Join us as we sit down with Troy Hooper, CEO of Hot Pallet America, the parent company of dining phenomenon, Pepper Lunch, and dive into the unique experience that sets them apart. Troy shares not only the intriguing locations of these restaurants but also his perspective on how to stand out in the food industry through exceptional hospitality, regardless of the restaurant type.

What is the most important aspect of the guest experience?

” It’s differentiating yourself with some form of hospitality. As QSR and fast casual and many casual concepts are evolving to have less employees because of the labor market struggles and pressures of price, hourly rates going up dramatically. It’s hard to find people and it’s hard to afford to pay extra people. The important part is finding out how do you maintain and enhance your hospitality, the true hospitality that we all mean to do, and QSR and fast casual has kind of always been a challenge.“

What are some tactics you use to improve the guest experience?

“The main tactic is to constantly remind our staff that this is not a transaction. We are not feeding people. We are giving them a true experience and we do that. We do have that conversation regularly.“

Who in the restaurant industry deserves an Ovation?

Sam Stanovich, Big Chicken

“He was gracious and invited me and my family to a grand opening and we met Shaq and it was a lot of fun. I got to see firsthand the amount of work that goes into what he does. It’s not only developing and building relationships with franchisees, but he’s out in the community, building relationships in the community, being an ambassador for the brand. “