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Building Restaurant Empires with Scott Taylor: From Law School Dropout to Industry Leader

• Erika Rivas

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In this episode of the Restaurant Technology Guys podcast, host Jeremy Julian sits down with Scott Taylor, CEO of R&R Brands. Scott shares his fascinating journey from being a law school dropout to becoming a successful restaurateur. He provides insights into his experiences growing brands like Walk-Ons and Party Foul, discusses the structure and purpose of R&R Brands, and outlines his vision for helping other restaurant groups succeed. Scott also delves into common pitfalls for new restaurateurs, how to create value in casual dining, and the role of technology in enhancing customer experience. Listeners interested in franchising, restaurant growth, and brand building will find this episode particularly enlightening.

00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview

01:33 Meet Scott Taylor: From Law School to Restaurant CEO

03:19 Scott's Journey: From Marriott to Beef O'Brady's

05:50 Building Walk-Ons and Party Foul

07:38 The Birth of R&R Brands

13:14 Strategic Partnerships and Future Plans

18:35 Common Pitfalls for Restaurant Founders

21:26 Exploring R&R's Restaurant Concepts

24:16 Exploring Nashville Hot Chicken and Boozy Slushies

24:56 Expanding to College Campuses and Airports

25:33 Walk-Ons: The Ultimate Sports Bar Experience

27:09 The Future of Casual Dining

29:10 Enhancing Restaurant Experiences with Technology

31:32 Creating Value and Unique Dining Experiences

35:41 The Story Behind Rhythm and Rooster

36:59 R&R's Unique Approach to Restaurant Partnerships

39:40 Cultural Alignment and Future Growth

43:37 Staying Connected and Future Plans



Speaker 2:

This is the Restaurant Technology Guides podcast, helping you run your restaurant better.

Speaker:

Hey everyone. Welcome back to the Restaurant Technology Guys channel. Today's episode you are not gonna wanna miss. I sit down with longtime restaurateur and CEO of an r and r brand. Scott Taylor, let me tell you, he had some really cool stories from a law school dropout to leading a growth brands like Walk-Ons and Party Foul, Scott. Shares some really cool stories about what it takes to build restaurants, how he's learned some incredible lessons and what it takes to run a successful franchise. In today's day and age, we dive right into all of the things that RR is building, the platform that they're trying to continue to grow and help restaurants to succeed. If you are a restaurateur, somebody that's in the franchise space, somebody that's looking to grow in technology or anything else. Please check out this episode and stick around till the end where Scott shares some of his great secrets that have helped him to propel himself to the top. If you don't know me, my name is Jeremy. Julian. I am the Chief Revenue Officer for CBS Northstar. We are at the North Star point of sale solution from multi-units. Please check us out@cbsstar.com and now onto our episode.

Jeremy Julian:

Welcome back to the Restaurant Technology Guys podcast. I thank everyone out there for joining us, as I like to say each and every time. Now you got lots of choices. So thanks for hanging today. I am joined by a longtime restaurateur who's, uh, who's done a little bit of pivoting and I'm, I'm excited to dig in with Scott. But Scott, why don't you, uh, give our audience a little bit of a primer on who is Scott Taylor, where did he come from? And then let's talk about kind of your latest, uh, latest venture.'cause I'm, I'm excited to dig in.

Scott Taylor:

So, where did I come from? Is gonna be an interesting answer there. So, hey. Hey everybody. Uh, Scott Taylor. Uh, I'm the CEO of r and r Brands. And, uh, can't wait to kind of walk y'all through what, uh, that's all about, but, uh. I'm a restaurant guy, man. Um, went to school at Florida, actually right before this was at the gym, so wearing a Gator Gator t-shirt, uh, and then wearing my buddy, uh, from Hoppins hat who, uh, uh, I was just joking. Everybody wants to buy my hat. And actually somebody at the gym today said, dude, cool hat. I'm like, yeah, uh, thanks. Like, damn, Josh. I need really cool stuff, rich, because he's got good, you know,

Jeremy Julian:

you're, you're part of

Scott Taylor:

I am his marketing

Jeremy Julian:

start to have him send you a dozen hats. You can be, start

Scott Taylor:

Yeah, he, he gave some challenge. Sell a thousand. I'm like, oh, that sounds great for you, dude. Like, what's it do for me? But anyhow, no, he's a good dude. Hopkins's a great brand. I'm not gonna pimp anymore for him, but there you go. Good. Check him out. Uh, but, uh, no, I started, uh, went to uf, met my wife there, um, graduated, actually started law school at uf. Um, and then, uh. Always worked in restaurants since I was a kid, you know, 13 and, uh, you know, just through college, bartending, cooking, things like that. And just had an opportunity to be an assistant manager at a restaurant back in the day. And I needed a break after, you know, uh, semester, actually two semesters of law school. So imagine I was super excited. My parents were to tell'em I was taking a break and, uh, you know, 30 years later and never went back. So, uh, um, yeah, just got in the space. Worked, uh, my way up. Uh, my big first, uh. It's not a big job. My first big company was Marriott, where I really, I think just learned organization systems, quality standards. I mean, they are, they are, uh, ruthless in a good way, just making sure stuff's right. Uh, and then from there, just, uh, I really had three big jobs in my career, you know, uh, a couple little things on off, uh, kind of deals on the way, but I worked for a brand out of Tampa called, uh. Uh, shell seafood restaurants, and, uh, my wife had worked there. Uh, it was just a great,

Jeremy Julian:

high volume, those places, man, I, I was, I was there in town. I was like, holy smokes. These people just pushed through some

Scott Taylor:

it was insane, man. It was a great brand. Uh, still is a great brand. Uh, we got, uh, you know, the founder kind of stepped aside, brought in a outside CEO that took us public with nine restaurants. Super, not smart. Um, we had no bench, we had no plan, so we grew to like. I don't know, 55 restaurants in three years, all corporately owned. Uh, but we were doing four or 5 million bucks dinner only back in the day. That was huge volume. Um, you know, and, uh, kind of plateaued. Hit a rough time a little bit. Uh, one of my, uh, mentors who, uh, I think still one of my, my, uh. Uh, strongest mentors today is a guy named David Head, uh, had joined us as CEO and uh, he and I had got it on this point where we were turning it around and, but it was a nine year moment for me and I'm like, I had this opportunity to jump to Beef O Brady's, which was this little family sports pub franchise in Tampa with like 35 or so locations. You know, founders still involved. Uh, actually I think they just celebrated their 40th anniversary, which is super cool. Um, uh.

