Jim Mazany, CEO of P.F. Chang’s, believes restaurants are in the memory-making business. After more than three decades leading some of the industry’s best-known brands, Jim now leads P.F. Chang’s with a focus on combining authentic hospitality, culinary innovation, and consistent execution. In this conversation with Zack Oates, he explains why creating emotional connections with guests matters just as much as serving great food.

Creating Tomorrow’s Nostalgia (09:08)

“We make those moments and memories today.”

Jim explains why restaurants shouldn’t rely on nostalgia from the past but instead focus on creating experiences today’s guests will remember for years to come.

Value Doesn’t Mean Compromising the Experience (04:14)

“We think about it two ways.”

P.F. Chang’s has expanded its value offerings while maintaining the premium hospitality and culinary standards that define the brand.

Every Detail Matters (10:04)

“The bigger the company gets, the smaller we think about every little detail.”

Jim shares why sustained growth requires paying even closer attention to the small moments that shape the guest experience.

Hospitality Begins with Presence (15:42)

“The important part is being present.”

Whether collecting guest feedback or supporting restaurant teams, Jim believes leaders must stay engaged with what’s happening inside the restaurant every day.

Creating Reasons to Come Back (16:15)

“Giving the guests more reasons to use you.”

From innovative menu launches to theatrical presentations and seasonal experiences, P.F. Chang’s continues to evolve while remaining authentic to its identity.

Who Deserves an Ovation? (17:39)

Jim recognizes the entire P.F. Chang’s team for their commitment to hospitality and operational excellence. He also highlights Danny Meyer, along with Chip Wade and Patty from Union Square Hospitality Group, for their leadership and lasting impact on the hospitality industry.

Links:

https://www.instagram.com/pfchangs/?hl=en

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

https://www.linkedin.com/company/pfchangs/

https://www.pfchangs.com/

Transcript

00:00:00:13 – 00:00:26:01

Zack Oates

Welcome to another edition of Give an Ovation, the Restaurant Guest Experience podcast. I’m your host, Zack Oates, and each week I chat with industry experts to uncover their strategies and tactics to help you create a five star guest experience. This podcast is powered by ovation, the AI feedback and operations platform built for multi-unit restaurants. Learn what’s actually happening in your restaurant and exactly how to improve while driving revenue.

00:00:26:02 – 00:00:54:18

Zack Oates

Learn more at ovation upcoming. And I am so excited today because we have Jim with us today. He’s got over 35 years of experience in leadership at Applebee’s, Joe’s Crab Shack, Fat Southern Kitchen, SBB, just to name a couple. And now, about less than a year ago, he took over as CEO of P.F. Chang’s and has been on an absolute tear for is a restaurant that is near and dear to my heart.

00:00:54:18 – 00:01:17:00

Zack Oates

That was my wife and my official first date. So June 19th we met. August 19th we got engaged. December 19th we got married. And so the 19th of each month we go out and we do like an Asian food. And once a year on our engage we go to Frank’s. And so anyway, it’s a great spot, great brand.

00:01:17:00 – 00:01:19:06

Zack Oates

And I’m really excited to have you on Jim.

00:01:19:08 – 00:01:31:01

Jim Mazany

Hey Zach. That’s great. And I really appreciate that intro. That’s an awesome story about fangs and just so important about what the brand means to so many guests throughout America here for the last 33 years. So it’s great to hear that.

00:01:31:01 – 00:01:47:08

Zack Oates

But the cool thing about Frank’s is like, yeah, you could go and make it special. But also my business partner and I go to lunch at Frank’s all the time in the Orem, Utah location. It’s like one of these locations that you can go to, and it could be a casual setting, or it could be an upscale setting.

00:01:47:08 – 00:02:06:19

Zack Oates

And I think that you ride such a fine line there. And one of the things that is so interesting is, as I mentioned, you’ve been on the tear. I mean, record breaking, Valentine’s Day, record breaking Mother’s Day. But, Jim, this is kind of going against the grain of what everyone’s saying. They’re all saying elevated full service is dying right now.

