Josef Gutzmirtl

00:00One of the number one things that restaurant owners ask me when we're talking to them is, do you have a good vendor for merch? And my answer has always been, not really, but now we do. And that's where Twine Graphics and Screen Printing comes in. They're not just a vendor, they are really acting as a true partner for local restaurants. Everything is handled in-house by their team, from creative design to production. So you're not juggling with multiple companies to get things done. You're not online. If you have multiple locations, you're not wondering which manager is going to order which merch from who. They offer custom apparel, including screen printing and embroidery. Whether it's staff uniforms, branded teas, or retail merch, your customers actually want to buy. Beyond apparel, they also produce drinkware, decals, branded goods, so your brand stays consistent across every touch point. Now this is one of my favorite things.

01:01The biggest advantage they have is they build custom ordering websites for your restaurant or group. That means your managers and staff can easily reorder approved items without starting from scratch every single time. It keeps everything consistent, saves time, and removes the headache of back and forth emails and miscommunications. They've worked with restaurants and hospitality groups across Middle Tennessee. They understand the pace and pressure of the industry and they are local. They are located in downtown Franklin, right next to the factory. Brandon and John are the owners. You can go into their facility. They have a showroom. You can hold the shirt. You can see the texture and they will work with you to create the perfect item that you need. So that is Twine Graphics. You can call the founding member, Brandon Hagan, at 629-281-0838. You can email him at brandon.twinegraphics.com or go visit him online at www.twinegraphics.com.

02:07Welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio, the tastiest hour of talk in Music City. Now here's your host, Brandon Styll. Hello Music City and welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio. My name is Brandon Styll and I am your host. We are powered by Gordon Food Service and I am so excited today to bring you this conversation with Joseph Gutzmertl. Joseph is the owner. Him and his wife, Jodi, are the owners of Beyond the Edge, Boston Common, and Drifter's Barbecue. In this episode, we get into all the things that are about where he came from, his story, and what it's like operating and owning a business or multiple businesses here in Nashville today. Seems to be a theme that we have been talking about. Our next episode is going to be with Austin Smith.

03:13It's very funny. I listened back to this episode and at the end of it, he says that there's a party foul going in next to one of his buildings right there in Five Points. And I said, what is going on with party foul? What was the deal there? I've known Austin for a long time and I say at the end of the episode, this episode today, if you know anybody at party foul, have them call me. Well, the energy of the world, we recorded this on April 16th. This has been a minute since this has been recorded and they reached out. Austin Smith wants to come on the show and we get to talk. Austin was the original owner of party foul and he tells the story. So, you'll hear that at the end of the episode, but that is our next episode. Austin Smith, he's with Honky Tonk Party Express now. Really cool things that he's got going on there and just excited about it. I have been slammed. NARA is going great. We're helping a lot of people, but I have been interviewing vendors like crazy, a couple a day and I'm vetting them and I'm learning about them because if we're going to recommend somebody to you, I've got to get the best price and it's got to be the best service. So, what we are doing, we're spending all of our time meeting new vendors, learning about them, checking references, doing all of the things so that we can bring you amazing people. And you'll notice on this episode, there's going to be some new advertisements for some new vendors that we're working with. Pliny Crane for marketing, Twine Graphics. You just heard an ad for Twine Graphics. We have a really cool company, Cooler Control Solutions.

05:00They have this dehumidifier. It's a thing that they'll put in your walk-in and it makes your walk-in work so much efficiently. ROI, that is the thing that we are chasing, right? Return on investment. If you're an owner, anybody who runs a business, those three letters are everything. And if there's one company that's just going to crush your ROI, it is this CCS, Cooler Control Solutions. Just absolutely love those people. There's another one we have called One Tap Fix that you'll hear an ad for today. This is an app that you can put in your kitchen and anybody can, something's wrong, the cooler won't work, but you can type it in and it will find you a person to come fix it immediately and at the best possible price. We're going to have Eric, the CEO, on the show here coming up pretty soon. And I am so excited for this because I hear so many people say, I just can't find a good handyman who's consistent. I can't find somebody who I can trust who will do the job. And this is an app that will do that for you no matter what you need. You need to fix an appliance. You need a plumber. You need an HVAC. Really, really cool stuff going on here. So we've got some new people. We got some new ads. We got some new people. And I listen, again, listen to the ads. We're doing all new ads for everybody. I know we've had the same ads for a long time, but these are not just people that pay me. I have to believe in them. I do all the things I just mentioned. I check references. I meet with them several times.

06:37We get commitments. This is how we are going to treat NARA members. And it is strong, guys, and I stand behind them. So if you hear this ad, it's not just somebody who's paying us money. This is a company that we believe in and we want you to use. So lots of cool things happening out in the world. And hopefully, I'm seeing cool things because I'm working with restaurants that are tired and they're like, dude, we're dying over here and we're bringing solutions to them. And it's really cool, saving people a lot, a lot of money. Email me, Brandon at NARA Nashville. That's N-A-R-A Nashville. You can go to our, we have brand new websites. The Nashville Restaurant Radio site is brand new as well as the NARA website. You can go on there and learn all about us. The Nashville Restaurant Radio site is up to date, except for the merch. The merch is not up to date. However, I did, with Twine Graphics, just ordered a bunch of Nashville Restaurant Radio shirts. They are going to be back in stock and I will let you guys know. You'll see the social posts. Make sure you're following us at Nashville Restaurant Radio and at NARA Nashville on Instagram and Facebook. And we will be posting when these things are available. We'll be doing some giveaways. We created a really cool custom collaborative shirt with Twine Graphics that's an Eat Local shirt that I think you guys are going to love. Those will be for sale and we may be giving some of those away. We have a big event. It is going to be on the 19th of May. It is called Tennessee Flavors and Nashville Restaurant Radio is going to be there. We are going to be, we'll have the shirts there at the event. We will probably have our Eat Local shirts and we are going to be selling them and potentially giving them away if you want to come be on the podcast.

08:31We're going to be recording live. We'd love to have you stop by. So if you're going to Tennessee Flavors, stay tuned also to our socials because we have six pairs or three pairs of tickets to Tennessee Flavors. We are going to be giving away. You will have a chance to win these if you are following us on the socials and you do the things that we deem you need to do. Follow, like, share, invite somebody with you, all that stuff. I don't know what we're going to do but it will be coming very soon. We are excited you are here today. You're going to love this episode with Joseph Gutzmertl. Stay tuned for Austin Smith. We also have an episode coming with Billy Deck from Sunda and you are listening to Nashville Restaurant Radio. Super excited today to welcome in Joseph Gutzmertl. He is the owner over at Boston Common Beyond the Edge and Drifters Barbecue. Welcome to Nashville Restaurant Radio.

09:40Thank you, thank you, thank you for having me and I got to say before I begin, today is my son's 18th birthday. I want to wish him a happy birthday. I just said I would do that first and foremost before we even get started. So happy birthday, Michael. There we go. Happy birthday, Michael. It's big news. 18. Yeah, it's big. That's a big one, dude. Yeah, Stratford High. I'll be graduating here in a few weeks and going to MTSU for audio recording engineering. Maybe we can help you out here at some point. I would love to have him come help me out here at some point. We were on NPR the other day and they played a couple of clips from the show and I was freaking out because I was like, oh, it's going to sound so terrible because I am my worst critic. Sure. And it sounded great and I was like, oh, look at that. There you go. This little restaurant guy figured out how to do audio. But I could always do better. Always. I'm one of those people that never gives a 10. I'm like, it's an eight. There's room for improvement. Always room for improvement. Always room for improvement. You got to have room to grow. How the hell are you? I'm well, thank you. It's a good morning this morning, feeling good about things.

