Greg Zamfotis on Community, Coffee and Gregorys’ Next Chapter

0:00Hospitality Hangout Host: Hey everybody, I gotta tell you, we're gonna talk about Built. Built Hospitality. Millions of people use Built every day, that's right, every day to earn rewards on housing and in their neighborhood. But now, now it extends to your restaurant. That's where Built Hospitality comes in. Built Hospitality shapes how guests are recognized and taken care of. Built's restaurant-facing platform is designed specifically for dining operators to drive loyalty with their guests. It combines reservations, guest preferences, VIP management, and payments all into one platform alongside an agentic concierge. That's right, an AI concierge that thoughtfully designs and executes experiences around your guest tastes.

0:47Hospitality Hangout Host: Using the latest and greatest in AI technology. When a guest walks in, your team already knows what they like without digging through notes. Built Hospitality works across the entire guest journey. That's right, the entire guest journey from delivering a complimentary course at the right moment, just the right moment, sending a personalized offer that brings them coming back again and again and again. That's right. That's what Built Hospitality is doing. It is allowing you to communicate with your guests and keep them coming back over and over. Make every guest feel like a regular every time, not just their first time, every time.

1:24Hospitality Hangout Host: They're a regular. Built Hospitality is available now for restaurant groups everywhere. Learn more at BuiltDining.com backslash hangout. That's BuiltDining.com backslash hangout. And check out what Built Hospitality is going to do for you and your restaurant. Do you think it's like a kiss of death for a place? They get like, you know, a talk or influence, whatever, and the weeks of lines, and then nobody cares anymore. because I'll do the next thing.

1:50Gregory Zamfotis: It depends on the brand. If you can execute while they're there and you're delivering something great, then sure. But if people are only coming because such and such influencers said you should go here, once that influencer stops talking about it, they go somewhere else. Do you ever go to a place

2:02Hospitality Hangout Host: because an influencer told you to go there? Never. Jimmy? Never.

2:09Hospitality Hangout Host: We are back, ladies and gentlemen. We are back. Jimmy, Billy Shore. That was super VIP. Listen, they're doing good things over there. Good people doing good things. Good people doing good things, I got to tell you. We have a very special guest here at the Hospitality Hangout here, live and prosper, presented by our friends at Olo. I got to tell you, two-timer. I'm back. Two-timer, right? He's back. I got to tell you, Greg, great to have you back. President, founder, CEO, Gregory's Coffee. Let's jump into it, Jimbo. Lead us off. This is your second time in the podcast. A lot's happened since the last time we chatted.

2:49Hospitality Hangout Host: But for our listeners who don't know Gregory, this is a man who 20 years ago, okay, law school student, walked away from big corporate real estate legal job to open one small coffee shop on Park Avenue. Okay, today Gregory's coffee has grown to over 50 locations, okay, across the country, brought on Craveworthy Brands as a partner to fuel national franchise growth. One of the most talked about names in specialty coffee. and I have to say he has a fan base. The fan base, again, is called the... Gregulars? Gregulars. Yeah. Love. Yeah, you're like, Greg's like basically a movie star. His picture is on all the bags.

3:32Hospitality Hangout Host: His picture's on all the signs. You know, it's these glasses. So we get to welcome back Gregory, again, to the Hangout, founder, president, Gregory's Coffee. Two-timer. Two-timer. So I don't think we're talking about this.

3:44Gregory Zamfotis: The only person whose glasses might be more famous

3:46Hospitality Hangout Host: are yours jimmy's on the nose yeah on the nose on the nose but you know what when let's talk about these glass when the when was the when did you get these frames believe it or not these are about a

3:56Gregory Zamfotis: week old so every five years or the same style i mean i don't mean rotate but when did you change to that style so i've been wearing glasses of this style for nearly 20 years and it would this logo came into existence in 2009 2003 years in so about three years in so what was the original logo Do you remember? It was about the silliest thing you could imagine. It's just Gregory's Coffee and some font from Word with a little bit of steam coming off of one of the letters. One of the letters.

4:26Hospitality Hangout Host: Okay. All right. And that was it. And then somehow, what was the story where someone was like...

4:33Gregory Zamfotis: There's a story. Yeah, let's hear the story. So I was with a graphic designer. We were working on redoing our website at the time. Right. This is 2009. and she was saying to me that your logo is not a great representation of what your brand stands for at this moment in time and i'm like i've made it in word yeah like i think it's fine exactly a logo so she was we were in my second location and there was a picture on the wall of me drinking coffee like this blocking my face with just an espresso cup um so she's looking at that she's looking at me and she just starts doodling that silhouette of the glasses with the hair right um It wasn't the final form, but it was close enough.

5:12Gregory Zamfotis: And we realized that's an iconic look. It's something that had that hidden meaning. The cups are glasses. The glasses are cups. The hair is steam. I'm getting it up there.

5:22Hospitality Hangout Host: And there it is. There it is. It's just the beautiful hair. Yeah. See, what happens if you lose all your hair?

