Bob Andersen, President of The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill, joins Give an Ovation to share how timeless hospitality and operational focus are fueling the brand’s impressive expansion. Drawing from his extensive background in franchising and restaurant leadership, Bob explains how The Great Greek balances fresh, high-quality food with authentic guest experiences across multiple channels. He dives into how franchisee alignment, catering growth, and a “hospitality-first” mindset are helping the brand rapidly scale while preserving its heart.

Elevating Fast Casual Dining (0:49)

Bob describes how The Great Greek creates a full-service feel with real plates, real cutlery, and made-to-order Mediterranean dishes in a fast-casual setting.

Aligning Values with Franchisees (6:08)

Bob emphasizes why finding franchisees who align with the brand’s core values—hospitality, quality, and community—is critical to long-term success.

Hospitality in Every Channel (11:23)

From dine-in service to third-party delivery, Bob explains how every guest interaction is treated as an opportunity to deliver genuine hospitality.

Scaling Without Sacrificing Quality (7:22)

Bob shares how a focus on simplicity, team development, and operational excellence ensures that The Great Greek maintains food quality and guest experience while growing.

The Power of Catering (14:20)

Bob discusses why catering is a massive opportunity for growth and how the brand is fine-tuning packaging and processes to turn catering guests into loyal customers.

Who Deserves an Ovation? (19:31)

Bob gives a shoutout to Mark Monopoly, The Great Greek’s new Director of Operations, for elevating operations and living the brand’s mission every day.

Links

https://www.thegreatgreekgrill.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobanderseneatgreek/

Transcript

00:00:00:07 – 00:00:27:09

Zack Oates

Welcome to another edition of Give an Ovation, the in person RLC edition. I am here with Bob Anderson, president of The Great Three. Really excited. For those of you who don’t know, I’m your host at goats and this is Giving Ovation, where we talk to industry experts to get their strategies and tactics you can use to create a five star guest experience and as always, this podcast is powered by ovation, an operations and guest recovery platform for multi-day restaurants.

00:00:27:11 – 00:00:32:10

Zack Oates

It gives you all the answers without annoying guests. With all the questions. Learn more at ovation.

00:00:32:10 – 00:00:33:12

Bob Andersen

Up at.

00:00:33:14 – 00:00:49:01

Zack Oates

Bob. We’ve known each other now for a few years, so you’ve been on the podcast before? I have, but not the 3D version. Yeah, you were on the virtual version. Talk to us about the great Greg. What is the vibe of the great Greg? What can people know if they haven’t eaten there before?

00:00:49:02 – 00:01:14:01

Bob Andersen

Yeah, well, first of all, thanks for having me, Zach, I appreciate it. Great Greek is just a phenomenal brand and we just give an amazing experience to our guests. And the experience is twofold. It’s a great food experience. Our food’s made fresh in the location. It’s cooked to order. It’s customized. If you are getting that steaks that skewer and you want it well done or medium rare, we can customize that to your order.

00:01:14:01 – 00:01:37:02

Bob Andersen

So the food experience is just phenomenal for our guests. All high premium products at the same time. The customer service is going to be great. It’s the closest thing to a full service restaurant experience and a limited service restaurant that we can provide. Real plate, real for real knives. If you had a salad, we give it to you for their soup or an appetizer, then your entree followed by a dessert.

00:01:37:02 – 00:01:41:17

Bob Andersen

So you get a true dining experience in a limited casual environment. So it’s like the.

00:01:41:17 – 00:01:44:01

Zack Oates

Elevated fast casual 100.

00:01:44:01 – 00:01:52:17

Bob Andersen

Percent. And without breaking the bank, right? Yeah, I still got very affordable prices and driving a big value to our guests, which we know is really important. Right? Yeah.

00:01:52:23 – 00:02:11:14

Zack Oates

And I think that’s amazing. I go to the Great Greek very often. So happy when you finally came to Utah was so funny is I knew about the great Greek before we even that because my mother is a huge fan of the Great Greek, because it’s one of these things where it’s a better for you food. You go in there, it’s very clean, very bright.