Jeremy Julian:

Yeah, they've been on the show as well and talked a little bit about that and the, um, and their, uh, their tap

Scott Taylor:

Yeah. Brass Tap. Yeah. Yeah. So, great guy. So, you know, Jim Melody was uh, just a crotchety Irish guy, you know, had failed at a million things. Uh, funny story. It was called Beef O' Brady's'cause he couldn't afford to change the name. I bought a sandwich shop called Beefs and his wife's maiden name is Brady's. It was Beef o' Brady's. Um, and it was.

Jeremy Julian:

that's

Scott Taylor:

brand to try to open. You know, we'd be in Tawa, Tennessee and they thought we're an Irish steakhouse. I'm like, we got chicken wings and burgers. We don't have anything Irish here. So, um, but had a great time. We grew that brand, almost 300 locations and sold off to private equity in 2010 ish or so. And then I jumped to, uh, I had some mutual friend, um, uh, working with these guys in Baton Rouge. They had a brand called Walk-Ons and, and some other brands. And so, uh. Got to know'em, spent some time going back and forth, uh, and then spent 14 years there, uh, growing that brand from one to, they've got 90 now or 91. Um, but, uh, really cool brand, full service, sports bar, you know, taste Louisiana. Um, typically sports bars not known for great food. We used to have actually horrible food. Uh, early on when I, when I joined them. Uh, the nickname used to be wait ons or walkouts. Um,'cause it worked. Good or you wouldn't get it. But, uh, what was like, uh, probably their biggest weakness at the time is now probably the brand's biggest strength is just great food, cool culture, you know? Uh,

Jeremy Julian:

It's a cool

Scott Taylor:

yeah, it is man, the underdog mindset and the whole thing. So, uh, you know, uh, 14 years there, I needed a minute, uh, and just, uh, took that, uh. It was a time both my kids were moving out of the house. We lived in Baton Rouge. One went to University of Florida, the other one to Florida State, um, which is also a really fun little time for the holidays. And those two get together, but.

Jeremy Julian:

I was gonna say that, that must be interesting. Uh, Thanksgiving dinner

Scott Taylor:

It is. And my wife and I both went to Florida, so we had to like rock paper scissor. Who's gonna be the Seminole when Savannah comes home? But, uh, you know, unfortunately I've been the Seminole a lot of late, uh, gotta work on my game. But, uh, yeah, so, you know, the, it's that, that time, you know, as a parent, man, your kids are in the house, they're gonna leave and, you know, uh, we'd been at Baton Rouge 14 years, let's do something different. So, you know, it took a little, little time, uh, actually just did a lot of free. I called it my free love tour of helping out friends, you know, consulting, don't pay me or I gotta call you back, kind of thing. So I just figured out what I wanted to do, what I didn't want to do. Hooked up with some friends, uh, uh, with a private equity group, uh, for a short stint. We put together kind of this platform of what we're actually doing with r and r brands and, uh. You know, the idea was, you know, uh, in the space and having been involved with private equity, you know, with beefs, having been involved with bringing in private equity to walk on, there's, there's, you know. That's a great, great opportunity to write, to bring in cash. But by nature, with private equity, there's an exit that's kind of already in mind on the front end.'cause you're, you're getting other people's money, you're giving promising a return and then, you know, you gotta get it. So, uh, you know, I was like, man, it'd be cool to have a platform where we could just help people, you know? Uh. Genuinely without like strings attached, Hey, sign here. Uh, we just have control of your company now. Or, you know, let's put together something where, uh, we could provide like a strategic partnership. And, uh, that might just be it, you know? Um, we could build our best in class team and then be able to kind of spread some of that, you know, uh, knowledge with others and not have to, uh, you know, uh, like I said, it, uh, it was. It started out, at least on the r and r side of like, let's build a really great team and how do we afford that while we're trying to build stuff? Let's be, you know, maybe there's two or three groups we can partner with on like supply chain or marketing or, you know, finance. And, uh, it, it has kind of grown into a lot more than that, so, uh. Uh, kind of along the way, um, uh, with my private equity group, we had, uh, come across this brand called Party Foul in Nashville. Uh, and uh, I had experienced it maybe six years ago from what I remember. We got a little wasted there drinking boozy slushies, uh, in the Gulch, but, um, like what a cool brand, cool name. The food was good. And I'm, uh. I just remembered it. And so we were kind of going after, you know, helping it, we actually supported it through a restructuring process and uh, you know, we came in on the other end. Um, we went to acquire it and, uh, the partner we brought in to buy it was actually my largest franchisee at Walk-Ons. Uh, this guy named Shane Morris. And, and so it's like interesting dynamic'cause uh, Shane and I were friends before we started the franchise. He ended up becoming our largest franchisee. Uh. And listen. Wasn't hugging, hug, hugging it out every day. We had some like

Jeremy Julian:

Yeah. Well, franchisees, franchisor relationships are never, are, not never, but very seldom are they, are they super

Scott Taylor:

Yeah. But, but we always had mutual respect. We always had our breakfast meeting, you know, and sometimes it was a happy hour meeting if we need to have a little tougher conversation, you know. But, um, we always, uh, got through it and like I said, mutual respect.'cause uh, uh, you know, I, I always looked at franchisees as. Uh, as intrapreneurs, you know, we needed somebody who was an entrepreneur, but willing to work within a system and, uh, you know, so I respected the fact that somebody stepped up, wrote a big check to us and believed in our brand. So I felt this huge obligation to perform. So, uh, we just got along, you know, uh, through all that. And so, gosh, had been a year and a half later. Next thing you know, we're in business together with Party Foul. Um. You kind of clicking, man. Um, I was working with John Taffer a little bit at the time as well on his brand. Um, uh, John had been a friend from, uh, actually from the Beef or Bradys days, met him many years earlier. Uh, and so, uh, going through that, but, uh. John eventually kinda moved on to, uh, grave Worthy, which was a, which is something I helped him facilitate. And Shane and I sat here and looked at each other, said We got Party Foul. Um, but you've got all these other brands. And so he had developed, uh, two other franchise full service steak houses that he hadn't really franchised in a long time. Uh, he owned Party Foul. Uh, he's a large walk-on franchisee and he has, uh. Theaters, which was really kind of his passion. He was a theater movie, theater guy, family entertainment center. So said, man, let's put it all together. Let's make one company. Um, and, uh, build a team around it. Uh, Shane was always like, man, I love what you did at Walk-Ons. You know, how do we get the band back together? I'm like, well, you know, the band's on tour, some of the bands still there, some of the bands in a different band or whatever. I don't know, you know? And, uh, but it was, uh, kind of like, you know, there were some people that, uh, you know, had been. You know, they're a long time and, uh, as well that, you know, kind of, you, you hit that 10 year mark, it's time for something different. So, you know, I hired a, our CMO with r and r had, uh, been with walk-ons 15 years. You know, we'd worked together 14 years. That's a long time. Hired a hiring a COO, or excuse me, CFOI worked with for 13 years, hired a VP of ops and concept. I worked with her 14 years. Um, shoot, uh, tech guy, 14 years. I mean, ridiculous. So like we, we just kind of knew each other. Um, so that was kind of an easy plug and play and, you know, put together this, this restaurant platform. And, and like I said, it started out to, um. Be, let's support our brands. Cody's Original Roadhouse, Santa Fe Steak and Cattle. Uh, walk On Sports Bistro will be the best franchisee possible. Um, and then Party Foul. You know, we are a licensee already, uh, in an airport. Um, we wanted to build it into a license and franchise model and then kind of rejuvenate Cody's and Santa Fe franchise. So, uh, that's where it started. Let's go crush it. Um, you know, uh.

Jeremy Julian:

Well, and, and clearly, clearly you've got, you know, plenty of experience both on your own side and then just kind of the team that you've built. Uh, I had said to you before we hit the record button, it's like, you, it feels like you came outta nowhere, but obviously you've been sitting in the space, you know, for quite some time having, you know, having done this. So I guess. Double click real quick for me and I, I, you know, kind of corporate slang, but just double click real quick. So r and r, is it a growth vehicle? You know, I know the guys at Crave Worthy, I just was with, um, with Greg and, and Sam at a, at a, um, a local event here in Dallas for the lead conference. Um, and we're just kind of talking a little bit. Is it, are you trying r and r to turn into kind of a crave worthy where you're buying brands, growing brands, building franchisees? Is it. Is it new concept growth, you know, from scratch? And I'd love to get a little bit of a, a thought on kind of, Scott, you built this super powerful team. Where are you going? Where are you

Scott Taylor:

sure. So, uh, there's Listen and Greg, Sam, great guys, Josh Halper. Love those guys. And actually they were tight with John, so it was really good thing for me.

Jeremy Julian:

I didn't realize that they were super tight. I walked up to Sam, I'm like, is this just for the camera? He is like, no, no, no, dude. I've known that

Scott Taylor:

Yeah, they call him. Yeah, uncle John. You know, so, I mean, it was a, it was like, uh, I felt, you know, um, obligated because I could only do so much. It was really me, just myself helping John and these guys had a team. But, um, the, I'll say we, uh. There's some, some similarities, but I think there's a real big contrast, say from like a Craig Worthy and what we do with r and r. So, you know, RR we have, uh, close to 50 restaurants of our own. And so party fo right now, we're gonna

Jeremy Julian:

Oh, well. Okay.

Scott Taylor:

five party files this year. Um, they're all corporately owned. Um, we're continue to open up two, I think two more walk-ons. That'll be ours. Their franchise is, but they, we own'em, so we'll be, you know. Over 50 restaurants of our own. So we are operators. Um, what I think is interesting is we have opportunities to, um, partner with, you know, restaurant groups and say, Hey man, we've got, uh, this team we're buying. Let's buy together. We can be more efficient. Um, you know, I think we're in a position to be strategic investors, um, but we don't have to invest. And so where we would differ from, differ from private equity in particular, or most investment platforms, I think even really crave worthy. Um, we're not doing it, uh, because we have to invest. Um, we're doing it because, hey, this is a brand we like. Um, you know, and, and man, I, I've been in this business a long time and I feel like, uh. A lot of times there are predatorial type groups out there just waiting for that group that either thinks they're ready for an investor or thinks they're ready to franchise. And you know, somebody's gonna say, yeah man, you're ready. Everything looks great. We'll do it and we will, uh, kind of get our tentacles in here and take a piece of this and that. And they were Rev really never ready to grow or. They'd take an investment at a time. Maybe it was too early, they gave up too much of the pie for nothing. Um, and next thing you know, this thing's gone and the brand identity's gone. So, um, you know, we're gonna announce, uh, three, four, probably big strategic deals here in the next 60 days. One of'em, uh, started out as just purely, you know, uh, managed services, strategic partners. We're gonna run every aspect of your business for you, including executive, uh, as an interim till we find like you a brand president, but. No intention of investing, um, just do it, you know, get a fee. Kind of go from there. As we've gotten to know'em, we're like, shoot, maybe we do wanna invest with you. Um,'cause being a partner is different, but it wasn't a prerequisite. Uh, and it isn't. Um, there's two other groups that uh, are just groups, guys, groups. Actually one run by guy run, one run by a girl. And, uh, but they're both great brands and they're kind of at that pivotal phase where. They can't afford the infrastructure to get to where they need to be. They've gotten as far as they could. We can bring'em along and kind of help manage the business and, and kind of coach'em up along the way. Um, but uh, one of the brands for sure we probably would not invest in. And it's not because it's not a great brand, it just kind of just, it's. It's geographically doesn't make sense for us. Um, uh, they really just want to go, go, go franchise and, and we're trying to be kind of a balance with that. But listen, we're gonna, we're gonna help'em out. We're gonna bring value. They're gonna be buffed up and shined up and, you know, whatever we gotta do to help'em out. And then there's another that, you know, we may or may not, but it's, once again, it's not a prerequisite. Um, because I do feel, and this might sound corny, I think there's a higher purpose, uh, in this business. And if you've been in it, you know, if you've had time on the vine, like I've had, you know, I think there's some obligation to kind of give back and help. So, you know, uh, uh, that is a big part of what we're doing is, you know, let's invest in the, in the business. Let's see where there's opportunities. Uh, I know one particular group, uh, that we're already working with that, uh, you know, we're gonna help'em get to this point. And I've got a group who's gonna be their investment partner. It's not us, but I'm gonna put, I'm gonna put it together. Uh, and I'm not gonna be there in the middle like, Hey, uh, where's my big commission? You know, kind of thing. Uh, it honestly is like, uh. Uh, is doing the right thing a good business model? Probably not, but it's a good personal model for me and I feel like, um, you know, dude.

Jeremy Julian:

Let's you sleep on the pillow at night. That's really where this show came from. Man, I, you know, I, I'm 30 years in the business, you know, on the tech side. And 10 years before that, you know, or eight years before that, you know, working in restaurants and it's like, you know what? There's so many mistakes. And I guess not to take away the secret sauce, but what are some common things, Scott, that you see, you're a founder. You've grown to one or two or three locations and you think you're ready to go big. You want to be the next walk-ons, you want to be the next, you know, Chili's, you know, whatever. Um, and there's so many success stories and then there's so many people that give up too much of the pie. But is there anything that you see commonly when you're talking to founders that you, you would tell our listeners to think about as they're there really running a successful 1, 2,

Scott Taylor:

Yeah, so I think if it's, uh,

Jeremy Julian:

that you guys have seen

Scott Taylor:

I think there's two

Jeremy Julian:

that, uh, that you think people need to be thinking

Scott Taylor:

brand. They're like, I wanna franchise like everybody wants. Franchise seems like it's so easy, you know? Right.

Jeremy Julian:

Yep. I don't understand it, but I don't understand it. I, I love that your guys'

Scott Taylor:

love the franchise model, but not every model

Jeremy Julian:

you know what, then answer to anybody, but I'll

Scott Taylor:

you, your unit level economics gotta be super right and tight. Uh, if you're the founder, guess what? You've gotta learn gray. It's an amazing color. Um, it's not black and white because you're bringing in partners. That aren't looking for a boss. So like, you've gotta be willing to, your brand has to evolve at some point. The brand's bigger than you. So if you can't be open to new ideas from partners joining and being investing with you and your brand, you're gonna struggle, right? So, um, franchising is not easy and it's, it's uh, I think sometimes it's that ego gets in the way, doesn't work. You know, if you wanna do corporate growth. I'm, I'm, you know, once again, what's the unit level economics, man. So these are cool. You're doing good volume, but you don't make any money. Okay? So let's figure out, let's, how do we get the cost of the building down? Or we need to get your, your prime cost a little tighter. Let's look at your menu, or whatever it may be. Um, might have a great brand, just needs a little work. Um, but, uh, taking capital too early and growing too fast is a bad choice. Um. Getting an FTD done, which is not chat. GBT will do an FTD, which sucks. Um, I wouldn't use it, but I mean, it's so easy to become a franchisor. Um, but uh, man, you can, you can just screw it up so fast, uh, getting caught up in the dazzle of what that would be. So, uh, I'm like, man, just. Take a minute. Don't be in a rush. Just make sure the model, like prove it out. Like operate, be the best at it. Um, you know, get outside of one market. You know, you got three great little restaurants so they're all in, you know, a 10 mile ring. Go open one somewhere else. If you think you're a regional brand and see if you can be successful. Um, you know, those are a lot of things you just, people don't do. Um, so, and then continue to invest in the brand.

Jeremy Julian:

No, I love that. Um, um, for, for the brands that you guys do run, I'd love for you to just kind of, kind of walk our listeners through people that haven't been to a party foul, that haven't been to the steakhouse, you know, what are they, you know, kind of what are the concepts? Just to, to share with our listeners so that uh, when they're in an area they can be like, oh dude, I heard this

Scott Taylor:

A hundred percent. So I'll start with Cody's. Cody's, uh, just celebrated 31

Jeremy Julian:

the way to go and, uh, or whatever that might be. I'd love to love to have you kind of.