5:29Gregory Zamfotis: Then the logo, you've got to turn it upside down. I have to grow a beard. Yeah, I mean, your hair is...

5:35Hospitality Hangout Host: It inverts quite nicely. I mean, your hair is like Stalin over there. I got to tell you, it's really unbelievable. Listen, coffee's on fire right now. I mean, I know that everyone has got kind of a silly thing to say because people are always like, oh, everyone drinks coffee. I mean, but like coffee is like it just seems like does it ever go away? Is it a resurgence? Is it just never goes away? Because tell me, like, what is it? The like, I see all these coffee brands that are popping up and you've been doing it for a long time. But what is it?

6:04Gregory Zamfotis: So coffee is a staple, right? There's things that you just don't go without. If you're a coffee drinker, you don't say, well, Tuesday, I'm not going to have my coffee. You have your coffee every day. I think what has been special about our industry is that it keeps finding new ways of energizing and connecting with different cohorts of people. So whether that's matcha, energy drinks, other things that are sort of adjacent to what we do, all anchored in that sort of coffee experience. Right. I think is why you're seeing what you're seeing this resurgence.

6:35Hospitality Hangout Host: So it's not really necessarily coffee. It's just the idea of a coffee house, so to speak, a place in the morning, let's just say, or the afternoon. But now, like, other things are seeping into the actual purchase. They're not, like, buying coffee necessarily.

6:50Gregory Zamfotis: Yeah, there's obviously the tried and true coffee drinkers. And there's other people that want coffee. And then other times they want different products, maybe in the afternoon or maybe just other people that are not drinking coffee. But they like that experience. And so they're yearning for that connection that coffee houses tend to provide. So it's a really unique place in our society where it's a gathering place, community, great products, somewhere you feel comfortable, where you'd want to spend time. Right. Like say what you will about a Shake Shack or other locations. You don't really go to a Shake Shack to have a meeting.

7:23Gregory Zamfotis: You go to have food.

7:25Hospitality Hangout Host: Yeah.

7:25Gregory Zamfotis: You go to a coffee shop to study, to have a meeting, go on a date, do an interview.

7:29Hospitality Hangout Host: Do you think that's something that was like, you know, like friends, they all went to whatever perk, right? No, no. Central Perk. Central Perk, right? I mean, and that was the whole thing. And like Starbucks certainly, to an extent, really changed the way we kind of even think or interact. And then kind of everybody stopped going to Starbucks for a myriad of reasons. Is that kind of a thing like Starbucks having a little trouble? So everyone was like, oh, I can't go there anymore. Let me go to these other places.

7:56Gregory Zamfotis: Well, we never wavered. So even during COVID when there was social distancing and they said you can't, I was always doubling down on having enough space, tables, bringing people together. Because it was always important to me. And I truly believe that that's a central part of the coffee experience is people, connection, community, bringing people together. I think it's sort of hard to tether, remove that tether. So it's just as important of the coffee experience as to the product that you're selling. Yeah.

8:25Hospitality Hangout Host: I'm jumping in because. Jump in, Jay. Please do. It's a conversation, Jimmy. I just jump in because while I agree with everything that was just spoken regarding coffee and how to delineate it from other types of verticals in the hospitality industry, the fact is specialty coffee right now is having... What's specialty coffee? It's kind of not just the premium, but also the barista-type coffee concoctions and are outpacing just the general coffee market. And they're growing about 8 % to 10 % a year. And it's a category that is gaining in momentum. You're one of the first independent challengers.

9:08Hospitality Hangout Host: You're one of the first ones to say an independent can compete with, you know, the larger, let's say, enterprise-type brands. And now you yourself are scaling nationally. So, you know, what is some of the innovation that you're seeing that is really, you know, having this type of, you know, surge? Because right now, coffee somewhat is flat, but specialty coffee is on an 8 % to 10 % spike in growth.

9:33Gregory Zamfotis: I think it's what I mentioned earlier. I think it's this pendulum swinging back to third places and people wanting to connect. Obviously, the proliferation of drive-through in coffee has been huge where, you know, as much as I'm talking about experience, I think being able to deliver quality product and quality interaction in a drive-thru experience is also super important. But do you guys have drive-thrus? We do. We do. And we try to match that level of experience the best that we can in the drive-thru as we do it in-store. So we've said people are not expecting latte art and fresh baked croissants when they're going through a drive-thru.

10:11Gregory Zamfotis: They're expecting just speed and convenience. Right. So when you can deliver an elevated product as well as great customer service and drive-through, that's amazing.

10:19Hospitality Hangout Host: But what about matcha? Like, we talked about matcha for a second. Yeah. Matcha. Where was matcha 10 years ago? Where was matcha? Jimmy wasn't drinking matcha. Matcha was on the fringe. Yeah. But now everyone's doing matcha.