00:02:11:18 – 00:02:28:09

Zack Oates

It’s got a great vibe to it. And it’s something that my mother, she’s actually texted me before we were even working with you about the Great Greek. And then when I would, you found out that we started working together. She was so excited. Awesome. But now I even have people where one of my investors texted me being like, he’s had this great restaurant.

00:02:28:09 – 00:02:31:19

Zack Oates

Have you had the great Greek before? And I’m like, yeah, man, I love it.

00:02:31:19 – 00:02:50:22

Bob Andersen

Have you checked our website? Do you know all our customers? Yeah, we hear it a lot. I mean, it’s just and it’s a really it’s a true compliment when people really are resonating and enjoying the brand and the food and the health aspect of it. It’s a great place to work. It’s a great place. If you’re customer. It’s a really special brand in that way.

00:02:51:03 – 00:02:57:24

Zack Oates

And before This is The Great Greek isn’t your first foray into the hospitality. So what was before the Great Greek feel?

00:02:57:24 – 00:03:17:09

Bob Andersen

I was the CEO of a brand out of Northern California called Jim Boy. Tacos, was an iconic six year old brand that was really looking to be refreshed and reinvigorated. So we did that. We refresh the brand, brought a different look, and serve the same great tacos that they always serve. Then it was just put a different spin on the experience.

00:03:17:09 – 00:03:35:22

Bob Andersen

We told the history and the story and a much more relevant way, and brought it to a place where people were feeling really comfortable. Some of those customers were on maybe fourth generation, the six year or. Yeah. So it was yeah, it was an interesting period. It was a fun time. And it was a great brand.

00:03:35:22 – 00:03:55:05

Zack Oates

As you’re thinking about that, how do you maintain your base while expanding? I mean, I just talked to someone today who was with Perkins Brand talking about that transformation. How do you do that? How do you like, not betray the people who that first generation but still cater to the needs of that fourth generation?

00:03:55:07 – 00:04:20:04

Bob Andersen

Yeah. I mean, there’s some principles that never go out of style, right? A big smile and a welcome. Hello. That’s what we call true hospitality. It never goes out of style. So that’s how you connect. The current generation loves the story. So being able to tell stories in the most relevant way today yeah is really important. Especially when you have a legacy brand, something that’s got a lot of history, a great Greek.

00:04:20:04 – 00:04:23:01

Bob Andersen

We’re creating the story today where.

00:04:23:03 – 00:04:32:18

Zack Oates

You also have like a timeless brand. When you go into a great Greek, it’s almost like you don’t know how old the brand is because it feels like it’s been around for a while, but it also feels very fresh.

00:04:32:20 – 00:04:58:01

Bob Andersen

Yeah, the style of food is timeless. Yeah, right. I mean, the Mediterranean cuisine is a timeless food. It’s come from the cradle of of civilization. So the same things are again, we’re presenting it in a very current, approachable way and an atmosphere that’s very welcoming to the customers. And we’re delivering a food that is really healthy for people.

00:04:58:01 – 00:05:21:12

Bob Andersen

Right? The medical community has been telling us for years now Mediterranean diets, most healthiest diets. And so people have learned that I can still eat healthy and not sacrifice great flavor. That’s what the Mediterranean style of food is bringing into play is people want great flavor. And so you don’t have to go to highly fatty, sweet, sugar laden foods to get great flavor.

00:05:21:12 – 00:05:47:10

Bob Andersen

Yeah, if you do simple ingredients, you pair them, prepare them correctly, and you have the best ingredients. You put them together in a simple way. And it’s it’s just amazing cuisine. And our operators are committed to that. Conversations with people in our brand always starts with, see how great the food is planting on that flag to make sure that they continuously do those same things over and over to create that experience.

00:05:47:10 – 00:06:08:17

Zack Oates

Now, with your experience with the brand, it’s not just about the guest, it’s not just about the employee. But I know a lot of what’s really important to the great Greek, especially being a part of Wfg, which is United Franchise Group. Right, is the franchisees. How do you look at your relationship and the franchisee experience with the brand.

00:06:08:19 – 00:06:31:18

Bob Andersen

Being part of a group like United Franchise Group, who’s been around for 37 years? We have 11 brands and five of them are leaders in that category. Around the world. We have a tremendous amount of experience in developing those relationships. In fact, our mission is of our franchisees aren’t doing the way they go. We go. If they’re doing good.