10:46And we've had a string of really good weather. Yes. Now, when this comes out, it'll probably rain for four days straight and be like, what the hell is he talking about? We need it. But yeah, it's April 16th today. We've had like five days of great weather. Yeah. And I like that. I'll take it. We had a really nice night to the night at the NARA Connect Spring Socialist Shotgun. Well, he's got to meet you and your lovely wife, Jodi. Do you guys have fun? It was great. Met some old folks that we knew already from the neighborhood and got to meet some new folks while we're there. So I think all in all, it was a great opportunity to get together and just be a part of the community of restaurant owners and people that are putting their head to the grindstone every day. So yeah. So you guys bought these restaurants about three years ago. That's correct. And what did you do prior to that? So I have worked my way up from a dishwasher to a bar back to, you know, I see you're a restaurant guy, a restaurant guy, 34 years doing this. Hell yeah. From 15 years old now, you know, so, um, but I had worked in Franklin before I'd been down to a place called the Flying Horse at the factory with Gep and Katie Nelson. So I had some experience there.

11:53Wild Iris and Yellow Porch fame. Yep. Of course, Kim Totski was a chef over there, knew her and still know her very well. Laura Wilson. Laura Wilson, of course. Wild Iris is where I met Laura and Kim. Yep. And Brentwood there. But even moving before that, I was the GM at the Flying Saucer, a place that's no longer here with us anymore. Great beer bar. The best beer bar. I was there for four years. That was really my bootcamp of restaurants. They were on the edge of being corporate and I learned a lot from them. So some of the beginning things here in town and been at Beyond the Edge and these restaurants for 20 years now. It's, I mean, that's a lifetime in this business. So you've been at Beyond the Edge and Drifter these for 20 years. And then how did you end up buying it? So, uh, I actually was a customer at Beyond the Edge. I just bought a house in East Nashville, 2003, got to know the owner, Matt Charette, just over the bar, actually helped pick out his first draft selection, uh, when they were able to get beer because they weren't able to get a beer license immediately. So got to know Matt really well. It's just over the bar. And at some point I'm walking out of the restroom, he's walking in and he goes, Joe, what's it going to take for you to work for me?

13:01And, uh, I said, well, let's, let's have an interview. Well, three months goes by. I don't hear from the guy. I'm still a customer, you know, and we sit down, we have an interview another couple months go by. I really don't hear anything about it. And he finally pulls the trigger and brought me on. I was the first GM at Beyond the Edge and he was about to open Battered and Fried, now Boston Commons. Uh, so helped open that store, became the GM of both. We opened another Asian restaurant called Watanabe, uh, over in the Inglewood area and ended up closing that down, opened Drifter's Barbecue and the rest kind of is history there. So how's Drifter's Barbecue doing? It's doing great. Um, you know, we've, obviously we were closed two years from the tornado, um, where a lot of folks were dealing with pandemic. We were dealing with insurance and, and rebuilding the stores and, uh, you know, that tornado happened in, uh, 2023, 2020. And then nine days later, the pandemic happened and everything just came to a halt. And, uh, so we were closed for a year at Boston Commons, a year and a half at Beyond the Edge and two years at Drifter's.

14:04Five points real hard. It was right there. All over East Nashville. It was right there. It, it's amazing. It wasn't worse. Um, but, uh, Drifter's is great. It's a, it's a hidden gem. You got to know about it to know about it. We're up the alley. We're kind of, we don't have street frontage, but, uh, we've got a great local following. And I think we do a great job with what we do there. What is your specialty there? You like Peg Leg Porker does not do brisket. They're Tennessee barbecue. Uh, Pat Martin does whole hog. You have Honeyfire that does, um, prime brisket. And then you've got, um, Bill at Shotgun Willie's, he does a prime brisket, Texas style, everything. What is Drifter's specialty? We are Tennessee barbecue, but I really would put our ribs against anyone's out there. St. Louis style rib. It's a, it's a great product. We smoke it really well. And I, like I said, I put it up against anyone's and when people come in, try the ribs. Now our brisket nachos, they're awesome. Uh, you know, you want to share at a table. That's great. But the ribs are really where it's at. Now, are you doing spare ribs, uh, pork ribs, beef ribs?

15:09What kind of ribs are you doing? Tell me about these ribs. Cause I am a rib guy. I bet they are pork ribs. Yes. Pork ribs payback. Yes. Um, and so, I mean, they're, they're big, they're three and a half pounds, three and a half pounds. They're big ones. Yeah. So we want to make sure that, you know, you're, you're getting a plate full of ribs and, uh, people come in for it for sure. Especially, I mean, we get a huge tourist following, uh, people look up best barbecue in Nashville. We come up in the top three every time and I'll take it, you know, hell yeah. Um, we met people from the Netherlands this week. We've got people from Delaware, you know, the people from all over find our little place cause they want to get out of maybe some of the chain places that are out there. So. So you seem pretty positive about all of the things that you're dealing with. You're, you're talking about your restaurants, you're, you're upbeat, you're excited. Why would it be? I'm here on a radio show, a podcast, you know, it's awesome. What's the reality in life right now? What are, what are you, what are you, what are your challenges you're dealing with right now? Cause that seems to be the thing as a locally owned and operated, you got three locations, three different locations.

16:16We've got the tax assessment, you got rising food costs. We got a war in Iran that's driving up prices of gas. And I don't think people think like gas is more expensive and you're like, yeah, it sucks when I fill up my tank. No, no, no. Everything uses petroleum. I mean, that's how they make plastic. That's how the trucks get here. I mean, these trucks coming from California are driving across the nation. The money that they're spending on gas then goes into the food. Farm equipment uses gas, all of it. Everything uses gas. And when the prices go up, literally everything goes up. And so when you're all part of a restaurant and you've got a fixed menu and you're trying to do, what are your challenges right now? I mean, you're, you're hitting it right on the head right now. Labor costs, of course, yes. Property taxes went up for us 40%. You know, labor shortage in general for people that really want to do the work, but I mean, good grief, limes went from 26 bucks to 80 bucks in a week, you know, like a case of limes. It's on every margarita glass that goes out. I mean, it's one of those items that you don't expect to spike the way it did, but in under two weeks time, tomatoes and limes are just crazy. So yes, cost of goods.

17:27It's always going to be- Well, can we talk about that for a second? Yeah. Right? Because if you're, if you're a restaurant owner and you're hearing this, you're like, yeah, man, I got you. But if you're a guest, if you're somebody who goes and dines at restaurants, this is something I want to, I want to address because there's a lime, you don't charge for a lime. No. That's a garnish. Sure. And it goes from 30 to 80 bucks in a week. Guests don't feel that. I come out, I want my margarita. Why did the price go up? Right. It's not, like you can't, that's also lime juice. If you're using a fresh squeezed lime to go into your margarita, you're using three or four limes per margarita. Easily. And your cost just tripled. Right. And if you have that printed on a menu that says your margarita is 9.50 and your cost just tripled on the, the making, am I going to print all new menus? Right. Or am I going to white it out and write 13.50? And then the backlash, we're going, how come this is stupid?

18:30There's a lot of things that, you know, as a customer, you don't see. And sometimes you just got to eat it and wait it out. You know, uh, there are other times you've got to make a pivot immediately and, uh, and, and raise a price. You just. Brisket prices in summer, meat prices in summer, it goes up to $7, $8 a pound. It's wild. Um, and again, sometimes you can ride it out. I think that limes and tomatoes are going to come back down, but the last two weeks were just like, what in the world is happening here? Um, man, that's just a couple of items. You know, there's, but there's things that happen. This is almost did the same thing. They charged an extra dollar for an egg back when people freaked out. They did. Yeah. But this is, this is when people say the restaurant business is hard. This is something I don't think people understand how hard it is. If I go to Kroger and milk goes up by $2 overnight, Kroger increases their price, right? You go in, you're like, damn milk's $5 a gallon. People will go buy it so that when it goes up to $6 a gallon, it's a supply and demand situation. If gasoline goes up, people can complain that gas price, but the gas, they don't blame Texaco. No, they don't blame the shell.