00:02:06:20 – 00:02:08:08

Zack Oates

What do you say to those people?

00:02:08:08 – 00:02:29:17

Jim Mazany

I would say that that’s not the case. I would say that the consumer, the guest, is coming out and looking for not only experiential dining. When you think about big nights out or special occasions, anniversaries, opportunities to create memories and special times together, I think those times are always crucial for people. And I think that change is always had a very, very special part of that.

00:02:29:17 – 00:02:53:01

Jim Mazany

And then everyday value has been something that we’ve worked on here for a long period of time. You know, we are a pan-Asian restaurant, so we are 200 plus restaurants in the United States. We really have defined the pan-Asian cuisine for America. And I think what Chang’s has always been synonymous with this quality and just being very culinary forward and innovation, but doing it at affordable price point.

00:02:53:01 – 00:03:08:15

Jim Mazany

And I think we do that really well. We have some really exciting things that are coming up. So I’m really it’s great to be here for this timing of this podcast, because we’re about to launch a significant campaign on this Thursday, which is two days away, and really excited to kind of talk a little bit about that as well.

00:03:08:19 – 00:03:17:12

Zack Oates

So by the time this comes out, that will have already happened. Obviously, I’m not going to share anything until you announce it, but anything you want to share about that, I.

00:03:17:12 – 00:03:38:08

Jim Mazany

Just think that it’s it’s a great time in America right now where you think about people. The World Cup is going on. We have people visiting us, you know, and Fang is doing its part where we’re actually going to do a great tour of Tokyo. So we’re introducing your cuisine, Japanese cuisine to America and some really cool, innovative ways and some great new products that we’re bringing with food and beverage.

00:03:38:08 – 00:03:47:09

Jim Mazany

So I’m excited to launch this at the same exact time as the World Cup is in full swing across the US, I think that it’s a great time to visit a PFG and have a great experience.

00:03:47:09 – 00:04:09:10

Zack Oates

And that is something where when you look at value and honestly, I did not expect to hear you talk about value on this podcast. Jim, how do you think about that in terms of like, because Frank has done such a great job of building a brand of an elevated experience. And so typically when you think of an elevated experience, you think of an elevated check.

00:04:09:10 – 00:04:14:19

Zack Oates

And so talk to us about how do you think about value with an elevated experience?

00:04:14:20 – 00:04:51:00

Jim Mazany

Well, we think about it two ways. I mean we think about there’s a consumer that wants to use P.F. Chang’s for a lunchtime experience, and we have some great offerings that start at 13.99 for a lunch combination, which really is a great, great value for folks from a speed and efficiency perspective to get you in and out and still have a experience, or if it’s a day of the week, you know, early day of the week and you want to come in for a dinner experience, we have some really great dinner specials that start at 1699, and that’s for two courses for 16.990 and crafted products that are made in-house from scratch, authentic cuisines cooked

00:04:51:00 – 00:05:06:21

Jim Mazany

in walks that have been used for thousands of years and done in a very culinary forward way. Now that’s the one way you could use this. You could also use us on Wine Wednesdays where we do half price bottles of wine. That’s another great reason for us. You know, for midweek, if you’re just wanting to get out, be a little bit social.

00:05:06:21 – 00:05:35:11

Jim Mazany

And then on special occasions and weekend nights, we have this great, great menu that we put together that’s curated with some really nice items that give the guests a little bit of an opportunity to be a little bit more experiential. You’ll see things if you have changed, like sushi boats, we’ve like for new sushi rolls that we’re rolling out, we’re going to we’re going to serve you a beautiful portion, a combination of sushi rolls all made in-house, all made fresh, and they are going to be coming to you smoking dry ice, coming through the restaurant.

00:05:35:12 – 00:05:36:17

Zack Oates

And that’s super cool.

00:05:36:18 – 00:05:55:03

Jim Mazany

A really cool theatrical dining experience that’s going to create those Instagram moments, opportunities for you to really create some fun memories together. We’re doing a really nice hand roll that we’re doing in restaurants, a nice crispy rice tuna appetizer that’s going to be coming out as well. So I’m really excited about the tour of Tokyo and this tour of Japan.

