772: Mike Bausch on Ultimate and Efficient Communication

772: Mike Bausch on Ultimate and Efficient Communication

Author: Inspiring interviews with todays most successful restaurateurs 2-days a wee January 11, 2021 Duration: 2:03:26

Mike Bausch is an industry leader whose restaurant, Andolini's Pizzeria, is a top ten pizzeria in the US, as named by Trip Advisor, BuzzFeed, CNN and USA Today.

Andolini's began in 2005 and has grown to five pizzerias, two gelaterias, two food-hall concepts, a food truck, and a fine dining restaurant by 2020. He's a World Pizza Champion, a Guinness Book world record holder, and a writer for Pizza Today, and the author of Unsliced: How to Stay Whole in the Pizzeria Business.

Check out 32 Yokes: From My Mother's Table to Working the Line by Eric Ripert as mentioned in today's episode.

Show notes…

Calls to ACTION!!!

Favorite success quote or mantra:

    • "If you're not impressive then by default you are unimpressive."
    • "The complacency of today is the direct enemy of tomorrow."

In today's episode with Mike Bausch we will discuss:

    • Time in the military
    • Start small
    • Partnerships with family
    • Franchising?
    • HR systems and processes
    • Systems, processes, and procedures
    • Management development systems for opening a second location
    • Checklists
    • Using a giant white board for checklists
    • Positive reinforcement
    • COMMUNICATION!!!
    • How tech helps restaurant communication
    • Daily staff meetings
    • Food photography
    • Self-reliance and self-confidence

Today's sponsor:

7shifts is a modern labor management platform, designed by restaurateurs, for restaurateurs. Effectively labor management is more important than ever to ensure profitability and restaurant success. Trusted by over 400,000 restaurant professionals, 7shifts gives you the tools you need to streamline labor operations, communicate with your team, and retain your talent. Best of all 7shifts integrates with the POS and Payroll systems you already use and trust (like Toast!) turning labor into a competitive advantage for your business. Restaurant Unstoppable members get 3 months, absolutely free.

RestaurantOwner.com is an online community of independent restaurant owners and managers who want training and tools to build a better restaurant and a more profitable, successful business. Resources include hundreds of downloadable templates, training videos and online courses on topics such as recipe costing, prime cost, improving the guest experience and building a positive culture. RestaurantOwner.com also conducts regular live webinars on a variety of timely and relevant topics. Whether you're thinking about opening a restaurant, in the planning stages, or already have multiple locations, RestaurantOwner.com has resources that can help you make better decisions, streamline operations and elevate the thinking and level of engagement of your team.

Ecolab: Streamline your clean with Ecolab's new EPA-registered 2-in-1 solution, Sink & Surface Cleaner Sanitizer. It will help reduce risk, simplify your procedures and help ensure compliance. This solution cleans and sanitizes hard non-porous surfaces with a single product, eliminates the rinse step and equips your staff to clean more efficiently. Clean simplified, confidence delivered.

Ecolab S&S Clean Simplifed Ad 300x300

 

Knowledge bombs

  1. Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?
    • Approachable and able to be wrong
  2. What is your biggest weakness?
    • Finding a balance between being a softie and a hard-ass
  3. What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview?
    • Instincts to please the customer above anything
  4. What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it?
    • Maximizing morale in a demoralizing atmosphere
  5. Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.
    • Passionate, ethical, effective, fun, understand that they want their job
  6. What is one uncommon standard of service you teach your staff?
    • Replacing food that customer's aren't happy with
  7. What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner?
  8. What's one thing you feel restaurateurs don't know well enough or do often enough?
    • Don't seek to be individual, they seek to fit in
    • Some restaurateurs act like they don't have a boss rather than being the best boss they never had
  9. Name one service you've hired.
  10. What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your restaurant walls and how has it influenced operations?
  11. 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?
    • If you're not impressive then by default you are unimpressive
    • Never look down on the next generation
    • Never stop

Contact info:

www.unslicedbook.com

Instagram: @mikeybausch

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!

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the top of the post.

Also, please leave an honest review for the Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast on iTunes! Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.

And finally, don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates.

Huge thanks to Mike Bausch for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time!

 

Restaurant Unstoppable is a free podcast. One of the ways I'm able to make it free is by earning a commission when sharing certain products with you. I've made it a core value to only share tools, resources, and services my guest mentors have recommend, first. If you're finding value in my podcast, please use my links!

Eric Cacciatore sits down with the people who actually run the show in the world of food service. Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore is built on conversations with established restaurateurs and seasoned professionals who have navigated the intense realities of the industry. Twice a week, these interviews dig past the surface, focusing on the tangible details of leadership, team management, and effective marketing that separate a thriving venue from a struggling one. You’ll hear firsthand accounts of what worked, what didn’t, and the often-overlooked decisions that shape a restaurant's path. This podcast serves as a direct line to collective experience, whether you're dreaming of your first opening or steering a multi-location group. The dialogue is practical, centered on the daily grind and long-term strategy needed to build something lasting. For anyone invested in the business of hospitality, these regular episodes compile a vital resource, turning shared insights into actionable knowledge for your own journey.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 1000

Restaurant Unstoppable with Eric Cacciatore
Podcast Episodes
1098: Shawn Walchef, Owner of Cali BBQ & Cali BBQ Media [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:08:24
Shawn Walchef is the owner of Cali BBQ, a BBQ restaurant in San Diego, as well as Cali BBQ Media, his production company. The first Cali BBQ restaurant opened in 2008 and the brand has since expanded to include 2 locatio…
1097: Fred Langley, CEO of Restaurant Systems Pro [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:23:18
Fred Langley is the CEO of Restaurant Systems Pro. This is Fred's third time on the show, most recently he joined us in May of 2023. Fred got his first job in the restaurant industry at the age of 12 as a dishwasher. He…
1095: Jordan Hudgens, CTO and Founder of DashTrack [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:44:32
Jordan Hudgens is the Founder and CTO of DashTrack. DashTrack is a restaurant and bar website & app platform. The service has been around for 7 years and in this episode we will discuss all that it has to offer and how/w…
1094: Donald Burns, Founder of The Restaurant Coach [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:37:46
Donald Burns is an author, speaker, coach, podcast host, and consultant. He was previously featured on Restaurant Unstoppable for episodes 63 and 265. He is the author of four books; Your Restaurant Sucks (2017), Your Re…
1093: Aaron DeFeo, Owner and Operator of Little Rituals [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:32:03
Aaron DeFeo is the Owner/Operator of Little Rituals, along with past guest (episode 1090) Ross Simon. Aaron also owns his own consulting company, Solid Sipping, and he a partner in Arizona Cocktail Weekend. He also owns…
1092: Mandy Heflin and Hogan Jamison, Co-Owners of Chula Seafood [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:02:08
Mandy Heflin and Hogan Jamison are Co-Owners of Chula Seafood, based in Phoenix, AZ. Mandy moved from Seattle to Phoenix when she was 18 and missed the seafood culture from her hometown. Her husband's (and co-owner of Ch…
1091: Tanya Gagnon, Principle and Creative Director of Miss Details [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:19:19
Tanya Gagnon is the Principle and Creative Director of Miss Details, based in Phoenix, AZ. Tanya got her degree in design and got her start in the design industry with big companies like Disney, Starbucks, and California…