00:06:31:24 – 00:06:48:07

Bob Andersen

That is the mission for us is making sure that they’re having a great experience. So it’s just working with them and collaborating them, getting to know them at different levels, not just the business level, but also the personal level, but also bringing them great businesses. Yeah, that have great value for their investment. And that’s how we look at it.

00:06:48:07 – 00:06:55:24

Bob Andersen

And we look them as two partners and it all starts at the beginning to make sure that our values and principles are aligned.

00:06:56:01 – 00:07:02:00

Zack Oates

So what do you look for as you’re looking for franchisees? What’s like the telltale signs of this is going to be a great franchisee.

00:07:02:02 – 00:07:23:12

Bob Andersen

Yeah. You know, we all know that when you invest in anything, especially in a business that making money is important, but when people come in and they’re just talking about the moneymaking part, we feel like many times that kind of person is missing it when that’s the most important thing. Yeah. When we come in and we try to determine if there’s a good fit with, you know, do we value the same things?

00:07:23:12 – 00:07:49:06

Bob Andersen

Do we value the quality of having great food? Do we value being an employer of choice or a great employer? Do we value being a great steward in our communities? Right. Yeah. Those are the places that it starts for us. And then it leads to executing and operating. We can teach them how to run a restaurant business, but we can’t always teach them how to align on values either we are or are not.

00:07:49:06 – 00:07:53:16

Bob Andersen

So when we go through our process, that’s the most important thing to us.

00:07:53:18 – 00:08:13:01

Zack Oates

So powerful. Because to align on that, like the foundation of what you’re doing, is just so key. And to make sure that just like get into a business relationship, I would never get into a business relationship with someone where we value totally separate things. And yes, at the end of the day, we have to make money and grow and create that value.

00:08:13:01 – 00:08:32:00

Zack Oates

But the money follows the value, correct? Right. And I think a lot of times people put that money first as opposed to talking about the value. I know for me there’s going to be misalignment because I may do something that isn’t going to bring ROI this month, but it’s the right thing to do for the business and for our customers, right?

00:08:32:02 – 00:08:54:04

Bob Andersen

100%. The making money is the result of the principles and values and the system, yes, that we have created. So for us it’s not jumping to the result. Obviously, everyone wants a great result and making money and value, but that doesn’t happen if you’re not aligned on the principles in our system, are not following the system. And that’s not just for us, it’s any brand.

00:08:54:06 – 00:09:18:00

Bob Andersen

Everyone has different principles and values, and so you have to align those with the people and their principles. And when we do that, it’s a powerful thing because whether someone’s run a restaurant before or not is not always the most telling tale I know. People in this business are good at one running the business, and there are people who come to us who’ve never run a restaurant before, but have amazing instincts in building teams and delivering hospitality.

00:09:18:00 – 00:09:29:12

Bob Andersen

And at the end of the day, that’s what we do. We build teams that deliver a great experience. If you can do that, but you come from the IT business or you are in the military or you ran a restaurant, you’re likely going to get the same results.

00:09:29:14 – 00:09:47:03

Zack Oates

I love that because I love how Stephen Covey puts it is begin with the end in mind, and the real end is a value. And I think that’s that’s beautiful. So but as we’re thinking about like value for the guest experience. Right. What is your philosophy on guest experience? How do we think about some of the most important aspects of guest experience?

00:09:47:08 – 00:10:11:04

Bob Andersen

Yeah, the guest experience for me is old school. I mean, it’s tried and true, especially in the dining part of the restaurant. The guest experience is about connecting with them, making people feel comfortable. Bring them that hospitality a big smile. Hello. As I said earlier, there’s nothing replaces. Yeah, that a check in with someone to ask them how their meal was.

00:10:11:09 – 00:10:29:19

Bob Andersen

Or how about just reading body language? If I’m at a restaurant and I’m waiting over eight minutes on this guy and we have to teach our employees to read people’s body language, because if you look at the restaurant, you should be able to say, okay, something’s not right here. Let’s at least go check it in. Yeah. Oh, yeah.