19:42They go all gas prices. Then they look up food vendors. If I'm Cisco and I'm buying my food from Cisco, they don't wait two weeks. Well, you have a menu. We're just, they take that price increase immediately. But restaurants have printed menus with pricing on it that they sometimes keep for four or five months. And when you raise your prices, if you raised your prices, the way that it ebbs and flows every single day, you'd probably be okay. You'd probably be okay because you're, if they raise the prices, I'll just raise the prices, the consumer deals. But no, you have Yelp and you have Google and you have all these other areas that somebody's going to go, they rate you get blamed for all of this stuff. They're expensive. They're real proud of their margaritas there. And you're like, I'm a local restaurant that's buying off of the market. I don't have 50 locations where I've locked in my prices of limes for the year because I've committed 3000 cases and I'm paying $20. I'm not Chewy's. You know what I mean? They probably do that.

20:52I think that's a major thing that the guest forgets. It's like this amnesia and they expect you to be some kind of magician that goes, well, I'll just lose all of this money in the meantime so that you don't go on Yelp and yell at me. And I think that's a frustrating part of being a restaurant owner. All of that. I mean, it is part of the joy, I guess. But it's always a challenge. And how do you communicate that to your customer to let them know, hey, things are changing? Quarterly, we do a review on our menus and see if we're still at the right margins for what we need to do to support the business. But again, things that change in a week's time, you just can't prepare for. And I'm not reprinting menus this week because limes went up or my salsa prices up because we hand make the salsa and the tomatoes are triple. Just kind of write it out a little bit. I do think things will settle down. We saw this all during the pandemic. To-go boxes were high. Plastic bags were high. It was these odd items that just came out of nowhere that all of a sudden they're up for two weeks and then egg prices came down again and then whatever. So again, we don't change prices the way that Cisco or the gas station can flip that dial and turn up, you know, 50 cents on a gallon of gas or whatever. We just kind of write it out a little bit. But also, if it's a big enough change that we see is going to last, we'll make a change on the menu if we have to. All right. Sorry, I went on a little tangent there. But I think that that is something that I want to break down for people. I want people to hear like, oh, so I see that restaurant owners just eat that for a nobody else does. Everybody else raises that price immediately. Right. Restaurant owners have to just kind of suck it up. Yeah. And that is why that's one of the reasons this business is hard. You mentioned labor. You said labor's tough. We kind of talked a little bit about this before the show

22:53started. Tell me about the labor, because I think people, the perception is, oh, it's just hard to find people. Nobody wants to work in restaurants anymore. But it's way more complicated than that. It is. Tell me about your labor. What's going on with labor? So I think we offer a great opportunity for somebody who wants to make some money and work in a restaurant. And maybe they're going to school still or maybe they're in their part time job. They've got a full time gig. Most people in Nashville have two jobs that work in restaurants. Not very uncommon at all, but the cost of living is expensive and the cost of just being in around Nashville is expensive. So, you know, where people were coming in at, you know, 16, 18 dollars an hour to be a line cook are now asking for way more, you know, and there was a time where downtown was really paying numbers. I couldn't even believe that the Hilton had twenty eight dollar dishwashers. You know, it was like I can't compete with that. Now you got to pay 30 bucks to park or whatever it is. You got to deal with all the downtown stuff that comes with it. But there's some parts of it I can't compete with. We just try to create a great, fun, safe working environment for people that attracts the people that we want.

24:01And we've got a great crew. We've got a really great crew. You've got a great crew. And one of the things that I'm seeing a lot of is, hey, I'm a locally owned and operated restaurant. We're trying to hire people. I'm getting people that have never cooked before. They're lying even that like I'm a line cook. I got 20 years experience. They don't know what they're doing, but they know that you need people and they want thirty dollars an hour and they don't produce. Yeah. And you got to like it. If you are somebody who has talent, who's going to hire those people? The chains that come to town that are willing to pay you thirty five dollars an hour because they have the money to do that. Yeah. Local restaurants are getting outbid. But this is another reason why all these chains coming to town just wrecks the local economy for local restaurants, because it's harder and harder to compete every day. And you're trying to do the right thing and offer all these things for people and come work in an amazing environment with a fun team, work with the local community. We'll mentor you. We'll teach you how much you pay. And it's just a. Oh, yeah. Immediately. You know, I do think there is a restaurant employee that does not want to deal with the chain politics and all the things that come along with working at a big, big corporate place.

25:17We're a mom and pop and literally I'm the pop and mom is working on the books at home right now. You know, like it's a small, small thing and it is a community restaurants. You know, we're all right next door to each other. We have neighbors that have been coming with us, coming into our place for 20 years. And I think there's a certain restaurant employee that appreciates that and doesn't want to deal with all the downtown stuff or all the chain stuff that comes with it. You got a problem. Give me a call. Yeah. Everyone. Everyone of my employees has my phone number. You know, so I think, again, just making sure you're taking care of the employees the best way you can. They'll figure out ways to make ends meet. If that means they have to get a second job somewhere or whatever. Again, we're just trying to do what we can do the best we can. I love that. And I don't I don't. This isn't like a negative. I'm not complaining. Cooler control solution CCS. Let me tell you, it helps restaurants improve food quality, extends your shelf life and reduces waste by controlling humidity and ethylene gas inside your walk in coolers. It lowers your energy costs by stabilizing the cooler environment.

26:22So refrigeration systems run more efficiently. It reduces maintenance and repair issues by limiting moisture buildup that leads to frost corrosion and equipment strain. It eliminates odor transfer and cross-contamination, keeping food fresher and more consistent. It supports food safety and a cleaner workspace, including reducing excess moisture that can create slip hazards. Simple, no disruption solution installs in minutes, no staff training required and works in the background. It delivers fast, measurable ROI and operators are seeing improvements in quality, efficiency and operating costs. Guys, this is a no-brainer. You need to call cooler control solutions today. 615-567-3014. If not just to call and talk to them about what they do. It is inexpensive and will save you a ton of money. Every single restaurant in the city needs this product. Hey guys, today we're talking about Pliny Crane. What is a Pliny Crane? Pliny Crane is a full service marketing and social media creative management company, right? So what they will do is they will help you create a strategy. They will help you with organic marketing.

27:32Real relationships really are the way of the future, but there's still a place for traditional marketing. They have access to every form of marketing in the field. They can create, distribute content and campaigns with speed and efficiency, keeping your brand and company visible at all times. And then also in a world of streaming content streaming across the globe, the only way to stand out amongst the noise is through creativity. They have a full team focused on being the best in their craft. You will have access to the most dedicated and inspiring creatives in the industry. If you have that team working for you, making a schedule, posting, you can't lose. Guys, you gotta contact Pliny Crane. Let me tell you their phone number. It's 865-850-7809. You can email them at info at plinycrane.com or you can visit them at plinycrane.com. That's P-L-I-N-Y-C-R-A-N-E.com. Fill out the contact form and they will get back to you ASAP. I don't think I could be more excited to introduce you to OneTapFix. OneTapFix.com is where you need to go and they have any service provider that you need as far as equipment failures, plumbing issues, HVAC problems.