00:05:55:04 – 00:06:06:15

Jim Mazany

I think it’s going to be really nice, and I think it’s perfect timing for the, you know, the weather’s a little bit warmer. It’s another opportunity, another way to use P.F. Chang’s. And we always have our traditional menu items that do really, really well and people that try.

00:06:06:15 – 00:06:10:00

Zack Oates

To Mongolian beef. Come on man. Come on.

00:06:10:02 – 00:06:12:13

Jim Mazany

One of my favorite items I love Mongolian beef.

00:06:12:14 – 00:06:13:17

Zack Oates

Or the shrimp.

00:06:13:18 – 00:06:17:04

Jim Mazany

I have to go to the gym a couple of times if I’m in tastings with it.

00:06:17:04 – 00:06:36:11

Zack Oates

But I know, Jim, I have two requests for you. I know I shouldn’t use this platform to make personal requests, but number one, can you take the calories off the menu? Because I don’t want to know. I just want to enjoy it. I’m kidding. I know you can’t, but my other request would be that chicken noodle soup. I still have dreams about it.

00:06:36:12 – 00:06:49:21

Zack Oates

I mean, like, the noodles were so good. The spicy broth. There are a few things that warm up the soul on a chilly fall evening, then Frank’s chicken noodle soup. And so is that. Any plans on bringing that back?

00:06:49:22 – 00:07:04:13

Jim Mazany

You know, it’s funny you say that. I’ll share a quick story if I could. So I had a guest right into me. You’re not the only guest. I’m new to the position, so I had a guest right into me. He told me about a story about him and his wife at Chang’s. Very similar to your story. And his wife’s favorite item was the chicken noodle soup.

00:07:04:13 – 00:07:27:19

Jim Mazany

And they were coming in for Mother’s Day. And I reached out to my culinary team to see if we still had the recipes. And we do. And we actually made chicken noodle soup for him and his wife to make her Mother’s Day special. She has a couple of children and we really wanted to create a positive memory. So then I actually right now with the team and our menus coming up, we have some items that we always ask our guests like, what would you like to see come back?

00:07:27:20 – 00:07:39:11

Jim Mazany

That’s on the list. So that is a that is going to make a revisit to our menu. And I remember when I think we spoke back at a conference, you had mentioned that to me. So we hear you loud and clear. We definitely listened to our guest.

00:07:39:12 – 00:07:53:06

Zack Oates

Well I mean, that is I got these three books behind me Setting the table, Unreasonable Hospitality and the Bottomless Cup. And that is some Will Gadara stuff you did right there, Jim, of making sure that that chicken noodle soup was there. So amazing. And actually.

00:07:53:07 – 00:07:56:07

Jim Mazany

For my shoulder, I have the unreasonable hospitality in my corner over there as well.

00:07:56:08 – 00:08:18:18

Zack Oates

Oh, there we go. I look at these two is like the Old Testament and New Testament that is like the Bible of what we’re living. And so it’s really amazing to hear you actually doing that, and that a giant brand like yours can take the time to care about the guests, because at the end of the day, we all know that any successful restaurant is billions of collections of individual experiences.

00:08:18:18 – 00:08:24:12

Zack Oates

And so, Jim, as you’re thinking about the guest experience, what do you think is the most important aspect of guest experience nowadays?

00:08:24:17 – 00:08:48:24

Jim Mazany

I think it’s about making sure that we stay relevant and stay connected with our guests, stay authentic to who we are and not be who we’re not. And I think what’s most important is that we realize that a consumer, a guest, comes out for a dining experience. We never take that for granted. Just last weekend we had Father’s Day, and it was such a special occasion for us, for the brand, and we had some incredible revenue days through the Father’s Day weekend.

