Mehdi Zarhloul [00:00:00]:

We have a training program every time. As soon as one of our employees walks in through our door, and they start with that process. That's what we teach them from day one, right? That's how we teach them within one week, two weeks. And surprisingly, their parents, they come to us and they're like, oh, my God, our kids are different people, right? Go check out what they do. All of a sudden, they're kind. We promote kindness. In my business, all my culture is built based on kindness connected with the service.

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Angelo Esposito [00:00:36]:

Welcome to WISKing It All with your host, Angelo Esposito, co-founder of WISK.ai, a food and beverage intelligence platform. We're going to be interviewing hospitality professionals around the world to really understand how they do what they do. Welcome to another episode of WISKing It All. We're here today with Mehdi Zarhloul. I hope I'm pronouncing that right. Mehdi Zarhloul, CEO of Crazy Pita Restaurant Group. Mehdi, thanks for joining us.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:01:07]:

Thanks for having me, Angelo. Appreciate it.

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Angelo Esposito [00:01:10]:

Of course, I love your background. I know that we'll get more into it, but I know that you obviously have a ton of experience at the Four Seasons, and then from there, went into your own venture, crazy Pita restaurant group, and been there and growing it for the last 17 ish years, if I'm not mistaken. So to maybe start off, can you share the story behind the founding of Crazy Pita and what inspired you to start this venture?

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:01:34]:

Absolutely. First, thank you for having me on your show. I hear great things, and you have amazing fans. I started Crazy Pita 18 years ago, August 16, 2006. It's coming up on 18 years. The story began when I came to this country at the age of 16 years old. You know, I'm from Casablanca, Morocco, and we moved here in Washington, DC, and went to school. Believe it or not, I studied computer science.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:02:04]:

And while I was in school, I was working in restaurants. I started my career as a 16 year old as a dishwasher. I sucked at it. I was breaking plates. And then the owner put me as a bus boy and started breaking glasses. And then, oh, man, you know how to carry a tray, right? And then he decided to put me in the kitchen. Mandy. Chopping.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:02:33]:

You know, we didn't have robocoops then. We had. We were chopping potatoes by hand and parsley. I worked in this mediterranean restaurant and called skewers. And we used to sell a lot of taboule. Taboule was very popular then, right? And, you know, you cannot cut. We cannot put parsley in a robocoop. It changes the whole taste.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:02:56]:

So I was cutting the whole case after case, man, it was so horrible. I hated it. The chef was like, man, you're the slowest cook I ever seen in my life. Now, mind you, how was this was like in my early 1617 years.

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Angelo Esposito [00:03:10]:

Yeah, yeah.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:03:11]:

Thankfully, the owner, he goes, you know what? We've have, we have an issue with you in every position. Why don't we put you to the front of house? Why can't you become a supervisor now? You know, all the position you had led train. And he put me as a supervisor. And I guess what I shined at it, it was amazing. I was running the restaurant. I became the manager at 18 years old. And I was so, I admired the owner of that restaurant. I mean, he used to come and roll in with his BMW, I remember.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:03:44]:

And that time there was a lot of cash in the restaurant and he would pick the bag of cash with him and take it. And I'm like, wow, this is gonna be great business, right? You know, I don't know how much cash he will take. I'm like, wow, this guy is so rich. I grew up in a family that we used to have a lot of people come over every week and we get the food and we loved it growing up. And we were always helping my mom. I mean, I'm telling you, every weekend my dad will invite about 1520 people in our house. And then it was, and it was always about food, right? We're cooking, we're joking, we're laughing. And when he put me in that environment as a manager, that's how I felt, you know, I'm like, wow, look at all these people.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:04:34]:

They're coming here. I have this restaurant where I have, you know, 50, 60 people inside. And we have servers and cooks, and I'm in the middle, manager and all. And it was so beautiful. The only difference is these people gives us money, right? People that we had, our guests back home, family.