28:50Any of these problems that happen and you have to get on the phone and call somebody, there's an app. You can type in what's wrong and it will find you a person, give you an estimate, and they can come out that same day. Guys, this is revolutionary. Everybody is going to be on this before you know it and you're going to say, oh I heard about that on Nashville Restaurant Radio. This is one of those meetings where I was just over the moon excited to learn about this. Now, Eric is the CEO and I'm going to have him on the podcast to explain the history behind it, why it works, how it works, all that stuff. In the meantime, go to OneTapFix.com. You will send me an email and say thank you. This is absolutely amazing. What I want to do is explain the reality for people. Like what you just said, how do you communicate to the customer when your prices go up? One of my goals is to communicate to the guests the actual hardships that restaurants face because I think they see a blurb somewhere and they go, oh Costco, I guess my food's going to go. They don't understand the reality sometimes of what is actually going on and they go, why is it important to support local? I don't care. It's just a restaurant. You go, no, this is a guy and his husband and wife who live in the area and care about their people and care about the community and it's difficult because every day there's another new thing that gets thrown at you. That's why I said you're incredibly positive. You're excited about doing all this stuff when challenges are just thrown at you every day. Sure. It's a lot of work. I love the challenge that comes with it. You never know what you're going to walk into each day, but again, we've got good people in the right places that really help keep this ship moving in the right direction. How old are you? I am going to be 50 in September. So 49. What day in September? September 11th. So 9-11. Yep. 50 years old. I have a nephew who was born on 9-11. My brother's 9-10. There you go. So dad's 9-12. How about that? Look

30:52at that. My anniversary is 9-16. Okay. All right. September is a good month. September is a great month. I think one of the best months to live in Nashville. The weather's just where I want it to be usually. I'm 47, so we're really close in age. Yeah. Are you excited about 50? Are you nervous? Are you at that point where you're like, 50? What are you feeling? So my dad turned 80 this past year, and we all had a big gathering at his house up in Delaware actually. He said, for those of you in the room who are about to turn 50, I bet you feel old. He says, but for those of us in the room that are 80, we made it. So I've got a good attitude about it. I feel better at 50 than I did at 30. I'm taking way better care of myself. And just keeping up with your body as you get older is important, and changing your diet, and adding more exercise, and staying as young as you can feel. But I do feel that 50 is just really a number. It's a milestone. I get it. But I'm feeling good about it. I'm actually, what they say, we're the youngest of the oldest now.

32:04I agree. What's been your favorite decade of your life so far? Goodness. I would say my 40s would be probably pretty good. Kids are out of diapers and all that stuff, and they're a lot more fun to see kind of grow up and become their own human. And of course, had this opportunity to purchase these restaurants and live out a dream, really. I mean, a dream I almost didn't know I had, but I really do find that restaurants found me at a point in my life where this is really what I wanted to do, and it turns out I'm pretty good at it. So I might as well keep this going for a while. But yeah, 50 is good. I'm enjoying life and looking forward to that. I told somebody, I said, do you know this? Are you worried about turning 40? And I go, I'm excited about my 40s. I quit drinking when I was 40, and it's been the best decade. I kind of know who I am now. I'm not chasing a, you know, I'm trying to make it kind of a thing, and you kind of go, I'm pretty secure here. I got my kids, got my family. I don't need to prove anything to anybody.

33:12It's kind of a different vibe. It is. Kind of being an adult. Oh, for sure. I still feel like a kid most of the time. Right. I think that's important. Keep that going as long as you can. In my 30s, I still didn't know what the heck I was doing, you know. But 40s, you kind of, you know, you come into this place where you're like, all right, I'm doing it. All right. What's a milestone in your 50s? Anything in the next decade you're really excited about? Wow. You know, I think I want to climb a 14er. I think I want to get out to Colorado. I ski out there every year, but I think I want to get up and do some real high mountaineering. It's kind of one of those bucket list items for me. You can drive to the top of Pikes Peak. You can do that. Yes. But, you know, to put that challenge in front of you and accomplish something with a, you know, a small group or whatever really can, I think, put you in a high, a natural high that is just not anything you can get from anything else. I did an accidental 14er one time.

34:13Okay. I don't know how you do that, but I'd love to hear about it. We were in Colorado and a buddy of mine said, we're going to go for a hike tomorrow. And I was like, sure. I was in shape. I was probably 32. And we get to Mount Lincoln and it's a 14er. And we drive up, you know, about halfway. I mean, it was up, we weren't like above the tree line, but I was like, it's kind of cold out. I'm like, it's like July 5th. You know, I was like, we're after 4th of July. And I was like, it's kind of chilling. He's like, yeah, we're just going to start hiking. And he didn't tell me, he's like, we're doing a 14er today. And I was like, what's that? And he goes, 14er, man. And I'm like, I don't know. He's like, I didn't know. I thought we were going for a hike in Colorado. Like several hours later, I can't breathe. Oh yeah. We get to the top of this thing and it was magical. I bet. Yeah. I tell people I go, a 14er is a 14,000 foot mountain for those of you who are like, what the hell is a 14er? Like I was, um, when you're in an airplane and you take off at 10,000 feet, that is where you can use your laptop. Boom. Yeah.

35:22The captain is 10,000 feet. You can use your portable electronic equipment, whatever it is, you know? And that's like, that's when you're allowed to use your stuff. You're standing on solid ground, 4,000 feet above that level. Right. That's magical. I ski at 12,000, you know, whatever. So that's Breck. Breck, of course, you got a lift that'll take you there. You don't got to climb it. That's a lot easier. A lot easier, but, uh. The highest lift in North America. That's absolutely right. Peak seven, eight, something like six. I don't know, one of those up there, but yeah, did Breck this year actually with my son. Breck is, uh, it's a really nice little mountain. Have you done Vail? I have done Vail. Vail, I think is, Vail and Telluride. That's on the list. Telluride. Yeah. Bomb. Next level. Vail is really cool because the back bowl, you can really get going on that back bowl and all the trails and everything. Do you ski or board? I ski, uh, since I was like 12. I'm a boarder. Got it. So I'm. It's okay. We can still ride the same lift. I just, you know. Well, skiers typically don't like snow.

36:24It's like this weird rivalry of like skiers and snowboarders, because snowboarders are typically kind of like the, the disrespectful punk kids, the skateboarders who are like, get off of my yard. I'm like a long border surfer. I just like to carve down the mountain. Yeah. I'm respectful. I'm old. I don't. Yep. I'm not carving through the trees and hitting jumps. No, that was a long time ago. I just like to enjoy being outside. Absolutely. It is one of my favorite things that, and probably golf. I mean, you know, just being outside, but skiing, hiking, golf. Yeah. All those things. So we did an accidental 14 or that day, and I was really glad that he didn't tell me we were doing that. Cause I didn't know I brought a jacket from somebody cause it got really cold, but you got to do it. I'm going to do it. Definitely a thing. Yeah. Born and raised here. No, I'm actually from the Philly area, Bucks County specifically moved here 28 years ago. So I've been here longer than anywhere else in my life, but Nashville has been home and obviously raised a family here. And, but yeah, it's weird that, you know, especially a place like Boston commons, people are like, Oh, you must be from Boston. And I'm like, actually I'm from Philly. Oh, that's weird. A guy from Philly lives in Nashville and owns a Boston theme restaurant. However, my family and I, we vacationed every summer, growing up to bar Harbor, Maine. I don't know if you've ever been up there. If you've never been to Maine, put it on a list, write it down. You got to go there. It is one of the most beautiful national parks, Acadia national park. But so I grew up eating, you know, lobster and fried fish up there every summer. And so the foods we serve at Boston are really memories of my summers in Maine. And, uh, what a great opportunity. My dad was a teacher.

38:06We had summers off and just, we would just go up there six weeks at a time. I don't know if I've ever been to Boston common. Tell me about that restaurant. Tell me like the, the vibe. If I'm good, it's right there, isn't it? Oh, it's on five points. It's like five points pizza. It's right there. Um, so Matt sure. It started, uh, the concept is battered and fried back in 2005. I've been to battered and fried. Yes. Uh, maybe it was Oh six. I think it was Oh six. We just hit our 20th anniversary there. And, uh, it was kind of an ode to his father. He was a French gourmet chef and, uh, you know, new England. He was up front. He's from Massachusetts, Western mass. So fried fish, lobster rolls, clam chowder. Those were the things that he grew up. And, uh, so he made battered and fried at some point back in 2019, I think maybe the, the look of a place called battered and fried didn't always land. People would walk by and say, I don't want fried food. So we rebranded in 2019, six months before the tornado, oddly enough to Boston commons. I think it was a little more inclusive of what we did.

