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Over the last couple of years, your favorite restaurants have been dying. bankruptcies, mass closings, and questionable strategies. Even more than that, the local spots that have been open for 20 years suddenly out of business. And it's more common than you'd think. So now that I've opened my own restaurant, I need to find out why. is this happening? And it all starts with the. What even is that?. This is actually a combo of Applebee's and IHOP. Why? Because Applebee's has actually closed over 200 locations and since the same company owns IHOP, instead of letting Applebee's die,
they merged the two together in hopes for redemption. Fans call them "IHOP-bee's," and about 45 combo stores exist now. Believe it or not, they have plans for 80 more by year-end. The new cross-menu items are supposedly helping sales, but if the classic items suffer, this could be a short-term fix. So they serve both what Applebee's has and also what IHOP has separately, or you can get combo items that they only have here. I think we get a collab dish and then one dish from each restaurant. But at the end of the day, all that matters is, is this actually making the food and experience better?
Can we talk about you've never been to Applebee's? I've never been to Applebee's. I have, and that bar, I feel like the build-out for all Applebee's is the same. Wait, I see it. This is IHOP, but then this is Applebee's. The closer you get to the bar, the more it becomes Applebee's. Which honestly makes sense, actually. They're like, keep all the children on the outside and then keep all the adults on the inside. I kinda like the vibe. I don't like it. It's a little too crazy. There's too much going on. Can we do the Ultimate Breakfast Burger, just an Original Buttermilk Pancake, and then the Applebee's Riblets Platter?
Then I guess sauce, what do you think, honey barbecue or sweet Asian chili? We'll do honey barbecue. It's a classic. That's classic. I'm already a sweet Asian. Wow. It's finally time to put this experiment to the test. She profiled you. She said the burger's for you. I think we should start with the pancakes. Oh, that was soft. That is so much pancake. They don't taste any different like they would anywhere else.
I will say, like, they're very soft. I have the same gripe that I have anytime I go to an IHOP, though, which is like there's almost an artificial flavor to it. But it's like you didn't realize that as a kid, so it's nostalgic. You didn't know what the "artificial" was when you were a child. You just knew sweet, fluffy, soft, syrup, buttery bread. These are the pancakes you gotta go to bed after eating these. You may have just gotten up, time to go back to bed. Now, a new item that could hold Applebee's fate in its hands is the cross-menu breakfast burger. That's messy.
I mean, it's not bad. It's a solid build. It's seasoned actually pretty nicely. And there's hollandaise. I was gonna say, the hollandaise is a nice touch. The hash browns are really chewy though. Okay. All right. Time for a riblet? I don't even know what that is. So for the riblets, the server said it's less bone, more meat. I don't know where the bones are. Bar none, that is single-handedly the driest rib I've ever eaten in my entire life. I'm not about this one.
It reminds me of eating wings, but obviously wings are way better. So the question is, who's winning here, IHOP or Applebee's? So for the burger, my favorite part was the breakfast stuff, so I would say IHOP is winning. And the pancakes I would choose over this for sure. I mean, we've got a huge plate of ribs and all I want is pancakes. The whole reason they combined the two was to help Applebee's, and yet the thing that we like the most is the IHOP. It's like saving a dead animal. My takeaway is that IHOP is better off on its own. I will say, I do think it's Applebee's only option.
One final thought. We talked to people inside and we all agree that the fix for Applebee's might be not to combine themselves with IHOP, but for them to separate themselves and to become a bar. Not a bar and grill, a bar! What if it becomes like, you know the coffee shops that are really popping off where you go in and there's all the different mixers you can get? It's like a tiny little drive-thru. Like Dutch Bros. Yes! Swig. Yo. McDonald's couldn't do it, Applebee's should do it! Maybe the answer, maybe not.