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Angelo Esposito [00:04:56]:

Yeah.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:04:57]:

So when I realized that, I'm like, man, you gotta give a better service now. You know, you want to double that money and get more. I remember at that time we were making so much money in tips, it was amazing. And then after that, as I was in school and getting into that business and I graduated in computer science major and I had a job as a programmer, it just didn't feel right. I didn't feel like sitting by myself in a desk in a cubicle. And my first job was a graveyard shift. It was in the middle of, you know, just by myself, and I'm like, this is not me. Right? I did it for six months, didn't work out.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:05:34]:

One day, my boss walked in, I said, you know, I'm gonna quit. I said, I'll give you two weeks, but if you don't really need it, I can leave tomorrow, right? So I stayed a couple days, and then I moved on. And then I worked in some restaurants and then decided to move to Los Angeles. What? I had my first four season job. Remember, I was 24 years old. The Beverly Wilshire hotel. What a great experience. It was so amazing.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:06:05]:

Ryan, rodeo Drive and Wilshire, you know, the most iconic center in the globe. Everybody comes right there, and all of a sudden I am in the middle of it. I felt like I was in the middle of a movie. And we had every single actor. We had William Morris agency right next door. We had talent agency. They put me as an assistant manager in this coffee shop. And all of a sudden, you know, you have Tom Cruise and you have Al Pacino walking in, and you have this beautiful actor.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:06:38]:

And I'm like, really? I'm like, wow, it was great. And then at that moment in Beverly Hills, and then I, because I spoke multiple languages, Arabic and French, I was lucky that I was promoted to open hotels all over the globe. With the four season. My first, I used to go to the Middle east, and I used to help and assist in different properties over the globe. And it was what a great experience. Did it for over ten years until I came back to Los Angeles, where I was based and loved adventure of it. And that's when I decided to open my own restaurants. When I came back from the Middle East, I wanted a good pita sandwich.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:07:28]:

I want something with flavor, something that I remember I created few menu items back in the Middle east, but when I came to LA, Mediterranean then was 18 years ago, was not, you know, very popular. Most of the restaurants that you found, they were like, just as jobs, right? People migrated to this country, they just want to open restaurants and they want make some money. And it was never, let's take this concept and let's grow it to another. And that's what I decided to do one day. I just, I said, you know, I'm gonna open me a pita shop. My friend Chris Helti, I remember, was with me, visiting me from London. He goes, you're so crazy to open a pita shop. Right at the moment.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:08:14]:

We both looked at each other, the crazy, and let's call it crazy. Pitae gave my notice the next day, boss goes, you crazy to do this? I'm like, I know. You have no idea.

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Angelo Esposito [00:08:32]:

Yeah, I can imagine. Four seasons is obviously a world renowned brand, so to leave that and start your own thing is not easy. What made you want to start your own thing? What was that itch where you're like.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:08:44]:

I love the freedom behind it. I love the freedom. I love the creativity. I love being part of it. I wanted to create something that is unique to me. That's something that I built when I joined the four season. At that time, 20 years ago, I think they had, I don't know, 25, 30 hotels then, right? And then as they grow in and they're opening hotels here in different cities now, it's over 200 plus. I'm like, no, I can do the same thing for my business.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:09:13]:

If I'm gonna work hard, I want a car to work hard for myself, right? So that's what I decided to do. I'm a type of a person that I like to create. I like to develop, I like to do new things, and I didn't want to grow up and one day say, oh, I wish I did it, you know?

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Angelo Esposito [00:09:33]:

Yeah.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:09:34]:

Like, I was early in my thirties, I'm like, what's the worst gonna happen? You go back and you go get a job, right? For me, it was no room for failure. You had to go and open it. That's what I did. I moved to Las Vegas, Henderson, Nevada, one of the best cities. I find my. I found it as it is a home to me right now. It's amazing. I was welcomed by the people here.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:10:03]:

And that's what it started 18 years ago. And we went on, and then we had some challenging times. And then as soon as I opened, the economy hit in 2007, 2008. Remember that? And I'm like, oh, my God, what did I do? All the money that I saved in the world, you know, couple pennies is down the drain, right? But surprisingly, my russell, during that economic time, it went skyrocketed.

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Angelo Esposito [00:10:32]:

Interesting. Why do you think that is?

