Restaurant Misfits

Welcome to our podcast, “Restaurant Misfits”, where we’ll discuss all things related to restaurant marketing, management, and everything else in between growing a restaurant business. Whether you are a single-location owner, multi-location owner, or just getting into the industry, you’ll find tips and tricks to help you achieve massive results in your business. We’re always looking for new interviews and features. If you’re interested in joining us on the show, please email Ana on our team at ana@dineline.co!

Restaurant Misfits is a arts podcast hosted by Brett Linkletter, with 64 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.

Brett Linkletter hosts Restaurant Misfits, a arts show with 64 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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  Restaurant Misfits

  Episode 63 - Jace Kovacevich: Stop Wasting Restaurant Ad Money

  Jul 24, 202633 min

  If you're a restaurant owner running ads right now, you need to hear this one before you spend another dollar. I sat down with my co-founder Jace Kovacevich — the guy actually running the ad strategy across every restaurant we work with at Dineline. $65M+ in ad spend managed. 2,500+ restaurant concepts. He's in the ad accounts every single day. This dude has seen what works and what doesn't across every category, every market, every price point. Jace gets brutally direct about what's really working in restaurant paid media right now — why boosting posts isn't a strategy, what your CPA should actually look like, and the math most operators are getting completely wrong when they try to judge if their ads are working. This isn't theory. This is the guy sitting behind the wheel of hundreds of restaurant ad accounts, telling you exactly what he sees every day. ️ Learn more about how to scale your restaurant through Dineline’s done-for-you marketing program: https://dineline.co/growth/watch/Youtube

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  Restaurant Misfits

  Episode 62 - Craig Susser: What Most Restaurants Get Wrong

  Jun 24, 20261h 30m

  This is the episode I'll be recommending to every restaurant owner I talk to this year. I sat down with Craig Susser, founder of Craig's Restaurant in LA and Nashville . 35 years in the industry. Waiter, bartender, maitre d' for 22 years, and now one of the most respected names in fine dining. This guy has seen it all. Craig gets brutally transparent about what it actually takes to survive and scale in this business right now — margins, labor costs, the online review nightmare, what hospitality really means, and why most operators are one bad decision away from losing the regulars they worked years to build. This isn't theory. This is someone who's been in the trenches for three decades and figured out what works. 🍽️ Learn more about how to scale your restaurant through Dineline’s done-for-you marketing program: https://dineline.co/growth/watch/Youtube

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  Restaurant Misfits

  EP 61: Babak Bina - The Mindset That Built Boston’s Top Restaurant Group

  Dec 10, 20251h 29m

  Babak Bina didn’t just survive the restaurant industry. He bent an entire city around his vision. After landing in Boston as an immigrant, washing dishes to stay alive, he spent the next 30 years building concepts that defined the city’s dining scene. Babak talks about the moments operators never admit publicly: – The lowest point where he almost walked away – Flooding an entire dining room and owning the fallout – Reinventing concepts while everyone else plays it safe – Investing in people instead of chasing shiny ideas – The pandemic moments that could’ve erased everything – What immigrants understand about hospitality that others don’t – The belief he holds that most operators will disagree with The market is shifting again. The operators who grow from here will be the ones who think like Babak — conviction, adaptability, and brutal honesty. This is one of the strongest interviews we’ve ever released. If you’re tired of surface-level advice, press play. 🍽️ Learn more about how to scale your restaurant through Dineline’s done-for-you marketing program: https://dineline.co 📲 Grow your restaurant the SMART way with our proprietary restaurant software, Dishio: https://get.dish.io/ 🎓 Take a look at our FREE Restaurant Marketing Course: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL403WqY9pN16aGIQc02X1nXFQLg0ThWuF Follow us on Instagram for tips to grow your restaurant: https://www.instagram.com/dinelineco/

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  Restaurant Misfits

  RM EP 60: Jordan Boesch - Tech That Serves Restaurants

  May 15, 20251h 12m

  Jordan Boesch didn’t wait for a better solution to manage staff schedules. He built it. He was just a kid when he saw his dad struggling to manage his team's schedule. Spreadsheets, paper, chaos—you know the drill. So what did he do? He coded a tool to help his dad out. Fast forward a few years… and that tool became 7shifts —now used by over 50,000 restaurants to manage their teams, schedules, and payroll. I sat down with Jordan on the latest episode of Restaurant Misfits and got the full story: How he scaled a side project into a restaurant tech powerhouse What he’s seeing across thousands of operators right now His take on AI, retention, labor costs—and what’s next for restaurants The biggest mistakes owners still make with their staff Whether you're running one location or scaling a group, this one’s packed with gold. 🍽️ Learn more about how to scale your restaurant through Dineline’s done-for-you marketing program: https://dineline.co 📲 Grow your restaurant the SMART way with our proprietary restaurant software, Dishio: https://get.dish.io/ 🎓 Take a look at our FREE Restaurant Marketing Course: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL403WqY9pN16aGIQc02X1nXFQLg0ThWuF Follow us on Instagram for tips to grow your restaurant: https://www.instagram.com/dinelineco/

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  Restaurant Misfits

  EP 59: Chef Cheng Lin | From Fujian to Michelin

  Apr 3, 20251h 4m

  Ever wonder what it takes to make people fall in love with sushi? Chef Cheng Lin has the answer. In this new episode, I interview Chef Cheng Lin , the mastermind behind Brooklyn’s Michelin-starred Shota Omakase . And let me tell you... he doesn’t just make sushi—he LIVES it. For him, Japanese cuisine is an art, and every detail matters. We dive into the omakase bubble in NY, the hidden costs of a cancelled reservation, and how it took him a YEAR to find the perfect location. Plus, the future of AI in restaurants, Google vs. ChatGPT, and the secret to making anyone fall in love with sushi. Whether you run a restaurant or just love next-level food, this episode will be quite the treat! If you’re in the restaurant or hospitality space, this is one episode you can’t afford to miss. 🍽️ Learn more about how to scale your restaurant through Dineline’s done-for-you marketing program: https://dineline.co 📲 Grow your restaurant the SMART way with our proprietary restaurant software, Dishio: https://get.dish.io/ 🎓 Take a look at our FREE Restaurant Marketing Course: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL403WqY9pN16aGIQc02X1nXFQLg0ThWuF Follow us on Instagram for tips to grow your restaurant: https://www.instagram.com/dinelineco/

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