George Pertesis 9:14
Definitely through technology. So we use Toast POS, which has been a fantastic of ours ever, ever need about they’re expanding into. They’re expanding into Toast capital, they’re expanding into Toast waitlist. They’re expanding into scheduling where team members can opt into the app. They can swap shifts and stuff, so you’re not really involved. So I don’t have to deal with that headache over of employees texting me, hey, I’m sorry, last minute. I can’t work tonight. So you can direct them to go in the app and say, Hey, figure out a way to communicate with your other staff members and perhaps find coverage for your shift. That’s a great feature. They just launched it during the beta stage. I think they’re they’re probably even make it even better. And then also the payroll all the clocking As the clock outs, everything is put into a document, and then you send that over to your payroll provider, and they have all the information they need, all the hours, they were the dollar amount, all that good stuff. And we’ve seen that transformation in the last three years. And I think it’s only going to get better.
Chad Franzen 10:17
What is it about the restaurant industry that you find particularly enjoyable?
George Pertesis 10:22
The people, I love interacting with people, you have all walks of life coming in different industries, that people work in different stories, and you become like friends, you know, sometimes I say, I see my customers more than my life. And my friends, too. So they’re part of who you are. It’s nice. And it becomes like a family. That’s the best part.
Chad Franzen 10:46
Oh, I’m sorry. What are your goals for, for your rest for your restaurants here coming up in the future?
George Pertesis 10:54
Definitely expanding now that with this crisis, I always tell people that hold on, I think someone’s calling me over here. Yep, so the biggest challenge people would say was COVID. But I really think the challenge right now is rising food costs and labor issues going on in the industry. So with that being said, there will be a lot of closures in the next few months. So I consider that a second generation space that’s available, the proper equipments already in there, the walk in the freezer, is the fridges, the hood system, the equipment and everything. So with someone’s failure could be an opportunity for someone. And I think we’re gonna see a lot of that, and we’re very patient people. And if the right opportunity presents itself, we’re gonna hop on it for sure.
Chad Franzen 11:47
So when you say expansion, you you’re talking about just opening up more stores that you own, or you’re looking to franchise.
George Pertesis 11:54
In the beginning, we probably opened up like another two or three units to get the operations and the method of operation together and make sure that we have everything going. But like I said, with, like all the difficulties with the broad line distributors, it’s tough to create contracted pricing and all that stuff, because of how much of a, you know, part of my friendship show is out there. So I think when things settle down, when the dust settles, maybe we can revisit that discussion and see like, Hey, you have something good going here. And let’s see if we can inquire about having some people become franchisees. And because we were franchisees, at one point, we understand what it’s like from both sides, both from the franchisee, and the franchisor. I think we have something good.
Chad Franzen 12:43
Are there is there a difference in terms of the operations between Truly Greek and Urban Greek?
George Pertesis 12:49
Not so much, you know, my father-in-law taught me a few things to put into our store. And then we showed him a few things as well. But, you know, you’re always learning and that’s the best part. Like every time, we’re finding new ways to become more efficient. And we share that each with each other. And it only gets better. And I’m starting to see a lot of distributors getting getting into the efficiency of food. So for example, we used to like shred the kale by ourselves, the romaine, we used to chop it up ourselves. Now we’re seeing now we’re seeing like ready to go bags, chopped up romaine, chopped up kale, chopped up potatoes, though, just put it in the fryer, like ready to go stuff? RTU, you know, and it just makes everything much easier.
Chad Franzen 13:34
What do you think is maybe the key to operating two separate locations at a standard that you that you want
George Pertesis 13:42
proper training, you have to let it know, you have to let it be known to you or to your staff and employees, what you expect what your standards are, and for them to consistently follow through with everything in the consistency. Once you have that consistency. Customers notice it. They know whether they come on a Monday or Thursday, they’re getting that symbol at the right temperature at the right. You know the way they like it, so they’re not going to expect anything different. So I think consistency and training people the right way to do things is the right way to go. And having everything printed out, you know, laminated and put it everywhere you could so constantly reiterating your staff members to offer add-ons. Hey, would you like a fry? Would you like a soda? Those are the high margin items. So by doing so you’re getting your food costs down and making yourself a better operation profitable and all that.
Chad Franzen 14:37
I have one more question for you. But first tell me how people can find out more about both Truly Greek and Urban Greek.
George Pertesis 14:45
So you can visit us on our website, UrbanGreekCT.com as in Connecticut, and the same for Truly Greek, TrulyGreekCT.com. And you can also find us on Instagram, Facebook, also Urban Greek CT and Truly Greek CT
Chad Franzen 14:59
Final question for you, if you were to go to one of those two restaurants Truly Greek or Urban Greek as a customer, what would be kind of your like go-to item.
George Pertesis 15:10
go to item is probably going with our traditional pita sandwich where you can get the half-and-half mix of the chicken, the lamb, add both of those proteins on the sandwich and perhaps getting some pickled onions, which is a more modern flair of a classic red onion, adding some fat on their little spring mix as well. And getting that like nutritional value through your greens, your protein, your carbs all in ones. So every bite you take in, you’re getting something good.
Chad Franzen 15:41
Okay, great. Hey, George, I really appreciate your time today. Thank you so much.
George Pertesis 15:45
Thank you so much, Chad.
Outro 15:48
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