Scott Taylor:

restaurants, uh, and it is a. Uh, high value, great product steakhouse. Um, uh, some, some at one point they were like, oh, it's the early Bird steakhouse. Uh, because it does really well with that segment, but it's just, it's a, it's a great value. A lot of food. But, you know, hand cut steaks, I mean, legit foods, you know, small spaces. Uh, gosh, we've got one that's, uh, they're all dinner only. Um, one that does just over 6 million bucks in sales dinner only. That's crazy and like 4,000 square feet, like all day long. Great opportunity. Right? Uh, Santa Fe station. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm like, we need to punch a bunch of them babies out. So, uh, you

Jeremy Julian:

within that size

Scott Taylor:

model, but

Jeremy Julian:

uh, steakhouse at

Scott Taylor:

need to get in a position to grow. Santa

Jeremy Julian:

a heck of a lot bigger than that, and you got a whole lot more rent to cover.

Scott Taylor:

And so, uh, they are spread out across Louisiana, Alabama started in Nashville. Uh, we have restaurants in Oklahoma, I wanna say 16, 17 of those. Um, uh, a little, uh, higher end, but more of a southwestern twist. So fajitas, you know, some different types of southwestern items on the menu as well as, I mean, great. Uh, steaks, margaritas, um, you know, lunch and dinner, good volumes. You know, some of those units up 6 million plus as well, a unit. Uh, and in that six to 6,500 square foot range. Um, uh, so like I said, at 30, 30 years old this year, uh, party Foul, oh my God. But Party Foul just goes in Nashville and it's been my baby for a while. I mean, the name when party's your first name and foul, FOWL for chicken. But I can remember in college, in a fraternity that was, you knocked ever a buried. It didn't finish your shot. Somebody changed the music party foul, you gotta do a shot. You know, so we've played into that whole thing. And, uh, you know, it's Nashville Hot Chicken, um, which, uh, if anybody's curious how to make that, it's basically take bacon grease, uh, and then make it spicy and toss fried chicken in it. So it's super healthy. Um, but it's unbelievably good. We do a, you know, house made mild, medium hot, and then our poultry geist, which is our hottest, is right at 2.3 million on the Scoville scale. Um. It'll, it will light you up. Um. In many ways it, it has days of benefits with the light up on that side. But, uh,

Jeremy Julian:

Oh my gosh.

Scott Taylor:

so, uh, you know, Nashville hot chicken, uh, we have some other sub aside chicken, lots of variations, but the menus focus there. Boozy slushies, man, are our thing. Um, lots of different flavors. The bushwhacker will take you where you need to be and then, uh, you know, if you need a extra shot, we just drop in airplane bottles of screwball airplane bottles of whatever it is. Uh, you can get a big one, get a little one. We do a big brunch for two. That's a whole chicken on a 65 ounce Bloody Mary. Um, so it's just fun factor. Uh, shoot. We do, uh. Shots, skis like you do at a tailgate. So if you're having a good time, we'll do shots, skis, we'll do shot uh flights, we'll do all kinds of different stuff. But it's, it's a good time. Uh, our growth. Honestly, we see this as like that college campus place that, you know, if you're going to Gainesville, uh, where I went to school, you're right across campus. Like we're looking at a site right at Midtown across from campus. Uh, we've got one opening next to the campus Sigma House at Louisiana Tech, uh, in Ruston. Uh, we're opening one right across from Vanderbilt, literally across from their property line. Uh, up here in Nashville, one in Middle Tennessee State, Murfreesboro. And then we'll still be, you know, kind of growing in the neighborhoods. But, uh, and then we have one at the airport as well, Nashville. So, uh, super fun brand, man. We love it. Uh, and then walk-ons. Listen, uh, uh, if, uh, we were voted number one sports bar in America about ESP. Um, great food, legit, uh, AV packaged, like Best Buy on steroids. Um, but, uh, you get the best of like good southern hospitality, legit Louisiana cuisine, but not over the top. It's probably 30% of.

Jeremy Julian:

Unique. I mean, to me, the Walk-Ons experience,'cause I haven't, I've been to Party Foul, I haven't been to the other two brands, but, you know, Walk-Ons, the cool thing for me is, is it's not, you know, you, you've got a menu that's variety, you know, wide

Scott Taylor:

man. And I, you know, people I think with, uh, when you say Cajun, sometimes they

Jeremy Julian:

and can still experience

Scott Taylor:

Louisiana food is

Jeremy Julian:

that special twist on something, you know,

Scott Taylor:

My thing was like, we've gotta take the salt shakers off the table.'cause everybody rolls up and they're like, they're like, your food's salty. It's like, well, if you had to taste it at first, you'd have seen it's already seasoned, this Louisiana cuisine. But no, walk-ons is great, man. And, uh, they're on a awesome growth trajectory. So, uh, you know, we, uh, we opened, uh, our 11th restaurant in central Louisiana as a franchise. And, uh, we'll open in Jacksonville, I wanna say, uh. Late September and then do and Alabama in, uh, October. Those will be the last two on our deal and we'll, we'll have 13 walk on. So.

Jeremy Julian:

Love it. So, um, Scott, there's been a lot written about kind of the death of casual dining recently, and, you know, and, and I, and I think about, you know, as I watched you go through the four different brands that you guys look at, you've gotta, you've gotta create an experience. I'd love, I'd love your thoughts on, you know, for our listeners out there, why, why are you so bullish on being able to grow these brands where everybody else is like. Well, maybe I need a drive through. Maybe I need a, you know, I need some other way to, to get consumers and get top line revenue. And I look at you going, no,

Scott Taylor:

Yeah. So, you know, I hate when people say back at COVID

Jeremy Julian:

you know, from a long time

Scott Taylor:

a long time ago. But it did, you know, when people were locked up, you know, they gotta get out, you know, they wanna be around people and so

Jeremy Julian:

um, and whatnot. So

Scott Taylor:

