People First, Pizza Always: The Donatos Growth Playbook

Speaker A: Hey, everybody, I gotta tell you, we're

Speaker B: gonna talk about Bilt.

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Speaker B: What is something you guys have automated

Speaker C: sauce application on our pizzas already invented a machine. It perfectly sauces a pizza in seven seconds, and you cannot do that. A person cannot do sauce perfectly in seven seconds.

Speaker B: I would like to have a sauce off.

Speaker A: I would have a robot versus Jimmy.

Speaker B: Live from, um, Workstream studios at the National Restaurant association show in Chicago. It's the, uh, hospitality hangout podcast. I'm, um, Chat C. The restaurant guy, and we've got a great show here tonight. Jimmy. It's not, you know, it says national Restaurant association show. Jimmy, that's a mouthful. It's just the show.

Speaker D: The show.

Speaker B: Right. It's just the show.

Speaker D: For years, we've been saying it wrong. We called it the big show. And then somebody corrected me and said, excuse me, excuse me.

Speaker B: It's no big, because the national retail show in New York, that's the big show.

Speaker D: There you go.

Speaker B: So I feel like there was probably a cease and desist.

Speaker D: There you go.

Speaker C: Is this like the super bowl, the big game versus.

Speaker D: This is the Super Bowl. All right. Game. Yeah, I'm stepping in. Shat. She said he's our restaurant guy. You. That is correct. I am. Um, Brandon's the finance guy. I'm excited, excited to welcome back a guest to our series today with our friends from Work Stream.

Speaker A: I.

Speaker D: We Heart Hospitality. That's right. Work Stream.

Speaker B: Is it We Hard Hospitality. I Heart hospitality.

Speaker D: I'm going to stay away from I Heart because I don't want another cease and desist coming our way. We'll go with We Heart Hospitality. We have a gentleman today who has been in this industry since he was 14 years old that's a hustler. Working. Working in the dishwasher. Which means not only is he part of our We Hard Hospitality series today,

Speaker A: I thought it's I Heart hospitality.

Speaker D: He is a hustler. Hustler, as we define as the gentleman, sorry, the people in this industry that started in the Dish Room and. And went to the boardroom, um, at age 14, he's in the Dish Room. He's run, uh, operations for, uh, on, uh, multiple continents. And now he leads one of the most value driven bands brands.

Speaker B: Brands or bands brands.

Speaker D: Although he might play in a band, but he leads one of the most value driven brands in the pizza category.

Speaker B: Were you drinking M. McAllen? What were we drinking last night?

Speaker D: I was drinking. I was drinking Guinness.

Speaker B: We're working right now. It's the rec. Reflection of what you're drinking.

Speaker D: I had some Guinnesses. Mr. Kevin King, President, CEO of Donato's Pizza, welcome back to the hangout.

Speaker B: Oh, thank you, Kevin. Welcome back.

Speaker C: Thank you. Thrilled to be here.

Speaker B: No, you're not. That's a lot. Well, it's true. Somebody forced me. He's like, oh, God, no. I could have been. I could have been having a nice breakfast at the hotel.

Speaker C: I gotta tell you, when I first did your podcast a number of years ago, it was one of the favorite ones I've done. It was like we talked for 30 or 40 minutes, and it seemed like two. We had a great time.

Speaker B: It did. Because it feels very seamless. You know, I did a little research on you, and I wanted to, uh, you know, because it was a long time ago since we had you on. So as Jimmy said, I mean, 14. At 14, you were a dishwasher at a pizza place?

Speaker C: Yes.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: What was it? What was that pizza place?

Speaker C: It was called Tony's Villa.

Speaker B: It's Tony. Where is that?

Speaker C: Oh, it's long gone. It was in Columbus, Ohio.

Speaker B: Columbus, Ohio.

Speaker A: And then.

Speaker B: So from there, what was your. You went to Domino's?

Speaker C: Yeah, out of college. I went to Domino's it's like, you know, you went to a restaurant company out of college? Uh, yes, absolutely, I did.

Speaker B: But was that a love of hospitality? Was it. I just needed a job. My dad. Or was it was or. No, I. I liked it.

Speaker C: No, I had worked in a pizza shop, same one, Tony's, until I graduated from college, and it just seemed natural.

Speaker B: What were you doing over there?

Speaker C: I did everything at that, uh, at Tony's. Over that. Not at 14, but later on, I managed, uh, one of the stores. And, um, when I. Even when I was in college, I go back from college and just plug right in. It was so natural. Uh, out of college, I was looking at a couple different opportunities, including one with Procter and Gamble, and the Domino's one was exciting me the most. It was a great opportunity.

Speaker B: That's like. Yeah, that's like, cleaning supplies and stuff, right?

Speaker C: Yeah. You got everywhere from Charmin to, uh,

Speaker B: who knows, toilet paper, diapers.

Speaker C: Yeah, they got all that.

Speaker B: So you went Pete's instead of diapers. Now you went. You went to. You were at Donato's for a period of time.

Speaker C: I was.

Speaker B: And you left. And you went to Papa Murphy's.

Speaker D: I did.

Speaker B: Now, uh, and then you went to Smoothie King.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: And back to Donato's. Now, is that odd? Like, you left. Like, to me, if you leave, it's goodbye and good luck. You're never coming back. But somehow you must have charmed somebody or you had pictures. Something was going on. How'd they take you back?

Speaker C: No pictures. But, you know, that was before.

Speaker B: That's a big thing then. Well, you didn't have phones as. No pictures.