10:29Gregory Zamfotis: Where'd it just come from? We introduced it like seven or eight years ago. Really? It was a very small part of our program. So you were way out of the matcha thing. Definitely. I mean, yeah. I thought it was really interesting. And we introduced that. But again, it was not a huge part of our program. Right. As it got more and more popularized, and then it got, I think it blew up on TikTok. And just visually, there's a lot more you can do with the color. And that attracted a whole new group of people that were interested in matcha.

10:56Hospitality Hangout Host: What's the big matcha appeal?

10:57Gregory Zamfotis: What is it? What is the matcha appeal? I mean, it's green tea, dry green tea. It's also like an artisanal beverage.

11:05Hospitality Hangout Host: But isn't that supposed to be like, what is it, anti - Antioxidant. Accident, you know, like a cleansing. It's all the things everyone's into, right?

11:14Gregory Zamfotis: It does check a lot of boxes from a health and wellness standpoint. I think there's certain people that maybe perceive coffee to be, you know, giving you too much of a caffeine rush. And I don't obviously agree. Is matcha less caffeine? Depends on how much or how you're preparing it. I think the caffeine is probably a neutral part of that conversation. It's a very different taste. and there might be people that want to stack other products inside of it and matcha is a nice additive. And again, I do think there's a nice visual.

11:43Hospitality Hangout Host: Because ice has taken over hot, right? Oh, ice is crazy. You guys sell more ice. Jimmy, you're always hot coffee. I'm always hot coffee. I got you an ice one time. You got very mad at me. Well, to be clear, Gregory. I'm hot all the time too. 365. To be a great Gregory, I wasn't mad. I was trying to show you away, Jimmy. Shatzy said, would you like a coffee? And I said, yes, hot, black. and he brings me ice with milk. I thought that was nice. I was trying to show him something. He doesn't know what he wants and I know what you want, Jimmy. I'm like your mother. He's like, I thought you said ice milk.

12:15Hospitality Hangout Host: I'm like, Jimmy, you're always sweating. I think we were like in Atlanta or Orlando. It was hot, Jimmy. It's like tonight. You're drinking hot coffee right now? Tonight at our party I'm not right out. I take you outside. I'm a hot coffee guy. We're going to smoke cigars tonight. You'll be out there tonight, right? Of course. I'm going to bring Jimmy a hot beverage. I'm going to see how much he likes it. I didn't say I wanted a hot coffee. Oh, no, no. You're going to go. And if you say you want a cold anything, I will step in. I mean, absolutely not, Jimmy. It's all that. Well, aren't you going to be a hot Guinness?

12:45Hospitality Hangout Host: That's what I'm like. Give me a hot Guinness. Well, don't they usually drink room temperature Guinness in general? It's got some good chill. You were in Ireland. Did they drink it cold or room temperature? It's cold. Is it cold? It's not borderline freezing, but it's a nice cold Guinness. I got to jump into the elephant in the room, Jimmy. It really isn't. I just wanted to say that because I was dying to say the elephant in the room. I wanted to work that into a combination. Talk to me about protein. Jimmy and I have been talking about protein. I say that there'll be no protein left on the planet Earth next year.

13:16Hospitality Hangout Host: I always say there'll be complete. The store, the shelves will be empty. There'll be no protein. I'll come back next week. We're out. Like, where's all this protein coming from? And when does it run out? And how are you guys? What are you doing over at Greg's Protein?

13:29Gregory Zamfotis: Lots of sources of protein. As someone that was, I was vegan for seven years. And so I found a lot of creative ways to bring protein into my diet. But now I'm back on the sauce. We've been doing. You're back on the sauce. Yeah, I mean, we've had smoothies on the menu for years that were protein based. But more recently, we introduced the cold foams and other things that incorporate protein as well.

13:53Hospitality Hangout Host: But that protein is derived from?

13:56Gregory Zamfotis: Previously, we were doing a plant based pea protein. Now it's a whey protein. It just mixes nicer with the milk.

14:02Hospitality Hangout Host: So they're saying they can't produce whey fast enough. Well, yeah. I don't know who they are, but this is what I'm hearing. They are the whey people. Don't you sometimes think that all of a sudden the whey people got together like, this is our moment. There's no more whey. And prices go through the roof. No way. Yeah, real. No way. Yes way, Jimmy. No way. Yes way. I remember there was a time, seriously, back in Duke's days, right? One of the earliest bars and restaurants we owned. And my liquor person from Empire or whatever calls me, we have Jane, Jane LaMonica. I remember her. And she goes, Shatsy, I know you guys sell a lot of tequila.

14:40Hospitality Hangout Host: There's going to be no tequila if they're running out. They don't have enough of the gobbledygook. They're running out. You got to get it. And she's like, oh my God, we had the Duca Rita. I can't have no tequila. Jane, I get you 30 cases. I'm like, give me the 30 cases. That'll keep me going. You know what I mean? And Jane was next seen on a cruise. She won the contest. Just won the Polish tequila cases.

