From Bartender to Director: Trevor Micklow’s Journey in Restaurant Excellence | Restaurants & Franchises Series

Anthony Codispoti: Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from their successes and be inspired by how they’ve overcome adversity. My name is Anthony Codispoti and today’s guest is Trevor Micklow. He is the director of operations at Doe Boy Restaurant Group, a growing collection of full service restaurants and fast casual concepts. Founded by Rich Labriola, this group operates multiple commercial manufacturing facilities to supply bread and donuts to their locations and they continue to expand at a rate of two to three new spots each year. Trevor has over 10 years of experience in the Chicago service industry, moving from serving roles to top level management. He has introduced new training standards, improved team wellness initiatives and led the launch of fresh restaurant concepts like Pizza Joint. Now under his leadership, Doe Boy Restaurant Group has refined its operations and created a strong culture grounded in collaboration and customer care. Trevor’s past roles, including general manager, helped shape his focus on efficiency, strategic planning and team development.

And I’m excited to learn from his insights on growing a dynamic restaurant business. But before we get into all that good stuff, today’s episode is brought to you by my company, Bad Back Benefits Agency, where we offer very specific and unique employee benefits that are both great for your team and fiscally optimized for your bottom line. One recent client was able to add over $900 per employee per year in extra cash flow by implementing one of our innovative programs. Results vary for each company and some organizations may not be eligible.

To find out if your company qualifies, contact us today at addbackbenefitsagency.com. Alright, now back to our guest today, the director of operations for Doe Boy Restaurant Group, Trevor Miklow. I appreciate you making the time to share your story today.

Trevor Micklow: Thank you so much for having me Anthony, I’m excited to be here.

Anthony Codispoti: Okay, so Trevor, tell us about the Doe Boy Restaurant Group. What was the genesis for this? How did it all get started? Sure.

Trevor Micklow: Sure, so Doe Boy Restaurant Group, or DRG as we refer to it internally, started with Rich Labriola, sole owner. So Rich is from Chicago, he’s a South Side guy, he grew up in Blue Island, grew up baking with his parents in their pizza place. When he was a kid, he was the chief Doe Boy at his parents’ pizza restaurant, learned how to stretch dough, everything baking in terms of pizza.

So that’s Rich’s origin story right there. And he ended up starting Labriola Baking Company, which was super successful. They were baking bread for tons of restaurants in the city. It was going into other grocery markets, very, very popular, became this iconic South Side Chicago brand in the early 90s. So Rich eventually sold the baking company in 1993, and then started Doe Boy Restaurant Group in the early 2000s. So the first restaurant was Labriola Cafe and Bakery.

That’s in Oak Brook, and that was a fast casual concept. So, you know, your morning croissants, your baked goods, your breakfast sandwiches, donuts, coffees, the whole deal. It was order at the counter, go sit at a table and they’ll bring it out to you. And that was the first restaurant in the group. And then about five years later, he ended up opening LaVara and Labriola Restaurante downtown, which is our flagship restaurant, it’s on Michigan Avenue.

Oh nice. It’s right next to the Intercontinental Hotel. So it was three restaurants, Labriola, LaVara, and then Labriola Cafe in Oak Brook. Recently this past summer in July, we merged the two restaurants in Oak Brook into one restaurant. So now that’s called Labriola Restaurante Oak Brook, and we have Labriola Restaurante Chicago.

And both those restaurants mirror each other. We have a restaurant commissary where all the pizza sauce is made, all the dressings, all the soup. It’s all made in one kitchen, and then it’s dispersed to both restaurants. So you could go to Labriola Oak Brook and then Labriola Chicago and you’re going to get the same exact soup, the same exact pizza sauce. We even tread our cheese out there for consistency, so we’re serving the same pizza.

And you know, that’s rooted back to Rich’s baking history where, you know, bakers are super meticulous. Everything’s measured perfectly. Everything’s timed perfectly. It’s all about the details. And he’s taking that style of thinking and cooking and moving it to the restaurant side. So where everything’s dialed in, and you know, we’re tasting the marinara sauce and saying, are the tomatoes a little different?

Are they out of season? Should we switch it up and fall? And constantly making those little tiny adjustments in the commissary kitchen that will, you know, translate to both restaurants in our group. And the third pizza joint down in the loop. So it’s super unique. It’s a great restaurant group to work for. It has those humble roots in Blue Island of Chicago. And we’re growing right now. So super excited.

Anthony Codispoti: Yeah, let me ask you this. You make an interesting point about how bakers are very precise, right? You got to get the ratios of the ingredients just right. You’ve got to have the timing to let the bread rise, you know, just the right intervals. And he’s sort of taken that precision level thinking into, you know, other areas of the restaurant, which, you know, it sounds like you guys have to be extremely efficient operationally. And so it’s interesting to me that you guys have discovered that it was more time and cost effective to prep a lot of the food materials at a central location rather than to do it at each of the individual restaurants.