Speaker C: That's right. You know, back then, you took a picture of somebody everybody knew, and you had to keep that stupid picture for your whole life. So no pictures. Um, but no, Donato's was a great. Is a great brand. It was then. I loved working there. The Grody family I knew really well. And, uh, Jane, uh, Grody reached out to me in, uh, 21 and said, uh, we want you to come back. And so it was a great conversation, and it was. Just seemed natural to come back.

Speaker D: Never left a job where he hasn't torched the bridge after he crossed it. See? So this. This is confusing to him.

Speaker B: Julie is getting some headlines.

Speaker D: You could exit and then be invited back because you left on very good terms. You'd been a. You've been a good person. You've done the right things as a company that leads with love. They welcomed you back. You haven't had that experience.

Speaker C: Well, you know, you guys know this. This is a small industry. So anybody out there listening? Don't burn bridges.

Speaker B: Don't burn bridges.

Speaker C: Um, you don't know where those people are going to go and end up. And you don't know where you're going to go and end up. Never burn bridges.

Speaker B: Obviously, you didn't burn any bridges. You kept that. Now, I looked up a little something here. Now, donatos founded in 1963, right?

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: I want m. I asked you a question. I want to know what you know. Do you know what Donatos means in Latin?

Speaker C: It does. To give a good thing.

Speaker B: Okay, I just want to make sure

Speaker D: again, I was give a good thing.

Speaker C: Yes.

Speaker D: I like that.

Speaker B: Now, I was asked to ask you that question because your job depended on. Yes. Like, if Kevin doesn't know what Donatos means.

Speaker C: Yeah. It, uh, would not have been a good thing.

Speaker B: Back to Smoothie King. He goes back to smoothie. So now you got 175 stores, 300 non traditional locations. Wait a minute.

Speaker A: What is this?

Speaker B: Including select Red Robins? Yeah.

Speaker C: We're in over 250 Red Robins around the country.

Speaker B: Wait, what is that? What? So what's going on?

Speaker C: Donato's branded on the menu. Yeah. You, uh, go into Red Robin to maybe, uh, get a burger or maybe you're going to get a great Donato's Pizza.

Speaker D: Who did that deal?

Speaker C: Uh, it was done by the CEO of Red Robin at the time and Tom Crouch. Uh, it was before gj. Really long before. Yeah.

Speaker B: It's interesting. And that's still going strong?

Speaker C: Still is, yes.

Speaker B: That's incredible. I like that. So you guys were like OG on that, having, like, the cross kind of

Speaker C: branding, and yeah, it's a really interesting and unique partnership, but, yeah, it works great.

Speaker B: I love it. All right, well, there we go.

Speaker D: All right, I do want to jump in here because I don't want to make sure we don't miss one of the last factoids we learned about Donato's QSR magazines. One of its best. One of the best brands to work for 2025, which, again, kind of the theme we're playing out today with our friends at work Stream, uh, the, the we love hospitality. And by the way, it all starts with the people. I want to talk about the Donato's philosophy that's baked into the DNA of the company. Um, I find it fascinating. I even had to learn how to make sure I was saying the word correctly. But it's which Donato's Agape capitalism.

Speaker B: Agape Sorry.

Speaker D: I'm sorry. Thanks. See, I didn't. Agape. Thank you. Agape capitalism. It has three tenants. It is lead with love. Okay. It is follow the golden rule, and it's do the right thing. Spike Lee. Absolutely. Spike Lee. They were first. Take it easy, Spike. Okay? And founder Jim Grody, um, has been living this since he founded the company in 1963. In the great Columbus, Ohio. Watch the reaction from our. Our man Nate back there.

Speaker B: Wait, a shout in the Cavs. The Cavs won last night.

Speaker D: And the Cavs won last night.

Speaker B: Now it's a Cavs next to me. Who are you taking?

Speaker D: Because you love Columbus. I love Columbus, but I'm a die hard Knicks fan now. What about Kevin?

Speaker B: Kevin. Who are you gonna like?

Speaker C: Who you gotta go with? Cleveland.

Speaker B: You're gonna.

Speaker C: Absolutely. You gotta go with the cash.

Speaker D: For sure. Respect. I'll tell you what. Nick's win, we get some Donato's pizza sent over to Brandon's office. Cleveland wins.

Speaker B: What?

Speaker D: We'll send over some, uh.

Speaker C: What?

Speaker D: Isabelle's pasta. Uh, we got pasta. It doesn't ship.

Speaker C: You sent me tequila.

Speaker D: There we go.

Speaker B: There we go. We'll send a bottle pizza. Oh, bottle of booze.

Speaker D: We don't have a pizzeria in our portfolio. Actually, you know what we do? We have fresh brothers. He sends us pizza.

Speaker B: Be a New York thing, A bagel.

Speaker D: You know what? Yes, we'll send bagels to your office.

Speaker C: Love it.

Speaker D: And, uh, if the Cavs win, you send us an Oz pizza.

Speaker C: If the Knicks figure it out.

Speaker D: Back to agape capitalism. All right, you're the president of the company in 2022. You took over as CEO in 2024. Um, you've been in this industry, you've seen it all. You know, the difference between, you know, statements that are hung on a wall versus things that are really part of the culture.

Speaker A: For sure.

Speaker D: So talk about agape capitalism and how it's working. The philosophy tell. Talk to our listeners about it.

Speaker C: Yeah, first of all, Jim Grody, when he set out to go in business, everybody told him, you know, it's a dog eat dog world. You got to kill them before they kill you. And he just said, there's got to be, uh, there's got to be more to business than that. And so either kill or be killed.

Speaker D: I was just thinking the dog eat dog world. And I'm wearing milk bone underwear. Cheers, Norm. Cheers.

Speaker B: Cheers. Right?