39:08And it doesn't sound as unhealthy. It doesn't sound as unhealthy, you know, um, but still maintaining, you know, high quality fish and chips, clam chowder, I think is excellent. Uh, and that incredible lobster roll fresh, never frozen. I mean, that's incredible in this town to be able to offer that. So, um, at any rate, so Boston commons is this new England kind of pub. And we also kind of tie in really well with the Irish community. We sell a ton of Guinness. Um, so when, you know, St. Pat's rolls around, we're the like East Nashville headquarters for St. Pat's and it's a great, great spot. I really, really still enjoy Boston commons. Okay. Okay. That makes more sense. Cause I was like, I don't know exactly what that concept would be. Cause I'd never been, I haven't been since it was battered and fried. There you go. It's very similar. Very similar. I like the idea of rebranding that it's a good call beyond the edges, right behind there. Yes. Beyond the edge, best sports bar three years in a row. I'm not going to wave a flag high and wide about it, but, uh, that was when I did take over the restaurant. However, uh, best sports bar, it really is a local hang and, uh, we do sports really well there, but wings, burgers, quesadillas. I mean, it's, it's, uh, what you want to have.

40:22And it's elevated when people come, they're like, wow, this food is better than I thought at a sports bar. I'm like, well, yeah, we grill our own chicken and dice it up for your salad and you know, whatever. So I think, uh, beyond the edges, just tried and true 23 years it's been there. And, uh, I've been a part of it for 20. I have a really sad distinction about that place. Okay. Debated telling you this, but hell here I go. Here we go. I got a phone call that my grandfather had passed away while I was at beyond the edge. And I'll never forget that moment while I was at beyond the edge, having a beer and going to stepping outside. And just, I remember just standing, there's like a patio that faces the street, right? Yes. I remember just sitting there crying on the patio because I didn't want anybody to see me and like just drinking my beer. And I was, there was a beautiful sunset. I remember seeing like the, just the sky was gorgeous. That moment, I think there was a rainbow, but it was like one of these moments I was like, okay, but I'll never forget that moment. So I have a moment at that place that I'll never, ever forget. And it's kind of somber, but it's a memory for sure. It's a memory.

41:30And that's, that's sad that obviously the news was broken there, but, uh, you know, obviously for restaurants, uh, you know, you hold a lot of memories of birthdays or engagements or, you know, wedding parties. I'm always surprised when people say, oh, we want to have our reception at beyond the edge. Cause that's where we met. And I'm like, okay, it's the after reception though. They do the family thing and then all the friends come back, you know, but you know, there's always so many memories you have in restaurants. Of course, as long as you've been in them, you've seen all of the engagements and, you know, first dates and, uh, anniversaries and stuff like that. Oh, it was my favorite thing at Marable. You know, we ran Marable and so many events there that, um, seeing people, my favorite moment in the restaurant, my favorite moment in the restaurant was when you do like a rehearsal dinner and I had a new manager six months ago and we were standing there and I told him this in the orientation. And then there was a, there was an uncle who was giving a toast and we walked over to the side of the room. We were watching. And he said, when your father passed away and I took you on as my daughter, you've, and I was, and, and he was crying, telling her this story. And she's standing there listening to this, this speech he was giving and she's got tears running down her face. And I looked at him, I go, this, this is my favorite moment in our building. Yeah. Lifelong memories being created and they trust us with those. Yeah. People trust us to host these moments. And I go, I take this so damn seriously. Like this is the best it's wild. I love being a part of all of those people. You don't know personally at all, don't know them at all, but they booked an event at your place, you know, and, and your staff and you took great care of them. And they're always going to remember that. I told him, I said, these people, like she, that bride is going to remember this moment for the rest of her life. This is a moment,

43:33this is a lifelong core memory, her rehearsal dinner, this happening. And they trust us with that. Like we have to hold that with so much sacred, like you're giving us the ability to help create this core memory. Yeah. Don't fuck it up. Like don't, don't, right. Do not, don't, don't give her a, well, that's not our policy. Like that is not, we don't, we don't do that. Like this has to be special. And those events where people are saying, I want to come back after our thing to have it here. Yeah. Similar thing. It's wild. Um, you know, recently the Olympics of course happened in USA, Canada, men's hockey final. We opened our bar at 7am for that final game and we serve pancakes and bacon and eggs. We don't do that at our sports bar. We don't open at 7am. We couldn't even serve alcohol till 10 or something. It was a Sunday morning, but there were people in there that are always going to remember when us beat Canada in 2026, you know, and we were beyond the edge. Yeah. It's one of those things.

44:42And that's the fun stuff of owning a restaurant. Yeah, absolutely. And that's the fun stuff of being independent. You can make that decision. Well, yeah. We're going to open for our community to have a place to watch it even better. It was myself, my daughter and my wife running the front of the house. So, you know, we're, we're that, we're that kind of place where we really wanted our customers to have that. And we had so many phone calls and probably had 50, 60 people show up for this thing. I was blown away that anyone's up at 7am on a Sunday to go watch hockey, but it's a, it was an event. I missed the game. Oh man. It's something that day. I thought we're going to get along. I don't know. I'm a huge hockey guy. I love hockey, but it was, you know, you just get going and stuff. And it was like that Sunday morning I was doing something and it was like, Oh, that game was like, I just, yeah, you get busy and you just miss it. Like the, the Yukon Duke game. I watched the first half and then I had stuff that I got busy doing other stuff. And then I started getting text messages or like, dude, that was amazing. And I'm like, what? Oh, I missed it. Yeah. That is, those are like the regrets that suck. Cause you just now I did stay up the other night and watch the Nashville SC game where they beat a club America in the Azteca stadium. That was huge. First time an MLS team has ever won in that stadium. Yeah. In the history of the stadium. That's crazy. I think it's awesome. Nashville SC is doing a great job right now and want to continue that momentum for sure. I have become such a soccer fan.

46:16I could have four years ago, I could not have cared less about soccer. Yeah. I couldn't have told you. I didn't even know who Messi was. I knew Ronaldo four years would come around and you'd watch the world cup if the U S was in it for like three games. Right. That's all I ever cared about. Yeah. But now I'm staying up till midnight on a Tuesday to watch Nashville SC play club America in Mexico city. And you're like, and I'm sitting in this room right now watching it cause my wife's asleep and I'm like on pins and needles going, come on that honey Mukhtar scored that goal. And I'm trying not to make noise cause everybody in the house is asleep. Right. Right. That's why I love sports. It's great. It's great. And so owning a sports bar is really, it's fun for me. I love sports. So, um, you know, I, I've watched the masters, you know, we did a huge masters weekend last week. We sold dollar 50 pimento cheese sandwiches and stuff. And it was just like, people were dressing up for it and catty outfits coming. I mean, it's fun to create those things and have a space. People can watch it.

47:23I always wanted to do a Kentucky, Kentucky Derby party at Maribor. Like have like big casino day, dressed up with hats and have the thing on, but it's like a really busy day for like weddings and stuff. And it just, you can't close the restaurant to do it. Just never always wanted to do something like that. Well, we'll be leaning into the Kentucky Derby here in a couple of weeks. And, uh, we've got a few specials going on and there's going to be a hat competition, all that stuff, you know, wow. Always something going on, especially in the sports world. Does, does, do these restaurants work in other parts of town? What does being in East Nashville mean to you? Well, it's where I decided to buy a house, uh, in 2003. It's my neighborhood. You know, my kids grew up in this neighborhood. They used to run around the patios at the restaurants, you know, with their friends. And it's just, uh, it's great to be not only living in that community, but serving the community as well. And I love East Nashville. I don't think there's another part of town quite like it.