Trevor Micklow: Yep, exactly. And, you know, that’s a complicated process saying, what does it cost us to make all these dressings, shred all this cheese, make the soups, you know, blend the tomatoes for the sauce? What does it cost us to have a person at each location who we trust is going to do it identical to the other location when we can all just have it in one spot and then buy it from that commissary. And then you have an internal purchase. You can control quality, you can control consistency, and you can forecast your needs for products to that internal commissary.

So it’s super unique. And, you know, there’s lots of learning opportunities. I was growing and I was trying to be more efficient and, you know, provide a quality product. That’s the main goal.

Anthony Codispoti: So I’m curious, what was the bigger driver? Was it like economic efficiency or was it quality control?

Trevor Micklow: And of course you’re going to say both. Yeah, it’s both. Well, you know, we operate a restaurant in downtown Chicago and space is hard to come by in this city. I’m sure you’ve heard that before. And our kitchen is not massive in the back, you know, we’re a nine million dollar restaurant. We’re going to be a 10 million dollar restaurant this year. We are pumping out pizzas and pastas like no other. So our, our prep space is so small that to achieve those numbers, it actually wouldn’t even be possible without that commissary kitchen. Interesting.

Anthony Codispoti: And you said that you’re growing. Is that growth just coming from being able to put more butts in the seats at the existing restaurants or are there any new concepts, any new locations opening up?

Trevor Micklow: Yeah, you know, I think the growth is fueled by a couple of things. It’s fueled by the success of both of our restaurants, the popularity. Labriol is growing. We’re starting to hear Labriol is named more and more throughout Chicago. I feel like, you know, we’ve finally taken off and we’ve, we’ve hit the pavement. We put the tire to the road and we’re going. We just opened Pizza Joint in December.

That’s in the loop. That’s at the Washington food hall at 15 West Washington. And that’s a super special concept because it’s three different pizzas that we don’t serve at either restaurant, only Pizza Joint. And it’s a proprietary new pizza that no one’s heard about in Chicago, which is the handheld deep dish.

Anthony Codispoti: Say more handheld deep. There’s something new. There’s something new in pizza.

Trevor Micklow: I just did a plug there. Yeah. Let’s hear it. The handheld deep dish, man. It’s, you know, it’s, it’s just a little bread pan that we take the deep dish dough that we make at these commissaries, right? Just form a little mini deep, you know, those little bread pans that, you know, looks like you could serve like a single banana bread piece.

And okay. So you put the dough on the bottom, same deep dish sauce, the cheese, and we bake them all individually. So now we have caramelized crust around each edge.

You know, it’s about this big. We wrap it in parchment paper so you can just grab it and you can eat it literally like a sandwich on the go. It’s a handheld deep dish. And also, uh, the thing about deep dish pizzas is they’re massive. You know, our smallest deep dish is a 12 inch deep dish. If we get smaller, the pizza starts to burn and we’re jeopardizing the integrity of the product. So this offers someone the ability to try Chicago’s iconic deep dish pizza without having to order a meal for four people.

So super exciting. So pizza joints offering the handheld deep dish. We’re also doing a Sicilian pie, which is, you know, that like square cut focaccia style crust. Um, and then we’re doing a New York slice as well, which, um, you know, I didn’t realize the need or want for New York slices in the city of Chicago, but people love them and they’re coming in for them.

Anthony Codispoti: Got to give the customer what they want. I’m excited about this handheld deep dish. Um, for a couple of reasons, the first thing that drew me in was when you’re talking about that smaller size, it allows the, the cheese to caramelize, uh, around all the edges, which, uh, you know, when you sort of get a traditional deep dish, I mean, everybody’s sort of like something different. But I like that, that caramelized cheese around the edge.

I want like a little bit of that, that crust edge, uh, but there’s only so many pieces that have that and none of the pieces have it on all four edges. Uh, and then the other thing that you’re talking about that’s cool is this is like a grab and go. This is, you know, Chicago, you know, it’s a, it’s a big city. People are on the move. You know, they’re, they’re jumping in a cab. They’re, they’re getting on the, the metro system there. You know, take this and, you know, I can eat this while I’m on the move. So that’s kind of fun. So it’s already available in which location? Sorry, you broke up there, Anthony. Uh, which location is the handheld deep dish available in now?

Trevor Micklow: So it’s at the Washington food hall. It’s 15 West Washington state street in Washington. Uh, we’re open six days a week, Monday through Saturday opens at 11 a.m. closes at 7 p.m. Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti: Um, so I know that you’re not involved with, uh, the stands donut side of things, but let’s talk a little bit about that to tell us, cause it’s also follows under the, the DRG umbrella. Tell us about this brand.

Trevor Micklow: Sure. Sure. So, um, stands came to Chicago in 2004, uh, but stands originated in LA. The owner was Stan Berman. Um, Rich met Stan. They formed a friendship. Um, you know, Stan actually recently passed away this year.

Um, or this past year, 2024, I believe. Um, I never personally met him, but I heard he was a great guy. Um, but it was this iconic LA donut shop and, you know, Stan was getting older and he met rich and said he wanted someone to, you know, you know, pass his legacy to, right? So, uh, Rich said, I think I’m the guy, you know, I’m your baker from Chicago, hand it over.