15:03Gregory Zamfotis: Not to revert, but that happened with matcha. Matcha got so popular that Japanese farmers were like, we just can't produce enough because it spiked. Wink, wink. Exactly. You know, there's some cartels. Yeah, they got the union.

15:15Hospitality Hangout Host: They got the union together. They got the matcha cartel. And the lobbyists. Yes. There's definitely a matcha cartel. Exactly. So you've been, just like you've been into matcha, you've been in protein for a long time. Nothing new there.

15:27Gregory Zamfotis: No, no. I mean, again, the menu at Gregory's for the existence since we've been around has usually mirrored what's important to me. So I've been all so conscious of what I eat, making sure I have enough protein in my diet. So, you know, it's always been an option on the menu for us.

15:43Hospitality Hangout Host: I like it. I like it a lot. I was thinking about something else, but I want Jimmy to ask a question. Yeah, I want to jump in because Olo, our friends at Olo, just rolled out the Olo app. Oh, yeah. Okay? And it is the second-party ordering platform. It sits between the brand's own app and the third-party marketplaces, like our friends at DoorDash. No commission. Brands keep their own, keep their guest data. But you still have the reach and discovery of a marketplace. So Gregory's is a brand that has embraced and stepping in to this next chapter with Olo. So what made this the right step and move for Gregory's, you know, in terms of your own scaling campaign?

16:26Hospitality Hangout Host: And I mean, the things that Olo is doing in terms of the guest relationship, the guest data, building your own loyalty with your Gregulars, you know, is this so you can grow into new markets and formats? But talk about the Olo app.

16:38Gregory Zamfotis: So definitely excited about the Olo app and what they're doing there. I think Noah, CEO of Olo, and since they've been partnering with Toma Bravo, I think have been making some really big and smart moves. So we were excited to partner with them to take better control of our data, better understanding of our regulars. So as much as we thought we knew about them, we didn't know nearly enough or nearly as much as we thought we could.

17:06Hospitality Hangout Host: You thought they were very one-dimensional, and then when you dug in, you found out that they are the matcha of online ordering. Well, it's more of however many dimensions there were, or I thought there were. I have no idea what you just said. Those words, that was word salad. Sorry. Get back to Gregory, please. That was very powerful. Jimmy, people are going to quote me on that one.

17:32Gregory Zamfotis: Well, Olo, I think, unlocks this ability to get so much more information and perspective about your customers, not only how they interact with you, but how they interact with other Olo brands. So you get an understanding of where you stand, how you benchmark, and it gives you the tools to adjust and take better advantage of the data that's now at your fingertips. So between what Noah is doing with data and their second party marketplace, again, allows you to funnel more business without having to work through third party channels. So we want more people to interact with us and for us to be able to get the information, not so we can do things that are nefarious.

18:17Gregory Zamfotis: So that way we can better cater either offers or messaging or personalization or even learn about our menu.

18:25Hospitality Hangout Host: It's customization and personalization. It's a very big part of everyone's journey today in retail. It's don't pitch Jimmy, you know, healthy food when we know Jimmy doesn't eat healthy food. You know? He was getting me back with my word salad company. He was punching back. Yeah. Don't give Jimmy. Jimmy, Jimmy, we've got great crudite. What the F am I going to do with crudite? You know what I mean? But personalization is all it about. So are you, like, is there a big tech stack of Olo at Gregory's? Oh, yeah. Because they got a big part of the whole.

18:56Gregory Zamfotis: We made a big shift to sort of move as much as we can into the Olo system. Right. Big believers in what they do. And I think just in general with our tech stack, we're looking to get more streamlined, how we can use ideally less vendors to do more. Right. And I think Olo enables that. It's a platform. There's a platform.

19:16Hospitality Hangout Host: One-stop shop for a lot of things and lots of integration. And they've been around a long time. Yes. And they're innovating.

19:23Gregory Zamfotis: Yeah. There's partners like Olo. There's new startups. This podcast is brought to you by Olo.

19:29Hospitality Hangout Host: You're a member of the No Kid Hungry advisory, Dine Advisory Board. Proudly. And it puts you in the room with, you know, really some of the big names, biggest names in the restaurant industry. And you've been a huge supporter of No Kid Hungry. And I always try to tell people restaurant folks are busy. OK, and you're really busy. And yet you find ways. That's why I tell Jimmy not to email restaurant guys. You know, you find ways, you know, to continue to dive in into this organization. So talk a little bit about, you know, what is it like, you know, being at the table, addressing childhood hunger?

20:06Hospitality Hangout Host: And maybe what advice could you give to other restauranteurs about how they could get involved? Because you're really involved.