48:24It's very unique, uh, some beautiful old houses, some small old ranchers that have been there for, you know, 60 years, like my house. And, uh, I think it's just a really special part of town. It really is. Margo announcing she's going to close. What does that mean to you? I am, uh, excited for her. I mean, it's, it's a retirement. It's not a business. Isn't good enough to keep supporting it. It's, you know, I've been doing this a long, long time. Um, and again, a restaurant that I just love and adore that's been there for 25 years, she's going on. And, um, I, I think it's, it's sad in some way. I'm hoping that, that someone from within tries to, uh, maybe continue going with her legacy there, but at any rate, what a great restaurant, a great run. I mean, 25 years in any restaurant is a long, long time, but, uh, I'm excited for, yeah, me too. And she's just so instrumental in that East Nashville community, uh, of having right there at five points and her level of hospitality. I think of East Nashville, I kind of associate it. Well, she's like the queen.

49:31Oh yeah, absolutely. Um, of just, how do you do it? How do you do it? Right. She's doing it right. Where's your favorite places to where some other places you like to go in East Nashville or anywhere. So I got to stay. I mean, I stay in East. If I can, if I don't have to cross the river, I try not to, I love the, I don't think you're alone in that. No, I love the Oak steakhouse. And when we do go out for steak, that's one of my, uh, favorite spots, but gosh, no co, uh, Corey, uh, two 10 Jack, even Corey for fried rice. I'm a sucker for fried rice. And I think Corey does a good spot with that, but I'm a sucker for fried rice too. What's that? I'm a sucker for fried rice, but you know, if it's just a couple of beers and a sandwich, Shulman's has got a great, you know, pastrami and a beef dip. It's awesome. So I actually, I love Asian food. So that would be some of the top three, I think no co Corey and two 10 Jack. Well, I was just going to say, I think I know the answer to this now with that question, but if I had to rank one, two, and three, it was just, this isn't fair. This is a terrible thing to even ask you. I want local restaurant owner. I don't need to be pinned on the wall somewhere here. Best sandwich spot East side, bond me bill sandwich palace, fat belly deli.

50:51Very excited to be partnering with C and B linen. If you know me, it's my number one topic of conversation is linen companies and how shady linen companies can be. I am just disgusted with how the business practices work in this industry, which is why I was so excited. When I found C and B linen, they're at a Waynesboro, Tennessee, and they don't charge any fees. So the linen price that you have, whatever that first linen price is, that's your price. And so you may say, well, every year they must raise the price on the seven-year contract, right? No, because they don't do any contracts. There's no gas fees. There's no clean green service fees. There's no replacement cost. There's nothing. The only price you pay is the price that you pay for the actual product. I know it's too good to be true. No contracts. They do formats. They'll make custom formats for you. They do fresh linens, cleaning supplies, and guys, I just did a tour of their facility and it is immaculate. It is state of the art.

51:58I'm going to post pictures on my Instagram. You can go find them and you can see how absolutely gorgeous this is to the point that they even wash and sanitize every one of their used laundry carts. It's just absolutely amazing. If you're looking for a linen company, you can trust who wants to earn your business every single week. Go back and listen to our episode with Jason Cruz, the owner of C and B linen. Hear it from his, straight from his mouth, exactly what they do, or you give them a call at 931-722-7616, or you can DM me at Brandon Styll on Instagram for my exclusive pricing through the Nashville Area Restaurant Alliance, NARA for short. If you're a restaurant owner looking for a new, low risk way to drive traffic and incremental revenue, you need to hear about Shared Spirits. Shared Spirits is a marketplace where guests purchase drinks online and then come into your restaurant to redeem them. Think of it as a prepaid beverage demand that shows up at your door. New guests, repeat guests, and zero guesswork.

53:00For restaurants, this isn't discounting or deal chasing. You control what you offer, how it's redeemed, and when it's available. Shared Spirits helps turn online purchases into real butts in seats, giving guests a reason to choose your place next. It's especially powerful during slower periods, off nights, or as a way to introduce new guests to your bar program without changing your menu or compromising your brand. If you want a smarter way to bring people through the door, increase bar traffic, and create moments that convert into loyal regulars, Shared Spirits is worth a look. Meet your guests before they even walk in with Shared Spirits. Sign up at SharedSpirits.com. Hey guys, today we are talking about Robbins Insurance, and restaurants carry a very unique set of risks. We can customize a menu of insurance solutions to meet your specific needs. Reviewing the options and developing a plan for restaurant insurance coverage is a perfect recipe. Every restaurant owner has heard the statistics about how tough it is to survive and thrive in the business, but getting adequate insurance at least gives you a fighting chance to mitigate some of those risks. It's well worth considering a custom-built restaurant insurance policy as it will not only make life simpler, but it may even overcome some risks you haven't even considered. For example, you'll usually want to cover risks to property such as the building and equipment along with liability to customers and staff, right? Yeah, that's easy. But remember, there's an important difference between general liability such as a customer slipping on a spoiled drink and a professional liability such as a bout of food poisoning from bad food or inadequate preparation. Other elements that are easily overlooked include the risk of fraud and data theft that come with handling cash and card payments, the risk of spoiled food you have to throw away if there's a power outage or refrigerator failure, and the risk of lost business if you close for repairs after a fire. Protect your restaurant business by contacting them today. It's so easy and when any of those situations happen, what you don't want to do is get and dial an 800 number and be put on hold to talk to somebody you have to explain your

55:01business to. That is why you call Matthew Clements. Matthew Clements at Robbins Insurance. When any of those scenarios happen, you pick up the phone, you dial 863-409-9372. Matthew answers, he goes, how can I help you? You tell him your problem. He's your friend. You know him. Why would you not have an agent that you work with every single day? Any of these situations right here, you need guidance, you need support, and Matthew Clements and his team at Robbins Insurance are there to provide it. You should call today. I'm going to put that number down one more time. That's 863-409-9372. Call Matthew Clements today. Very excited to be partnering with C&B Linen. If you know me, it's my number one topic of conversation is linen companies and how shady linen companies can be. I am just disgusted with how the business practices work in this industry, which is why I was so excited when I found C&B Linen. They're out of Waynesboro, Tennessee, and they don't charge any fees. So the linen price that you have, whatever that first linen price is, that's your price. And so you may say, well, every year they must raise the price on this seven-year contract, right? No, because they don't do any contracts. There's no gas fees. There's no clean green service fees. There's no replacement cost. There's nothing. The only price you pay is the price that you pay for the actual product.

56:37I know it's too good to be true. No contracts. They do formats. They'll make custom formats for you. They do fresh linens, cleaning supplies. And guys, I just did a tour of their facility, and it is immaculate. It is state-of-the-art. I'm going to post pictures on my Instagram. You can go find them, and you can see how absolutely gorgeous this is, to the point that they even wash and sanitize every one of their used laundry carts. It's just absolutely amazing. If you're looking for a linen company you can trust who wants to earn your business every single week, go back and listen to our episode with Jason Cruz, the owner of C&B Linen. Hear it straight from his mouth, exactly what they do. Or you give them a call at 931-722-7616. Or you can DM me, at BrandonStill, on Instagram for my exclusive pricing through the Nashville Area Restaurant Alliance. Because I've been to Fat Belly recently, that's the one that's going to stick out because it was memorable. I'm not going to rank them, but they all do a good job. Fat Belly, they're doing it right too. They're very unique.

57:46They're all very unique. Bill's, I love the vibe in there. I think Gracie's bread, Eddie's side bahn mi, and then the crisp, the cilantro, and the carrots, and the thing. I love that style of sandwich. It's consistent. Their egg bahn mi is the best sandwich I've ever had. That's awesome. And so I got to rank it there. I got to go with side bahn mi. There you go. But Bill's and Fat Belly are like, I mean, they're right. It's like saying best burger. There's some great spots. I mean, I don't think there's a wrong answer if you're going to, what is it? I'm messing up names now, but there's so many. Bad Luck Burger Club, Dream Burger. Either one of those. Red Headed Stranger. Of course. Cletus is coming on really strong now. Absolutely. Cletus has got some really unique burgers over there. And they're all doing it right. No wrong answer there. All right. We've been talking for 40 minutes.