Um, so the rest is history. I mean, we have 17 standalone stand stores. We have, um, eight or nine in Mariano’s that, um, the Mariano’s kind of runs for us. But, you know, um, it’s like one of those management deals. Um, but it’s, it’s becoming that brand, you know, when everyone sees Stan and donuts, they see the pink sign of stands. Um, it’s becoming one of the most popular donut shops in the city. So we have one in La Brio at the Michigan Ave location. So under the same roof, uh, there’s just a half wall separating the restaurant with stands.

So it’s a super dangerous place to work. I got a donut and coffee shop over there. I got deep dish pizza over here. And you know, every other day, I got to choose a salad for lunch because it’s, uh, you

Anthony Codispoti: know, gotta balance it out a little bit. Do your body a favor. Give yourself a little break there. Um, and so our most of the locations in the Chicago area, I know you said to start it out in LA. Yep.

Trevor Micklow: Yep. So all locations are in the Chicago area currently. Okay.

Anthony Codispoti: So the original locations in LA are no longer around.

Trevor Micklow: You know, I, I’m not sure. Fair enough. I don’t want to speak to that.

Anthony Codispoti: How let’s, let’s shift gears back to you. And I’d like to hear about how your, the opportunity for you first became available at the RG.

Trevor Micklow: Okay. See, this is the part I’m nervous about because I always hate talking about myself and, um, you know, I’m super humbled to have been able to get to the position where I’m at. Um, I started in the restaurant industry 12 years ago. I moved to Chicago, um, from Michigan and I got an internship at a music house, writing music for commercials and movies and TV and stuff. It was an unpaid, it was my passion. Um, it’s what I wanted to do. Um, so it was this unpaid internship to try to break into the Chicago music industry, but I needed to supplement my income. So I ended up getting a serving job at a pizza place in the loop. Um, a couple of years later moved over to another restaurant, continued to serve.

Uh, wanted to grow. So started bartending and I bartended for a long time, learned a lot about the liquor beer wine program. And you know, that’s really where I sewed my oats in this restaurant industry. Um, I’d probably still be bartending if it wasn’t for COVID, to be honest with you, because I loved it so much. And I loved making drinks and being active and moving and making regulars and talking to customers and coming up with new cocktails. And, um, you know, I was so lucky to be on this bar team with this senior group of bartenders who really taught me that if you do anything for the customer, or you make them the best drink or you make them feel like you, you know, they’re the only person that matters at that bar that they will keep on coming back to you and you will, you will grow this base that is so rewarding.

You’ll love your job. Um, so that’s what I did. I did it for a long time and then COVID hit and I said, all right, I got to go. I got to do something else. Um, so that’s when I stepped into management, stepped into bar management. Did that for a while?

Anthony Codispoti: But hang on, Trevor, I want to interrupt you here because I understand why you kind of had to shift gears during COVID from the bartending gig that you love. Um, but how are you moving into bar management now? If the bars are closed?

Trevor Micklow: Um, so this was right when we came out of COVID.

Anthony Codispoti: Okay. And so what’s the timeline for this? Uh, what do you mean? When, when, uh, when did you get into bar management then? When were things kind of coming back around and opening up in Chicago?

Trevor Micklow: I think 2021 or 2020.

Anthony Codispoti: Uh, well, 2020 was when COVID hit. So maybe like a year or so later, things were kind of getting a little bit more back to normal there in Chicago. Yeah.

Trevor Micklow: It was August or September of 2020 is when I went into. Okay.

Anthony Codispoti: So it was several months, sort of things are shut down. And then that summer, um, you, there’s an opportunity and you, you kind of find yourself in bar management. Yep. Yeah. Okay.

Trevor Micklow: All right. So go ahead. What happens next? So going to bar management and, um, you know, learn as much as I can with, uh, the current restaurant group of Matt and then a former colleague reached out to me who was actually, um, the general manager of La Vreola and asked me to come over as the assistant general manager. Um, and this was about two, two and a half years after I started managing the bar. Um, so came over great opportunity, opportunity to work with, um, a colleague who I worked with for many, many years. Um, and then, uh, he ended up stepping down about a year later and I took over as general manager, um, and did that for about a year. And then the opportunity arose to be director and, you know, the rest is history.

Anthony Codispoti: So I understand Trevor, you’re, uh, a little humble. Don’t, don’t like to talk about yourself a whole lot, but try to break outside that shell a little bit here. And what is it that you think that they saw in you at La Vreola that they first invited you to be the assistant general manager and then to move up in the general manager and then eventually your current role director of ops.

What, what was it you were bringing to the table that they were like, yep, we want this guy and we want to keep moving him up through the ranks. Sure.

Trevor Micklow: Um, I think the main thing is focusing on the customer experience. And that’s something that has been ingrained in me since the beginning is making sure that every person that walks through that door has the best experience of their life because. You know, it’s about the food, but it’s also about the people. And I don’t know about you, but when we decide where we’re going to go eat and what we’re going to do on our days off, the first thing we ask ourselves is, who do we know that Barton’s there?

