Why it took 14 years for this trendy fast casual to 'earn the right to grow'

Take-Away with Sam Oches

Nation's Restaurant News

Business, Entrepreneurship

2.5 • 15 Ratings

🗓️ 10 July 2024

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode of Take-Away with Sam Oches, Sam talks with Chris Doody and Matt Harding, the CEO and chief creative officer, respectively, for Piada Italian Street Food, a fast-casual Italian brand that is approaching 60 locations across six states. Having launched in 2010, Piada was a part of fast casual’s first big wave, and Chris and Matt joined the podcast to explain why the brand has finally earned the right to grow through outside capital.

In this conversation, you’ll find out why:

A strong dinner daypart is critical to fast casual success
You don’t have to charge an arm and a leg for high-quality fast-casual food
Achieving a 2.5:1 sales-to-investment ratio is when you deserve to grow
You shouldn’t emphasize growth until you’ve earned brand awareness in your existing markets
Italian food is harder than it looks
Customers should know who is in charge of your restaurants

Have feedback or ideas for Take-Away? Email Sam at [email protected].

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there, welcome to Takeaway with Sam Ocas, a podcast from Nation's Restaurant News.
0:14.1	I am Sam Ocas, editor-in-chief here at NRN, and this is the show where I give you an all-access
0:19.5	pass to the restaurant industry's
0:21.1	most influential decision makers. This week, I'm talking with Chris Dutie and Matt Harding,
0:27.1	the CEO and chief creative officer, respectively, for Piata Italian street food, a fast-casual
0:34.3	Italian brand that's approaching 60 locations across six states.
0:39.4	Having launched in 2010, Piazza was a part of fast casual's first big wave,
0:45.6	back when it felt like every new restaurant in America applied Chipotle's service model to a different cuisine.
0:51.1	But whereas a lot of the brands that popped up in that first wave,
0:55.1	either lost steam or disappeared completely, Piata has been chugging along,
1:00.4	gaining brand awareness and loyal customers in every market that it's expanded into.
1:05.4	Now, Chris believes that Piata has finally earned the right to grow through outside capital,
1:10.2	and he and Matt
1:11.6	joined the podcast to explain why now is that time and how industry trends have evolved around
1:17.7	Piata's core business model, not the other way around. In this interview, you will learn more
1:23.0	about why you don't have to charge an arm and a leg for high quality fast casual food,
1:28.1	why you shouldn't emphasize growth until you've earned brand awareness in your existing markets,
1:33.1	and why customers should know who is in charge of your restaurants.
1:37.3	Jumping now into my interview with Piatas, Chris Dutty, and Matt Harding.
1:42.1	Also, don't forget to stick around after the interview, as I will
1:44.8	share my six takeaways from this discussion, actionable insights that you can take with you on the go.
1:54.5	All right, so let's go a little back before Piata. Let's go way back. Chris, I want to start with you and your history in this
	...

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