Speaker C: Yeah. And he just, he's like, I want to bring my principles to work. And he did. And, um, agape capitalism is something he coined later, but it was really the philosophy. It really defined what he was doing all along. And, um, what I would tell you about that is leading with love is really about, um, assuming innocence and not jumping to conclusions with people. And people want to love. This world is about love. Uh, the golden rule. Who doesn't want to be treated? Treat people the way you want to be treated. And we say if you do those first two, if you lead with love and follow the golden rule, the last one is just really easy to do. So doing the right thing is really easy to do if you do the first two.

Speaker B: Well, wait a minute, wait a minute. The leave of love I get, but the golden Rule. What's that? I mean, I think I know the gold rule.

Speaker D: What's.

Speaker B: What's. What's Jim's take on the Golden Rule? Jimmy knows the Golden Rule.

Speaker D: Well, I think there's two versions of it. I believe the gold rules. I believe what Mr. King is saying.

Speaker C: Oh, what's he saying?

Speaker D: Is the golden rule, which we teach our children and we should follow, is treat people the way you wish to be treated. That's right. That is the purest, and that is, I believe, the kindest. And the golden rule that we want our listeners to know about. There's the other golden rule. They're the golden rules.

Speaker C: Whatever's the gold makes the rules rule.

Speaker D: Makes the rules.

Speaker B: Establish the golden rule.

Speaker D: Well, that's the more the financing golden rule rule. But that's not.

Speaker B: My dad always said that rule.

Speaker D: That's not. That's not the love that Donato's puts out there.

Speaker C: Uh, that is not treat people, though

Speaker D: you want to be treated.

Speaker C: We're going with, uh, the little more traditional golden rule. Love.

Speaker B: Do the right thing. Is that the golden rule again, Shazzy?

Speaker D: The golden rule is treat people.

Speaker C: Treat others the way you want to

Speaker D: be the way you want to be treated.

Speaker B: Okay, I'm going to move on from that.

Speaker D: Okay. Yeah. In fact, in your case, Jazzy, treat people better than the way you want to be treated. The shots you rule.

Speaker C: I think the golden rule in New York's a whole lot easier than it is in the rest of the country, because, you know, you don't have the same expectations we have. But, uh, you know, you set the bar so low.

Speaker B: When I come to Chicago for a couple days, I feel like the niceness of Chicago rubs off on me.

Speaker D: Midwestern values, baby.

Speaker C: That's good.

Speaker D: You bring it back to values.

Speaker B: But I get back to you. I hit LaGuardia. I'm right back 15 minutes.

Speaker D: I don't know.

Speaker C: Hasn't LaGuardia changed you a little with the way it is now?

Speaker D: Definitely.

Speaker B: It's nicer.

Speaker C: So I think before you had to be angry when you arrived at LaGuardia. Uh, and today it's beautiful.

Speaker B: I'm a little less angry when I get there. I'm still angry. I'm still angry. Once you hit New York, you get angry again because inevitably, once you get out of LaGuardia, you hit the Grand Central, it's back to back traffic. Yeah. You get angry again.

Speaker C: All right, you're stuck then all.

Speaker A: Uh, right.

Speaker B: Let's talk a little bit about, um, technology and robotics, because that's a big thing. I mean, I know everyone's talking about AI and I think AI and robotics, I mean, it really, it's, it kind of works together.

Speaker C: I don't think robotics exists without AI. Right.

Speaker B: So you got robotics and you guys have kind of leaned in pretty heavy into robotics. And there's always like a whole. Everyone's talking about robotics and, uh, is, is all restaurants going to become, we're going to get rid of everyone and fire everyone and, and it's just going to be robots there. And I think, I don't think that's what's happening from my perspective. I see. So where are you guys kind of into on robotics and what's happening? These guys are in heavy into this.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: So where do you see it?

Speaker C: So first of all, I would say automation and robotics, because there's, they can go hand in hand.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker C: When we look at automation and robotics, we start with how do we use, ah, automation, robotics to improve the consistency of our food.

Speaker D: Right.

Speaker C: Um, Jim Grody maniacally focused on quality and consistency and really believes you can't have high quality if it's not the same consistency. Yeah. Consistency is key. And that's where automation and robotics come in. And we look at where can we implement automation on robotics not to replace people, but to focus people on serving our guests.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: And, uh, and a lot of times we start with automation is what are the things that people don't want to do or don't enjoy doing? Um, and I'll give you an example.

Speaker B: What's, what is something that you guys have automated?

Speaker C: So we've automated sauce. Sauce application on our pizzas. So Jim, uh, Grody invented machine.

Speaker B: Uh, he invented it.

Speaker C: He invented it that, uh, it perfectly sauces a pizza in seven seconds. You guys know, pizza sauce goes like this.

Speaker B: And he goes like this.

Speaker C: That's right. And there's ridges and valleys. There's dry spots and wet spots. There's places that are very angry sometimes

Speaker B: when I get my pizza and it's not sourced properly.

Speaker C: That's right. So this applies a perfect portion of sauce in seven seconds, and you cannot do that. A person cannot do sauce perfectly in seven seconds.

Speaker B: I would like to have a sauce off. I would have a robot versus Jimmy.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: And I want to give Jimmy the bucket of sauce. I want to see if.

Speaker A: How fast.

Speaker C: Well, Jimmy, you come to Columbus. We'll set you up.

Speaker D: Yes. And I want to be very clear, since I will lose to the machine, I will then quickly argue that the imperfections in my pizza is what makes it perfect, special. Don't say that, Jimmy.

Speaker B: I'm competitive person.

Speaker D: I am.

Speaker B: But I bet you I'm gonna lose the robot.

