About the show
The podcast Nashville's restaurant community needed.
Not about food. About food people. 444 conversations and counting, on the air since March 13, 2020.
Your host
Brandon Styll
Brandon spent nearly a decade as Director of Operations for some of Nashville's most respected restaurants. He owns New Light Hospitality Solutions, founded the Nashville Area Restaurant Alliance (NARA), and serves as Co-Chair of the Tennessee Engagement Council for Giving Kitchen.
Nashville Restaurant Radio started because independent restaurant operators are some of the hardest-working people in the city, and nobody was telling their real stories. Not the food reviews. Not the Instagram shots. The real stuff: building a business, managing people, navigating burnout, and figuring out how to keep going when the margins are thin and the hours are long.
Brandon saw it firsthand. The isolation. The lack of resources. The way operators were expected to figure everything out on their own. So he started a podcast to sit down with the people doing the work, ask them real questions, and share what running a restaurant actually looks like.
444 episodes later, the mission has not changed.
Co-host
Vince Lanni
Vince is Managing Partner at the Nashville Area Restaurant Alliance (NARA) and has co-hosted the show's interviews since April 2026.
His background is high-volume operations. Vince has led teams at some of the largest venues on Broadway in Nashville, managed restaurants in multiple states, and owned his own concept, so he knows the pressures and the opportunities of the business firsthand.
Before joining NARA, he founded Serve Up Strategies, a restaurant growth accelerator that helps operators move from chaos to scalable success with practical systems, processes, and leadership development. He also serves as Co-Chair of the Tennessee Community Engagement Council for Giving Kitchen, supporting hospitality workers in times of need.
His focus is developing leaders, strengthening team culture, and building operating systems that reduce stress, lower costs, and give restaurants a clear path to sustainable growth.
The mission
Strong restaurants build strong communities.
Everything flows from that idea. Restaurants are the backbone of Nashville's neighborhoods. They create jobs, feed families, shape culture, and bring people together. When restaurants thrive, communities thrive.
Nashville Restaurant Radio features honest conversations with owners, chefs, and founders about building businesses, navigating burnout, scaling teams, managing money, and staying human in one of the hardest industries on earth. No scripts. No sponsors steering the conversation. Just the real story.
Every episode is built on the belief that sharing these stories openly makes the entire community stronger.
Community
Nashville Area Restaurant Alliance (NARA)
Brandon also founded NARA, the Nashville Area Restaurant Alliance. NARA helps independent restaurants through collective purchasing power, shared resources, and community. The alliance gives independent operators access to the pricing, support, and connections that larger groups take for granted.
The podcast and NARA share the same core belief: independent restaurants do better when they work together instead of in isolation.
Off the clock
Beyond the mic.
Brandon has been married to his wife Jennifer for 20 years. They have two sons and live in Franklin, Tennessee. When he is not recording episodes or working with restaurant clients, you will find him coaching youth soccer, hiking, or chasing down the best food experiences Nashville has to offer.
Get involved
Want to be on the show?
If you own, operate, or lead a restaurant or food business in Nashville, we want to hear your story.