Applebee's is a tough one to figure out. But for now, let's move on. We have two more shocking failing chains to investigate. But after that, we're taking a look at small family-owned spots whose struggles scare me even more. I've definitely burned out on it. Obscurity is the enemy of small business. We put our life away for this dream. But maybe we can offer them some suggestions. Now, I know what you're thinking. Who goes to Long John Silver's? I didn't even think of this place until I went. But multiple surprisingly good experiences here has made me realize that this might be one that's worth saving.
The fried fish they're known for was nearly perfect. Their chicken has won our best chicken tender in America. And so I was not only shocked, but pretty bummed out to find out that this was on the list. But maybe there's hope. This is the first Long John Silver's by itself. Yeah, I know. Usually with an A&W attached. There's a reason for that. Long John Silver's is not doing well. They're closing stores on the regular, so they have rebranded themselves as Chicken + Seafood, not just seafood. They have a bunch of new menu items. We're gonna order them.
Hi there. I'm ready. Ahoy there. This is not a good sign. My timbers are shivered. Maybe he just. He just ran off. I think he just didn't like that you said ahoy there, and you pissed him off. Hello! Are you ready to order? Yes, sir. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right, first, we'll see if any of the new items added since the rebrand helped. Pickles, sauceless, they look crisp. I mean, they gave us ranch. Kind of fuck with that. There's a thicker one. They're really crispy, though.
I have thoughts. When do we not? It's very salty. It's almost a little too salty. Initially, they're really crispy, but then the pickles, I think, are too thin, so they're a little chewy now. Like, almost, like, tough. All right, should we do. I think wings. Wings? Okay. Yeah, get them out of the way. That's kind of fire. Not bad. It's not bad. All right, hear me out. Because it's like a tempura batter, it almost masks the fact that you don't have a crispy skin because they have a shattering tempura batter. But also, I kind of like this sauce.
Love the sauce. It's got heat to it. It's an actual sweet chili sauce, not just a sweet sauce. There's like a cayenne tingliness to it. This is really good. I'm getting the same thing that I got from Long John Silver's last time. They're delivering a pretty damn good experience that is different. Yeah, I was gonna say, no one's doing that. No one's doing this. And I like that. Do you want to try a cheese curd? Sure.
I'll feed you. It's a decent cheese curd. Seasoned, not too hot, not too melty. No crunch, though. Because it's such a moist cheese, I don't think it's gonna stay crispy. Pupper? That's like home cooking. That's great. Fresh onion flavor, crispy on the outside. It's fluffier, so it's more air, less dry. I just had a wing, so I'm gonna go fish. All right, I'm going tartar on mine. Whoa. Hear that? The fish is cooked, dare I say, perfectly.
It's flaky. You can see the flakes. It's not disintegrating. I will say, though, I don't feel good after eating this. We never feel good after these videos. The final test for me is the chicken. That's what sent us over the top. That's what made us fall in love with Long John Silver's. That's the one that shook me and became a core memory for both of us, because chicken tenders are chicken tenders, but the way they did theirs, we were quiet for a while. Now, their CEO said their chicken is their best-kept secret, but let's see if it's consistently good.
My first expectation would be like, oh, it's gonna be super dry, it's gonna be super. It's not. It's like they fried at the perfect temperature so that it's not greasy, and it's super crispy, and it retains the moisture in the chicken. If I'm gonna be really critical, I don't think that the tenders are as good as I had them last time. Overall, though, like, I think that they're making the right decision pivoting this. It is a good-looking rebrand. I like it. It's visually appealing. Doesn't look old anymore. It's very hip. Okay, out of all the places, though, I will say this.
I think these guys are the most likely to succeed, but will it stay that way? It's not even I hope they do. I want them to. We move on to the next one. Okay, we're at Red Lobster now, and I got to be honest with you, I'm kind of shocked. They had, like, a line out the door. Maybe they are doing okay. The building looks in good condition. Everything's clean. It's not dusty at all. Look, they straight up put the general manager right up front.
