Matt Ensero and Justin Egan, founders of Wing It On! talk about how a relentless focus on being authentic has catapulted them to be true chicken champs!
Recorded live at Crave Con 2025, guest host Josh Halpern sat down with Rachael Nemeth, CEO and co-founder of Opus Training, for a candid conversation about one of the most overlooked drivers of restaurant performance: training.
At CraveCon 2025, guest host Josh Halpern sat down with Rachael Nemeth, CEO and co-founder of Opus Training, for a candid conversation about one of the most overlooked drivers of restaurant performance: training.
What emerged from the discussion was clear — the industry is at an inflection point. Legacy systems are failing modern teams, engagement must be reimagined, and AI is about to fundamentally reshape how restaurants develop their people.
Here are the three biggest takeaways operators need to understand.
For decades, restaurant training has followed the same tired playbook: thick binders, long onboarding sessions, and desktop-based LMS platforms designed for office workers — not frontline teams.
Rachael highlighted a critical mismatch: roughly 80% of the global workforce is deskless, yet most training technology was built for the 20% who sit at computers. In restaurants, that gap becomes painfully obvious. Teams are multilingual, constantly moving, and rarely have the time — or access — to sit through traditional training modules.
The result is predictable: low completion rates, poor knowledge retention, and inconsistent execution on the floor.
Even more importantly, many systems create an access barrier. Desktop-first platforms, English-only content, and email-based workflows unintentionally exclude large portions of restaurant teams. As Rachael explained, meeting employees where they are — on their phones, in their preferred language, and in the flow of work — is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s table stakes.
Restaurants that continue relying on legacy models risk falling further behind in both operations and culture.
Jimmy is unequivocal about his investment philosophy: it starts with people, always. You can’t love an idea but dislike the leadership—that’s a dealbreaker.
Whether it’s restaurant brands or technology, Jimmy emphasizes the importance of listening directly to operators, not outsiders building solutions from the guest’s point of view.
The restaurant industry is a people business, and the best ideas come from those who understand the workflow, pressure, and realities of running restaurants day in and day out.
Perhaps the most forward-looking part of the discussion focused on where training is headed next.
Historically, restaurant training has been reactive. A problem shows up in guest feedback. Weeks or months later, someone builds a training module. By then, the damage is already done.
Rachael outlined how AI is flipping that model on its head.
Through integrations with guest feedback platforms like Ovation, Opus can analyze trends, detect anomalies, and push targeted training recommendations to specific locations or teams. Instead of waiting for star ratings to drop, operators can intervene earlier — often before issues become systemic.
Even more transformative is the emergence of AI-powered knowledge assistants. Rather than forcing employees to memorize everything upfront, restaurants can provide on-demand answers in the moment of need. A team member has a question on the floor? They can ask and get instant, brand-specific guidance.
This shift moves training from a one-time event to a living, real-time support system.
For an industry defined by speed, turnover, and operational complexity, that evolution could be game-changing.
Rachael led operations and people for over a decade in the hospitality industry, most recently for Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group. She comes from a family of restaurant veterans, including her grandfather who owned Don's World of Beef, a restaurant chain based in Kansas City in the 1960's. Rachael is also certified in second language acquisition and teaching English as a Second Language.
Justin Egan is the Co-Founder of Wing It On! and Vice President of Marketing & Franchise Development at Craveworthy Brands, where he plays a central role in shaping brand strategy, franchise growth, and consumer engagement across the company’s portfolio.
Currently the CBO for Craveworthy Brands and CEO of Big Chicken. Over 20 years of professional and leadership experience in industries ranging from Consumer-Packaged Goods (CPG), to retail and now the restaurant business.
Gregg Majewski has a vast amount of experience as a corporate executive in the restaurant industry. As the former CEO of Jimmy John’s, he played a major role in expanding the franchise from 33 to 300+ stores in just 5 years by surrounding the company’s marketing strategy around the innovative approach of delivering sandwiches and being “freaky fast”. Majewski has worked to develop restaurant concepts over the last two plus decades, before starting Craveworthy Brands in 2023, which currently includes a growing portfolio of restaurant brands. Craveworthy Media is Majewski’s gift back to the industry that has given him so much. The goal of Craveworthy is to inspire the up and coming industry leaders by providing important information, stories, and insights from titans past and present.
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