Episode 629: How Feast Bistro Turned Word-of-Mouth into a Growth Engine, with Owner Nicholas Wickes

Wil and Nicholas open by talking about “flowing like water” and how that mindset shows up in hospitality: staying adaptable, humble, and open. Nicholas traces his path from teaching skiing to unexpectedly building a career in enterprise software and QA with major pharma and tech companies, then starting a nonprofit, and finally helping open Feast Bistro in Bozeman. He describes the harsh reality of the first two years at Feast: the gap between fantasy and the P&L, mispriced menus, long hours, financial strain, and the grit required to survive COVID. What kept them afloat was humility, constant feedback from guests, and a deep belief that hospitality is about service, not ego.

Those struggles led him to create Check This Out, a simple SMS-driven retention and word-of-mouth platform built first for Feast. Traditional marketing (direct mail, email, social) felt like guesswork because he couldn’t track what actually drove revenue or distinguish new from returning guests. By counting every mailer and transcribing every comment card, he discovered that over 80% of guests came because someone they knew recommended Feast. That insight became the backbone of Check This Out: use SMS to bring guests back more often and amplify referrals with trackable, time-bound offers that clearly show who is driving traffic and sales. Throughout the episode, Nicholas emphasizes the same core ideas he’s lived by: hospitality as service, learning over knowing, capital-efficient building, and using simple tools that actually work.

10 Key Takeaways

1. Hospitality is a gateway industry.
   Nicholas entered it through ski instruction and serving tables, learning empathy and customer focus, skills that shaped everything he’s done since.
   
   
2. Boredom fuels creativity.
   Long, quiet Vermont summers sparked the imagination that later helped him pivot careers and eventually become an entrepreneur.
   
   
3. An unlikely path to restaurateur.
   Years in software QA taught him how to build systems that solve real user problems, experience that later informed Feast and Check This Out.
   
   
4. Most pro formas are fantasy.
   Reality hits fast in restaurants: labor, food cost, pricing, and traffic rarely match projections, and the P&L forces honesty.
   
   
5. Underpricing is a common early mistake.
   Feast discovered they were charging too little and had to adjust based on real customer behavior and feedback.
   
   
6. Equity builds commitment.
   Giving chefs, GMs, and key partners skin in the game helped Feast survive the hardest stretches and come out stronger.
   
   
7. Listening is everything.
   Nicholas embraces Kaizen and Deming’s cycle: feedback from guests and staff only matters if you act on it without ego.
   
   
8. Word-of-mouth is the true growth engine.
   His analysis showed 80%+ of guests came through personal recommendations, far more than any ad channel.
   
   
9. SMS outperforms email and social.
   Near-100% open rates and fast response times mean campaigns drive real, trackable revenue, something other channels can’t match.
   
   
10. Check This Out delivers “butts in seats.”
    Restaurants use it to send compelling texts and let guests forward offers to friends, giving operators clear attribution and measurable ROI instead of guesswork.