58:46Great. That's how fast this goes. It's faster than I expected. And I've listened to some shows and try to get myself prepared. And I'd listened to you a while back, but it does go way quicker than I expected. But we're just having a conversation. We're just hanging out. I told you. I said, do I need to prepare? And I said, we're just going to sit down and see where it goes. My ADD is the person that runs this show. It's going really well. We were talking about the challenges of a restaurant and how we ended up over here. I don't know. That's the way it happens. What did you, did you have anything you wanted to talk about today? Do you have questions or did you have a, hey, look, I want to, do you have notes? You know, I did. I did put something on paper again. What do you got? You know, of course, you asked me my favorite restaurants. And of course, I kept most of them on the east side. You know, I've a big music fan. We do live music at Drifters Barbecue. You know, we were, I wouldn't say close friends, but a good friend of ours, Todd Snyder, who passed recently, was a customer of ours.

59:48And we've seen lots of musicians over the years come through our doors. And so, you know, I love that we have a space where songwriters can come in and play on Monday nights. We do bluegrass on Sundays. We've got a lot of great, different ideas of music that come in. We've done rock and, you know, harder bands there, but we tend to stick more towards the Americana route now. Blues, Americana, bluegrass, songwriters. We do a few nights of that a week. Where do you find the musicians? Well, I've got a good friend in Ira Barron, who is fairly new to town, but has really gotten himself positioned in the songwriter community to help invite them out for our songwriter nights. We get submissions through our website from all over the country and even Canada. Hey, we're coming through Nashville. We want to say, check the box, we played Nashville. So they find drifters. And, you know, we don't have a huge budget for this. We don't charge a cover. It's free for the guest. But we've had some amazing artists come through from all over the country.

01:00:50And you never know who you might see. You never know who you might see and who may be on their way to stardom or whatever. And I think it's just a great platform there for new artists, for longstanding artists to maybe place new material, whatever. And it's a fun thing for me to be able to say we've got a place that does live music. Yeah, that's super cool. So if you're a band and you want to play at Drifters, who do we contact? You can go through the website. Go through the website. Driftersbarbecuenashville.com. Driftersbarbecuenashville.com. Why Drifters? Why the name Drifters? It's actually really, really cool. I love this story. I got the name Drifters when Matt had opened it 16 years ago. And the idea is that nobody's from Nashville. You know, I mean, there are people from Nashville. My kids will say that they were born in Nashville now. But my wife is a unicorn. She's a unicorn. There are those people out there.

01:01:50But most people are not from Nashville. So where did you drift in from? And honestly, I've got this wall we started creating a few years ago. Bring in a license plate from your out-of-state tag and we'll give you a free corndog. And so now we've got this huge wall of plates from New Mexico, of course, California, right? Wisconsin. I mean, there are some states that are hard to get to. They usually tell you you got to turn your tag in to get the next one. So we've got states all over the board. Do you have Hawaii? We do have Hawaii. Do you have all 50 states? No, we're still working on a few of those. Do you know any of those states right now that we can throw out there for our listening audience? If you're from one of these states, come get a free... I don't think we have Idaho. I don't believe we have an Oregon as well. Utah would be one of those as well. Idaho, Oregon, and Utah. You heard the man. If you are out there and you're from one of these places and you have an old license plate, you got free food.

01:02:57Come on down. It's a great corndog. I mean, we're a barbecue restaurant, but there are people that just come in for our corndog. I mean, it's special. You know what? Kind of like fried rice. I'm a gas station corndog. I am a really good corndog connoisseur. If I go to Sonic, I'll sometimes drive by Sonic and be like, I need a corndog. Okay. And it's like... No judgment. I can't believe I just said that out loud on the podcast because it's like a thing if I'm by myself. I never order it in front of people, but it's like one of those shameful things. I'm like, I just need a stack. I'm going to drive by and get a cherry limeade and a corndog. And I sit there in my car and eat the corndog and I'm so happy. There you go. I don't tell anybody about it. I get rid of the evidence. Well, you've just told a lot of people about it. Everybody knows too much about me. I'm very open on the show. When I meet somebody who's like, dude, I've been listening to all the shows, I immediately feel like, oh God, you know, way too much about me. And I know nothing about you. That's because I just say it all.

01:03:57Yeah. It's great. I don't care. Open it up. It's what it is. What do you not want to talk about today? Oh, goodness. Are you afraid I'm going to ask you about it? And let's talk about that thing. You know, I tend to be pretty open about things too, you know, but I don't know if there's anything off the table. I'll say that. You know, there was, I know we were all going through the conversations of property tax and stuff, and I'm not going to disclose what things have moved to, but, you know, that's really not a comfortable conversation. It's a real conversation because it is affecting business. And a few months ago, I mean, I'm really juggling some stuff to pay these things down. Not that I didn't know they were due in February, you know, but still, it's like, it sucked. It really sucked. It really sucked. And it's something I don't know how it could get better, you know, as our community in Nashville continues to grow. I think things are always going to go up, you know, but it's not, it's going to come a time where you walk into a bar that's not even a five-star dining experience and your burger is going to cost you 28 bucks because things are going to just cost so much more.

01:05:04And property tax is a big one. But again, we can talk about it, but again, it's not going to change much. And it does, uh, definitely hurts, you know, how do we fix it? We can talk about these things all day long. I can tell you the one thing I would do to fix it. But what would you, how do we fix everything getting more expensive? Goodness. Um, it's a four letter word. I don't know. I don't have the answers here. And I, you know, definitely don't want to get into politics in any way, shape or form. But, you know, their vote, your vote, that's a great way to do it. That's it. Uh, your vote means a lot. And there are people, I know we see the polls and they're like 25% of Davidson County voted. And I'm like, wait, there's a lot more people in this town than that. Midterm elections is a really big deal. I am not the big politic. We've had a lot of politicians on the show. Um, I'm a big fan of a book called QBQ.

01:06:05It's called the question behind the question. My name is John Miller. He's been, the author has been on the show and he, um, he asked you to rephrase everything in a simple way, instead of feeling like a victim, you rephrase it to make yourself, um, empowered, right? So what can I do to ensure that? And I'm also an alcoholic. And so I familiar with the serenity prayer, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change the courage to change things. I can't, I can't change outlooks on elections. I can't, I have one vote, but I do have a podcast and I do have the ability to say, please go vote. And if there's information that we can share, so I've had politicians on because I don't think we recognize how much these people can help with these things. If we're not in war with Iran right now, gas isn't as expensive.

01:07:07All these things aren't going up. Uh, if we don't tariff all these people, we don't have to pay more on, like there's a reason why everything costs more right now. And I, I, I don't, I think people know my opinion. I don't give my opinion much, but there's just a, if you go out and vote, especially in the midterms and you vote for city council, I mean, we talked, uh, Barrett Hobbs was just on the show and we talked about city council and how much that election means. And it's like, nobody votes in that. Like, that's the thing that affects you the most. Sure. Local, local voting, like get up and go vote for your city council people. Get up and go vote for your local leadership. And there's a big one coming up. We're going to have a new governor in the state of Tennessee. And it's a big one. They all say you can't complain if you don't vote, you know, whether it goes the way you want or not, you still got out there and you, you put your voice out there.