Speaker D: I will lose the robot. What was it?

Speaker C: Ridges and valleys.

Speaker D: Ridges and valleys. I will have a lot of pizza with a lot of ridges and a lot of valleys.

Speaker B: Yeah, I hear you.

Speaker C: And you bite into that. You bite into that ridge and you burn your mouth.

Speaker D: There it is.

Speaker C: And then you can't taste the rest of the pizza. So we want you to have a great. So that.

Speaker B: So that. So that's. When did he invent this?

Speaker C: Um, well, the machine we're using in our restaurants today was invented in, uh. 2018. 2019.

Speaker B: Wow. Okay.

Speaker C: Uh, so relatively recent, but Jim started inventing in the early 70s with, uh, if you know Donato's, we put 100 pieces of pepperoni on a large pizza. That takes a lot of time.

Speaker B: Sounds like a lot of pepperoni.

Speaker C: It's a lot of time. So he said in the. In the late 60s, early 70s, there's got to be a better way because they were slicing pepperoni by hand.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: And then applying it to the pizza. And so he invented a manual machine that drags a blade over the sticks of pepperoni and dropped it down. And everybody laughed at it. I mean, it was.

Speaker B: So the pizza was down here, and

Speaker C: you just went a couple times, and it dropped. And actually, then in frozen pizza applications, they were still putting pizza on by hand.

Speaker A: Wow.

Speaker C: And so they said, if you can automate that, we'll buy however many. That's right. And so he built a company based upon the pepperoni.

Speaker B: This guy's not just a pizza guy. This guy is a real inventor.

Speaker C: No, he's. He is so curious and so focused on consistency. He's always thinking about how to make it better by making it more consistent. And, uh, so we also have a machine in our restaurants that slices pepperoni. It does in about 45 seconds from a stick. Drops it down perfectly placed.

Speaker B: That's unbelievable.

Speaker C: So it, uh, so when we think of automation, we go right there and we, we expanded upon that. We put a, with a partner out of Canada called Appetronics. We put a fully automated kitchen in the Columbus airport. So this is not frozen pizza where they just reheat it and serve it to you. It takes, uh, one of our crusts, it sauces it cheeses, it tops it bakes it cuts it and puts it in a box and serves it to you. Fully automated. No people.

Speaker B: Jimmy, this is Kramer's idea.

Speaker D: It is make your own, bake your own pie. Yes, but as we say, it's not Kramer. It's a robot. But you cannot. But no cucumbers. No cucumbers on a pizza. Can't put a cucumber in a pizza.

Speaker C: Well, I can't. Is a little hard, I think, uh, you know, it's round, it's like pepperoni. So I'm guessing you could. The question is whether you want, whether you want it.

Speaker D: I want to stick with this automation and robotic theme for a second because so often as we talk about how tech and innovation could be accretive for operators, um, I think people quickly assume that it's at the expense of human capital and the team. And I can't argue enough. And I think Donato's does this and you're articulating as well as anybody the idea is the mundane task. The idea is to have the human capital, have the people engaging in a way that really does, uh, enhance the guest experience. The slicing of the pepperoni to a certain extent is not the, Is not the. That's not going to win versus the.

Speaker B: That's not the love, Jimmy.

Speaker D: That's not the love. So I understand Donato's has a four point strategy and it starts with the people. Okay. It's the innovation, it's the brand relevance and it's growth. And since we're. I hearting. Sorry, we Harding hospitality. Uh, in the hard. I want to do the people because I think you talk about a fully autonomous brand and again an assumption could be, oh, you just eliminated. Eliminated the human capital without thinking about how you're. Again, it's the face to face interactions that the machines can't do that Donato's is really focusing on. So talk about that. Talk about the hiring the right people, getting them onboarded, and the culture that comes from just engaging with your team that way.

Speaker C: Yeah. So first of all, some people call it the restaurant industry, but really we call it the hospitality industry. Yes. So the hospitality industry doesn't exist without people because a robot is not friendly. Um, so, uh, it is the hospitality. It starts with our people. Uh, hiring and retaining and keeping great people is, uh, core to what we do. And when I talk about that four point strategy, it had to start with people, it had to be the most important thing. Uh, and I actually call it passionate people. We want passionate guests because they're going to spread our brand, but we want passionate people in our restaurants who are going to engage guests and talk to them. So when we think about automation and robotics, we think about what are the things our people don't want to do. So we can focus them on the things that they do really well. And that's interact with our guests. And, uh, so that's the important part is making sure we, we continue to do that.

Speaker D: Can I, can I get you to add a P in front of that? From passionate people to prioritizing passionate people. That way we have the triple P trademark that.

Speaker C: Please take it.

Speaker B: All right.

Speaker D: Prioritizing passionate people.

Speaker B: I thought it was Proper preparation prevents poor performance.

Speaker D: That's my five Ps. I'm not giving up the five Ps. Proper preparation prevents poor performance. But Donato is getting the, the triple P. Prioritizing passion.

Speaker C: The triple P. I love it.

Speaker D: Boom. My gift.

Speaker C: I paid for my trip.

Speaker D: There we go.

Speaker C: So thank you, I appreciate it.

Speaker B: So wait, what was it? What was the triple P?

Speaker C: Prioritize passionate people.

Speaker D: Prioritize Donatos.

Speaker B: The triple P, Triple P. Prioritize passion.

Speaker D: Because also you don't want to get in the habit of going the pp.

Speaker B: Agape capitalism. Lead with love. Do the right thing. And then what's the things again?

Speaker C: The golden rule.

Speaker B: I'm not happy with the golden rule.