All right, Anthony, let's see what you got. On second thought, it is actually extremely empty in here. Did we miss the dinner rush? It's 6:58. Isn't the dinner rush 7:00? So how did they end up here? After a decade of money troubles, the shrimp supplier bought the company, made Endless Shrimp permanent in 2023. Then this turned into chaotic 10-hour mukbangs, irritating servers, and generally just abusing this Endless Shrimp bucket thing, which cost the chain over $11 million. The CEO is supposedly said to expect, and I quote, "The greatest comeback in restaurant history," end quote.
New menu items. Hush puppies are back. Cheddar Bay Biscuits stay. But the thing that almost killed them is still here, which is the Endless Shrimp. So we're going to try that, too. One thing I don't remember on their menu was a seafood boil, and I love seafood boils. 1,500 calories? How much goddamn butter is in this motherfucker? To see if the comeback is real, we ordered some of their new items and the infamous Endless Shrimp. Oh, we have to choose one? Three. You have to choose three? Three, and it comes with a side. Whoa. Let's do the coconut shrimp, I guess Walt's Favorite Shrimp, and then what, you pick the third one.
Garlic bread-crusted shrimp. And can we also get the hush puppies as well? Awesome. Thank you. I'm actually shocked by that, I'm going to be honest. They're giving out too much for 25 bucks. That seems irresponsible. Let's try one of the biscuits. Let's just kick it off right out of the gate. God, that is dry. No wonder they hand these out for free. I would not order this. They offer this in the grocery stores in a box, and you can make it at home. And I think you could zhuzh that and make it way better than what they serve at the restaurants.
I don't remember them being that bad. The taste is okay, though. Not so much cheddar. I don't know what bay is in there for the Cheddar Bay. I think they were left by the bay. Down by the bay, my mother will say, "Don't order these." So the biscuits were beyond an L. But can the new crab queso start creating a little bit of hype? Honestly, I don't mind it. I want to hate on it, but it tastes nice. It's a solid seafood dip. It's not that queso-forward. If it was too cheesy, it would be a little weird.
I think this is almost more of like a, like you said, a seafood dip than it is a queso, which I appreciate. This with some bread. Give me that with toasted bread, and I'm happy. Yeah. And finally, the dish that nearly killed them. Could it be the one to save them? Let's see if it was worth it. Walt's Favorite. Oh, bitter, bitter, bitter, bitter, bitter. Bitter fucking oil. That killed the whole meal just now.
I don't want to eat anymore. Garlic. Whoa. I will say the shrimp are cooked really nicely. They're fluffy. I don't know why I thought that was tartar sauce. What is it? That was a coconut sauce. I'mma take a shrimp break and go to the hush pups. I mean, is anything the CEO brought back going to actually hit? I don't know what's going on. It's a good crisp. I'm not going to lie, those are good. They should just throw the Cheddar Bay Biscuits away and do this.
The crisp on the outside, they're super crunchy. Yeah, this doesn't feel like a chain. The fresh corn on the inside, it's sweet. Yeah, it revived the meal a little bit. Now I'm ready for shrimp. Yeah, I agree. If we didn't have this hush puppy just now, I think the meal would have been over for me. Coconut shrimp. This is the most coconuty coconut shrimp I've ever had, actually. It's nice, but I'm afraid to dip it in the sauce.
Nope, killed it. The bitterness comes out so hard. Oh, yeah. The bitterness of the oil killed every single thing except for the hush puppies. But I don't think the oil was the only thing that was bitter, though. And the sauces are bitter, too. Maybe the thing that the CEO has done right is the new seafood boil went viral, which is honestly fair. It's a great idea in theory, but is it deserved? I'm going straight for lobster. This is Red Lobster. The name of the restaurant has lobster in it, and that is the chewiest lobster I've ever had.
