Jeffrey Summers

Two Roads. One Choice. Which operator are you?
What New Tip Data Is Actually Telling Us
Jeffrey Summers by Jeffrey Summers|From The Playbook, Perspective, Product
Toast's Q1 2026 restaurant tipping data shows something most operators have never considered about their Guest relationships. The headline number: 19.3% average tip at full-service restaurants. Flat for eight consecutive quarters. Most operators will read that and move on. Here...
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I Have Been Saying The Same Things For Decades
Jeffrey Summers by Jeffrey Summers|From The Playbook
The posts you are reading on this site go back to 2015. Some of them go back further. The arguments have not changed. Every problem in a restaurant is a leadership problem. The Guest Experience is the product, not the...
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The Terms Changed. Did Anyone Ask?
Jeffrey Summers by Jeffrey Summers|Newsletter-Substack, From The Playbook
Panera Bread announced this week that the Unlimited Sip Club will no longer be unlimited. Starting in August, the program becomes the MyPanera+ Sip Club. Same price, $14.99 a month. Different promise, 30 drinks a month instead of unlimited. They...
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Consent Erosion
Jeffrey Summers by Jeffrey Summers|From The Playbook, Perspective
Every relationship in a restaurant operation runs on consent that was given at a specific moment. A Guest walked in and decided to trust you with an hour of their evening and money they could have spent somewhere else. A...
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The Pattern Is the Same Everywhere
Jeffrey Summers by Jeffrey Summers|Newsletter-Substack, Perspective
Position I read Gartner CIO reports. Not because restaurants are like enterprise IT. Because reading enough cross-domain material reveals the same pattern in every domain. The human and leadership dynamic underneath the domain doesn't change. Only the vocabulary does. That...
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No Growth
Jeffrey Summers by Jeffrey Summers|Newsletter-Substack, People
No Growth Two words. That's the whole diagnosis. Every operator I talk to has a list. Difficult managers. Low pay. Bad schedules. Nobody wants to work anymore. They recite it like weather. Something that happens to them. Something that arrived...
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I Get Two Kinds of Calls
Jeffrey Summers by Jeffrey Summers|From The Playbook, Newsletter-Substack
The first operator is building. He has something working and he wants to make sure the next move is the right one. New location. Key hire. Menu overhaul. Service model change. The decision is in front of him, not behind...
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Why The Complete Series Costs What It Costs
Jeffrey Summers by Jeffrey Summers|From The Playbook
I argued with myself about this for a long time. (Still arguing, really.) Not because $299 is a lot of money. It isn’t — not in this industry. You comp a table on a slow Tuesday and absorb more than...
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“Restaurants Don’t Fail. Operators Do.”
Jeffrey Summers by Jeffrey Summers|From The Playbook, Newsletter-Substack
Not a revenue number. A discipline. At every level of the operation — simultaneously. The operator who didn't grow never defined what success actually required. Never built the product the Guest actually needed. Never developed the cast that could deliver...
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Smaller Isn’t the Answer Either
Jeffrey Summers by Jeffrey Summers|Newsletter-Substack, Profit
When a restaurant isn't producing the margin it should, the building starts to feel like the problem. Too much rent. Too many seats to fill. Too much square footage to heat, cool, staff, and maintain. The operator looks around and...
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