20:10Gregory Zamfotis: Yeah. So to me, it was a no brainer to get involved. like you said, we're all busy. There's lots going on, but then you see what we do and, you know, the power we wield to be able to make a huge impact. And there's nothing bigger, I think, than solving hunger and food insecurity when it comes to children. So the minute I had the opportunity to join, there was no second thinking about it. I jumped right in. And whomever is at the table, yeah, there's definitely some amazing people in the industry, heavyweights. Whether I'm a small or a big operator relative to them i think all that sort of goes away when we all just start thinking about how can we help you know we're launching this restaurant week program in april of next year that i hope everybody participates in how are you guys going to be involved in that i mean we're going to be definitely participating in donations either roundup campaigns or even or lto's driving business towards uh raising tbd but you were definitely involved in some way shape or form we got time we're about eight months out so we've been starting to think about how we're going to do it but for sure uh between roundup and other i like the roundup it seems like it's

21:16Hospitality Hangout Host: so frictionless and easy yeah roundup you know and the point of sale right it's an easy way but

21:21Gregory Zamfotis: you see people have are already trained to work on that uh and and when they check out it does add a tremendous amount of firepower to what we're trying to do so um i'm so proud of the work that No Kid Hungry Share of Strength is doing and that I can be a part of it. So I definitely encourage people to obviously pay attention to that organization. And in April to definitely take part, if you can, an easy way to sort of give back and make a huge impact.

21:47Hospitality Hangout Host: Jimmy, I got to tell you, I think that that is the perfect time to take a break. Just a quick break, Jimmy. Quick break. We're going to be right back with Greg for more. OK. And we couldn't be more excited to go into Hot or Not, the brand of Quickfire. And I got a couple of special surprises. So don't go away. Be right back. The Hospitality Hangout brought to you by Olo. Hey, everybody. I got to tell you, we're going to talk about Built. Built Hospitality. Millions of people use Built every day. That's right. Every day to earn rewards on housing and in their neighborhood. But now, now it extends to your restaurant.

22:25Hospitality Hangout Host: That's where Built Hospitality comes in. Built Hospitality shapes how guests are recognized and taken care of. Built's restaurant-facing platform is designed specifically for dining operators to drive loyalty with their guests. It combines reservations, guest preferences, VIP management, and payments all into one platform alongside an agentic concierge. That's right, an AI concierge that thoughtfully designs and executes experiences around your guest tastes. Using the latest and greatest in AI technology. When a guest walks in, your team already knows what they like without digging through notes.

23:07Hospitality Hangout Host: Built Hospitality works across the entire guest journey. That's right, the entire guest journey from delivering a complimentary course at the right moment, just the right moment, sending a personalized offer that brings them coming back again and again and again. That's right. That's what Built Hospitality is doing. It is allowing you to communicate with your guests and keep them coming back over and over. Make every guest feel like a regular every time, not just their first time, every time. They're a regular. Built Hospitality is available now for restaurant groups everywhere. Learn more at BuiltDining.com backslash hangout.

23:43Hospitality Hangout Host: That's BuiltDining.com backslash hangout. And check out what Built Hospitality is going to do for you and your restaurant.

23:54Hospitality Hangout Host: And we are back at the Hospitality Hangout. I got to tell you something. Jimmy got to go to the bathroom. Greg just sat here like an idiot the entire time while I went and did something. Am I allowed to? He's getting hair and makeup. All right, we're jumping into the hospitality headlines. This is a new segment that I am just loving, and this is presented by Olo. Jimmy, what does Olo stand for? It is Noah's name after Noah's dog. Yes, Noah's dog. Thank you, thank you. And weren't you going to name your dog Olo until you found out Noah named his dog Olo? I tried to get Rocky, Mickey, Paulie, Drago, Adonis.

24:33Hospitality Hangout Host: Is it trademarked? No, my wife and daughter said no. So my dog is named Redford. By the way, good name. It's a great name. Very original. All right, here it is. Hospitality headlines presented by Olo. Greg, I'm going to ask you. I'm going to tell you. I'm going to read three headlines to you. Two of them are real. One of them is fake. Your job today for fabulous prizes and vacations and many other things that I can't even talk about until you win. Okay, if you win. And there's one thing that's fake. Are you ready? Let's go. Okay, here we go. A New York restaurant sells a$214 grilled cheese made with rare cheese, truffle butter, and bread baked with Dom Perignon.

25:13Hospitality Hangout Host: That is the headline. A Las Vegas restaurant offers$1 ,000 bottomless bread basket accompanied by a dedicated bread sommelier. What the hell is a bread? I've heard water sommeliers, I've heard. Bread sommelier? That's not, there's no way. A restaurant created a nearly$6 ,000 burger with gold leaf covered bun made using a champagne? What the hell? So which one is fake? Is it the New York restaurant sells this very expensive grilled cheese with truffles? And I got to be honest,$240 for grilled cheese today doesn't sound that overbriced. It sounds... By the way, when you're looking next to a$1 ,000 bottomless bread basket, and a$6 ,000 burger...

25:54Hospitality Hangout Host: Burger. 2-4-T seems like a bargain. Yeah, I was going to say. Give me two of those. Attention value shoppers. Yeah, or they get the Vegas$1 ,000 bottomless bread basket, or you got this$6 ,000 burger. What's the fake one?

