Closed Monday

Ever wonder what it really takes to go from one location to ten? Every Monday, top restaurant operators share their actual playbooks for scaling - from site selection and systems to funding and team building. No basics, no fluff – just real conversations about what works (and what doesn't) in multi-unit growth.

Closed Monday is a business podcast hosted by Kyle Inserra, with 259 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Kyle Inserra hosts Closed Monday, a business show with 259 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Closed Monday

  The $11M Parking Lot Pop-Up

  Jul 30, 202617 min

  In this episode, Kyle sits down with Mike Ungaro of San Pedro Fish Market on the floor of the National Restaurant Association Show to talk about, a wild container-kitchen pop-up that did $11M in a parking lot, and the lease clauses independent operators keep missing. Mike breaks down why his team treats trade shows as an educational deployment, not a shopping trip, and Kyle digs into the recapture rights and assignment clause traps hiding in most restaurant leases. Connect with Mike: San Pietro Fish Market https://www.sanpedrofish.com/ Michael Ungaro LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeungaro/ Restaurant Real Estate Profitability Calculator: https://calculator-app-softmind-solutions-projects.vercel.app/ Email: kyle@10rep.co | Instagram: @kyleinserra | LinkedIn: Kyle Inserra |

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  Closed Monday

  What Is Tail Spend and Why Is It Killing Your Margins?

  Jun 26, 20268 min

  Kyle sits down with Ty Wilson, co-founder of Tab Commerce, on the floor of the National Restaurant Association Show to talk about the financial blind spot costing restaurant operators real margin. The conversation covers tail spend, the roughly 50% of purchases that happen across a team in smaller, harder-to-track transactions, and why that's where margin actually disappears in most restaurants. Ty breaks down how Tab Commerce gives operators corporate cards with category controls, automated receipt capture via text, and GL coding that syncs directly into their accounting software. Average customer is a 12-unit operator. Largest is 140. And yes, single-unit operators use it too. Connect with Ty Wilson and Tab Commerce: LinkedIn: Ty WilsonWebsite: tabcommerce.com Restaurant Real Estate Profitability Calculator: https://calculator-app-softmind-solutions-projects.vercel.app/ Work with Kyle: Lease Review: https://stan.store/KyleInserra/p/lease-reviewLOI/Pre-Signing Review: https://stan.store/KyleInserra/p/presigning-site-loilease-reviewEmail: kyle@10rep.coInstagram: @kyleinserraLinkedIn: Kyle InserraWebsite: www.10rep.co Kyle Inserra is a commercial real estate broker and founder of 10Rep, a fractional Director of Real Estate service for restaurant brands nationwide. He hosts Closed Monday, a podcast covering the business and real estate side of the restaurant industry for operators, franchisees, and emerging brands.

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  Closed Monday

  The CEO of a 500-Unit Global Brand Just Shared His Real Estate Playbook

  Jun 16, 202624 min

  Live from the National Restaurant Show, Pepper Lunch CEO Troy Hooper joins Kyle Closed Monday to talk restaurant real estate at scale. Site selection, co-tenancy strategy, AI-powered site scorecards, franchisee support structure, and the B-minus site mistake they made against their own instincts and what it cost them. If you're a franchisee, franchiseor, or multi-unit operator thinking about your next location, this one is a must listen.Key Conversations How Pepper Lunch gets 68-72 seats in 1,700 square feet Why cotenancy isn't just a preference The 362-point site benchmark scorecard How they structure franchisee real estate supportc Why they approved a B-minus site The one thing to fight for in a new development TI vs. rent and escalations Chapters 0:08 — Troy intro: Pepper Lunch's US and global pipeline 2:03 — Box size, kitchen design, and hitting 68 seats in 1,700 square feet 3:27 — How Pepper Lunch supports franchisees through the full real estate process 5:58 — Why emerging brands can't get real estate wrong 6:34 — Cotenancy strategy: what they look for and how it gets written into the lease 8:01 — East Coast vs. West Coast development and why the model has to flex 10:55 — Rents and escalations: why TI is a trap and how to run the 10-year math 13:08 — How to present franchisees to landlords and what landlords are asking for now 15:32 — The 362-point AI site scorecard and what the data changed 18:38 — The B-minus site mistake: what happened and what they'd do differently 20:10 — New development: the one thing worth fighting for 20:43 — Where Pepper Lunch will be by NRA 2027Where to Find Kyle and 10Repkyle@10rep.co | @kyleinserra | www.10rep.coRestaurant Real Estate Profitability Calculator: https://calculator-app-softmind-solut...