Who do we know that works there? And I feel like everyone does that, you know, and maybe that’s the bartender in me where, you know, I will do anything for that person that’s sitting at that bar and now who’s dying in that restaurant. If you have a kid who’s screaming and crying and the only thing they eat is Chick-fil-A chicken tenders, I’ll go over to Chick-fil-A.

I’ll buy some chicken tenders, we’ll put them on a plate and we’ll give them to the kid because what that’s going to mean to that parent and that family is so much more than anything else you can do. So it’s the need for customer satisfaction. And I just think I have this constant drive to continue to be better every single day. So I think the combination of those two is what’s led me to the success that I’ve had. There’s never an off day. Every single day is an opportunity to be more efficient, be better and say, how can, you know, we grow as a team.

Anthony Codispoti: What do you think that drive comes from? Is there something in your upbringing? Is it just innate in your genes? Did you have kind of a, some transformative experiences along the way?

Trevor Micklow: I think it comes from my parents. I think it comes from my parents. It comes from my brother. You know, both my mom and my dad were super hard workers. My mom was a high school science teacher. You know, she ran the negotiations for the entire school for them. She got awarded some awards in the state of Michigan for being an incredible teacher.

She truly, truly cared about our students and it shined through her work and her passion to teach people. And then my dad owned a custom cabinetry shop, which I grew up working in as a kid. So, you know, he has a really interesting story. He was going to go to med school and then he ended up hitting the cancel button, went to the library, got a book on how to make roll-top desks, opened up this wood shop.

30 years later sold it to his two foremen and retired in his late fifties. And, you know, same with my brother. My brother went to law school. He was a lawyer. He said, I’m done with this.

This doesn’t make me happy. He ended up going into financial management. So, I feel like our whole family has this drive to be successful and to never let up and just keep on climbing. And it’s funny, I was just having this conversation with my parents that sometimes you need to stop and just say, okay, I’m going to sit here for right now and I’m going to master the spot and not be focused on how can I grow tomorrow, next week, next month?

Anthony Codispoti: I think that’s interesting what you say there about because I think people who like, you know, like you, Trevor, who are kind of motivated to advance in life. I think most people sort of look at, you know, how can I get to the next position? How can I get the next pay raise? How can I, you know, kind of advance my career in that way?

And so it’s really interesting to hear sort of the mindset that you have, which is more about, listen, this is where I am right now. How can I master this? How can I be the best version of Trevor Miklow at this thing that I’m doing right now? And have that be your primary focus rather than, you know, how do I get the next pay raise? And from my experience, people who can do that and just kind of be lasered in on leveling up on this present task, those are the people who will see those other things fall in line for them more quickly.

Trevor Micklow: For sure. And, you know, you have to think, I need to be the best at this task because I’m going to have to teach it to somebody and I need to know every single detail of it because, first of all, I’m not going to progress if I don’t teach someone everything I know so they can come up behind me and step into that role. And I think that’s a role, I think that’s a detail that a lot of people miss is if you just focus on developing people under you, you’re just going to continue to grow because it’s going to make you better at your job, it’s going to make you sharper, it’s going to help you know your industry better and it’s going to fuel your growth because the people who are going to give you those promotions and those raises are going to say, this person develops leadership. That’s a coveted skill, you know, that’s a very unique skill. If you can’t develop people and teach people and get people to follow you, then what are you doing?

Anthony Codispoti: And I think the other side to that, I agree 100% with what you just said, Trevor. And the other side to that is in order for you to teach something to somebody else, you have to know it inside out, upside down, left to right.

And so getting yourself to that position of being able to teach it and train somebody else in it means that you’ve had to level up your own understanding of it, which kind of goes hand in hand with what you were just saying before about, hey, I want to be laser focused on being the best at this current task that I can. Sure. So talk us through now, you know, as the Director of Operations at DRG, what are your daily duties look like? What is the responsibility of somebody in that role? Sure.

Trevor Micklow: You know, the daily duties are always changing, but you have to think of it, what’s the main purpose of my job? What am I here to do? And it’s to make sure our customers happy and are happy, and it’s to make sure that the restaurants are profitable.

So on a daily basis, that can change from being inserted into operations for a day, a week, a month, or it can shift from being behind the computer and reviewing the purchase orders, reviewing the PNL, reviewing the financial statements. How do we purchase food? How do we purchase liquor? How do we purchase dry goods?

What are the systems for those? Sit down with that person. How do you do it? Walk me through how you do it?

Where’s your order guide? How is it different in January than it is in July? Ask in those questions. So it’s a lot like everything in the service industry is so intertwined, and being a server or a bartender has the same inherent qualities as being a floor manager, an AGM, a GM, a director. It’s all about listening to the needs of whatever you’re in charge of, right?

If you’re a bartender, you need to listen to the needs of the customers. Are you hungry? Do you want privacy? Do you want me to talk to you? Are you guys on a first date?