Speaker D: Chat to you. They're not getting rid of the golden

Speaker B: rule, but the golden rules, even the gold rules. That's the golden rule. You can't change the go. That's like saying a martini. No, no.

Speaker D: Do the right thing.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker D: Okay. Lead with lead with love. Golden rule. Do the right thing.

Speaker B: You don't think the golden rules you replace with these three Ps?

Speaker D: No. Then you can add, you can add

Speaker B: the triple P. Okay.

Speaker D: I love it. All right, there we go. We got to take a break.

Speaker B: We got a quick break. We right back. Don't go anywhere. We've got a lot to get to. We've got the quick fire. We got Hot or Not. And, uh, what do we got. We were supposed to do it. Who said it? But it was so terrible, Jimmy, that we're not doing that section. Yeah, Julia, it was a terrible section, by the way. By the way.

Speaker D: We are. We are. We heart hospitality.

Speaker B: And we are doing, uh. We are doing fake headlines brought to you by workstream.

Speaker D: There's two real headlines.

Speaker B: Much better. Oh.

Speaker A: Oh.

Speaker B: Uh, real headlines. Real headlines brought to you by workstream. Okay? So don't go away. We'll be. Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with Kevin King, president CEO of Donatos, which in Latin

Speaker C: means to give a good thing.

Speaker A: All right.

Speaker B: To give a good thing. And, Jimmy, agape capitalism is lead with

Speaker D: love, the golden, follow the golden rule. Do the right thing.

Speaker A: Thank you.

Speaker C: I gotta tell you, Jimmy, you're amazing.

Speaker B: These guys are paying attention. All right, don't go away.

Speaker A: Right back. Hey, everybody, I gotta tell you, we're

Speaker B: gonna talk about Bilt.

Speaker A: Bilt Hospitality. Millions of people use Bilt every day. That's right, every day. To earn awards on housing and in their neighborhood. But now. Now it extends to your restaurant. That's where Bilt Hospitality comes in. Bilt Hospitality shapes how guests are recognized and taken care of. Bilt's restaurant facing platform is designed specifically for dining operators to drive loyalty with their guests. It combines reservations, guest preferences, VIP management, and payments all into one platform. Alongside an agentic concierge. That's right. An AI concierge that thoughtfully designs and executes experiences around your guest tastes using the latest and greatest in AI technology. When a guest walks in, your team already knows what they like without digging through notes. Built Hospitality works across the entire guest journey. That's right, the entire guest journey. From delivering a complimentary course at the right moment, just the right moment. Sending a personalized offer that brings them coming back again and again and again. That's right. That's what Built Hospitality is doing. It is allowing you to communicate with your guests and keep them coming back over and over. Make every guest feel like a regular every time. Not just their first time, every time, they're a regular. Built Hospitality is available now for restaurant groups everywhere. Learn more@builtdining.com hangout that's builtdining.com hangout. And check out what Built Hospitality is going to do for you and your restaurant.

Speaker B: All right, and we are back. I got to tell you, we got Kevin King, president CEO of Donatos, here with the hospitality Hangout by Workstream, presented by Workstream, Jim Workstream. Because I gotta tell you, if you don't have really great employees working for you and staying there. You really got nothing.

Speaker D: You got nothing.

Speaker B: And you know what's really important in restaurants? No turnover. Am I right?

Speaker C: Oh, uh, yeah.

Speaker B: Because training's a. It takes a lot of time, a lot of money, and it really. Right. So once you go through that training, you want people being happy and staying there. And one thing that Workstream, uh, does is I got to tell you, they are making it really easy to hire, um, and pay and be compliant and keep people happy. And that's what Donato's is all about. Right? Because why, Jimmy?

Speaker D: Because they prioritize. They prioritize passionate people.

Speaker B: That's damn right.

Speaker C: Three piece.

Speaker B: And Donatos Workstream and Donatos are the three piece. Anyway, all, uh, right. Here we go, Jimmy. Fake, fake, fake headlines.

Speaker D: I know the game. Tell our friend Kevin how we're going to play the game.

Speaker B: I like to say your name.

Speaker D: Oh, thank you, Jimmy. Yes.

Speaker B: We're going to play the headline.

Speaker D: Let's play the headline, Kevin.

Speaker B: I am going to read three headlines. One of them is fake. Two of them are actually broke yesterday. And I got them from one from the Wall Street Journal, one from cnbc, and one from the. Uh, the.

Speaker C: The.

Speaker A: What's the.

Speaker B: Chicago.

Speaker D: The Tribune Chicago. Can I beep in and say I think that was a lie. I think what you just said was a lie.

Speaker B: No, Jimmy, that's what I did. All right, here we go.

Speaker D: Are you ready?

Speaker C: You're ready.

Speaker B: Michelin star restaurant m debuts a $38 bowl of frosted flakes. That was breaking news yesterday on cnbc.

Speaker D: Okay.

Speaker B: From the Wall Street Journal, and I quote, jimmy Burger King introduces a nightmare burger designed to cause bad dreams. That was broken yesterday. That was the news. Okay, and the last one from the Chicago Tribune, which I read this morning before having breakfast with Jimmy. Pizza, huh?

Speaker A: Hut.

Speaker B: Test delivery via a jet pack. Okay, so which one is fake? Is it the Michelin Star restaurant debuts a $38 bowl of frozen flakes? The Burger King, the nightmare burger, designed to have bad dreams. Or the Pizza Hut and the Jetpack. What is fake, Mr. Kevin King, uh, President, CEO of Donatos, which in Latin means to give a good thing.

Speaker C: I'm going to go with the jet pack.

Speaker B: The jetpack, Jimmy.

Speaker D: I'm gonna.

Speaker B: Very bad.