01:08:12So one of the things I mentioned in the last episode was that this is just a new Nashville. Nashville used to be kind of a handshake town. I could say, Hey, we're going to make that happen, do it. And that's kind of going away. Yeah. Bigger kids. I think you lose some of that local flavor, if you will. And, uh, I used to be able to drive down Broadway and actually recognize someone. I'd be like, Hey, you know, Bob, what's up? And that was 25, six, seven years ago. And go down broad. I don't go down Broadway now. That's the thing. I don't even drive down it, let alone walk it. And that's on the other side of the river. It is on the other side of the river. Someone's got to be coming in from out of town for me to go to Roberts or go to the Ryman, you know, but, uh, the rest of it, I. I go to the arena for Preds games. Of course. But you used to go to a Preds game and you would see 20, you walk through and you're like, Hey, what's up, man? You just, you see people everywhere. Yeah. And I ain't go to a game and you're like, you don't see anybody. I typically do, but like, there's a, it's just different. It is. It used to be a small town that had the features of a big town.

01:09:18I've been to Preds games first few years for 10 bucks a game. Yeah. And there's like 6,000 people in there. Yeah. And it was wild fighting and Jordan two, two. And like now it's all season tickets are all bought by corporations and they're giving tickets away. The atmosphere is completely changed. Yeah. And it's not as energetic, but like, there's just a, like I said, we used to, I used to feel like we lived in a small town that held the benefits of a big town. We got NFL, we got NHL. We've got big time. All the big artists came here, but it was also pretty small. And now it's kind of like the world's caught up with it. Now we're not a small town that feels like a big time. Now we're kind of a big town that feels like a big town. It is going that way. I mean, my daughter really wanted to see a show at the Bridgestone. Tame Impala was coming and I love Tame. That's great. I'm going. You're going, well, they're sold out to search two shows here in Nashville. And I'm like, are you kidding me? Like this used to not be this hard.

01:10:18Well, Tame Impala and Joe is playing and that's Steve Harrington. Got him. DJO Joe is opening for them. Okay. So it's a big deal. I can't believe Tame Impala did two shows. Two shows gone. No tickets. Wow. And that used to not happen. I'm also from the era of Starwood where you could just walk into that place pretty much. And how old is your daughter? She's 19 now. All right. We'll talk about that later. Okay. The tickets. I might have a line on some of those. Okay. Starwood though. Starwood. It was the best. I mean, is that just like make you feel warm thinking? Did you ever go to Opryland? I missed it. I moved in 98 here. So Opryland closed somewhere at the end of 97. Yeah. Opryland was. It's pretty cool here. And it's season tickets. There you go. My parents just drop us off there and way before I could drive. Yeah. I mean. And it was safe and you could have a good time. You just, it was Opryland.

01:11:21I mean, there was so many memories at Opryland. My wife was so funny because she used to go to Opryland too. And I'm like, I wonder if like we ever saw each other there. Like she would have been way too. I would have never been able to talk to her though. Oh yeah. I was a nerd and I was like a goofy kid. And she was like a pretty girl. They didn't talk to me. That's funny. Well. And wait till I got older for her to talk to me. Yeah. I'm going to sidestep here on this because my wife's from Niagara Falls near the Niagara Falls area of Canada. And my parents took us up there as kids to go to see Niagara Falls. And it is quite possible that I was walking down the street that my wife was selling gold by the foot rope chain, you know, at one of these little stores that sold all those kinds of things. And it's, it's quite possible that we were in the same street at the same time. Gosh, when we were 13 or something. So. Wasn't that, that's like a movie kind of plot. Like that you guys, if you could write that. How many of you guys have been married? 23 years. 20.

01:12:2124 in August. You got two kids, boy and a girl. 18 today and 19. Yes. Wow. Yeah, it happened fast. Yeah, no, that's really cool. I'm at 20, 20 years of marriage and my kids are 10 and 11. There you go. So we, we, we were eight years married before we had a, our first kid. It's a whole thing. We didn't wait that long. It was, it was kind of, we were actually some of the first of our friends to have kids. And now our kids are, you know. You're about to be empty nesters, man. It's coming. Yeah. What are you guys going to do? Uh, I would. The through fifties is empty nesters, baby. I know we've got a, we've got an RV. We've got a camper. We pull and, and, uh, I do want to get out there some more and I want to go out West. Um, obviously getting back to Bar Harbor would be amazing. Again, we did trailer up there. Gosh, it took three and a half days to get there, but, uh, that's, that's something we want to do more of. And go skiing. Well, there's that. Yes. You can still do that, but you know.

01:13:23Do you ever go like locally or like perfect North or something? We took the kids there. Perfect North. Paoli, Paoli peaks. Haven't done over. Uh, it seems like they just don't get enough snow, you know, maybe one good snow a year, but perfect North is cool. Uh, perfect North is a great little place. It really is. They do a good job. Not a bad little slope. And it's cheap if you don't, you probably own your own skis, but like, if you rent them, it's like a hundred bucks for the whole day for lift rental and right skis. Yeah. We're in the helmet. Goodness. Your ticket out West is almost 300 now a day. If you just walk up to the window, it's unbelievable. Yeah. Breckenridge is like three 50 a day. Yeah. Unless you do an epic pass and it's people that don't ski or somewhere like, what the hell are they talking about? Yeah. They have no idea. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's not for everybody. There's other things people do that we don't know anything about. Absolutely. Um, all right. What are we missing? We're at the hour mark. That's how fast it goes.

01:14:23It is flown by. What do you want people to know? Come to East Nashville. There's, uh, always something going on. We've got, you know, basement East was live basement East with live music. You have the five spot over there. Some more great live music. I know that a party foul is about to open up there where the old 10 16 and a five points diner was. So really that's exciting news. I think there are somewhere around April 22nd was supposed to be open in October of last year. And then they had some issues come up or I don't know. Timing's always hard with, with new builds. And so party fouls coming in. We're excited for them. And do you know anything about party foul? Zero? Well, you know, Austin owned party foul and he opened so many locations. Then they had to file for bankruptcy. Then somebody bought them. And now they're like closing some locations and some locate. Now they're reopening. They're like, I don't understand what's happening with that company. If you're with party foul, call me. I want to know. There you go. We'll talk about you, but I want to know what's going on with party foul and the whole situation. So let's come on the show.

01:15:24There you go. We're excited for new neighbors. It is not great to walk down the street and see what was three crow closed and now party foul or what was five points diner closed. It just kind of creates a, oh, there sounds like there's some gaps in here and it's not as inviting, but the more the merrier. I mean, people attract people and you know, if all these places are full, it's all going to feed to everyone else as well. So it'll be good to get those, those neighbors in there as well. And yeah, we'll go from there. I love it. Well, Joseph, thank you for coming in today. Thank you for making the trip out. Thank you for coming on Tuesday. Meant the world to me. It's nice to meet your wife and start of a fun, long relationship. And again, thanks a lot. And we'll, we'll talk to you soon. Brandon, thank you so much for having me. You got it. Big thank you to Joseph Gutzmertl coming out on his son's 18th birthday. Like I said, I've had that one in the hopper for a little bit and excited to get it out Hope you enjoyed it, but it is now time for the Gordon food service final thought.

01:16:31And I think my biggest takeaway from talking with Joseph is that independent restaurants are way more fragile than people realize. I think customers see like a packed dining room and assume everything's fine. Meanwhile, operators are fighting rising costs, shrinking margins, staffing issues, taxes, regulations, all while trying to create a place people actually enjoy being in. The crazy part is most owners keep doing it because they genuinely care about the people walking through the doors. This episode really made me appreciate that. I mean, we appreciate the operators who stay in the fight long after it stops being easy. You know, there's a newness when you open a restaurant, that's really fun and exciting, but it's a grind every single day. And while we want to celebrate the trendy new places that come up because they have your attention, the places like beyond the edge and Boston common, even drifters that have been doing this for a while and keep showing up every single day and supporting their community and being a place that you can go and feel comfort are the people that really need to be celebrated.

01:17:48And I love doing that here on this show. And we're going to continue to do that here on this show. And we're going to continue to do it with NARA. Thank you guys for listening today. I hope that you guys are being safe out there. Love you guys. Bye.