Are you a couple that’s been together for 20 years? Bartenders naturally develop all those skills, right? And you read every single person differently. It’s the same thing as a director. What does this restaurant need versus what does this restaurant need, right? Does this management team have everything locked down, or are they a little deluded in what they should be focusing on? Well, in that case, I’m going to spend more time directly with each manager. If we’re getting good reviews, if financials are looking good, then I’m going to focus more on how can we be better? How can we be more efficient?

Anthony Codispoti: I want to go back to the idea of the commissary that you guys opened up to supply the other restaurants, because you made the point that real estate is limited in Chicago, right? And so you can’t really afford to have the necessary prep space at each individual restaurant. So would I be correct in assuming then that the commissary is maybe located a little bit outside the city, where it’s a little bit more cost-effective to have a larger space to do that prep work? Correct.

Trevor Micklow: Commissary is an old book. It’s actually in the kitchen of a labriola restaurante Elbrough. Okay.

Anthony Codispoti: Which makes it even more efficient. Yeah, you’ve got a single lease for all of that.

Trevor Micklow: Yeah, they can make the food for, you know, all the sauces and stuff for that restaurant, and then deliver it to us as we order from them. Gotcha.

Anthony Codispoti: Are they supplying other restaurants as well, or just within your group?

Trevor Micklow: Also a pizza joint. Everything’s within our group. Okay.

Anthony Codispoti: You know, Trevor, you were talking about sort of the importance of being able to train people, bring them up behind you, you know, be a good leader. Any like innovative practices that you’ve implemented that’s had a big effect either on a staff performance or morale that might be fun to talk about?

Trevor Micklow: That’s a good question. Innovative, I don’t know.

Anthony Codispoti: Stop being humble. What is something that you’ve introduced that has had a positive effect on performance or morale? Look at it that way.

Trevor Micklow: You know training is all about structure and it’s all about being organized. And I think the most important part about training is whatever new employees being brought in, making them feel that they are part of an organized family that is excited to have them join the family.

Right? So if you’re a new server or you’re a new host or you’re a new manager, when you show up, I should have already, let’s say a new manager, you know, I’ve already completed setting up your email, I’ve already set up all your logins for you. I already have your business cards ordered. You know, I have everything printed out in this folder ready to go. I have the HR team ready to run orientation for you.

All these steps have been preparation before you’ve even stepped foot in the building. And that’s a message that says, okay, these people are excited to have me here. And they’re serious about what they do. So not only is my decision to join this group been validated, but they’re pretty serious.

So I better, you know, bring my A game, right? So I think getting all that stuff in line is one of the most important things that I’ve helped develop. And then just the structured training programs, you know, I didn’t personally develop all of them, but I had my hand in all of them. And, you know, each position is different, whether it’s back of house, front of house, whether it’s a line cook or a pizza cook, or it’s a sous chef or a manager, they all require different setups of training, they all need to be given that schedule and that responsibility. The most recent training that I worked on was just the general, the basic floor manager training and what that process looks like. And we extended that to be a six week program, where they go through every position in the restaurant, they start in the back of house, they spend time with the prep team, they get to know our product and how we make it. They move to the line, they move the pizza station, they spend half a shift with the dishwasher and with a busser, then they move to the front of house, you know, host, server bartender. So not only does this person get to see every area of the restaurant and how it’s ran, but they get to form relationships and meet people along the way, and individually kind of, you know, build the culture that they’re one of the leaders in the restaurant. And they’re willing to do every position and know a little bit about every position.

Anthony Codispoti: So here’s what I like about your answer there, Trevor, because I was asking for something innovative, right? And that caused you pause, you’re like, I don’t know. And I think a lot of times we get, and I was just guilty of that too, wrapped up in what was this huge new explosive, like, first of its kind idea that you came up with.

And we discount what was your answer, which was lots of attention to detail. Now you’re talking about, you know, getting things prepped for, you know, new hires coming on board, having business cards, just sending that message to people that, hey, we’re happy you’re here, you know, you’re part of the team now, we’re, we put a lot of effort into sort of rolling out the welcome map for you. And because I’ve been guilty of this in my entrepreneurial career so many times, where I am always looking for that, you know, next new big bang, wow, you know, fireworks kind of a moment. And there is such beauty in the simplicity of just focusing on the tiny little details and making sure that what we’re doing now, we’re doing the best way possible.

Trevor Micklow: Sure, sure. And, you know, I could be wrong here, but focusing on the details takes a lot of energy. It requires a massive amount of energy. And sometimes you have to force yourself to do it because you don’t have any left and you worked a long shift and it’s been a long day. And that’s when that extra hour of work or that extra time or, you know, sitting on the couch at home at 11pm on the laptop, writing a training schedule, sometimes is necessary. Now I would never tell anyone to do it, but I’m going to do it if it means that you’re showing up to the job tomorrow and we’re not prepared for you. Well, that’s not me and I need to hold myself accountable for that.

