𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘅: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮 $𝟳 𝗧𝗮𝗰𝗼 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗠𝗲 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁

I just got back from Mexico City.

And what I experienced there is going to stay with me for a long time.

One afternoon, I found myself at a corner taco stand that had been in operation for 60 years. Three generations. Same corner. Same recipes. Same commitment to every single guest who walked up.

I paid 120 pesos—about $7—for one of the most incredible dining experiences of my trip.

The woman running the stand knew exactly what she was doing. Her movements were precise. The food came out fast, hot, and perfect. She made eye contact. She smiled. She thanked me like she meant it.

No confusion. No chaos. Just hospitality at its purest.

A few nights later, I walked into a Michelin-starred restaurant. Beautiful space. Impressive menu. And a team of 40+ people working the floor.

What I got was chaos disguised as service.

Servers bumping into each other. Confusion about who was handling what. Food arriving at the wrong time. Staff looking at each other instead of at guests.

Forty people on the floor—and somehow, nobody was in charge of my experience.

Here's what hit me as I reflected on those two meals:

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗜 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱.

Not because small teams are inherently better. But because small teams can't hide dysfunction. When there are only three people running the operation, everyone knows their role. There's no room for ambiguity.

But when you scale—when you go from 5 employees to 15 to 40—something breaks if you're not intentional.

Roles get fuzzy.

Standards get inconsistent.

The guest experience becomes a gamble.

That's the trap. You grow your team to improve the experience—and somehow the experience gets worse.

Most operators feel this tension but aren't sure exactly where the gaps are. That's why I created a quick assessment to help you see where you stand—and what needs attention before you scale further.

𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲-𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲: 𝗵𝘁𝘁𝗽𝘀://𝗮𝗽𝗶.𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗵𝗾.𝗰𝗼𝗺/𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁/𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘆/𝗙𝗻𝗷𝟲𝗨𝗛𝗱𝗹𝗘𝟬𝗳𝘅𝗟𝗖𝟵𝗮𝗥𝗯𝗖𝗲

The taco stand didn't have a 40-person team. But it had something more valuable:

𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆.

That woman knew exactly what her job was. She knew what success looked like. And she held herself to that standard every single day for 60 years.

The Michelin restaurant had resources. They had talent. They had a beautiful concept.

What they didn't have was structure.

And without structure, talent becomes chaos.

𝗔𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄, 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀.

When you're small, you can be everywhere. You can catch mistakes before they reach the guest. You can personally ensure every plate, every greeting, every moment meets your standard.

But when you scale, you can't be everywhere.

So you have to build something that works without you.

That means:

→ 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆. Every person you add to your team either reinforces your culture or dilutes it. There's no neutral.

→ 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰𝘀. Your team needs to understand the 𝘸𝘩𝘺 behind the standards—not just the checklist. When they understand the guest experience you're trying to create, they can make decisions in the moment that serve that vision.

→ 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲. This is where most operators fall apart. They set standards but don't enforce them. They give feedback once and assume it sticks. Real accountability is ongoing. It's uncomfortable. And it's non-negotiable if you want to scale.

→ 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆. In that Michelin restaurant, I watched servers look at each other wondering whose table I was. That's a systems failure. Every person on your floor should know exactly what they own—and what they don't.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄.

Margins are tight. Competition is fierce. Guests have more options than ever.

The restaurants that win in this environment aren't the ones with the biggest teams or the fanciest spaces.

They're the ones that deliver a consistent, intentional experience—every single time.

That 60-year-old taco stand understood something that a lot of scaling restaurants forget:

Hospitality isn't about headcount. It's about clarity, standards, and people who give a damn.

Most operators hit a wall between locations 2 and 5.

The systems that worked when you were small start to break. The culture you built starts to feel diluted. You're putting out fires instead of building something sustainable.

And your guests feel it—even if they can't articulate why.

Your guests deserve the same experience at location 4 that they got at location 1.

That only happens when you know where your gaps are—and address them before they become crises.

If you're growing and wondering whether your operation is actually ready for what's next, this 2-minute assessment will show you exactly where you stand.

𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲-𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: 𝗵𝘁𝘁𝗽𝘀://𝗮𝗽𝗶.𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗵𝗾.𝗰𝗼𝗺/𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁/𝘀𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘆/𝗙𝗻𝗷𝟲𝗨𝗛𝗱𝗹𝗘𝟬𝗳𝘅𝗟𝗖𝟵𝗮𝗥𝗯𝗖𝗲

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺—𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵? 𝘏𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸.

#RestaurantLeadership #GuestExperience #MultiUnitGrowth #ScalingRestaurants