00:10:29:19 – 00:10:47:01

Bob Andersen

I’ve been waiting for eight minutes. Let me check on your order, sir. Like that is hospitality that just never goes away. So I think it’s still that personal touch to the person. And the more that goes away, the more becomes really powerful for our brand. Yeah. And so just creating.

00:10:47:01 – 00:10:48:22

Zack Oates

A differentiator that’s to care 100.

00:10:48:22 – 00:11:03:03

Bob Andersen

Percent. And some people don’t want to have a conversation. We get that. But they do want their food on time. They want it, right. If they don’t have a fork, it’s nice if we bring them a fork, whether they want to talk to us or not. So it’s not always just a conversation. The Gen Z’s a little bit different.

00:11:03:03 – 00:11:23:07

Bob Andersen

Maybe they don’t want to have a conversation. Yeah, and that’s okay too. But we can still deliver hospitality, right? We can still deliver that to them. And that’s what our team members have to do. And you do it by observing in the restaurant. The other piece of the experience is what’s happening outside of the restaurant, or what’s happening when someone just picks up their food.

00:11:23:13 – 00:11:52:23

Bob Andersen

That’s a great opportunity to connect with someone wouldn’t have taken it to go. So making sure we have the right packaging, making sure their orders are correct, those types of things are really going to enhance the experience. Off premise. So you hear it over and over. There’s an omnichannel business now like never before. And so each one of those channels has a different set of what the experiences with the food or what it might be with a team member or a third party delivery company, whatever it might be.

00:11:53:00 – 00:12:05:01

Zack Oates

And I love that. Regardless of what the channel is, the guest has their expectations and you get to meet them where they’re at, and you got to make sure that you’re meeting that expectation and setting the proper expectation. Right, 100.

00:12:05:01 – 00:12:25:05

Bob Andersen

Percent, 100%. And you’re our team members, and our man doesn’t need to be attuned to that. Right. So you think about this on premise. The most important thing is how fast they get the food. Yeah, right. Nobody wants to wait forever. So for us, some of our entrees might take nine, ten minutes, 11 minutes to prepare. So bring them their salad, bring them their appetizer.

00:12:25:05 – 00:12:55:05

Bob Andersen

Right. That immediately changes that. If you forget something in a dining switch you can easily recover that. Now flip that to say a third party order. If I missed something in that order, if I missed someone’s extra to Z sauce on their euro that they pay do that, they pay for that. They couldn’t wait to have this evening, and they waited 45 minutes for their order to arrive, which the time period is acceptable in that environment would never be acceptable in the restaurant.

00:12:55:10 – 00:13:18:01

Bob Andersen

But now they cannot immediately correct not having that item. So we have to make soup, you know, double check, triple check to make sure everything that was required in that order goes out and that order was prepared. It was also packaged correctly. So as operators, we have to pay attention to all those details. Catering now brings a different set of circumstance.

00:13:18:01 – 00:13:33:10

Bob Andersen

I need it there at a certain time. Are you on time? Is it set up? Does it look good? Oh, begin. We bring napkins that we do all those kind of things. So that’s all part of creating that experience that operate is just the have to understand what that value chain is.

00:13:33:12 – 00:13:56:18

Zack Oates

And toast. Put out a study recently that the average restaurant has increased catering by 25% in the last year. Yeah. And catering is something that is blowing up right now because now that people are totally comfortable getting back together, totally comfortable sharing food. I mean, like you think about April of 2020 about sharing A to Z key Bowl, everybody dipping pizza in there.

00:13:56:18 – 00:14:20:15

Zack Oates

Yeah, I mean it was like unfathomable in April 2020. Here we are five years later April 2025. And it’s like we’re sharing spoons again. So catering is back baby. It’s just a matter of how to prepare for that and how to do it. And you’ve got such a great cuisine that travels super well when we do our events in Utah, our company wide events, we get the Great Greek catered because they travel.

00:14:20:15 – 00:14:25:08

Zack Oates

It’s so good it works well. What advice do you have for people who are thinking about catering?

00:14:25:10 – 00:14:28:11

Bob Andersen

Yeah, I mean, if you’re thinking about catering, you got to jump right into it.

00:14:28:11 – 00:14:31:15

Zack Oates

And that’s your Mediterranean concept near the Great Greek. And then like.