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:10:35]:

Fast care. What happened is all the people that used to go frequent fine dining restaurants, you know, they had the economic. They lost money, they're in the market. So guess what they want? They want an establishment that serves the same product of food, right, with reasonable prices. And at that time, when we started this concept, they were fast casual was just about to start, right? People were just about to start about Chipotle, about Panera, you know, 1820 years ago. These brands are just about to flourish, right? And although they were in business already ten years prior than me, right? And that's exactly what happened. And I'm like, okay, we're onto something now, right? I remember then we went and we signed the second lease. This was six years later when we decided to open the second restaurant, right? We did it.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:11:27]:

We opened the second one, then we went for the third one, and it was amazing. The last. My first three stores existed for ten years. It was a great experience. It was like anything you can imagine. It was the american dream. Lived it, touched it, felt it. Community driven.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:11:47]:

Money was coming in. I mean, I was in. I felt like I was in a retirement. Like, it's a dream. Oh, my God. You have the business, the money's coming in. And then you get your house, you get your barbecue, and you have your two dogs, you know? Then a few years back, then Covid hits, right? And then you start looking, oh, my God, I lost everything. Right.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:12:09]:

You know, you shut down your stores, all what you worked for, right? You know, you get involved in that american system, right? Yeah. Most of us that, you know, we make the money, we pay out. Whatever you make this month is you paying yesterday bills, right? Yeah, but it was still coming. But the second it stopped. Oh, my God, that's it. Time to go get a job, right?

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Angelo Esposito [00:12:34]:

Oh, man. Were you guys forced to close, or was it mainly, like, people just not wanting to go out? Like, what was the situation there? Because it's a bit different. I mean, I was in Florida. This was a bit different. But how was it in Nevada?

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:12:45]:

Well, in Nevada it was. We had to close for a little bit. Right. And then, you know, every state was different. And the governor decided to open for to go only. Right. I wasn't sure what to do. Right.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:12:57]:

I was like, the people. I was scared for my life, too. I didn't want to go out. And I'm like, I already lost. The restaurants are closed. There is no money coming in. We took a month off, about a month and a half until it was clear for the safety of my safety, my customers, my employees. I was one of the first people to shut it down.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:13:18]:

So my employees can go get help from the government. I want them to be first in line, and that's what they did. And then after a month and a half, we decided to open. Reopen. And we opened for to go only. It was great. And then we went through the table distance. It was good.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:13:34]:

All of a sudden you have this takeout business that's making you more money than dine in.

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Angelo Esposito [00:13:41]:

That's interesting. I wanted to pick your brain about that. Like how, obviously, like, yeah, the tough times. But, you know, sometimes it creates kind of, you know, innovation. So for you, you guys started doing more takeout and pickup or delivery. Tell me a bit about that. What did that transition look like and how did it change your business?

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:13:57]:

For me, we always had takeout. In my business, we have three. We have takeout. Dine in and catering. Takeout was calling for about 25% to 30% of my business already originally. Right. So it was nothing new to us. Right.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:14:14]:

We've done it. We were an expert on it. It just now switched. It became 75, and the dining became 25.

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Angelo Esposito [00:14:21]:

Right, got it.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:14:23]:

And then when you realize, you're like, oh, do I need all this dining room now for my next locations? I do, right, 225 or should I shrink them to 1500 and focus on more of the takeout? You know, now, today we have additional. We created additional businesses. Two more concepts called salad Madness and chicken genius, you know, started as virtually. And now we're kind of funneling them to one store. As of today, we are one of the first leaders to create a three concept brands within one environment, one store. We're changing them. You have all the three of them. Think of them as, you know, like a mini food hall.

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Angelo Esposito [00:15:07]:

Right, got it.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:15:08]:

Versus a big, huge food hall with just a mini one. We're gonna have three. Maybe we're gonna add one or two more in the future instead of going to 25,000 sqft, because now 50% of it is coming through the Internet anyway. Right, right.

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Angelo Esposito [00:15:26]:

That's super interesting. And I'm curious, like, how did you maybe, you know, we have a lot of restaurants or listeners and operators and so, like, I'd love to hear, like, your transition as you kind of started focusing more on the takeout. How did you maybe leverage some technology or some tools? I'm sure things evolved. So I'm curious, like, what did your journey look like?

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:15:45]:

Well, the technology, we had to pivot like anybody else. Right. And we had to be full technology driven nowadays. Right? To a certain extent. I'll give you a small example. Like, during COVID we couldn't find people to work, right. So we were one of the first restaurants in the country that does virtual cashiering. We had virtual cashiers from the other side of the globe that will come in and they will be on the screen just like you talking right now.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:16:09]:

They will take your order. We give them access to the pos, and they're putting your order right there. We had them for a good. For almost over a year and a half.