26:08Gregory Zamfotis: Well, I believe there may be a bread sommelier out there. I just cannot see a$1 ,000 bottomless bread basket.

26:15Hospitality Hangout Host: So you're going B. I'm going B. He's going B. All right, he's going B as the fake one. Jimmy? Now, Jimmy, I'm just telling you right now, Truffles are expensive. Here's my problem right now, is that the two, I think, the one that I thought was absolutely true is the one that Gregory says is fake. A bread sommelier? By the way, that sounds a lot more realistic to me than a$6 ,000 burger.

26:42Gregory Zamfotis: There are water sommeliers now. Water sommeliers, I know.

26:45Hospitality Hangout Host: And then$214 seems like, why$214? Why not$215? What's the price of gold right now, Jimmy? What's the price of gold right now?

26:52Gregory Zamfotis: Oh, it's over$4 ,000 an ounce.

26:55Hospitality Hangout Host: You don't have to get much. I mean, a little gold leaf lettuce. All right, I'm still saying there's no$6 ,000 burger. I'll tell you what. Come to Isabel's next week. You look at the menu, I'm going to have a$6 ,000 burger. I'll just put it on the menu. Okay, for you, for me. I'm saying C is fake. That's what I'm saying. All right, well, I've got to tell you something. I think when I read it, I didn't know the answer, and now me and Greg are like, ding, ding, ding, it's B is fake. B is fake. Bread sommelier.

27:26Gregory Zamfotis: The water, I'm with you. Bread sommelier sounds like an amazing job. I think that's an amazing job.

27:31Hospitality Hangout Host: I think that sounds really interesting. My father was at French Culinary Institute for Breadmaking,

27:35Gregory Zamfotis: and he tried to turn me into one by giving me different, everything he baked, he would show up with, like, 20 different versions of bread, so I would be great at that job.

27:44Hospitality Hangout Host: But at a restaurant, how are we bringing the bread? He's just rolling out just a big cart of bread. Roll out a cart? Yeah. Of just different bread. That makes a lot more sense. All right, well, it's fake, Jimmy. It's fake. It's not real. It's completely made up. You're wrong.

27:57Gregory Zamfotis: But it's really an inspiring fake headline. So next year, we'll bring it out.

28:02Hospitality Hangout Host: Next year, that's going to be a real one. Welcome to Gregory's Coffee and our sommelier, Bretton Sommelier. All right. I think that'd be fun. All right, listen. We got to go to Hot or Not, okay? I'm going to Hot or Not. Are you ready for a little Hot or Not? Always. I'm going to ask you. You played Hot or Not, right? I believe I did, yeah. You did. Okay, great. Here we go. Ghost Kitchen, is that Hot or Not? Not. What about mocktails? I mean, I'm seeing them all over the place. Is that hot? That's hot, yeah. It is hot. Protein, everything. I think we talked about this. It's nuclear hot right now.

28:32Hospitality Hangout Host: It's nuclear hot. I've never even... Jimmy, I don't even think we've ever gotten nuclear hot. GLP-1? Oh, whatever is more than nuclear? I don't know. What about the GLP-5 that is coming out shortly? GLP-1s are on par with protein. Very, very hot. What about the GOP suppository that they are now coming out with? He's that hot. I don't know about it. Time released, GOP one suppository. He's that hot. You can let me know how that one goes. I have no idea about that. Drone delivery. Is that hot? Do you see Gregory's Coffee dropping coffee with drones?

29:10Gregory Zamfotis: That sounds like a terrible idea. But is it coming? Burning people from the skies. Hot coffee.

29:15Hospitality Hangout Host: What about cold ice coffee through drones? Only for Jimmy when he wants his hot coffee. Only when Chatsy brings out my coffee. So when Jimmy wants his hot coffee, we will throw him an iced coffee? Yeah, exactly. I like that.

29:26Gregory Zamfotis: And then what about social media LTOs? I don't think it's as hot as it was a year ago, but it's still pretty hot. I think the problem is when you try and follow that, you realize that 80 other restaurants have the exact same LTO because they're all following the exact same influencer account. Do you think it's like the kiss of death for a place?

29:46Hospitality Hangout Host: You open up a place and they get like, you know, a talk or influence, whatever. And then, and, and, and they, you know, go weeks out lines and then, and then nobody cares anymore because onto the next thing or, or no, it gets enough people and it stays hot. What do you think?

30:00Gregory Zamfotis: It depends on the brand. If you can execute while they're there and you're delivering something great and unique, then sure. But if, if people are only coming because such and such influencers said you should go here, unless once that influencer stops talking about it, they go somewhere else. Right.

30:14Hospitality Hangout Host: So you ever go, you ever go to a place because an influencer told you to go there?

30:19Gregory Zamfotis: Never.

30:20Hospitality Hangout Host: Never. Jimmy? Never. Never. Never. They never seen them be like, I got to try that pizza. I got to try that burger.