Speaker D: I've been. Yesterday, he. I got it on the last one. I'm gonna be. So I'm gonna be bad again today because I think that Burger King statement is like, even to achieve that would be such a horrific idea. That has to be fake. But because it has to be fake. I bet it's true. I think that's the fake one. So we go with. I'm going the fake. The fake one was Burger King creating a bad burger to manufacture bad dreams. That has to be fake.

Speaker B: I gotta be honest. I w. I wish I could say it was Jimmy, but you're both wrong.

Speaker D: It was the.

Speaker B: It's the Frosted Flakes. M Michelin star restaurant ever debuts a 30 bowl of frosted Flakes, Which, I gotta be honest, I'm shocked because with going on today, you'd think that, like, you know, they sprinkled gold dust or something on it.

Speaker D: There were some headlines yesterday that they thought were ludicrous, but the. The. The. The. The butter candle that melts, um, butter over a basket of bread. I think that's a genius idea. Even though it was fake, I thought that was a genius one. A burger that inspires bad dreams. Shame on you, Burger King. Shame, shame, shame.

Speaker B: The mo for that. Like, why would you want to do that?

Speaker D: You're so happy all the time that somebody orders you the burger to bring you down a little bit. Again, bad idea genes here.

Speaker C: Bad idea. I think it's all about news.

Speaker D: We're talking about it.

Speaker B: There you go.

Speaker D: That's why he's the CEO. That's why I'm doing a podcast with Shatzi.

Speaker B: All right, let me keep. Let me keep going over here. Uh, I'm supposed to read something about Work Stream, but I don't even know if it's relevant, but I'm going to read it anyway. No, I can't. It makes no sense. We can't go there. We have to go. We have to go with hot or not.

Speaker D: All right, Hot or not.

Speaker B: Here we go.

Speaker A: Hot or not.

Speaker B: All right, Kevin, are you ready?

Speaker C: Yeah, I'm ready.

Speaker B: I'm going to just say something, and you just tell me if it's hot or not. Are you ready?

Speaker C: I'm ready.

Speaker B: Mushroom coffee. Is that hot or not?

Speaker C: It is.

Speaker B: Hot, hot, protein, everything. Is that hot or not hot? Is Spam hot or not?

Speaker C: I think only in Hawaii.

Speaker B: And it's the number one consumer of spam.

Speaker C: It is. Yeah, I knew that.

Speaker B: Ketchup on hot dogs that hot or not?

Speaker D: Ah.

Speaker C: Uh, nah. No, no.

Speaker B: Pickle flavor.

Speaker A: Everything.

Speaker C: Everything. Pickle. Everything. You can get pickle on a Donato speech.

Speaker B: I was gonna say so. Cucumber.

Speaker D: No, no, no. Oh, my goodness. That basically means Donato's just doing it. I gotta show respect.

Speaker C: We have a Nashville hot chicken pizza with pickles on the top. Uh, it is phenomenal.

Speaker B: Big seller.

Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. It's a. It's one of our specialty pizzas. It's a good seller.

Speaker B: Always available.

Speaker D: Nope.

Speaker C: Always available.

Speaker B: Always available.

Speaker C: Always available. I got a lot of lto. Always.

Speaker B: There you go. If you get a pickled pizza and they didn't pickle it all that much, it's basically. You got cucumbers.

Speaker D: Got cucumbers, yeah.

Speaker B: Pineapple on pizza. Is that hot or not?

Speaker C: It's hot. At Donato's, we've. We've had pineapple on pizza for over 30 years.

Speaker B: Did that start in Hawaii? Like, who started that?

Speaker C: I'm pretty sure it started in Hawaii. But, uh, we have a fantastic Hawaii Hawaiian pizza with pineapple, and you'd be surprised. Ham, pineapple. We put slivered almonds on as well, and a little bit of cinnamon.

Speaker B: See? I would think that it would be macadamia nuts. Uh, that's what I would.

Speaker C: That's a good idea.

Speaker B: What do you think about that, Jimmy? Do you like that? What are you throwing stuff?

Speaker D: I was throwing something.

Speaker B: Oh, yeah, I saw.

Speaker D: Yes.

Speaker A: Is there.

Speaker B: All right.

Speaker D: Yeah, these are all right.

Speaker B: You're gonna fight with Booth next door.

Speaker D: They were. They were giving me the stink eye.

Speaker B: Yeah, right.

Speaker D: They were like, you guys are too loud. I'm like, yeah, I'm loud. That's what we do.

Speaker B: I mean, do you like the idea of putting macadamia nuts on the pineapple ham pizza? I can get almonds.

Speaker D: As long as they're. As long as they're sliced thin, little. Uh, it's got a thin slice to them.

Speaker B: Uh, and private dining club. Is that hot or not hot? Jimmy got a lot of hots. Almost every hots.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker D: And I appreciate Kevin.

Speaker B: Hot dog was not hot.

Speaker D: We're bond. Yeah. And I'm agreeing with Kevin. I'm agreeing, actually. I appreciate that Donato's, as someone who's representing and leading the brand, would agree with me that the ketchup and the hot dog is a no. But I want to ask about the mushroom coffee, because I agree with you. Incredibly hot. And it's not about my taste, but I've tried it. I've tried many. I can't get there. It's almost to me, Dan, I don't yuck on someone else's yum, but to me, it's like drinking dirt.

Speaker C: Uh, I agree. I'm not there either, but, uh, I know, uh, Tony Capuano, our senior, uh, VP of operations, loves mushroom coffee. Drinks it every morning. We were out in Vegas, the Cosmopolitan. There's a place down there on the food court level. They, uh, they have a mushroom coffee. I was like, I didn't. I. Yeah.