00:14:31:15 – 00:14:49:11

Bob Andersen

Yeah, no, that’s okay too. We’re okay with competition, but it’s the greatest opportunity in our business. But you said the word. You have to think about it. Yeah. It does a lot of planning and thought that goes into executing catering. It’s not just making the food you have to make sure the food gets there. It gets there at a certain time.

00:14:49:11 – 00:15:09:01

Bob Andersen

It’s set up in a certain way if that’s required. But it’s a great channel to grow your business. Our goal at The Great Greek has been for last year was to double our business, which we did this year. We’re looking at it again. Some of our operators who’ve really taken that to another level have even tripled and quadrupled their catering business over the previous year.

00:15:09:01 – 00:15:28:06

Bob Andersen

And yes, customers do want to get together and have communal food. So the opportunities are there. People are going back to the office as we all keep hearing. So those opportunities are happening more and more. And you just as an operator and a brand leader, you have to be prepared to take advantage of those opportunities. That’s a great Greek.

00:15:28:06 – 00:16:00:04

Bob Andersen

We’ve certainly have done that. We continue to do that. We have a long way to go and even getting our creator program better, we’re just starting. But we do have the advantage of we have a food that’s healthy. It serves people who want to have me, people who are gluten free or they’re vegetarian. So we get to check some boxes with a little bit of an advantage for, especially in such a diverse workforce where people need multiple types of choices, the days of just getting pizza in are not a little bit difficult.

00:16:00:04 – 00:16:24:00

Bob Andersen

I think sometimes for some employers we enjoy doing it, but it’s something that we continuously train and work out with our operators. It’s a lot of execution involved in taking an order from catering to getting it to that customer’s mouth, but there’s no better advertising than serving 50 people at a catering event. Who? Yeah, maybe 30 or 40 of them have never been to a great Greek.

00:16:24:00 – 00:16:34:22

Zack Oates

And do you have custom branded packaging for your catering, or do you have signage that you put out or like, will you do it at 50% catering? How do you inform people that it’s the great Greek these caterer?

00:16:34:24 – 00:16:59:16

Bob Andersen

Yeah, it’s a great question. And that’s where we are with our program right now is putting the packaging to our catering. So right now we use more generic packaging that has some labeling on it that has represents a great Greek. We always deliver it with menus, things that identify that the food is coming from us. We are now moving into the phase where we’re starting to evaluate and procure packaging for our catering packages and programs.

00:16:59:16 – 00:17:27:17

Zack Oates

Because I think there’s incredible packaging. I don’t know, but Kelly Grogan over at crumbs, she does some amazing consulting if anyone’s interested in catering optimization, but the packaging that they’ve designed for other companies, that kind of folds down. It’s almost like a retail display, right. And really bringing forward these are things that help people understand. How do you get them from eating your food at a catering event to coming in and spending money with you the next week?

00:17:27:22 – 00:17:44:16

Bob Andersen

There’s really no better opportunity to market your food than bring it into a catering event. Yeah, if we’re not identifying who’s providing that food, then it’s a really hugely lost opportunity. So there’s a science behind that packaging though.

00:17:44:17 – 00:17:45:06

Zack Oates

Absolutely.

00:17:45:12 – 00:17:53:02

Bob Andersen

So we’re in it right now. We’re trying to figure out what’s the best way for us to do it, but at the same time be really cost effective.

00:17:53:02 – 00:18:18:00

Zack Oates

Yeah, exactly. Because yeah, it’s one thing to use catering as like a marketing initiative. It’s another thing to blow the profits of a $1,500 catering order on packaging. Yeah, but that’s why one of the things that we launch this year is our whole catering program. And basically what it is, is it’s similar to like a third party conversion that we’ve done with you all where you put a flier in like a DoorDash order and it says, hey, how was everything?

00:18:18:06 – 00:18:33:09

Zack Oates

Answer two questions, see at $5 off your next order. Similar to that, but you do that with catering. You set up a little placard and it says, you know, how do you enjoy the catering provided by the Great Greek? Yeah, answer two questions. You get $5 off the next order, and now they have a reason to come in.