30:26Gregory Zamfotis: No. There's places I've seen that have piqued my interest because people are talking about it. Right. But I would not, I would never say because this influencer went. No, that's not for me. Jimmy, what would you like to opine on here?

30:39Hospitality Hangout Host: You know, we've, today, the social media driven LTOs has, across the board in our recordings today, have been less, there's been less than enthusiasm for it. That's because I don't think anyone understands the question. Well, no, actually, I was going to say, because I think it was not long ago that I think it would have been deemed to be hotter. And I guess my opining or my question to Gregory is, is there maybe so much noise out there that it's like it's so loud that we can no longer hear it. It's not authentic. It seems manufactured. Like we're no longer trusting it. Because it wasn't that long ago that the importance of Instagram, every restaurateur was talking about creating Instagram moments.

31:20Hospitality Hangout Host: And the influencers had a real presence. But I guess my question is, is the space so crowded that we're just drowning it out? We don't care.

31:27Gregory Zamfotis: I do. I think you just hit the nail on the head. It's overload. Yep. And I don't know what to think anymore. It's just, I'd rather just try my own path. And I think the more I've come back around, I'm saying like, you got to stay away from that slop.

31:39Hospitality Hangout Host: And Gregory also said, like, if people he knows and trusts are talking about a joint or an item, that gets his attention because he knows that it's genuine. But the idea of following somebody who we don't know their motivation, their self-interest. Because a lot of it is just, it's not really your opinion. It's just.

31:59Gregory Zamfotis: Are you allowed to talk about it? I mean, I know we're Olo podcast.

32:03Hospitality Hangout Host: Yeah.

32:03Gregory Zamfotis: God bless Olo, Noah, Kill Me. No, I was kidding. You talk about anyone. The bellies of the world where it's more social about like not just Yelp.

32:10Hospitality Hangout Host: But that kind of reminds me of Foursquare a little bit when Foursquare came out, you know, when you would check into a place and you kind of, you know.

32:17Gregory Zamfotis: Belly has done the same thing where now you're people you know and trust are reviewing places instead of just the masses. And what do I know what people in Columbus, Ohio -

32:26Hospitality Hangout Host: So what we're saying is that getting to a intimacy and more micro is now becoming better. I got it. Less is more. Less is more. Jimmy, I got it. Hell yeah. That could stick. That might. You got something. I got something there. Dude, I love that. I love that. Less is more. Is more. Yes. There we go. I got to tell you, you're always coming up with stuff. All right, let's go to a branded quick fire real quick. All right, here we go. Now, this is really the quick fire. Let's go. All right, here we go. We're not going to take a long time here. When you go to Gregory's Coffee, everybody wants to know, what does Gregory get at Gregory's Coffee?

33:06Hospitality Hangout Host: What is your go-to order? Now, you can't say in this particular, oh, everything's great. I love it all.

33:10Gregory Zamfotis: No, what does he get? This is the easiest. It's a shot in a chaser. Double espresso, black coffee. That's it. Double espresso, and then you get a black coffee?

33:19Hospitality Hangout Host: Yeah, together, always. You mix it? No, shot, and then I have my dripped coffee. And then what do you, you run somewhere? No, my blood type is espresso, so I knew that. Yeah, that's how I operate. Yeah, I'd be shaking. What's your Uber rating? What is a guy who owns all these restaurants as an Uber rating? Because you probably Ubered all the restaurants. It was 4.9, something like that? I was going to go, I think 4.91. Do you have your thing with your phone? Can we look? I don't know why I'm challenging him. He's a 4.9 what? I said 4.9.1. All right, Jimmy, you've been very good. 4.9.1. 4.9.1. They got hit a count on the bottom.

33:56Gregory Zamfotis: What is it? 4.87. How embarrassing.

33:58Hospitality Hangout Host: No, it's not embarrassing at all. That's, you know, be proud. Okay, low is good in Uber. Most importantly, I don't talk. 5 is bad. I literally don't talk. No, 5 is bad. It's 4.5 is actually mud. You want to go. The lower the better? Oh, yeah. 6.7? Lower the better. Tell me 4.7.6. I'm like, unbelievable. So less is more. Less is more. Thank you. Thank you.

34:19Gregory Zamfotis: You see, less is more. Good to know.

34:21Hospitality Hangout Host: And how do you take your bagel? I had as a guy who owns all these coffee shops, because I feel like a coffee and a bagel, they seem to go together pretty good, right? Yeah. How do you take a bagel?

34:31Gregory Zamfotis: So I don't do cheese, so maybe like bacon and egg on an everything bagel, toasted.

34:37Hospitality Hangout Host: What do you mean you don't do cheese?

34:39Gregory Zamfotis: I can't do dairy.

34:41Hospitality Hangout Host: What do you mean you can't do dairy? Like you have an adversity? Why are you actually understanding lactose? It means I would get sick if I had it. Yeah. Like you got like Crohn's disease or you got like, like is it lactose intolerance? I believe it's called the lactose intolerance. Oh, so you're lactose intolerant. Yeah. Now it's okay with you? Yeah, but no, because my brother's lactose intolerant, but you know what he does? He takes like a lactate or something like that or a pill or something. Yeah, no. Doesn't work?