The corn is cooked into literal oblivion. I bit into that, and I saw into a separate dimension, they cooked that so long. The crab is okay, but it's ice cold. Shrimp is okay. The butter's good, though. Is the seafood boil gonna save this chain? So far, no. The problem is, like, here's the thing. If you're gonna offer a product that lots of other places offer, especially in Texas, right, seafood boil, you better be on par, at least. I wanna go home. There are huge gaps that are being missed to the point where it's, like, ruining the whole experience.
The bitter oil, the bitter sauces, the overcooked lobster, like. The dry biscuit. All these things add up, and diners are super scrutinizing. If you can't deliver on an experience that other people are delivering on well, how are you supposed to come back from that? I think the first thing that they got to do is fix the food. Seafood isn't cheap. So offer it endless is a bold move, and currently, not playing out in the good way. Like, the question is, like, where do they fit in the market? So I feel like if they really want to succeed, like, the best thing to do is make the food phenomenal, shrink the menu big time, and don't make it fancy.
Make it like an ice house or some where people come in casually in shorts and hang out. Make it ultra casual, but bad shrimp, bad lobster. They can still make it better. I honestly am rooting for them because this could be really good. So, we move on. I'm opening my restaurant at a time when Texas leads the nation in restaurant closures. We went to chains because everybody knows them. But what people don't know is that your favorite family-owned restaurants that are near you are likely struggling or have struggled in the past. So I want to
check out some local mom-and-pop shops to find out what their issues are and why they're struggling. The goal is to brainstorm with them. Of course I'd love to learn from them, but better yet, maybe I can offer some help. So we're starting off at Rollin' Smoke, run by Chef Kyle Stallings. Rollin' Smoke was an acclaimed food truck that grew into a brick-and-mortar, and despite the success, owner Kyle literally posted on Instagram, "We are dying." It did give them a bump in business, but things are still dire. So why can't a notable barbecue spot survive in Texas?
Is the problem the food or something else? I'm not really sure what the issue is here. This all looks incredible, but I feel like we go straight for the brisket. This is like the heart of the beast. The seasoning is really on point. How's that bark for you? It's barking. How's the lean? a pretty juicy lean. I like a little juicier lean, but I will say, overall, the brisket is cooked nicely, the fat is fully rendered, the seasoning on the fatty especially is, like, really on point, the salt level.
The way it tears is gorgeous. This is proper Texas brisket. No frills, simple, and honest. I kind of want to go in on this taco. Cheers. That's phenomenal. That's great. Seasoned with salt perfectly, which you know I care about. What I love about this is the depth of flavor. You still retain the smokiness, you've got all the cheese. It's, like, super rich, but not greasy, like you said. I like that a lot.
Honestly, no notes on that. That's phenomenal. The thing that's standing out to me right now is this burrito. I feel like we got to go in there. Whoa. I'm not seeing any problems so far. What about the sausage? That's top five sausages of the year for me. It's spicy. Oh, my God, the smoke on it is so good! I find a lot of barbecue places, their sausage is really underwhelming, and this is, like, one of the top ones I've had in a long time.
Shall we Southwestern egg roll each other? Yeah. I'm gonna go in for the sauce on this one. I don't understand. Why isn't this area packed? I'm a little confused as to what people have an issue with. This is great. So here's my takeaway. The first layer is always gonna be the food. Is the food good? The food is good. Beyond good. Everything here was nailed. They're doing interesting things with their food.
They totally stand on their own two feet. I guess we just gotta talk to the owner and see what's going on. Thank you so much for coming on and setting up that platter. Everything was phenomenal, by the way. Like, do you think that you, like, have an issue with, like, foot traffic, or, like, just generally people not knowing that you're here? For the context of people who don't know it, so we're behind Chalmers, which is sort of like a really big, like, I guess, sports bar slash food truck scene. When you go back behind it, there's this huge, beautiful outdoor area with covered patio and fans and food trucks.