00:08:49:00 – 00:09:08:11

Jim Mazany

And, you know, I think it’s about those moments that matter in people’s lives. And, you know, life is made at the table when you think about people coming together, multiple generations, the opportunity to spend time with family and, you know, to be the restaurant company that’s picked for those kind of any occasion, but specifically around holidays, is really what the definition of hospitality is for us.

00:09:08:12 – 00:09:26:07

Jim Mazany

I mean, I got into this business 35 years ago. One thought in mind I’m a hospitality person, so we want to make memories and make experiences and create be part of the fiber of people’s lives. And I think that that’s why a brand like Chang’s has been so successful, because we’ve been in people’s lives for 30 plus years.

00:09:26:08 – 00:09:45:05

Jim Mazany

And, you know, we’ve been a positive memory for folks, and we take that very, very seriously. So when we think about new menu items or curating dishes and service models, we want to make sure that we absolutely do our part to enable those kind of times where celebrations and family time is so crucial and to make the most of it.

00:09:45:05 – 00:10:04:09

Jim Mazany

And I think when you do that and you make those deposits in emotional bank account with the guest, they will remember you and they’ll remember you for those special occasions. So you mentioned earlier about us having some, you know, sales record successes. That happens because of the great work that the team has done with creating those memories where people do choose us for those special occasions.

00:10:04:10 – 00:10:22:20

Jim Mazany

And, you know, we feel very honored to be able to have that happen. And I think that staying relevant in the consumer mind and really understanding what the needs are and exceeding expectations are what we work on every single day. And the bigger the company gets, the smaller we think about every little detail, because every little detail matters, any little irritant.

00:10:22:20 – 00:10:51:24

Jim Mazany

That could be a situation. We want to make sure that we’re removing it, and we want to make sure that we’re creating those positive vibes and memories and, and experiences for, for guests. And, you know, I think that that’s why the brand has really kind of had a great start to this year. I’m on board for about seven months now, and it’s been such a great response from the field and the company about getting back to our roots of hospitality, getting really trend forward about food and getting excited about being in the restaurant business and taking pride in every plate that we serve our guests.

00:10:51:24 – 00:11:07:19

Jim Mazany

I mean, these are all just the simple elements, but like, it’s really it does come down to about being brilliant with the basics, you know, the basic needs of what our guest comes in for. If you can do that, and then occasionally when you can work on exceeding expectations, you’ll win a guest over from a loyalty point of view.

00:11:07:19 – 00:11:09:20

Jim Mazany

And that’s what we work on every day.

00:11:09:22 – 00:11:38:05

Zack Oates

Yeah, because the today’s consumer is so conscientious of where they’re spending their dollar. And if they know that they’re going to have a consistent experience and maybe an occasional amazing experience, right. But if they have that consistent experience, that’s what they want. And I think that’s one of the great things about Frank’s. I have never gone into a PhD and had a negative experience, and there have been experiences that have been great, and there have been experiences that have been really good, but that’s what I’m paying for, and that’s what I’m getting.

00:11:38:05 – 00:11:56:19

Zack Oates

And I think that in what you just said, I think there’s a lot in there to unpack. But there’s one thing that I hope people are hearing, which is there may be people who are listening to this right now and they’re thinking, all right, Jim, well, like, good for you. You took over a brand that’s got all of these like decades of experience.

00:11:56:19 – 00:12:35:08

Zack Oates

And like, I don’t have that kind of nostalgia built into my brand. I just started a few years ago, and I think what you said is so critical, which is you’re not resting on the laurels of nostalgia. You’re creating nostalgia today, and that’s what restaurants need to do. Every plate is an opportunity to create a moment. That of connection is an opportunity to have someone be like, oh, my mom would take me there, or I remember going there with this and it’s creating those memories, and I love that you’re so focused, one plate at a time on doing those basics, because those are the things that allow the foundation to create that nostalgia.

00:12:35:09 – 00:13:01:02

Zack Oates

So in 30 years from now, the CEO of fangs is going to say, we’re building on what Jim built, which is those moments. And thank goodness that Jim created that nostalgia for us, because it’s hard. I mean, from what I understand, 60 to 70% of your locations are within malls or like attached to malls, right? You have this whole other layer of competition that a standalone restaurant doesn’t.