35:06Gregory Zamfotis: No, I don't even care.

35:07Hospitality Hangout Host: Because my mom never believed that anybody could be lactose intolerant. you know she was just like I stop you have a piece of cheesecake

35:16Gregory Zamfotis: my mother does that too and then I get sick she sneaks butter into things right is there any milk in that

35:21Hospitality Hangout Host: and my mom be like no there's no milk in it and you would run to the bathroom mom was there milk just a little don't you

35:29Gregory Zamfotis: understand mom my wife didn't believe me until she bought some naan and said it was just bread so I ate it and I woke up in the middle of the night feeling quite terrible and I looked at the label and it just and I saw how much cream and milk was in that. I'm like, well, I just proved my own point. Sure.

35:44Hospitality Hangout Host: It's your mother. It's like, so you know it's not great. Your mother doesn't believe you. You know, so don't shame me. Your mom doesn't even believe me. No, she doesn't. All right, anyway. This edition of the branded Quickfire is sponsored by Mucilex. Online ordering. Mucilex. All right, listen.

36:05Gregory Zamfotis: Is the hot dog a sandwich? No, and I'm offended by the question. Why? Because my father grew up, when he came to America. Loves hot dogs? No, he worked in Coney Island at the boardwalk over there, selling Shaper beer by Nathan's Hot Dogs. Okay. So there's a sandwich menu, and there's other menu. You don't see hot dogs on a sandwich menu ever.

36:29Hospitality Hangout Host: I felt like that was a Seinfeld moment with Poppy when my father came to this country. You can't afford that. You can't afford a cucumber. and started selling hot dogs, he'd be offended. And by the way, I agree with you. I agree a hot dog is not a sandwich and there could be no debate. So cucumbers can't go on a pizza? Cucumbers can't go on a pizza. No. No, it sounds disgusting. You can't let people. What about me and yours? Do you pineapple on a pizza? Yeah. Why is that okay? Because Hawaii is a fantastic state and they said we want ham and pineapple. Who said that? The ham and pineapple, the Hawaiian slice.

37:10Hospitality Hangout Host: It's not my choice, but it's okay. Are you a Disney guy or Universal guy? Like, if you had your choice, are you going to go? Which is, where do you want to go?

37:17Gregory Zamfotis: I don't know if my son can subscribe to podcasts, but, like, he wants to go to Universal badly, so. How old? He's 11.

37:24Hospitality Hangout Host: I think, I mean, does he like roller coasters? He's a fiend, yeah. Yeah, because I think Universal, I'm circling, because it's definitely better roller coasters than Disney.

37:32Gregory Zamfotis: Well, because he's Harry Potter, Super Mario World, So I'm probably committing myself to going by saying this, but probably we'll go universal. And what's the last thing you Googled? The last thing I Googled? Man, making me check my phone. Let's see. Man, what is it? I Googled something really weird. I see pictures.

37:53Hospitality Hangout Host: I see like.

37:54Gregory Zamfotis: Oh, I Googled Chef Cycle, which was what Billy was talking about during his speech about cycling for a cause. So I was Googling that while he was talking to see what that was all about. I love it.

38:08Hospitality Hangout Host: I love it. Jimmy, what's the last thing you Googled?

38:11Gregory Zamfotis: NSFW? You got to check, too? I got to check, too. Let's go. I got that goldfish memory. I Google things. I forget anything happened. I just did Gregory's coffee.

38:19Hospitality Hangout Host: Yeah. And I got the picture of you. So I know that's the last thing I just did. The last thing I Googled was the hospitality headline. What did you come up with? I found our newsletter. Oh, nice. All right. All right, Jimmy. I got to tell you, I got nothing else here. I have nothing. There is nothing more to talk. We've said it all. Gregory, it is a pleasure to have you back on the Hangout with us. Thank you for returning. Thank you for sharing, chatting with us, spending time with us. And we're super excited about this next chapter of Gregory's Coffee. We are huge fans. We appreciate being on the journey with you as a small part of it in the cap table.

38:56Hospitality Hangout Host: But most importantly, just excited to see New York's hometown coffee bringing this product, bringing this great brand all over the world. So if you want to get in touch with Gregory, you can email the podcast team at podcast at branded.nyc. What about Gregory's Coffee? If you want to find Gregory's Coffee, it's Gregory'sCoffee.com. No apostrophe. No apostrophe. Gregory'sCoffee.com. No Gregory's Coffee. No apostrophe. No apostrophe. This is it. Dot com, right? Yep. Gregory's Coffee. Gregory. Dot com. Greg. Greg, as I like to say. G, if I may. G. great having you on the program it's been a pleasure I might even go on Gregory I'm going Gene Gregory thank you so much cheers everybody cheers everybody thank you