Anthony Codispoti: Yeah, it’s, you know what, that attention to detail, it’s not sexy, right? It’s not as fun to talk about as the, what was it, the handheld deep dish pizza that I got really excited about. But it is just as important as ideas like that. In fact, more important so that all the infrastructure, the lattice that exists, you know, throughout the operation is, you know, able to support, you know, everything that you guys are trying to do. Definitely. Talk to me about community engagement, Trevor. Is that something that’s important to the organization to get involved with that at all?

Trevor Micklow: Yeah, yeah. So, you know, we are involved in Lurie’s Children Hospital. DRG runs an event for them every year. We do a Stan’s 5K donut race for charity. Trying to think what else we’re involved in.

Pizza Fest with Steve Dylinski. We get tons of donation emails all the time and we find a way to get involved one way or another. Why is that so important to you guys? Well, you know, it’s important to be a part of the community of Chicago and to be involved and to have our group out there and donate back to, you know, just causes.

Anthony Codispoti: So, tell us about that Pizza Fest. That one sounds fun and interesting.

Trevor Micklow: Oh, yes, Steve Dylinski Pizza Fest is actually held at the Salt Shed, which is the old Morton Salt factory in Chicago that’s been converted into a concert venue. It still has that big Morton Salt. Are you familiar?

Anthony Codispoti: I’m not, no, but please go on.

Trevor Micklow: Okay, so it’s huge Salt Factory and it says Morton Salt along this, you know, giant roof that’s one of our main highways going through the city. 1994, you can see it as you’re driving down and the factory closed down.

I don’t know when, but they ended up converting it into a concert venue called the Salt Shed right on the Chicago River. Huge patio. So it’s really fun, you know, pizza restaurants go and they participate and there’s a big line and people buy tickets.

I think they’re like $200 a person or something and there’s bands playing and, you know, you can buy a limited pizza or you can try like eight to 10 places and it’s just a super fun event to get exposure and, you know, be more involved in the community.

Anthony Codispoti: You know, you are somebody who has and continues to oversee multiple locations and kind of different restaurant types, full service, fast, casual. Curious if there are any unexpected kind of operational insights that you’ve gained from juggling these different concepts?

Trevor Micklow: Yeah, I mean, you know, fast, casual versus sit down, they’re both very different concepts and they require different attention to detail. You know, fast, casual, you have to kind of switch your brain and think that there’s a screen with a clock up there ticking down from three minutes because if you’re going to a food hall and you want some pizza and you’re on your lunch break, you know, time is very important to those people. So it’s that balance of efficiency and maintaining integrity of the quality of food and then, you know, focusing on that personal touch and making sure that, you know, the cashier or the manager or the cook is interacting with the guests and making regulars and, you know, that’s still that touch of that like sit down service, but focus on the quality of the product and how quickly we can get it in their hands, right? But with sit down, you know, it’s the exact opposite. It’s, well, you know, there’s the quality of the product, but that focus is entirely on how can you make this person remember you? How can you have a moment that impacts them in their day, you know, and it’s all about reading the guests and what do they want?

Anthony Codispoti: Yeah. You know, a lot of folks I talked to, Trevor, still talk about how it’s a pretty tight labor market out there. So hard to find good folks once you find them, continues to be hard to hold on to them. I’m curious, any things that you guys have tried and found success with? How do you find and then hold on to good employees? Yeah.

Trevor Micklow: Well, there’s a couple of things that I’d like to address here. The labor market super tight. And, you know, everyone in Chicago is pretty scared about the tipped minimum wage increase and how that will affect restaurant profitability and how you’re dealing with it. Because as it increases year over year, you need to adjust your labor model and say, well, how do we get out of this and be profitable? Because the goal is usually 18%, right? And as that tip wage increases, that target becomes harder and harder to hit. What I’ve been finding is…

Anthony Codispoti: Sorry, real quick, Trevor, but before you kind of go into the details of this, probably a lot of people listening that don’t understand the context of the tip minimum wage increase kind of explain it for like a five year old, if you wouldn’t mind.

Trevor Micklow: So traditionally in the restaurant industry, tipped employees like servers, bartenders, bussers, food runners, they would get paid a tipped minimum wage, which is lesser than the hourly minimum wage. This is because they make tips from customers. So their wage is supplemented by the tips from the customer, right? Well, a lot was passed two years ago, increasing the tip minimum wage over the next five years up to the hourly minimum wage. So now restaurants need to make a decision. Do we continue to accept tips from customers? Do we make a wage adjustment and start focusing only on hourly?

What’s the solution here? And we’re still working on that ourselves. But what I have found is as tipped minimum wage increases and our availability to have more people on the floor decreases, the pressure on management to maintain quality employees who can handle larger sections, who are reliable, a food runner who produces as you know, who runs twice the amount of food than your average food runner, you start to focus on those people and employ those people because that’s the only way you’re going to hit your labor goals and create a profit for the restaurant, which you know, we need, we need that to continue to serve food, right? And it’s always a stubble edge sort of how profitable can we be versus how can we provide the best product, best experience for the customer and not sacrifice it? Does that make sense?