00:18:33:09 – 00:18:47:14

Zack Oates

And the magic about a $5 off coupon is that typically we find that people will spend around $12 more with a $5 coupon because they feel like they’re getting something. So you’re actually able to increase the revenue on that guest.

00:18:47:16 – 00:19:03:23

Bob Andersen

100%. It’s a really smart way to approach that because again, like I said, whether it’s a 20 person catering or 5000, we’ve done 300, 500 that that’s the best opportunity to promote your business because they’re eating your food. All right. Mission accomplished.

00:19:03:23 – 00:19:06:00

Zack Oates

Think about all simple that you’re getting paid for right.

00:19:06:06 – 00:19:25:14

Bob Andersen

So the question becomes now how do I take that experience and that opportunity and create it to a visit to our restaurant in the next 30 days? Yeah, right. And that’s how you elevate your overall sales through your catering program. It’s a very powerful way to grow the business. It’s something that we’re highly focused on.

00:19:25:18 – 00:19:30:23

Zack Oates

I love that well, but who is someone that deserves an ovation? Who’s someone that we should be following in the restaurant industry?

00:19:31:00 – 00:19:53:02

Bob Andersen

I mean, listen, I am biased, but I love what we’re doing. I think a great, great guy to I hate to say we have some great people on our team. We just promoted a new operations director, Mark monopoly. He’s doing a phenomenal job, and I would say he deserves an ovation for really jumping in on our team and just getting after it and just bringing our brand to another level.

00:19:53:02 – 00:20:11:20

Bob Andersen

So it’s really fun to see him develop and be part of that. And as your team goes, our brand goes, you know? Yeah, great teammates great teammates. You know this through your team. And it’s part of growing is adding people. So I’m going to give the selfish ovation to Mark and the great Greek I just I love what we’re doing.

00:20:11:20 – 00:20:34:09

Bob Andersen

We’re rapidly growing well open 2530 restaurants this year where again be one of the fastest growing brands. And I say the country better wound up being in the world at something we’re proud of. It’s a lot of work that goes into it. There’s a lot of people behind the scenes that goes into it, but the reward is when someone tells you it’s the best food or someone says, we order it for our catering all the time.

00:20:34:14 – 00:20:45:03

Bob Andersen

At the Great Greek, or it’s a franchisee saying, I feel so blessed to be part of this system. And so that’s where we get our adulation and satisfaction from that type of recognition.

00:20:45:05 – 00:20:53:21

Zack Oates

Because you build value, man. Right. I’ll start out with the end. Yeah. Well, how do people find the Great Greek? And, they’d be follow you. You you post on LinkedIn every now and again.

00:20:53:23 – 00:21:21:18

Bob Andersen

I’ve been a little off the last few months, but yeah, you can find me on LinkedIn, Bob Anderson as ESPN. But the great Greek, if you just go search us. Yeah, that’s what I usually tell people not to go to our site. But if you go search the great Greek, you just pull up some great things about the brand, whether it’s, a location near you or it’s a story about one of our franchisees, or it’s a TV clip of one of our franchisees, presenting our food and on TV or something they’ve done in the community.

00:21:21:18 – 00:21:38:06

Bob Andersen

Those are the things that we’re proud of. So there’s so many stories behind a great, great. Of course, you can go to our website. You’ll see our locations and our menu. But if you really want the whole great Greek experience, just Google it and you’ll see some really cool things about the brand and some of the special things that we’re doing well.

00:21:38:06 – 00:21:52:16

Zack Oates

And we’re obviously private partnership, as you can see. Right. Actually, right behind me there’s the great Greek logo right there. Yes. Well, Bob, appreciate all that. You do appreciate you coming on the podcast and for not just being a good Greek, but for being the great Greek. Today’s ovation guys, you see you for joining us.

00:21:52:17 – 00:21:55:18

Bob Andersen

Today and enjoy being here. Thanks for the opportunity.

00:21:55:20 – 00:22:18:06

Zack Oates

Thanks for joining us today. If you like this episode, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite place to listen. We’re all about feedback here. Again, this episode was sponsored by ovation, a two question, SMS based, actionable guest feedback platform built for multi-unit restaurants. If you’d like to learn how we can help you measure and create a better guest experience, visit us at ovation up.com.