract new guests, increase visit frequency, and generate sales on demand.
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