Full service restaurants will never go away casual. Or,

Jeremy Julian:

you

Scott Taylor:

fast casual is gonna try to

Jeremy Julian:

kind of jumping, jumping through

Scott Taylor:

it. And listen, there's a, there's a model for a polished, fast casual that we will do with a couple of these brands where I think it makes sense, that hybrid model. Um, but you know, there's so many places to eat. You can eat a grocery store at home, gas, it doesn't matter, man. So, uh, I think, uh. Having an experience is, uh, beyond just the food is, is, uh, very, very cool. People want it, right. Um, but it's gotta be, there's gotta be more to do as well. So, you know, I hate to go in a restaurant like I. Uh, like there's certain things that just will piss me off, but if I go in a restaurant or dinner and the lights are too bright, I will literally get up and go find the server rally and the dimmers and dim the lights. And people are like, what are you doing, sir? I'm like, uh, doesn't that look better? Like, oh my God. I like, we'll, get a little sharpie, mark this right pm Old school, like, I, we're here to eat, not perform surgery. Like it pisses me off. Or if the music's off, like, Hey, can you, y'all got music up in here or something, you know? Um, I think when done right and the vibe, you know, call it the lava, you know, the, the lighting, ambiance, volume, atmosphere. When the lava's right, the food's great, sometimes the food almost is second to the experience. So I think people go out and want to just have a good time and a good meal, have a cocktail or two if they want. Uh, and then what else? Right? So that's where tech comes in, man. How do you gamify? Not necessarily gambling though, that you can do that. And I think there's some brands doing a great job with it. But, um, you can do gamified, uh, things through your loyalty app. You can create interactivity in the restaurant where there's just more reasons to be there. Um, and then, uh, you know, from a tech standpoint, there's things that, uh, you know, allow you to just have a great experience in full service where I think. Where things have gotten tough for a lot of brands. Listen, there's labor pressures, there's commodity pressures. You know, you hear tech and ai, you're like, oh my God, I don't want a robot, which I don't want a frigging robot waiting on me either, uh, but you know, I could be in the best restaurant at the best server that just got set at 10 top and I don't care how good you are. That person's tied up with that 10 top, I'm not getting a drink, I'm waiting. So I'm cool with scanning a QR code, send me to the drink, things like that. I don't wanna live and die by a QR code and no human involved or even like just somebody dropping food. So there's ways I think tech can kind of make the experience. Great tech can do some things where you create interactivity in the restaurants. It just, you know, the entertainment type deal, you know? Um. And so, you know, uh, with all these brands, just trying to find ways to make it fun. Um. The old school trivia, it sounds like. Uh, you know, karaoke never in my life hate karaoke. They sit there, they drink a diet Coke. I'm just, no offense if you're a karaoke guy, I apologize, but I can't stand it. But like, other things, you know, are interactive. Like, there's just a reason to be there, you know, and, and, um, I, I, I don't think people all just wanna go through a drive through or get something delivered. Uh, there are a lot of people looking to go someplace. We just wanna be that place that's more than just food.

Jeremy Julian:

Mm-hmm.

Scott Taylor:

Oh yeah.

Jeremy Julian:

Yeah, no, and I, I remember talking to a CEO years ago and he's like, you know what? People are dining out to have an experience. They're not dining out just'cause to your point, they can go get food cheaper at the grocery store. They can go get food at the gas station, they can go get, drive through. And now I guess that, that'd be the last thought I have here, Scott. Is, is the, the pricing for casual dining and, uh. And fast casual has gotten closer. You know, uh, you know, you and I have been around this space for a long time. I've, I happen to have a family of six, four kids and, and my wife and I. So when all six of us go out, it value is a big piece of it. I guess I'd love your thoughts on how do you create value but still create. An experience and make sure that you're making money because you know, in casual dining it's a tough deal to do. You've gotta be able to serve people, right? I had that exact experience last week, or actually this weekend where I went to a brand that I love. We go all the time and the guy got set a 10 top and

Scott Taylor:

No, seriously, man. I think, um,

Jeremy Julian:

all within five minutes of each other. And I was like, I knew and I was like, Hey, they screwed

Scott Taylor:

equals value. So experience is a big part of

Jeremy Julian:

You know, I, I know. And it was a 16-year-old

Scott Taylor:

there's just been this desire

Jeremy Julian:

watched the manager watch her do it, and then did not

Scott Taylor:

will pay it. They know, they know,

Jeremy Julian:

that's a different story for a different day. But I, I'd

Scott Taylor:

You know, and I always look at it,

Jeremy Julian:

that drives me nuts because it's like, dude, you're standing there. Get your lazy ass up and go help

Scott Taylor:

so many places I go, you know, and I guess there's some days I'm that, you know, I'm just gonna like chow and like pack it in. Uh, but most people either they're needling up, which I, that's a crazy little deal. You know, I've been joking around. We need to have like a, uh, like I'm on j or a Ozempic menu or something. Do a sh done a shot. Just get a shot. Let's do a shot or something funny. But, uh, you know, it's like, uh. You know, uh, smaller portions, man. Let's, let's give a tasting of things. You know, I see value. If I could hit the table with three things for 20 bucks versus one, you feel like you got a good value in the whole deal. And it's not like, you know, entree, beverage, dessert, I mean, like, you know, just different stuff. Variety, shareable things, man. Um. I think, uh, we, we tested this really cool kids concept, uh, in one of our other brands, but, uh, where you had to, you know, sat down, you four kids, you and your wife, you gotta lock all

Jeremy Julian:

I love

Scott Taylor:

up and cage on the table and stay there the whole time. And if you do, you open the door to this new menu. That's kind of fun. You get to do stuff, but like, dad's like, it's work. It's work. We'll suck it up, dad. Like it's, uh, it's my friend. It's my friend. Yeah. They want. Uh, so item wise, I would say the, uh, the sirloin. If you go to Cody's, just