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Angelo Esposito [00:16:19]:

Wow.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:16:20]:

Find people to work, right? It was in the beginning because he was new. There was some resentment from the customers, right? But a lot of customers don't understand, right? They want to see a person human. We never took the human touch. We kept a human. We didn't give you kiosks, we didn't give you tablets. I still had a human being talking to you. I mean, if you notice now there an article just came up a couple days ago, they're all over the east coast now. More people are doing virtual cashiers because they couldn't find workers.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:16:50]:

3% unemployment for some say three to 4%. There is nobody to work, buddy, so you gotta. During that time, I had virtual cashiers.

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Angelo Esposito [00:16:59]:

And quick question for you on the virtual cashier side, because I want to visualize it, because to be honest, I've never actually seen it in person. Is it like kind of like an online meeting like this? But they're there and they're on a camera.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:17:10]:

Hi, Angelo, how are you? Welcome to Crazy Pita. If you have any questions about the menu, let me know.

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Angelo Esposito [00:17:16]:

Okay, cool. And then I just order through you. You're punching virtually and I see a screen with your face on it.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:17:21]:

Exactly.

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Angelo Esposito [00:17:22]:

Okay, that's cool.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:17:22]:

That's exactly. Genius guy decided to take the zoom concept.

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Angelo Esposito [00:17:28]:

Yeah.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:17:29]:

And make, take the orders. The only thing they have to do is access. Like go to my PC, access most of the pos, our window base and. Right. And they just access us and then they ring it up. Very simple technology. But they helped me cover over 6000 ship shifts for the period I had them. That's a lot of shifts because I couldn't jump from restaurant to restaurant.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:17:55]:

It was too much for me to handle. And mentally it was very, very, very hard on me. Like this restaurant called, hey, this guy didn't show up, you know, during the great resignation period. Right. But again, we pivoted. We no longer use them now because now the workforce has came back. Right, thankfully. So we won.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:18:17]:

In my technology that I use, I created an ecosystem for Crazy Pita that is centric around the customer, right. That Everything we do is actually centric to customers. I always believe the employees are one of my customers, and the guests that walk in through the door are my customers. I cater to these two people and because they're connected, right from the onboarding to the training, and the customers coming from the acquisition to the retention, and everything comes through your POS station. So any technology that I adopt had to go through all those tunnels and it's all. And it has to be connected to those two guests in order for it to work. There's some amazing technology there, right.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:19:03]:

I run my restaurants with, in my busiest shift, I need three people in the kitchen and two people in the front. That's how my system is streamlined already from day one, from 18 years ago. I use the technology to connect it a little bit. Right. Do I make, do I use AI now? Yes, I do. Some way in some sort you can predict my scheduling, my forecasts. Yeah, but you know, I have already an inventory system that I do. I take care.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:19:35]:

I know what my kitchen manager supervisor, what he needs to order. I use the three way system, you know, and they took that three way system and we kind of build it into some software. Are we using it? Yes, we use it are my guys. It's easy for me, even I can do without it, no problem. But this is for a franchisee. We offer them the tools and that they can do it. So that's how I adapted technology in my stores. They have to be connected with something if they're gonna take, if it's gonna, if it's gonna save me time on my operation.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:20:10]:

Yes.

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Angelo Esposito [00:20:11]:

Yeah.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:20:11]:

At the end of the day we cook for a living, right? That's what we do. We come, we cook, we serve it, we collect money and we move on. Now there's a lot of software out there. There's some beautiful ones that do analysis, but again that's for administration, right? That's. And I have quite a few of them that I look at. But as long as they do the work for us, not as wind the work, right. And as long as connected to the pos then it's great. Otherwise, yeah, we're not going to use it.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:20:46]:

And you know, you got to stop at some point. I mean all these softwares. Two, three years ago when I was going to learning about this, there were over 2000 companies out there that do software, right? Some got successful, now I think there is maybe 200, 150 of them left and all the others are becoming maybe features, right?

