645: Ben Berg on Assuming Nothing While Anticipating Everything

Born in New York City, Ben Berg has been in the restaurant business for over 17 years working for upscale steakhouses in Las Vegas, Mexico City, and his hometown.

Prior to his career in restaurants, Berg received a Master of Hospitality Management from Cornell University and a B.A. in Art History from Tulane University. Berg would go on to work for The Point, a luxury hotel company voted the #1 small hotel in the country at the time.

In 2015 Berg opened B.B. Butchers and Restaurant in Houston, TX. 3 years after the original B.B. Butcher, the Berg Hospitality Group was formed and has scaled to include an additional B.B. Butchers, two B.B. Lemons, B.B. Italia, B.B. Pizza to go, and coming soon The Annie Cafe and Bar.

Show notes…

Favorite success quote or mantra:

• "Don't fuck it up."

In this episode with Ben Berg we will discuss:

• The "people" business
• Touching each table
• emotional intelligence
• The importance of the numbers
• The benefits of new restaurant technology
• The love of making people happy with hospitality
• Learning form the best early in your career
• Choosing a market before choosing a location
• Quick scaling
• Networking
• Execution

Today's sponsor:

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Knowledge bombs

1. Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?
   • Urgency
2. What is your biggest weakness?
   • Delegating
3. What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview?
   • "Are you caring?" Empathy.
4. What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it?
   • Seeing the future
5. Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.
   • Put yourself second
6. What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff?
   • Empower our managers to make big decisions
7. What's the one thing you feel restaurateurs don't know well enough or do often enough?
   • Relax
8. What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your four walls restaurant and how has it influence operations?
   • Avero
   • Compeat
9. If you got the news that you'd be leaving this world tomorrow and all memories of you, your work, and your restaurants would be lost with your departure with the exception of 3 pieces of wisdom you could leave behind for the good of humanity, what would they be?
   • Be truthful
   • Be there, be responsible
   • Don't take everything too seriously

Contact info:

Berg Hospitality Jobs Website

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining today! Have some feedback you'd like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

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Huge thanks to Ben Berg for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time!

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