Jeremy Julian:

Yeah. Spend time with your kids,

Scott Taylor:

everybody's like, Ooh, the sirloin is actually just a really

Jeremy Julian:

We've got a family rule. No electronics

Scott Taylor:

were gonna go to Santa Fe, I think the fajita is rock, or I love the ribeye. Uh, if you go party foul, I'd

Jeremy Julian:

last

Scott Taylor:

uh, hot cheddar sandwich. Uh, I would do it,

Jeremy Julian:

is your go-to, or if I'm a

Scott Taylor:

medium's a little hotter than. Most the hot, the hot's gonna, it's gonna light

Jeremy Julian:

what are your

Scott Taylor:

Like it's good. It's gotta have a

Jeremy Julian:

as they're out traveling and,

Scott Taylor:

Hold you guys. If you're that guy, go for it. Like, but you know, get ready. Uh, if you were at walk off. Oh, no, no. It'll take you up big time. No, listen, walk-ons, man. I love the, uh, uh, first I'll crush the red beans all day. I think they blow Popeyes away. Sorry, Popeyes. Uh, they, the walk-ons are legit. Um, the gumbo is, is. Ridiculous. Uh, probably the best seller there, but it's like belly up time is the Bayou pasta. It's like a crawfish cream sauce top

Jeremy Julian:

that mistake the first time. By the way, real quick. I was at Prince's, you know, maybe 10 years ago before Nashville Hot Chicken hit the hit the market, and I got the medium at Prince's hot chicken down by y'all, and I was like, woo,

Scott Taylor:

uh, let me tell you about, I wanna tell you a

Jeremy Julian:

I normally like

Scott Taylor:

our wrap up

Jeremy Julian:

just the medium was way too much. So, sorry. I'll let you keep going.

Scott Taylor:

Yeah, so r and r started out, you know, Shane and I got together with Party Foul, you know, like, let's come up with an entity name, you know, and I'm like, and it took forever. And I'm like, how about A-S-A-P-L-L-C? Or L-F-G-L-L-C? Can you just come up with a name? And then finally it was Rhythm and Rooster. I'm like, all right, well that's dumb, but that's fine. Let's go book it. I need, I need an entity. Let's get licenses. And so Rhythm and Rooster is, is uh, you know, makes sense. Nashville Rooster is chicken, so we're cool. So then r and r was floating around. Uh, let's come up with this restaurant concept. Well, it's not rhythm and rooster.

Jeremy Julian:

That was where I

Scott Taylor:

You know, it's about getting the

Jeremy Julian:

how do people engage? Tell us more about r and r and kind of

Scott Taylor:

we're gonna help other people and try to be different, let's, let's be different. So we can't be rinse and repeat. You know, if we're restaurant people, we operate restaurants with resilience, you know, if we're gonna help you out and figure out where you're at, we're going to give you a little. Rest and relaxation. And so it's all these things of like, what do we do and how do we define ourselves? What are we, what aren't we? Um, I think the biggest part of our portfolio is going to be these, uh, these partnerships that we create with, uh, different folks because, uh, oops, sorry. I lost you there. You still there? Okay. I just lost your picture. Okay. Sorry about that. Uh, I can hear you we're good. Um, no, but, uh, the, uh, I think that's gonna be the biggest part of what we do because, uh, you know, having been engaged, uh, with an investment group in the past, they tend to want to make you. Conform to how they do it or what they do. Um, and uh, you look at a lot of portfolios that have multiple brands and they tend to all end up looking the same, like vanilla yogurt, and nobody likes vanilla yogurt. Like you just gotta put stuff in and make it difference so, you know, we'll, we'll. Take this curated approach, um, with these folks. And I think, you know, uh, having been franchisees, franchisors, licensors, operating around stuff, we just have a really unique perspective. So, uh, and I think that gives us some legitimacy coming in that like, we're not, uh, oh, these bankers that, uh, we really love the space. Like, well, what, what do you know about this space? Yeah, like. No, man. Yeah, we're a restaurant dude. We got people. So like, take a minute to get to know us. Culture's key man. Like we don't wanna change what you do. Let's try to make you efficient and, uh, you know, I'm more excited about, uh, you know, listen, we got great brands. We're gonna grow'em. That's gonna be insane. I'm stoked. We're, uh. Super secret. We're about to announce the acquisition of a large franchisor. We will pick up probably 85 restaurants here in the next 60 days. Uh, and then we're gonna partner with a large full service brand, um,

Jeremy Julian:

Yeah, you've gotta, you've gotta make your, your p and ls

Scott Taylor:

55 locations that we'll

Jeremy Julian:

you're like, this doesn't work for a restaurant man. This is not how a restaurant operates. I, I hate

Scott Taylor:

25 locations of two other brands that'll just be pure partnerships and, and, uh, support. But, you know, in all those instances, it's, uh, and meeting with the teams, it's like, um, you know, we don't wanna, like, we don't wanna change what you got. I mean, there's obviously, there's gonna be a fresh set of eyes walking in, right? Hey, uh, we can help you here, there. Yeah, but not coming in like, you know, flexing. Like, you guys, you know, you need, like, no, they, they're, you didn't make this bar if you sucked, right? You just, everybody sucks at some point. So we just want to bring a fresh set of approach and help every be better. And honestly, it makes us better too. So, uh, that's the most exciting part.

Jeremy Julian:

Yeah. Have you thought about this? Have you thought about that? Yeah.

Scott Taylor:

Yeah. You know, and so, honestly, this sounds weird, but we have to be a culturally aligned group. Um, and that is honestly the first box. So there are some great opportunities. We've met with some people. I'm like, there is no

Jeremy Julian:

Well, and what is that

Scott Taylor:

I don't, not

Jeremy Julian:

you know, what is that? What is that customer that you guys are looking for? Is it a brand like we talked

Scott Taylor:

sorry, like I cannot deal with

Jeremy Julian:

and is looking to get outside of the region?