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Angelo Esposito [00:21:08]:

Right.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:21:09]:

So yeah, so that's where I am right now and I love it. We are taking start franchising. Recently we decided to put a franchise program together and, and I wanted to bring those moments, if you remember talking about earlier when you have three, four locations and you have the american dream and you don't have to work the 8000 hours. I can show any franchisee now how to operate their own restaurants with 35, 40 hours, right. Follow our system that is unique that we created. It's not brain surgery. It's so easy. Anybody can come and do it.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:21:46]:

The only two requirements that I ask for them when we onboard franchisee, is to be present, and market the h*** out of our restaurants. That's all what I ask.

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Angelo Esposito [00:21:55]:

Let me ask you something, because for people listening, I know it's obviously a hot topic. A lot of people who are maybe in the QSR or the fast casual space, eventually not all, but some have the dream I maybe one day franchising out for you. What was that moment? You're like, okay, I'd like to now start franchising this. Like, what in the business or what in your mind made you want to kind of go down that path and not continue making a corporate own?

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:22:17]:

Let's say a lot of things. Lots, lot. My dream from day one, to get into the business, if you remember telling you I wanted to build a brand, a legacy brand that's going to have multiple locations when I was working, that's why I got into it, right. And that's what I wanted to create. And we seem to be successful at it so far. 18 years in business speaks for itself. The system that we created has worked. It's still working, and it's operating and still flourishing.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:22:48]:

And the best part about it, it's making money. It's good now as I want to create something for my, you know, I want to leave something for my grandkids, right, to remember me with. I want to give them something, you know, so they can go and flourish, so they don't have to go through the hardship that I went through. Like, that's what any parents, any grandparents want for his family. Another thing is, I was one day traveling to London, and I got upgraded to first class. This is what the rich life feels like.

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Angelo Esposito [00:23:19]:

I love that you got a taste. And then it's okay. I can't go back.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:23:22]:

Wow. And then when I googled first class ticket, business ticket, I got shocked with the price. And I'm, like, increasing my check average by, like, $0.50 is not gonna cut. I need to increase units.

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Angelo Esposito [00:23:36]:

That's awesome.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:23:37]:

So. And that's, at the end of the day, we go into business to make money, right?

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Angelo Esposito [00:23:43]:

Yeah.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:23:43]:

Right. And that's why we're here. We. We're gonna make some money, right? And we're gonna make good money, we're gonna make decent money, and we're gonna work for ourselves, and we're gonna spend our money for our friends and family and join our community to make it happen. And we're gonna get everybody as many people involved in the system, right? People that we join our movements. I'm doing it also for different reasons. I like to. To expand and be part of the future of hospitality.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:24:13]:

Remember those days, what I tell you when I have my fathers and bring people at home? We have those 1520 people and you welcome them and you have fun and you're laughing and you're eating and you're doing things. Mind you, back home when we have families, we go back to the farm and we grab the lamb and we're right there, right? Go get the chicken. Which chicken do you like?

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Angelo Esposito [00:24:34]:

That one?

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:24:35]:

And the kids are running after the chicken.

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Angelo Esposito [00:24:37]:

You know, that's real farm to table, right?

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:24:39]:

That's what. Farm to table, right? Those are the things I want to create. They're good. They're happy moments. We create memories. You know, I have customers that have been coming to me for 18 years now, right? Their children are working for me now. You know, they're 16 years old. My Crazy Pita is older than some of my new cashiers.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:25:04]:

That's a sign for me to retire, right? I've seen so many kids that worked for 18 years where they are now. When I started they were 1617. You know, now they're in their mid thirties, right? And they're very, very successful in their jobs and careers. I can name each one of them and it's good to see them still coming back, right?

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Angelo Esposito [00:25:25]:

That's cool.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:25:26]:

They all come back to the restaurant and they use it. And that's the first stop. We all still connected. We're creating memories. That's what we do. We're in the hospitality. It's about the connection we make with our customers. You know, that's what we do.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:25:39]:

From the technology side, we try to make it easier. I'll take your order in any way, any way necessary. There is. If you like online orders. I give you an online order. If you like it delivered by Uber, doordash or anywhere, I am right there with you. If you want me to text it to you, I'll text it to you. We use the best of the marketing technologies, right? They're good.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:26:04]:

I work with some amazing people in the market. I like them to have connection with the customer, just not only for the first time, but we keep them coming back. Did you know here at the frequency of visit is twice a week or sometimes, right. For a person. So that's huge.