Anthony Codispoti: It does. And I know that you said that you guys are still kind of working through that. Do you have any sense where you’re going to kind of land on this? Actually, first of all, what is the timeline for when we’re recording this in January of 2025? When’s the timeline for when a Chicago tip minimum wage is supposed to increase to the regular minimum wage?

Trevor Micklow: So I believe by 2028, it should be even. Can you excuse me for a second? My dog is crying and I need to give him some water.

Anthony Codispoti: Got to take care of man’s best friend. Okay. Sorry about that. No problem. We’ll do a quick editing job on that. Okay.

Trevor Micklow: So the next part of the question is how do you keep good employees, you know, hire good employees, retain good employees? And you know, that is a culture thing. And I’ve always, I preach about this constantly is it’s a top down culture thing.

And it needs to trickle down from the management team to the hourly staff. And it starts with me. It starts with me taking care of my management team and making sure that that team is in the best spot they can be in. They’re doing what they want to do each day. They feel fulfilled each day. They’re growing. They’re learning new things. And that there’s opportunities for them to grow within the company. If they’re happy, they’re going to take care of that hourly staff. And they’re going to push that energy onto the hourly staff and say, does the service staff have everything they need?

Do they have all the tools they need to be successful? Where are the bartenders at? Are they bored? Are they happy with the new cocktail program? When we’re writing a new cocktail program, we should get them involved. We take our bartenders to cocktail labs and help them and give them the opportunity to write drink menus with us, name the drinks. We have a bartender group text. If you guys have a new cocktail, you think it’s cool, you have a name for something, send it in the group, make it.

Let’s try it. So including their creativity with the bussers, with the runners, making sure that they’re supported in all the tools that they have. Same with the kitchen, making sure that the whole back of house staff is set up for success, that the kitchen’s cleaned regularly, that they’re given all the tools, new pans, not too lean on labor so they feel like they’re grinding it out when there should be more employees back there. All that matters so much in terms of retaining the good people. And then it trickles down to the customer. So happy managers, happy employees, happy customers.

Anthony Codispoti: Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. What does the future of the labryol, the concepts and DRG in general look like?

Trevor Micklow: So right now we’re looking at a couple new locations. We’re looking at another restaurant in the loop possibly, and then another restaurant in Fulton Market. Those are to be determined, but the next concept is going to be a high-end tavern concept. You know, we have the Ritchie Burger on our menu right now.

It’s a special blend, house-made pretzel bun from one of our commissaries, white diamond cheddar. So, you know, we’re looking to transition into that elevated tavern concept where you can get a really good burger, you can get, you know, some elevated tavern food, maybe like an imperial stout, and a really nicely lit, you know, well-designed bar. So that’s going to be the next step for us, and hopefully it’s in 2025.

Anthony Codispoti: Oh, okay. The way that you were talking, you were kind of looking at locations. It kind of suggested to me that this could be pretty far out, but you’re saying this could happen in the next 12 months. Yeah. Yeah, that would be fun. And it’s interesting to me, you know, you guys, to me, from an operational perspective, I feel like it would be a lot more efficient if you were just opening more of the exact same concept, right? Sort of like rinse and repeat, kind of like the, I know that you don’t franchise, but like the value of like a franchise model. It’s like, yeah, we’ve got this formula, we’ve got it figured out, now we can go and, you know, more or less rubber stamp it in different locations. But you guys have decided to take a little bit of a different approach. And I generally see that this comes because there’s a very strong creative flair that sort of runs through the DNA of the company. Is that kind of what’s going on here? Like it’s just more fun to do it this way?

Trevor Micklow: Yeah, you know, Rich has been called a serial entrepreneur. And, you know, I don’t know if it’s, I think it’s feel directly from him because he’s always creating something new, whether it’s a crazy donut or it’s a new dish for the restaurant. So, yeah, that creative spark flows through the whole company. And it’s one of the things that makes it so exciting to work for DRG.

Anthony Codispoti: Tell me about the Richie burger. What is that? What makes that special?

Trevor Micklow: The Richie burger. So the Richie burger has a special blend of beef. It has the housemade pretzel roll, which, you know, can’t get anywhere else, comes from our commissary, comes from the mind of Rich Labriola. We have the, sorry, it’s the black diamond white cheddar. I fry it on a flat top with unsalted European butter to kind of caramelize it. So it got.

Anthony Codispoti: Sorry, you fried the cheese or the entire sandwich? The burger. The burger itself. Okay.

Trevor Micklow: Just the burger patty. Just the burger patty. So it got awarded for Best Burger, like nine years ago from the Tribune. And then, you know, since then we’ve been identified as our pizza place, which, you know, the pizza’s the star. Everyone comes here for the pizza. But we’re in the back saying, how do we get people to notice the burger, you know?

Anthony Codispoti: How can we put more of a spotlight on that? Well, which of the restaurants can they get the Richie burger at?

Trevor Micklow: They can get it at Labriola Oak Brook and Labriola downtown Chicago.

Anthony Codispoti: And then possibly in this new tavern concept that may open at some point.

