In this episode of Service Please, former restaurant owners Alex Galanis and Kevin Morrison rant, joke, and reflect on how tough the industry has become, especially post COVID.

Kevin vents about hating sales and feeling overwhelmed by the constant noise restaurant owners face, then reminisces about launching a taco cart and trailer in Denver, where keeping the menu simple and focusing on service helped the concept succeed despite early doubts.

The conversation shifts to whether restaurants could ever use airline-style surge pricing, and why the backlash would likely be brutal even though many operators are struggling (citing 2025 figures of 42% of U.S. restaurants losing money and 41% of Canadian restaurants and bars operating at breakeven or less).

They break down how running a restaurant now requires far more systems like budgeting, theoretical food cost, forecasting, digital marketing, and menu engineering just to stay afloat, and discuss the difference between surviving and building a business that doesn’t require 50–70 hour weeks.

Kevin shares a failed out-of-state expansion to Phoenix and takes responsibility, reinforcing their belief that the biggest problem in most restaurants is often the owner getting in their own way. Kevin explains menu engineering basics (recipes, theoretical vs. actual food cost, PMIX, and managing variance), and they admit how common “theft” and owner perks can be.

They also talk about how personal bad reviews feel, read and react to harsh one-star-style complaints (including “hair in food” and a low rating over a ‘no dogs on the patio’ policy), and debate dog-friendly patios and restaurant safety. They close with a more hopeful takeaway: restaurant problems happen daily, it’s about how you handle them, and owners should aim for small wins over time rather than chasing overnight turnarounds.

00:00 Introduction

01:48 Life's Easier In A Food Trailer

07:17 Surge Pricing At Restaurants

12:38 Prime Costing & Planning

17:22 Love-Hate Relationship

18:47 Taking Ownership Of Failure

22:41 Menu Engineering

28:04 Bad Reviews Hurt Our Feelings

34:52 Final Thoughts