I’m Josh Kopel, a Michelin-awarded restaurateur and the creator of the Restaurant Scaling System. I’ve spent decades in the industry, building, scaling, and coaching restaurants to become more profitable and sustainable. On this show, I cut through the noise to give you real, actionable strategies that help independent restaurant owners run smarter, more successful businesses.

In this episode, I explore the critical role of signature dishes in restaurant marketing. I share why effective marketing is less about offering a large menu and more about creating standout items that truly resonate with guests. I walk through strategies for identifying, crafting, and promoting a signature dish so it becomes a magnet that draws customers in and keeps them coming back. I also highlight the importance of consistency in execution and show how building a brand story around that dish can strengthen engagement and loyalty.

Takeaways:

Most restaurant marketing fails because it's built on guesswork.
Menus don't go viral. Heroes do.
Create the thing the guests dream about.
People don't remember lists, they remember legends.
Your signature item sets expectations.
Rituals turn signatures into traditions.
It's a magnet and it functions like one.
Give it an iconic name and a one-sentence story.
In today's competitive landscape, it just isn't enough.
If this conversation made you realize the gourmet you need to magnet.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Full Comp and Restaurant Marketing

01:44 The Importance of a Signature Dish

05:38 Operationalizing and Ritualizing Your Signature Item

If you’ve got a marketing or profitability related question for me, email me directly at josh@joshkopel.com and include Office Hours in the subject line. If you'd like to scale the profitability of your restaurant in only 5 days, sign up for our FREE 5 Day Restaurant Profitability Challenge by visiting https://joshkopel.com.

Office Hours: Sell the Thing People Dream About