00:13:01:02 – 00:13:10:08

Zack Oates

Someone goes to that mall and they want lunch. I mean, you’re competing with 30 other places, right? And so you have to fight even that much harder for it.

00:13:10:09 – 00:13:37:08

Jim Mazany

I think you bring up some great points. I would just I would just echo whether or not you have one restaurant or you have 200 or 1000, every guest that comes in, every guest experience, every moment of truth is an opportunity to surprise and delight. It’s an opportunity to exceed expectation. And I think when you really think about, from a hospitality point of view, like really a passionate team, and we really look for people that are passionate about hospitality and passionate about service and passionate about serving others.

00:13:37:09 – 00:13:56:06

Jim Mazany

That’s really part of the DNA of B.F. Chang’s. And to work for us, you have to be that, and you have to get excited when you see a Mongolian beef come to the table and we call it, we want to see the steam coming off of the beef. We want to see the scowling scallion just slightly wilted. And, you know, we look for those little details and we get excited by that.

00:13:56:07 – 00:14:13:07

Jim Mazany

We get excited by knowing that a guest is going to try something. And it’ll be hopefully the best buy that they’ve ever had. And we can, you know, create those memories. Because I tell my team internally back in the day is today like we make those moments. Yeah, we make those moments and memories today and that’s our future.

00:14:13:07 – 00:14:31:17

Jim Mazany

So when we’re when one day when we kind of hang up our cleats and we’re done with this, you know, industry and maybe we’re kind of retired at a beach, we’ll think back of like the moments that we had that we were part of curating and the opportunities that we have to make history. And I think that whether or not we have one restaurant and I, you know, I mean, my background, I started as a chef.

00:14:31:17 – 00:14:50:05

Jim Mazany

So I go back to being, you know, whether it was my very first plate I ever cooked, worked the first time I ran one restaurant. It’s really about those moments that matter and about those connections with people and really getting your staff excited about and your team excited about delivering hospitality. And I think that that’s the secret sauce.

00:14:50:06 – 00:15:03:08

Jim Mazany

Like if restaurant companies can, you know, get people excited about doing this business and doing this well and getting excited about exceeding expectations for guests, I think that, you know, whether it’s one restaurant or it’s 100, that’s really where the magic is made.

00:15:03:11 – 00:15:21:07

Zack Oates

That is true. But I got to say, Jim, the sauce on the shrimp with the walnut shrimp dish, I would take some very rude servers and I would that would still keep me coming back. So let’s shout out to the chef. Days of like the food still is absolutely key, right?

00:15:21:09 – 00:15:36:11

Jim Mazany

We have incredible authentic recipes and incredibly, we have just a great team that executes it at a really high level. And I think consistency is key, right. Like, you know, so making sure that it tastes the same every time you come in is a really important part of what we work on as well.

00:15:36:11 – 00:15:41:24

Zack Oates

I love these, like, theories. Any specific tactics that you’ve used to improve the guest experience in your career?

00:15:42:02 – 00:15:59:07

Jim Mazany

I think the important part is being present. I think the important part is making sure that you’re constantly getting feedback from your guest. You’re looking for positive and negative of everything that happens and that, you know, every moment is a moment of truth and an important. This is about a lot of details that come together in a restaurant.

00:15:59:08 – 00:16:15:08

Jim Mazany

A lot of folks don’t realize that running a restaurant is pretty complex, and whether it’s an operating partner or GM or a proprietor that runs the restaurant, so many things are going on at one time, and they’re happening all around you, and they’re happening when the guest is in that restaurant. So like, you have to make sure that you’re staying present.