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  Closed Monday

  What Should You Actually Negotiate in a Restaurant Lease? (It's Not the Rent)

  May 26, 202617 min

  Everyone fights over the rent. And every operator moves it about five percent. Meanwhile, the other 30 pages of the lease go untouched. In this episode, Kyle breaks down the five terms that actually determine whether your restaurant location is profitable.If you're about to sign a lease, or you already signed one without negotiating these, this is the episode Questions This Episode Answers What should a restaurant operator negotiate in a lease besides the rent? How does a tenant improvement allowance work for restaurants? When should rent commencement start on a restaurant lease? What is an exclusive use clause and how do I protect my restaurant concept? Can I assign my restaurant lease if I want to sell? What is a personal guarantee burn-off in a commercial lease? How do I negotiate a restaurant lease as a first-time operator? Kyle Inserra is a commercial real estate broker and founder of 10Rep, where he serves as a fractional Director of Real Estate for restaurant brands across the country. With 15 years as a chef and restaurant owner and a decade in CRE, Kyle helps operators and franchisees make smarter real estate decisions. Free Tools Restaurant Real Estate Profitability Calculator: ⁠https://calculator-app-softmind-solutions-projects.vercel.app/⁠ Lease Review: ⁠https://stan.store/KyleInserra/p/lease-review⁠ LOI / Pre-Signing Review: ⁠https://stan.store/KyleInserra/p/presigning-site-loilease-review⁠ Where to Find Kyle & 10Rep Email: kyle@10rep.co Instagram: @kyleinserraLinkedIn: Kyle InserraWebsite: www.10rep.co

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  Closed Monday

  70,000 People & No One Talking About This

  May 14, 202627 min

  In this episode, Kyle sits down with Shawn Walchef , founder of Cali BBQ and Cali BBQ Media to preview the 2026 National Restaurant Show and call out the conversation nobody's having: restaurant real estate. Shawn runs a 220-seat barbecue restaurant where off-premise revenue now exceeds dine-in. The show floor he's preparing to walk has 70,000 people and barely any conversation about leases, occupancy, or the squeeze choking first-time operators. Kyle gets blunt about the post-COVID lease problem and walks through the exact conversation operators should be having with their landlord before the doors close. Connect with Shawn: LinkedIn: Shawn P. Walchef | calibbqmedia.com Free tool : Restaurant Real Estate Profitability Calculator:https://calculator-app-softmind-solutions-projects.vercel.app/ Services: Lease Review: https://stan.store/KyleInserra/p/lease-review LOI Review : https://stan.store/KyleInserra/p/presigning-site-loilease-review What you'll get: How to use AI to plan a 70,000-person show floor before you land Why drone delivery is operational, not aspirational What off-premise revenue exceeding dine-in means for site selection How to clean your data before stacking AI on top of it The framework for renegotiating a lease that's no longer working Why landlords will take the call in 2026 — if you make it first Email: kyle@10rep.co | Instagram: @kyleinserra | LinkedIn: Kyle Inserra | www.10rep.co Kyle Inserra is a commercial real estate broker and founder of 10 Rep, a fractional director of real estate service for restaurant brands nationwide. Former chef and restaurateur with 20+ years across hospitality and CRE. Chapters : 00:00 Cold open 01:00 Why Kyle is going to NRA this year 02:30 The scale of the show 04:30 Using AI to prep the show floor 06:30 Starbucks rolls out AI for baristas 08:00 Zipline drones — Rwanda to Dallas 10:00 The last-mile problem and the developer gap 12:00 Off-premise > in-store at Cali BBQ 13:30 Shawn's NRA schedule and Rising Tide meetup 17:00 Why real estate is missing from NRA 17:30 The post-COVID lease squeeze 18:30 How to approach your landlord 23:00 Clean data before stack 24:30 Wrap

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