When I was looking this place up, like, I couldn't find it on Google Maps. We have our following, but a lot of people in the general world may not also know about us. I feel like they do, but they probably don't. What are you guys doing for advertising, like, on social? Like, are you producing, like, a lot of content? Are you guys, like, posting a lot of stuff? You know, we do mostly Instagram for that, and it's been run by me forever. I, you know, definitely burn out on it, Sure. to be honest.
What are some of your theories? What do you think is, like, the top, like, two reasons you're like, "Oh, I think it's this and this"? My biggest theory right now is the economy, like, and the price of meat. Like, obviously it's not cheap to come here and eat, and people don't have money really a lot to just go out and spend. I still don't feel like people have recovered in the big office scene as, like, pre-COVID or something like that, where office catering and stuff like that, I don't see it as much as we used to. And not take vacations or I haven't done anything this year.
I've just been working and it's getting really burnt out, so. Yeah. All I got to say is that I think the food is phenomenal. I almost wonder if there are ways that, like, you guys can implement unique offerings that other places don't offer. And you have some. You have the egg rolls, you have the tacos, you have the burrito, et cetera. Just listening to your story, what if you had, like, a whole, like, "the economy's in the shitter" Yeah, yeah.
Like economy menu, or, you know, it's like so something fun and like lean into that and market it. People would support you off the story alone. And then people would come and try and they'd be like, oh, shit, this is phenomenal. The same issues that you're facing, like, the people are facing. Right. I had some consultants come by the other day and kind of talk to me, just kind of gave me that same thing, like, focus on the unique items that you have. And that's kind of what I've been doing when I do post on social media, which showing that the unique stuff that you can get here that is affordable, and.
I feel really strongly about you guys. I feel really good about you guys. But all I got to say is the food is amazing. It's beautiful out here. I really appreciate you sharing your story with us. Guys, Rollin' Smoke BBQ, please come and support. The food is phenomenal, you heard it from me. Thank you so much. Thank you, Josh. So we move on to Vaco House, a Venezuelan-Colombian food truck that is run by the wonderful Chef Roger and his husband.
They never imagined how demanding it would be. The menu is huge, but so is their mission. They're spreading the word of their local regional cuisine. But maybe they're spreading themselves too thin. As soon as I walked up, I saw my first concern: AI-generated food photos. This can sometimes be a huge deterrent for first-time customers when they see something like this. In a world of having to constantly question what's real, could this be one of their bleeding spots? First, let's at least taste their empanadas. This is like a beef and plantain. Cheers. Oh, the sweetness on that, that's lovely.
Yeah. This one's definitely different. That's going to be crispy. Oh, chicken and cheese. Whoa, smells like a grilled cheese. How's this gluten-free? So moist. Hey, but, like, look at the layer from the crisp to the inside. That's like fluffy, almost. This, I'm really interested. Should we Lady and the Tramp this one? Shall we? Oh, man. That's crazy weird. Cuz it's like cold avocado, almost same texture, plantain, with the saltiness from the ham.
I don't know, man. I'm fucking with that. That's a snack. They really like cheese. Yeah. Like, if you look at this, that's just stuffed with cheese. Yeah, stuffed with cheese. Well, I'm holding it. Shall we? This is a. Arepa. Here we go. Look at the arepa crust on that. It's like a really, really moist cornbread. So far, so good. But what about the tequeños? It looks like this is the guava and cheese one, right?
Oh, shit! That's delicious. Whoa. Bro, I didn't know it was going to have a little salty on there. Oh, my God. The saltiness, the sweetness from the guava. I like that cheese a lot. They have something here called cachapa. All right, I'm going to tell you how I feel about it. I feel like the general public is really going to struggle with this dish. It's delicious, but it's really rich, got some funky flavors in there. From the empanadas, to the arepas, to these little tequeño things, everything's phenomenal. The salsas are great.
