Welcome And Why PF Chang's Matters

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to another edition of Given in Ovation, the Restaurant Guest Experience podcast. I'm your host, Zach 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. Learn more at ovationup.com. And I am so excited today because we have Jim Mazzani with us today. He's got over 35 years of experience in leadership at Applebee's, Joe's Crab Shack, Fat Southern Kitchen, SPB, just to name a couple. And now, about less than a year ago, he took over as CEO of PF Chang's and has been on an absolute tear. PF Chang's is a restaurant that is near and dear to my heart. 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 uh engaged adversary, we go to PF Chang's. And so anyway, it's a great spot, great brand.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

And uh, I'm really excited to have you on, Jim. Hey, Zach, that's great. And I really appreciate that intro. That's an awesome story about PF Chang's and uh 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.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

But the cool thing about PF Chang's is like, yeah, you could go and make it special, but also my business partner and I go to lunch at PF Chang's all the time in the Oram, 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. 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 a 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.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

What do you say to those people?

Elevated Full Service Is Not Dying

SPEAKER_00 2:08

I would say that that's not the case. I would say that, you know, 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 uh PF Chang's has always had a very, very special part of that. 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 uh, I think what PF Chang's has always been synonymous with is quality and just being very culinary forward and in innovation, but doing it at an affordable price point. And I think we've 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 uh is two days away, and uh really excited to kind of talk a little bit about that as well.

SPEAKER_01 3:08

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

SPEAKER_00 3:17

I just think that it's you know 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, and you know, and PF Chang's is doing its part where we're actually gonna do a great tour of Tokyo. So we're introducing Tokyo cuisine, Japanese cuisine to America in some really cool, innovative ways and some great new products that we're bringing with food and beverage. So I'm excited to launch this at the same exact time as the World Cup is in full swing across the U.S. I think that it's a great time to visit a PF Chang's and have a great experience.

SPEAKER_01 3:47

And that is something where when you look at value, and 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 PF Chang's 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. And so talk to us about how do you think about value with an elevated experience?

SPEAKER_00 4:14

Well, we

Value Without Cheapening The Brand

SPEAKER_00 4:15

think about it two ways. I mean, we think about there's a consumer that wants to use PF 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 PF Chang's experience. Or if it's a day of the week, uh, 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 $16.99. And that's for two courses for $16.99, all handcrafted products that are made in-house from scratch, authentic cuisines cooked 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 us. You could also use us on Wine Wednesdays where we do half-price bottles of wine. That's another great reason for us to, you know, for mid-week if you're just wanting to get out, be a little bit social. 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 guest a little bit of an opportunity to be a little bit more experiential.

Tour Of Tokyo Menu Innovation

SPEAKER_00 5:19

You'll see things at PF Change like sushi boats. We have like four new sushi rolls that we're rolling out. We're gonna we're gonna serve you a beautiful portion, a combination of sushi rolls, all made in-house, all made fresh, and they are gonna be coming to you smoking with dry ice coming through the restaurant, and it's gonna be super cool. A really cool theatrical dining experience that's gonna 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 gonna be coming out as well. So I'm really excited about the tour of Tokyo and this tour of Japan. I think it's gonna 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 PF Chang's. And we always have our traditional menu items that do really, really well when people have the tried to do that.

SPEAKER_01 6:06

The Mongolian beef. Come on, man.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

Come on. One of my favorite items. I love Mongolian beef. Or the shrimp. I have to go to the gym a couple of times if I'm in tastings with it.

The Chicken Noodle Soup Moment

SPEAKER_01 6:17

But uh, I know Jim, I I have two requests for you. I 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. I mean, like the noodles were so good, the spicy broth. There are few things that warm up the soul on a chilly fall evening than P. F. Chang's chicken noodle soup. And so, is that any plans on bringing that back?

SPEAKER_00 6:49

You know, it's funny you say that. I'll share a quick story if I could. So I had a guest write into me. You're so you're not the only guest. Uh, 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 met at P.F. Chang. It's very similar to your story. And his wife's favorite item was a chicken noodle soup, 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 in our menus coming up, we have some items that we always ask our guests, like, what would you like to see come back? That's on the list. So that is actually gonna make a uh 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, and we definitely listen to our guests.