Speaker A: Where?

Speaker C: It's right on that food court level.

Speaker A: Like, right between.

Speaker B: Oh, I know where the.

Speaker D: Where?

Speaker B: Tech. Tech.

Speaker D: What.

Speaker B: What. What place is there?

Speaker C: It's, uh, it's right near where.

Speaker B: We go there all the time. I'm. I'm curious.

Speaker C: It's. It's right in that food court I

Speaker B: got you where the egg places.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: And they smooth. They have smoothies there.

Speaker B: Yeah. That's Oliver's, uh, food court. Jimmy.

Speaker D: Cheers to you. Oliver Wharton. Cheers to you, my friend.

Speaker B: Yeah, no, that's okay.

Speaker D: All right, let me ask you this.

Speaker B: What about bone broth? Is that hot or not?

Speaker C: Uh, you asking me? Yeah. I'm going. No.

Speaker B: What do you think?

Speaker D: I'm sticking with Kevin.

Speaker B: It's not.

Speaker A: It was hot for a while.

Speaker B: Was it?

Speaker D: It was very hot.

Speaker B: I feel like it's going back, though.

Speaker C: We gotta have protein.

Speaker B: That's what I think. Protein, everything.

Speaker A: Everything.

Speaker B: Do you think we'll run out of protein? Like, will there be a time There'll be no protein left on the.

Speaker C: Well, what's the price of beef, right?

Speaker B: It's expensive, right?

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: That's why chicken's going through the roof. Because, I mean, people are eating chicken so much because that's chicken.

Speaker C: You can produce fast.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker C: What's the life of a, uh, a broiler chicken is not very long. I don't know.

Speaker B: It's. I think it's.

Speaker C: Cow takes forever.

Speaker B: You don't find a chicken. I think it's like, the same.

Speaker A: Great.

Speaker D: Now we're gonna. Now we're gonna have the animal rights lovers all over us, really. We're trashing the. We have. We're trashing the lifespan of chickens.

Speaker C: Also, don't look at the price of whey. Whey protein. So huge it is. In the last couple years, I think

Speaker B: it's up because my kids are. They're getting jugs of protein, water, and they're putting everything.

Speaker C: Yep.

Speaker B: All right, let's go on to the branded quick fire. It's the, uh. Somebody's calling me. It may be Jimmy. It may be Jimmy, but not you.

Speaker D: It's not me.

Speaker B: 332 number.

Speaker A: It's a spam.

Speaker B: I told you my phone's all messed up. All right, Brandon, Quick fire. This is, uh. It's a lightning round, so don't think too hard. We'll go really fast. This lasts usually. Last lasters. Yesterday's lightning round was 25 minutes.

Speaker D: Okay.

Speaker B: Oh, okay.

Speaker D: What.

Speaker B: What's your go to when you go to Donato's? Uh, or. I haven't been to Donato. So if I go for the first time, what are you. As the CEO, and you've been there for so long, what. What are you. What is the order I should get so easy?

Speaker C: First thing you get is a, uh, pepperoni pizza. Again, I said we put 100 pizza. Yeah, you absolutely go for a large

Speaker B: pepperoni pizza versus the industry. Is that like, a lot more?

Speaker C: A lot more. I mean, it's almost triple what she.

Speaker B: Can I quote you on that?

Speaker C: Uh, absolutely.

Speaker B: Okay. You heard it here live, Jimmy. That was breaking news. I like that 3x said that. That's a lot more than any other pizza place.

Speaker C: Yeah, it is.

Speaker B: And a lot is a. That's, uh, a real. That's a real.

Speaker C: It's a technical term.

Speaker B: That's a technical term.

Speaker C: Absolutely right.

Speaker D: According to Kevin, a lot is a 3. A lot. It's a 3X.

Speaker B: It's a lot. I like it. What is your favorite food city in the world, Mr. King? Where do you go, favorite food city?

Speaker C: Portland, Oregon.

Speaker B: Ah, interesting. There we go.

Speaker D: I think it's the first Portland.

Speaker C: Great food town. Great farm to table. Really care about the ingredients, the food.

Speaker B: Really.

Speaker C: You know, I. I had the privilege of living in Portland for 11 years, and I think it's a great.

Speaker B: I've never been there. I have to get over there.

Speaker C: It's a huge, independent restaurant town. You know, a lot of. A lot of places, uh, they love. They love local. It's a great restaurant.

Speaker B: Is there a Donato's there?

Speaker C: Uh, inside? Red Robin, Yeah.

Speaker B: Oh, nice. Okay. All right. Listen out there, all right, Let me ask you this. This is something that Jimmy and I fight about all the time. Is a hot dog a sandwich?

Speaker C: No, it's a hot dog.

Speaker B: And what about a hamburger?

Speaker C: Uh, it's a. It's a sandwich.

Speaker B: Ah, Jimmy.

Speaker C: I kind of went odd there, but

Speaker B: it's, uh, a sandwich.

Speaker D: I appreciate that, Kevin. Quickly, uh, rejected. Decayed. The hot dog is a sandwich. The hamburger, I understand, has a little bit of flex. I consider the hamburger a hamburger, not a sandwich, but I respect that. It's clearly two distinct pieces of bread with, you know, all the fillings. That's. I get it. I'm still a no, but I respect that. That. That's got some flexibility. The hot dog under no circumstances could

Speaker B: be a sandwich unless the bun gets separated.

Speaker D: It wasn't the intention. The intent matters.

Speaker B: How do you take your bagel Mr.

Speaker C: King, just cream cheese.

Speaker B: We're going for everything. Is it egg? Is it salt? Is it plain? What's your.