By the way, these crispy things are gluten-free. I mean, that's absurd. I didn't see the marketing anywhere for that. They should be talking about that. Like, I don't even want to know about their coffee. I want to know more about this stuff. They have coffee? Yeah. Out of this small truck, I feel like that's a lot. So many great things on the menu. They need to focus on their top sellers, make it more manageable for you. I feel like people just don't know this place enough. So I guess let's talk to the owner and see what's going on.
Roger, thank you. The food was phenomenal. The empanadas blew me away. I mean, the arepas were great too, but the empanadas, wow! It's clear you guys know what you're doing. What got this started? I will say that we started as a family. Mom, dad, and my sister-in-law had a lot to do in it. My husband, like, everybody just came in, like, we love cooking, and this is like family secret recipes for generations. And we're like, why don't we just bring it out there, you know? Like.
What is your biggest issue right now? You're having trouble getting people to come in the door? Like, what is it? We're a small business. It's hard to keep up with the grocery shopping, paying vendors, the social media. You have to take care of everything at the same time. We put our life away for this dream. I'm a real estate agent as well, and I have to put my career on the side so I can keep up with it.
Food cost for us right now, it's really hard, cuz we're not, like, buying from Sysco or, like, all these big brands, you know, that they can provide to you and just bring it to your door. Have you guys ever thought about making the menu smaller and just focusing on, like, one to two core items and being like, "This is what we do"? If you guys become like the empanada people of Austin, you know what I mean? Like, there isn't one. Actually, we're about to remove some items and downsize the menu, but we just want to be able to serve every type of food that Venezuela had to offer.
It's like, we. We're not only selling food, we want to sell our culture. I'm just thinking, like, the wheels that are turning in my head are sort of like, what can just get somebody in the door to go like, "Wait a minute, whoa"? And then two people, and then four people, and then 10, and then 20 and 30. What if you start small and then the goal is to get to the point where people love you guys so much that you can then start to tell that story? If I rolled up and all I saw was, like, empanadas, and that's it, immediately I'm like, "Oh, okay, I get it. This is like an empanada place.
Okay, let me try one of these." And then after you win them, have them come back, win again, and then now, boom, now you have a regular. And then you start kind of slowly feeding in other things over time. You know, like the coffee thing, like, do you guys feel like that's difficult to keep up with, with all the other stuff that you're doing? The coffee is a big thing for, like, my husband's side as well, cause he's from Colombia, I'm from Venezuela, and we do a really big import from, like, Colombia, and we do a direct trade with the farmer. So it just gets to the point that you're so into it,
it's hard to think outside the box. I'm thinking serious about that empanada thing. Yeah, like I said, these are just suggestions, but I really like the food you guys are putting out. I think you guys are doing a great job. And, you know, for anybody who's watching, you guys know, at the end of the day, in order for a restaurant to be surviving these days, we need people to come out, we need people to eat some of the best empanadas I've ever had. So thank you so much. Thank you so much, Joshua. Thank you for sharing your story, and I think people will come.
I really do. Thank you. Hope to see you guys. I'll be honest, all this evidence has me a little nervous. Not just for local restaurants, but myself included. And I'm left asking, how can a local spot ever succeed with what they face? So I went down to San Antonio to a family-run pizza shop that has beaten the odds for multiple years on end. Meet Enga, the owner of Mattenga's Pizzeria. Hopefully she can share some of her secrets to her success. You saved a dying restaurant. As simply as you can describe it, how? So, we took over a failing restaurant 12 years ago.
We had never worked in restaurants before or food. He did civil engineering, I did electrical engineering. We didn't know anything, so we sold our house in New Mexico, and there was this pizzeria. The broker said it's a cash cow. We took over this restaurant, we bought it for $140,000. It was about $200,000 a year below break-even. So for a year and a half, we did not take a day off. We lived at the restaurant, pretty much, with our kids, and my parents lived with us and worked at the restaurant. How did you feel in that moment?