Scott Taylor:

Yeah.

Jeremy Julian:

you know, at a place where they're like, Hey, we own it and I'm 65 and I'm looking

Scott Taylor:

know, it's

Jeremy Julian:

to spin it off. Like, you know, kind of who are

Scott Taylor:

And it could be the best investment on the planet. It could be

Jeremy Julian:

with r and r?'cause again, you guys have

Scott Taylor:

it has to be people that vibe. Like you've

Jeremy Julian:

go in and help accelerate the

Scott Taylor:

You've gotta be about quality. You've gotta want to, you know, um, just work hard and do what needs to happen if you're lazy. My dad told me you can't fix lazy mean and stupid. You just can't, you know? And so it is what it is, right? Um, and so. And stupid. That's such a bad word, but, you know, uh, we can

Jeremy Julian:

so if they're not willing to do a shots ski and during the interview process, maybe, maybe

Scott Taylor:

you're lazy me, and that's forever. I can't make you out lazy. If you're mean, you're just freaking mean, you know? And so we don't like that thing. So those are knockouts for us. Um, but yeah, smaller brands that, uh, you know, what I was just saying are some big brands, um, that are, that we, uh, you know, I've, I've brought on a couple million bucks in g and a to make sure we do it right. Uh, and we've kind of put a, a cap on it saying with these four that we'll announce we're not doing anything else for nine months. Um, so you're not gonna hear or acquirers or partners with 10 more deals, uh, because what we're gonna do is we're gonna suck. And so, mm-hmm. I want to overperform, I wanna over deliver. I want to be amazing, uh, and delivering what we promise to our partners and as well with our own brands. If we do that, reputation will allow us to be able to continue to grow and do what we want to do, but. Man, it's just, you know, it's like you wanna work with people that you're aligned with and values and culture and, you know, belief system. And, uh, there's a lot of ways to make money, man. And I just don't, I don't work next to people. I just like, Ugh, dude. Yeah. Have couple, be with them and see how they are when they loosen up and then go take'em golfing.'cause if you're an, it comes out when you're a golfer and uh, so you know those two things, you're gonna figure it out. Oh yeah. You know what, uh, walk back to the walk-ons day. Get a little secret. We used to, sometimes we'd pick

Jeremy Julian:

part of, that's my number one factor when I'm, can I have a beer with the person

Scott Taylor:

you know, there was a guy at Workforce,

Jeremy Julian:

I can't, if I don't really see myself ever hanging out with this

Scott Taylor:

but, uh, you wouldn't look at him and think, oh, he's part of the executive team or anything else. And he wasn't, but he was part of our team. He was a studded, you know, 10 years. And, uh, I would listen to the

Jeremy Julian:

Well, I always do the, the spouse test, have

Scott Taylor:

pick up somebody and they're like, engaging, oh my God, what do you do? You're so friendly. And other people like, so, you

Jeremy Julian:

had a guy that was, I had an offer letter in my

Scott Taylor:

just like rude or, so where are you dropping me off? And like, what's your, what, like what, what other

Jeremy Julian:

I just said, no.

Scott Taylor:

Dude, I'm like, peace out. Like, you know what, that's part of that guy's, part of our family. And and ironically we would bring that person in to like kick off a discovery day and they're like, uh, what's he doing there? You don't remember Willy Willy's the guy that grabbed you at the airport? Yeah. Willy's been here 10 years. He's uh, he's part of our team. Man. You treated him like an asshole. Yes. What's ironic is we've already arranged for your trip back to the airport. Was so great to meet you. Appreciate that. So, I mean, yeah.

Jeremy Julian:

Okay, you're outta here, man.

Scott Taylor:

Yeah, so RR we, you know, we're on LinkedIn. You could, you could follow us there, you can message, you go to RR and r brands.com. It's spelled out the a and d, uh, connect with me on LinkedIn. Um, I'm pretty good. Uh, I work really hard actually to, to

Jeremy Julian:

Yeah. You're like, uh, you treated him like an asshole and now, now you might not be a

Scott Taylor:

going on, man. I, I'd love to, uh, chat with anybody, you know, and, uh, you know, we're, like I said, we're not out.

Jeremy Julian:

No, I love

Scott Taylor:

point, um, and

Jeremy Julian:

So how do people stay, stay in touch, Scott. Like where, what's the best way to stay connected? Hear about all of these

Scott Taylor:

to get our stuff together. Why are you out there advertising? We're not adv

Jeremy Julian:

reach out

Scott Taylor:

telling our story, you know? And so, um, but uh, you know, as we, uh, uh, those would be the best ways to reach out, man. And as soon as we, um, you know, get our arms around everything we're doing feeling real good, we're gonna continue to expand and grow and do some cool stuff. But yeah, I think those are the ways to keep in touch, man. And, uh. Um, yeah. Watch this. We're gonna, we're gonna do something really cool.

Jeremy Julian:

Mm-hmm.

Scott Taylor:

Absolutely.

Jeremy Julian:

Love it. Well. Well, like I said, uh, at the onset, Scott, I was excited to see, you know, once I got introduced, you, I've been kind of watching what y'all have been doing and it's been fun. And so I'm excited to check out the concepts. Um, thanks for sharing the stories. Thanks for sharing even kind of some of the early days at Walk-Ons. I love that. Uh, um, to our listeners guys, uh, thank you guys for hanging out, uh, and, uh, make it a great day.

Speaker 3:

Thanks for listening to The Restaurant Technology Guys podcast. Visit restaurant technology guys.com for tips, industry insights, and more to help you run your restaurant better.

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Jeremy Julian

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