Speaker C: I do love an everything bagel.

Speaker A: Ah, everything.

Speaker B: Everyone loves the everything bagel, But I

Speaker C: also am a plain fan. I got to tell you.

Speaker D: A purist.

Speaker B: But I remember when I was younger, I feel like. Like, it kind of reminds me of the tomato. Like, when I was younger, would never eat a tomato and every onion. I would never eat a bagel with anything but plain. But as you mature, your palate matures, and now everything. I like tomato. I like onion. Right?

Speaker C: Yeah, I do. I will tell you. On a plain bagel, I'm gonna take the cream. I'm just going with butter. On a toasted plain bagel.

Speaker B: Let me ask you this. We heard this yesterday from somebody.

Speaker A: They did.

Speaker B: Okay. A plain bagel with chive cream cheese.

Speaker C: Okay.

Speaker B: And bacon.

Speaker C: Well, bacon's good on everything. We know that. So I'm. I'm probably gonna have to go home and do it.

Speaker B: Kevin, you were right. Pekin should be its own food group.

Speaker C: I think it is. Didn't, uh, they move it to the top of the chart right now?

Speaker B: I just saw the news. I think bacon is Kennedy came out today with the new. What is it like the. The pyramid. The food pyramid. And you know what? Moved up to the top. And you know who put $100 million into, uh, into his campaign? The, uh, pork, uh, growers.

Speaker D: Smithfield Farms.

Speaker B: Smithfield and Hormel have donated. Anyway, let me ask you this. What's the last thing you googled or

Speaker C: chatted or whatever, uh, you know, put into Gemini and got my answer. Yeah, I, uh, think I googled how to get. Get to, uh, McCormick. No, I knew that. Take the bus. There's no better way to get here than the bus from the hotel.

Speaker B: Yeah. Uh, so we just saw everybody at the Marriott by Joe's. By Joe Stone crab waiting and waiting for the bus. That was the last thing. Are you a. Do you use Claude or do you use Chachi pt, Or is it just. It was Gemini or none of the above?

Speaker C: I got, uh. First of all, I use all three. But the world today is about Claude. Everything I hear as a leader, every conference, every communication, everybody's talking Claude.

Speaker B: It's weird because we came out, we had to get chat, and, like, within a few months, it's like, Claude. I just renamed my youngest son. His name was Sam. I just changed it legally. I don't know if I allowed to do that or not, but I did. And he's Claude.

Speaker C: Now, I think it makes total sense.

Speaker B: Yeah, I just think that Claude is the way to go.

Speaker C: It's better than a child named Alexa, I can tell you that.

Speaker B: Yeah, and I'll bet you all the kids, like, next year, the number one names would be Claude. Jimmy. What do you think?

Speaker D: I'll take the other side of that bed.

Speaker B: You should have named your dog Claude. Tell us the name of your dog, Jimmy.

Speaker D: Redford.

Speaker B: What do you.

Speaker D: Redford? Sundance. Redford Sundance.

Speaker B: It's a nice name. All right, last thing here. If you were to. I don't even understand this, Julie, but I'm going to read it anyway. If you were to challenge Jimmy Ryder gave a Pachi ball. Do you like bocce ball? No, I was a weird. I'm just curious.

Speaker C: Let's go with the Uber one. I love that.

Speaker D: Okay.

Speaker B: What's your Uber rating?

Speaker C: It's, uh, it's a 4.95.

Speaker B: Oh, that's why you like it.

Speaker D: That's why it likes it.

Speaker C: Oh, yeah.

Speaker B: Let me look at my.

Speaker C: We had really fun, uh, when I was at speed Uber rating.

Speaker D: Did you.

Speaker B: Would you have proof that.

Speaker C: Yeah, I'll show you. My phone's right over there, but, uh, I'll show you.

Speaker B: Julie, let's get the phone, please. Oh, we have to wrap it up. All right, fine. I mean, I thought we had a very engaging discussion. 4, 7, 5. I think I went.

Speaker C: You're dropping for a New Yorker? That's phenomenal.

Speaker B: It is.

Speaker C: I'll put you in the top 5%.

Speaker D: There you go. I'm a 487.

Speaker B: You know how many times I canceled yesterday?

Speaker A: The Uber.

Speaker D: My. My Uber rating has gone up since I stopped traveling with shots using my Uber. And he'd yell at the driver.

Speaker C: So we had a competition, uh, at Smoothie King with some of us on, uh, the highest Uber rating. Yeah. And the worst thing was, when we were traveling together, no one would order the Uber because it was our opportunity to lower their score.

Speaker B: Yes, right, Right. Uh, you just yell at the driver.

Speaker A: By the time.

Speaker C: No seatbelt. Slam the door. Absolutely.

Speaker B: I spilled my soda.

Speaker D: Bring a large soda, no lid. All right, Kevin, we want to thank you so much for being on the hangout with us today. Uh, thanks for joining us again. So, clearly your first time wasn't, uh, so bad. Ah, and we got you back. Congrats to everything that's going on at Team Donato's and big appreciation for, uh, for the agape capitalism. Lead with, love the golden rule, and do the right thing.

Speaker C: Jimmy.

Speaker D: Thank you.

Speaker B: Thank you.

Speaker C: Thank you.

Speaker B: This was awesome. Thank you. Kevin, I gotta tell you, it's great having you back on the show. How do we find donatos? Just donatos.com.

Speaker C: donatos.com is the best way.

Speaker B: Donatos.com and, uh, thank you for our friends at work Stream, uh, presenting the Hospitality Hangout live From Chicago with Mr. Kevin King at the show.

Speaker D: Cheers, everybody. Thank you.