Like, what was going through your head? Were you like, why did we do this? I mean, ultimately, you don't know how the story ends, so it is quite hopeless when you go through it. There was this thing I had heard back when, which was very helpful, saying, hey, if you don't have a job 40 hours a week, your job 40 hours a week is to go get a job. So when the restaurant is empty, we shifted to be like, you know what, we're going to go out of the restaurant. When we don't have people in the restaurant, we're going to go find them, we're going to feed them. So we made a commitment of taking five to 10 pizzas every single day,
like five days a week, probably for a year and a half, in the 10-mile radius of the restaurant. That's how we were able to, like, really double sales, actually. If no one knows you're there, it really doesn't matter what you do. Obscurity is the enemy of small business. So you took it out there, you guys made it happen, and then now you guys have nine stores, is that right? What's like your number one, like, oh, man, this thing? Building a team. Building a team is everything. The way we're able to scale is because we have people structure, and we have structures to move people from a new hire to a shift lead to
an assistant manager to a manager. We have to set that structure. But that, to me, is after sales. I think that I'm really pro-systems. But first sales, then it goes into focusing on solving your operational problems and management problems. There is no get-rich-quick in our industry, so. You can't just be like, press this button and everything's fixed. Yeah. Let's jump into some of these restaurants. I'd love your help just kind of assessing them. This place, Rollin' Smoke BBQ, their product is very good. So they are in the heart of Austin, Texas, arguably the most competitive market for barbecue in the world.
What do you think about physical visibility? How important do you think that is? Because when I drive by there, right, I don't even see it. Here's Chalmers, and then there's this courtyard behind it, which unless you live in that neighborhood, you will never see that. Some things are so easy, Josh. What I'm about to say, it is so common sense and so easy. If we're paying team members, say, 15 bucks an hour, you can have a costume.
You stand, I don't know if there is a busy street. Yeah, it's E. Cesar Chavez is the street, yeah. Friday between 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., one day a week, two hours. We used to go with our kids, stand there holding a sign, "Craving pizza?" People love to see a small business. hustle. and they come out and support, at least in the great state of Texas, I don't know. Shout-out Texas. I even experienced that myself at my restaurant, where my biggest goal when I opened the restaurant was to walk through my restaurant and nobody know who I am, but it'd be a full dining room.
It's not just my audience coming in supporting. When I do appreciate my audience supporting, believe me, but to me, the real success as a restaurateur is people coming to eat for the restaurant, not for me. The other day, I went in there and we had a full dining room, tons of people outside. There's some guy came up to me and he's like, "Can you refill my water?" And I was like, "Yes!" And he was like, "Why is this guy so happy to refill my water?" And I was talking to a buddy of mine. He's like really big in tech sales and stuff like this, and he goes, "That is not worth your time.
You're losing money by doing that." And I'm like, I really don't think I am, because I think that I'm setting the bedrock and the foundation to a business that is ultimately about people. So, Vaco House. People really like this place. My first concern is they have way too many offerings. Their core products, the arepas and empanadas, are so good. And I'm like, why don't they lean into almost like the In-N-Out model, where it's like just one or two core products, but find a way to integrate into the Austin culture? Have like one or two arepas and empanadas that are traditional Venezuelan. But throw in, like, for breakfast time, throw in a bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast empanada.
People will go crazy because you already have breakfast taco culture. Mix it and get them in the door, have them try it, and then have them go, "Whoa!" One of the challenges that I see a lot of restaurant owners that have ethnic food, and you said arepa? Yeah, arepas and empanadas. I don't even know what that is. So most people won't spend money on something that they don't know what it is. Our job is to educate people.
You need to give out so many samples. What is it? What's special about it? Anytime you post pictures of your food, you need to say what it is. People have questions. You got to proactively educate people. Hey, I tell you what, we come up with different specialty pizzas. Our best seller, it's cheese and pepperoni pizza. It is. Some people, they just want to get that which they know. It's comfort.