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Angelo Esposito [00:26:24]:

It says a lot.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:26:25]:

Well, the economy now put a little dent in it, but used to be three, four times I have customers that I see three, four, five times a week with us. Right. That's because of our menu offering that we offer them. When you take home dinner, I'm offering you a home cooked meal. Right. I'm giving you all the nutritious component that you need to have. You need to have your meat that is hot, your vegetables that are hot, and then your salad, and then your dip, your hummus or tzatziki, and some pita bread. As much pita bread as you want.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:26:55]:

That's a cooked, hot meal. Rotisserie chicken, family meals with the rice salad, the dip. You know, it's not a sandwich that I'm giving you now. You come for lunch? Yes. I have my chicken pita sandwich, my steak sandwiches. Vegetarian that we offer. You know, we do also, you know, I'm one of the rare restaurants out there that doesn't penalize you if you order gluten free, complimentary. I don't charge you anything.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:27:24]:

I don't like it when I go to a restaurant and they penalize you because you have a condition.

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Angelo Esposito [00:27:30]:

Sure. Yeah.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:27:31]:

That's horrible.

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Angelo Esposito [00:27:32]:

Right? That's interesting.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:27:36]:

Yeah.

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Angelo Esposito [00:27:37]:

It's an interesting outlook. And it's funny. I'm curious, like, you know, the contrast of, let's say, back in the day. Obviously, I know it was, you know, 18 plus years ago, but I'm curious to know, like, if anything from your days at the four Seasons translated to then when you first opened, you know, first year, first two years, three years, like, any lessons that you're like, man, I'm happy I learned XYZ at the four Seasons because I've been able to implement in my business.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:28:04]:

Absolutely. It's an experience. I took a lot from four seasons. Right?

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Angelo Esposito [00:28:09]:

Yeah.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:28:09]:

I learned to work as a team. Right. That's one. You know, there is a team thing. I learned to be creative. Luxury, creative. Right. That's why now I have the most expensive cookies in my stores.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:28:22]:

Right. I. It's a luxury buy. That's what we call, you know, you buy up. I have this cookie that is a double the size. It's called puck. The size of a puck. But it's $5.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:28:31]:

It's expensive. But people, they like it because it's nice. It tastes good. It has a lot of chocolate chip. It. The product is good. So, people, we offer a service that I learned from four season. You.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:28:45]:

I'm gonna give you good service. I'm gonna give you good food, good product, but I expect to get compensated for it. And this is what my price is. I am pricier than I say. I'm average, but maybe a little bit slightly above, but that's. I learned. But we still have customers that will come and spend money because that's what people want, and they are willing to pay anything for it. You go vacation, you go to the best hotel within your means, and you enjoy it.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:29:17]:

You spend that money, you go buy ice cream. One scoop of ice cream for $8. But you never complain because you are enjoying that moment. Right?

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Angelo Esposito [00:29:26]:

That's true.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:29:26]:

And that's what we're trying to create, the hospitality, and that alone is priceless. And we have a training program every time. As soon as one of our employees walks in through our door, and they start with that process. Yeah, that's what we teach them from day one, right? That's how we teach them within one week, two weeks. And surprisingly, their parents, they come to us, and they're like, oh, my God, our kids are different people, right? Go check out what they do. All of a sudden, they're kind. We promote kindness in my business. All my culture is built based on kindness connected with the service.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:30:08]:

Right? The be kind. Every letter stands for something. The b be the best, the e, you know, eye contact. When somebody comes and talk to you, look at them in their eye, right? Give me that moment when you're gonna drop my food and say, enjoy your pita. Take a second. Drop it. Look at me in my eyes, say, enjoy your food. Can I get you anything else? I hate when I go to a restaurant and they drop the food and they walk, enjoy your food, and they're walking away, I'm like, really? Do you mean it? Or is it just check?

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Angelo Esposito [00:30:40]:

A check mark? Yeah, that's a good. That's a good point.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:30:42]:

Or the manager shows up in the middle of the service. Oh, I gotta do my checklist.

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Angelo Esposito [00:30:47]:

Yeah, yeah. How's everything going?

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:30:49]:

Is everything going right? And then that's it. You see him going to the next. I did my job.

