Jul 8, 2026 · 13 min · 6 segments
We measure the wrong things in this business and then act shocked when the math quits on us. Covers. Average check. Labor as a percentage. Every one of them looks backward, and every one of them can…
Flag one, the guest comes before the employee.
I know that lands for some of you, but stay with me because this is about cause, not about who matters more.
We recently moved our restaurants back to a traditional service model.
That meant pay adjustments, and some of our team felt it immediately.
People came to me and told me straight they weren't making enough.
Here's the fork.
The employee first answer is right there, and it's tempting.
Keep staffing tight, fewer people on the floor, bigger cut for each person, everybody makes more per hour.
It's clean.
It keeps them happy tonight.
But our service wasn't tight enough.
The guests could feel the gap.
And the guest's first answer is the opposite of the comfortable one.
Add staff.
Which means right now, today, our people make less per head.
I'm not going to dress up what that cost.
It was brutal.
I had hourly employees picking up second and third jobs to make their month.
I had managers missing their bonuses because we were over on labor.
None of that's the outcome that anybody wants, especially me.
And I had to look those people in the eye and ask them to trust me on a bet they couldn't see yet.
Now, someone's already loading the obvious shot.
So you just cut pay forever? Where's your line? Here's my honest answer.
There really is no line.
Flag one, the guest comes before the employee.
I know that lands for some of you, but stay with me because this is about cause, not about who matters more.
We recently moved our restaurants back to a traditional service model.
That meant pay adjustments, and some of our team felt it immediately.
People came to me and told me straight they weren't making enough.
Here's the fork.
The employee first answer is right there, and it's tempting.
Keep staffing tight, fewer people on the floor, bigger cut for each person, everybody makes more per hour.
It's clean.
It keeps them happy tonight.
But our service wasn't tight enough.
The guests could feel the gap.
And the guest's first answer is the opposite of the comfortable one.
Add staff.
Which means right now, today, our people make less per head.
I'm not going to dress up what that cost.
It was brutal.
I had hourly employees picking up second and third jobs to make their month.
I had managers missing their bonuses because we were over on labor.
None of that's the outcome that anybody wants, especially me.
And I had to look those people in the eye and ask them to trust me on a bet they couldn't see yet.
Now, someone's already loading the obvious shot.
So you just cut pay forever? Where's your line? Here's my honest answer.
There really is no line.
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