Comfort of knowing what you're going to get. We have four sauces at the restaurant, we make all of them in-house, but I've got this B&L sauce, which is our house sauce. And I, like, R&D'd that to the highest level. Neck and neck in sales with that, like, to the T, is ranch. People go after what they know. And do you think these places can recover? I 100% believe people can recover if they're aggressive about sales and pivoting and learning. You gotta first become a marketer and sell your product, then you gotta master operations, creating systems, and then you gotta get great at
people, management, and that is kind of its own world, as you know. There are many restaurants that are thriving around here, so we can't blame the market. One quote from Theodore Roosevelt that I really like is, "Do what you can with what you have, where you are today." Go out there, serve the community, so we also donate so many pizzas. If you want their support, what are you doing to earn their support? People work hard for their money. We have to earn their business. It sounds brutal, but Enga's right. It's up to your customers and the locals to decide what happens next. But after all this business talk, let's see how Vaco House is doing.
Welcome to the empanada week. So we're only doing empanadas. Oh, only empanadas? Yeah. That's what you meant. Oh, gotcha, gotcha. Okay, cool. Right now we have different options for breakfast, so we basically split open the empanada and stuff it with anything you like. Or we have the setups. We have the avocado and egg, we have the bacon, egg, and cheese, and we have the shredded beef and egg and cheese. One bacon, egg, and cheese?
Would you like to add anything to it? The avocado and egg? Why don't you try the ham and cheese with avocado and plantain? I'll have that ready for you in a second. I'll just bring it out. Thank you, guys. Thank you so much. Thank you. That's gas. So good. Dude, this is just avocado, cheese, and egg. But the fact that it's like in the crunchy shell. Bagel who, dude? Yeah, forget a bagel, man. We got empanadas.
This is awesome. This honestly feels like Christmas. This might be my new favorite. holiday, is going to be Empanada Week for the rest of my life. Vaco's empanadas are top tier. The empanadas here are the best I've had in Austin. So I think it's good for them to highlight kind of the best thing they have on their menu. Seeing the owners of Vaco House take initiative and try something new and it actually work, truly warms my heart. Everyone loved the empanadas, but more importantly, the environment was good.
Oh, that looks so good! Aye, don't touch mine! Hopefully, this one day created a bunch of new regular customers. So good. Thank you, guys. People are just ordering like crazy. That was so good. Was it good? Unreal. You did good. Thank you. But that being said, let's see how the head honcho felt about today. Today went amazing. I can't complain at all. We had a big line. with a bunch of people we were not expecting. It was one after another, one after another.
We're literally sold out on empanadas. My eyes couldn't believe what I was seeing. Seeing all these people lining up just to get empanadas, it was crazy. We are going to make Empanada Week again. Absolutely. It was a little harder because we were not used to it, but now that we're getting used to this, we might just give it a shot and just sell empanadas and coffee. Josh actually made me believe in the restaurant industry again. Brainstorming with him was amazing. I just got inspired by it. When a person of that knowledge comes to you and tells you that, that makes you feel big. And it makes you believe in yourself again.
and what you're doing. So thank you. To all the restaurant owners out there, running a restaurant is not easy. It will never get easy. It's a labor of love, and I hope that our story and this pivot will help you to believe in yourself again. It's great to see how Empanada Week turned out for Vaco House. I hope that they keep the train rolling. Speaking of rolling, we also checked in on Rollin' Smoke, and we were very happy to see that their catering is picking back up. And to combat high beef prices,
Kyle is leaning into pulled pork with a new $15 value deal called the Silk-Flation Stimulus Package. It's actually a pretty insane deal for legit Texas barbecue. These are just two local restaurants, and while both of them are great, there are restaurants all over the world that are facing these kind of struggles. So if there are restaurants out there that you love, the best thing you can do is go out and support them. Tell your friends, bring your family. If you live in Austin, Texas, please go out and support Rollin' Smoke and support Vaco House and all the other great restaurants that are in the great state of Texas. And lastly, don't forget to subscribe. Love ya.
Bye.