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Angelo Esposito [00:30:54]:

Yeah.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:30:55]:

Yeah.

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Angelo Esposito [00:30:55]:

When it doesn't feel authentic, people feel it. People could feel authenticity, I think, you.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:31:00]:

Know, our service is so unique. You walk in, I look at you. In my eye. In your eyes. I stop you. Hello, how are you? Welcome. If you have any questions, let me know, right. I take your order, then I give you a number.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:31:15]:

You go and sit down, and I bring your food to the table. Right? I give you complimentary condiments, some homemade harissa hot sauce, some tzatziki. Complimentary. I don't charge for it. And if you want extra pita bread, I will bring it to you. I grew up in environments where bread baskets were free. You sit down, you got bread basket, you got water, now you want a bread. People charging you extra? Come on.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:31:39]:

Just entering your price and move on. If instead of charging $8 sandwich, charge ten and move on. And give these people complimentary, make them feel.

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Angelo Esposito [00:31:48]:

Yeah.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:31:49]:

And this is the thing that we teach. And, and when you finish, we come and we check with your food and we help you box your food. We don't say, there is a box right there. No, let me help you box your food, buddy. No problem. We turn. Once we take that money, we turn. We become fulsome.

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Angelo Esposito [00:32:05]:

That's cool. And I gotta ask you, because you gave me the. The b and the e of the be kind, I got to know what's the rest. Now I'm curious, what's the k I n d? Now I'm, like, thinking, sure.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:32:14]:

I tell you, k means knowledge. Be knowledgeable about your product. What do you sell? What is crazy Pita, what do we have? You know who runs this? I mean, how many locations? Your hours, the knowledge. Get as much knowledge as you can. And that's what we offer them throughout the trading. Our menu, our. Where is our chicken from? What is our steak from? The eye means informed. Right? Then the n for neat.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:32:41]:

Be neat. Right? Be presentable. Right. Have nice, clean uniform, mean clothes. Right. Now we're in the process of changing the uniform constantly because our new generation didn't want to look like wearing a uniform. Right. So you have to make the shirt very cool.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:32:59]:

Right? So those are the things that we change and adapt to every generation. I remember the tattoo generation. People, you know, tattoos everywhere, right? Everybody. Now you start looking for people with the tattoo to hire 20 years ago, you won't hire anybody with a tattoo, right? They had to cover it.

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Angelo Esposito [00:33:16]:

Funny how that works. Yeah.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:33:18]:

Well, the new generation, now, they don't want tattoos. They're not doing it.

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Angelo Esposito [00:33:22]:

Yeah, yeah.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:33:24]:

I'm not putting any needle on my body, right?

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Angelo Esposito [00:33:27]:

Yeah, that's a lot.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:33:29]:

It's a full circle. Yeah, that's how. And the d at the end, once you follow our sequence of service, it's deliver the wow. That's how the wow gets delivered, automatically. I love that we believe people and product. I focus on those two things. We focus on the people and the product we serve, and automatically the profit will follow.

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Angelo Esposito [00:33:53]:

I like that. People, product. Now, third P will follow. That's cool. Three P's. That's awesome. And I'm curious to know, right? Like, look, number one you said it yourself, you've been in the business 18 years. So just that for any business WISK’s been around ten years, but any business more than two, three years already, you're doing something right and restaurant business even harder.

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Angelo Esposito [00:34:12]:

So 18 years is a lot. But so first of all, chapel there. What I'd love to know is for people listing right, maybe they have one restaurant and they're thinking of opening more. Do you have any advice, you know, from your experience of, like, when to open a second or a third? What things to look out for, you know, maybe p and l wise, maybe just, I don't know, just any tips you've had where you're like, listen, fellow restaurateurs, this is things I did and this is how I would think about it before opening up a second and a third.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:34:39]:

It's a lot of work. When you have your first and you're making your money and you're flourishing, of course, automatically you want to go open the second one. And, you know, only, you know when is going to open that store. All what the people, other people can suggest and tell you the rule of thumbs. But all those rule of thumbs are different by case by case. If you think you are ready to open the second one, yes. Then go for it. Do it.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:35:02]:

Don't wait another 20 years to do it. Go for it. Do it. You learn as you get along. You know, when I used to work for four season, you know, we created those concepts. We created those luxury, we created those systems. Nobody created them. It's not like they came from the sky, you know, it's not like they're like the commandments that came and.