SPEAKER_01 7:39

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 Gadera stuff you did right there, Jim, of making sure that that chicken soup was there. So amazing.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

And actually from my shoulder, I have the unreasonable hospitality in my corner over there as well.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

Oh, there we go. I look at these two as like the Old Testament and New Testament. That is like the Bible of what we're living in. 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 millions of collections of individual experiences. And so,

Stay Relevant With Brilliant Basics

SPEAKER_01 8:19

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

SPEAKER_00 8:24

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 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 uh it was such a special occasion for us for the brand. And we, you know, had some incredible revenue days over through the Father's Day weekend. 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. I mean, I 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 PF Chang's has been so successful because we've been in people's lives for 30 plus years, and you know, we've been a positive memory for folks. And uh 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. And I think when you do that and you make those deposits in the motional bank account with a guest, they will remember you and they'll remember you for those special occasions. So you mentioned earlier about us having some 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. And we're, you know, we feel very honored to be able to have that happen. And then I think that staying relevant in the consumer mind and really understanding what the needs are and exceeding expectations or 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 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 experiences 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 uh it's been such a great uh 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. I mean, it's 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. And that's what we work on every day.

SPEAKER_01 11:09

Yeah, because the today's consumer is so conscientious of where they're spending their dollar. And if they know that they're gonna 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 PF Chang's. I have never gone into a PF Chang's 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. 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, 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. So, in 30 years from now, the CEO of PF Chang's is gonna 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 percent 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. 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.

SPEAKER_00 13:10

I think you bring up some great points. I I would just I would just echo whether or not you have one restaurant or you have 200 or a thousand. 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 look we really hot look for people that are passionate about hospitality and passionate about service and passionate about serving others. That's really part of the DNA of BF 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 scallion scallions just slightly wilted. And, you know, we look for those little details and we get excited by that. We get excited by knowing that the a guest is going to try something and it'll be hopefully the best bite that they've ever had. And we can, you know, create those memories. Because I tell my team internally, you know, back in the day is today, like we make those moments. We make those moments and memories today, and that's our future. 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 you maybe were kind of retired at a beach, we'll think back of like the moments that we had that we were part of curating and and the the opportunities that we have to make history. And I think that whether or not we have one restaurant, and I, you know, I've I mean my back background, I started as a chef, so I go back to being, you know, whether it was what my very first plate I ever cooked or the first time I ran a 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. 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 a hundred, that's really where the magic is made. That is true.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

But I gotta say, Jim, the sauce on the shrimp with uh the walnut shrimp dish, I would take some very rude servers, and I would that would still keep me coming back. So shout out to the chef days of like the food still is absolutely key, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:21

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.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

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

Tactics For Feedback And Presence

SPEAKER_00 15:42

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. 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 a 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, 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 PF Chang's really plays really well. I mean, we know we have a lot of competition out there in 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. And I think that that's an important part of uh good CEOs and good restaurateurs are doing today, adding more to the guest experience and giving the guests more reasons to use you.

SPEAKER_01 16:55

Yeah, and 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 Archburger or their social media or like the Grinch fries or like the BTS? I mean, like, I look at them as uh real bellwether of the industry, and like that innovation is key. 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. So anyway, Jim, I I've loved this conversation. We're coming to a close here.

Who Deserves An Ovation

SPEAKER_01 17:35

So, who is someone that deserves an ovation?

SPEAKER_00 17:37

Who's someone that we should be following? Well, I can tell you what, let me let me just start by just selfishly saying this the PF 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 in some challenging times here and really stepping up. So let me first by 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 that I kind of think about a lot in the way that he built an incredible empire and has done it through hospitality and and done it in a in a great way. So I would I would kind of give them and the team there a shout-out. And uh, I know Chip Wade, the CEO, uh we actually worked together in T Jack Fridays back in the 80s together. So I'm a big fan of Chip and then Patty, who runs their human resources. So some really good people there that are running that running that brand today for Danny. And again, I just would go back to the Chang's team, the PF Chang'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 Panasian cuisine. 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.

SPEAKER_01 19:05

Couldn't agree more. And Jim, how do people find you on social?

SPEAKER_00 19:08

Is LinkedIn the best place? Well, you can follow me on LinkedIn. I have a pretty good profile and I do communicate a lot. You can follow PF 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 team's gonna get mad if I miss something, but uh uh avenues.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

Yes. 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 Givenovation.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

Hi, Zach, great to be with you.

SPEAKER_01 19:41

Thank you so much. 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 estimates-based, actionable gift 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 ovationup.com.