00:16:15:08 – 00:16:47:09

Jim Mazany

You’re delivering that experience. And value is really about not just the monies that are being spent, but like, how do people feel? What memories do you create? Is it something unique and differentiated that they can’t get somewhere else? And I think that that’s where fangs really plays really well. I mean, we know we have a lot of competition out there on the mom and pop Chinese restaurants that are out there or pan-Asian restaurants, and we know that we like our odds because we consistently execute a very strong playbook of a brand that’s been around for a very long period of time, and we keep adding to it as opposed to taking away.

00:16:47:09 – 00:16:55:15

Jim Mazany

And I think that that’s an important part of what good CEOs and good restaurateurs are doing today, adding more to the guest experience and giving the guests more reasons to use you.

00:16:55:20 – 00:17:13:23

Zack Oates

Yeah, and more reasons to talk about you. I mean, how many times this year have we talked about McDonald’s in terms of just the big arch burger or their social media or like the Grinch fries or like the BTS? I mean, like I look at them as a real bellwether of the industry. And like that innovation is key.

00:17:13:23 – 00:17:30:23

Zack Oates

That is what we need to do. And guess what? We don’t have to pay the millions of dollars to consultants to figure out what’s next. We look at Starbucks, we look at McDonald’s, and guess what? Those are the ones that we can look at to say what principles can we take into our brand, be it elevated or fast casual?

00:17:30:23 – 00:17:39:17

Zack Oates

So anyway, Jim, I’ve loved this conversation. We’re coming to a close here. So who is someone that deserves an ovation? Who’s someone that we should be following?

00:17:39:18 – 00:18:05:00

Jim Mazany

Well, I can tell you what. Let me let me just start by just selfishly saying this. The P.F. Chang’s team. I’m new to the team. As their CEO. I’ve been incredibly impressed. It’s been an honor to lead this team. They’ve done an incredible job. You know, from our walk chef to our server to our greeter, to our operating partners that run our restaurants or to our support staff, we’ve just had incredible people, like just doing just really, really great work and some challenging times here and really stepping up.

00:18:05:00 – 00:18:20:11

Jim Mazany

So let me first start by giving them a shout out. And then as I look at people that I follow and respect, you know, Danny Meyer is a great, you know, person. I kind of think about a lot in the way that he built an incredible empire and has done it through hospitality and done it in a great way.

00:18:20:11 – 00:18:36:10

Jim Mazany

So I would kind of give them and the team their shout out. And I know Chip Wade, the CEO, we actually worked together in T.G.I. Friday’s back in the 80s together. So a big fan of Chip and then Patty, who runs their human resources. So, so really good people there that are running running that brand today for Danny.

00:18:36:10 – 00:18:58:20

Jim Mazany

And again, I just would go back to the Chang’s team, the Fang’s team. They’re really, really good people. And if you if you’re not following us, we have a lot of new things coming out from an innovation point of view. So you can follow us on social media. You can see us on our website. We are really trying to make some noise, be trend forward and brand forward, and kind of be innovating into today’s day and age because I think it’s a great time to be in the pan-Asian cuisine.

00:18:58:21 – 00:19:05:15

Jim Mazany

I think that there’s a lot of really cool food items that are out there, and we do a really nice job of it, so come see us.

00:19:05:16 – 00:19:10:12

Zack Oates

Couldn’t agree more. And Jim, how do people find you on social linked in the best place?

00:19:10:16 – 00:19:29:07

Jim Mazany

Well, you can follow me on LinkedIn. I have a pretty good profile and I do communicate a lot. You can follow Chang’s or you can look at our website or we’re on all of the social channels as well. Instagram, TikTok. You can find us on YouTube, Facebook. My marketing teams get mad if I miss something, but other avenues?

00:19:29:08 – 00:19:29:17

Jim Mazany

Yes.

00:19:29:18 – 00:19:40:07

Zack Oates

Awesome. Well, Jim, for reminding us that even with hundreds of locations, every detail, every plate and every guest matter, today’s ovation goes to you. Thank you for joining us on Given Ovation.

00:19:40:12 – 00:19:42:20

Jim Mazany

It’s great to be with you. Thank you so much.

00:19:42:22 – 00:20:04:14

Zack Oates

Thanks for joining us today. If you liked 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.