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Angelo Esposito [00:35:22]:

Yeah.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:35:23]:

Oh, here. This one is for your religion and this one is for your hotel business. We help create them. Sometimes you don't have, sometimes you have to be a leader. And this is the best thing I give to anybody is to have a strategy in place. You got to have a strategy in place and you got to build a team. You cannot do it by yourself and your team has to believe in your strategy. That's, that's the best advice I can give you.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:35:51]:

You cannot just go depend on just anybody. Hey, what do you think of this? Well, there's thousands of opinions out there, right? Make it yours, make it your own. Make it your path. Make your train. And people will jump on it if they believe in it. And keep at it. Keep cooking food, keep innovating.

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Angelo Esposito [00:36:12]:

Love that. And, you know, as we wrap things up, I want, I would love to know what's next for Mehdi? And what's next for Crazy Pita?

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:36:20]:

We have huge plans going on. Huge lots. We're gonna grow our company to unlimited number of stores. Between all our three brands. Between crazy Pita, chicken, cheese and salad madness. I am looking to add in a couple more brands into the line.

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Angelo Esposito [00:36:38]:

Oh, wow. Okay.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:36:39]:

So we're in the process of starting the wheels, the motions. We're doing a regulation cf which is coming up very soon to offer my friends and my family that's been with me for 18 years to jump on the wagon. We're going to open it through a regulation d as well where we have the mid level friends and family that can jump in on the boats. And eventually in about eight months to a year, we're going to go over the counter and we're going to open the gateways to. To an unlimited and indefinite number of restaurants. I think we are well positioned to do it. I have a great team that I will. I highly recommend anybody to join my email list right now.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:37:30]:

Let's go and join. We'll keep you updated.

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Angelo Esposito [00:37:32]:

I love that.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:37:33]:

Friends and family, we want them to join first because we want them to win first. That's. That's the big plan. That's what we're doing.

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Angelo Esposito [00:37:40]:

It's exciting.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:37:41]:

It is.

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Angelo Esposito [00:37:42]:

It's funny that you plug your newsletter because that's actually how I like to always end off with just plugging. So if people want to find you and if they just want to learn more about the business. So you can plug websites, you could plug your LinkedIn. You can plug whatever you want. So we'll also include it in the notes. But this is your chance. Feel free to just plug anything.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:37:59]:

You can call me directly. You can go to LinkedIn and get my number and my email address. You can send me a message. You can find me on Instagram. You can find me on Facebook or to Crazy Pita. I check personally every single one of them. I even do my own tic tacs. You can find me on TikTok.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:38:19]:

I do my own videos. I like the windows. It's fun. I communicate directly with you. Please reach out anytime.

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Angelo Esposito [00:38:30]:

For the newsletter you mentioned is the best place for the newsletter. Crazypita.com and then sign up there. Is there another place?

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:38:37]:

Go to crazypita.com and go join our e club, Epita club.

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Angelo Esposito [00:38:41]:

Perfect. Perfect.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:38:43]:

It's not really a newsletter. It's. It's email bless I sent.

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Angelo Esposito [00:38:48]:

Okay. Got it.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:38:49]:

We make announcements on it.

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Angelo Esposito [00:38:51]:

Got it. Perfect.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:38:52]:

That. That's what I recommend. Epita club. That crazypita.com join the Epita Club.

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Angelo Esposito [00:38:58]:

Epita Club.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:38:59]:

I love that email address and your phone number.

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Angelo Esposito [00:39:03]:

Perfect. Manny. The wealth of knowledge. I'm so happy you got the chance to talk. I love your enthusiasm, your charisma. 18 years in the business. Oh, more in the business, but 18 years in Crazy Pita and then another decade in the business, if not more so lots of great nuggets we'll be able to share with our listeners. So thank you so much for joining this episode of WISKing It All, and once again, it was a blast having you here.

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Mehdi Zarhloul [00:39:26]:

Thank you for having me. Appreciate it.

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Angelo Esposito [00:39:28]:

Feel free to check out WISK.ai for more resources and schedule a demo with one of our product specialists to see if it's a fit for.

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