Trevor Micklow: Possibly, yeah. Or, you know, you might just see another Labriola out there. We’ll see. Okay.

Anthony Codispoti: All right. Alright. Shifting gears a little bit here, Trevor. I’d be curious to hear about a serious challenge that you overcome. Maybe it’s something personal, professional, maybe a combination of the two. How you got through that and what you learned in that process? Yeah.

Trevor Micklow: You know, serious challenges. Thinking non specifically, I think it’s a challenge that I’m faced with on a daily basis. And it’s just battling the imposter syndrome of climbing the ranks from bartender to manager to AGM to GM and now director and at every single role, questioning whether you should be here, whether you’re good at the job, whether you’re fit for the job.

And I feel like a lot of people have that. But, you know, every single day saying, do I deserve this role? And am I doing enough to be in this role?

And it’s that little voice inside you that I don’t know if like you’re not good enough is the word. But, you know, are you doing enough to be the director of operations? What does that mean to the company? And what does that mean to you?

And can you sleep well at night after you’ve completed a day of work, right? And I know that sounds so like serious and like acting like I’m like going to war or something. But it means a lot to me. And I think with that like strong meaning and just really like holding the accountability of, you know, are my managers happy or my employees happy? Am I doing a good job? Creates that little voice in your head every day where you say, do I deserve this? And am I worth it? Right? So, you know, every day you got to validate your your accomplishments, right?

Anthony Codispoti: You know, it’s interesting because this idea of imposter syndrome that and I see this a lot in high performers, entrepreneurs, managers, C-suite level people. And for a long time, and oftentimes I still feel this way when when it kind of sets in for me, it feels like, why am I sort of dealing with this cloud of questioning myself, right? It’s like, I can look at my achievements, you can look at your achievements, right?

You wouldn’t have been invited to become an assistant general manager and then a general manager and then director of operations and they wouldn’t keep you there if you weren’t being successful in that role. Like you can step back and you can kind of objectively like look at that. But then there’s another part of your brain that’s really questioning all that and doubting that. And it’s like, oh, you know, they’re going to find me out someday. And you know, know that I am I actually don’t know what I’m doing.

I’m just making it up as I’m going along. That voice I have come to believe can actually be really helpful. If you can hear it a little bit and not let it get too loud, because I think it’s a big part of what kicks us in the rear end every day to get up out of bed and to go do something again, or to go do something new or to find a better way to do it. And I had a guest who put it in a way that I’ve never really thought about it and he’s like, it used to be debilitating for me. He’s like, but now I consider my imposter syndrome to be my superpower.

He’s like the fact that I’ve got this nagging voice sort of doubting and questioning me is what forces me to get up and try to level the bar up every day. Sure.

Trevor Micklow: Sure.

Anthony Codispoti: Does any of that ring true for you? Yeah, yeah, you know, it’s it’s the voice in your head that says no one’s going to hold yourself accountable except yourself. And you always have to keep yourself in check and be doing self assessments and saying, am I am I doing enough?

And am I doing it correctly? No, any specific mentors, books, experiences, other podcasts that you want to call out that have been helpful to you and kind of your trajectory?

Trevor Micklow: Oh, wow. Yeah, you know, I’m always reading like self help books and self growth books. Eckhart Tolle played a huge part in my development of how I operate within the world. And just kind of living in every moment and accepting it for what it is. So, you know, trying to pull that ego back and, you know, just say this is the moment this is the moment I’ve been given.

And I need to deal with it and not try to change it, but accept it and live through it. So that made a huge impact for me. In terms of mentors, I’ve had a lot throughout my life and in the restaurant group. And I’m grateful for all of them. One is Matt Graham, who is now the vice president of operations for Boca Restaurant Group. So he was the general manager at a restaurant I worked at way back when. And, you know, he made a huge impact on how I see the customer and how I manage the restaurant on a day to day basis. Yeah.

Anthony Codispoti: Nice. It’s always nice to give a shout out to those folks who have helped us along the way. You know, Trevor, I’ve just got one more question for you. But before I ask it, I want to do two things. First, for those listening today who like today’s content, and I know that’s all of you, because Trevor’s been a great guest. Please hit the like, share, or subscribe button on your favorite podcast app. Trevor, I also want to let people know the best way to get in touch with you. What would that be? Sure.

Trevor Micklow: So my email is T. Miklo. That’s T. M-I-C-K-L-O-W at LabriolaCafe.com. Or you can just come into the restaurant and see me. I’m usually there on Tuesdays and Fridays downtown at the Michigan Avenue location. I’m at Elk Brook on Thursdays, and I’m down at the Pizza Joint on Wednesdays. And Saturdays, you know, I’ll be at any one of the three locations. But come see me in person. I’d love to meet you and buy you a cocktail.

Anthony Codispoti: Oh, that’s awesome. What an offer. Who could say none of that? Last question for you, Trevor. Yeah, right. When does it expire? When people have to take you up on that?

Trevor Micklow: Come see me until March 20th. March 20th is my day when the restaurant finally kicks into, you know, spring, summer season. So get in here in the winter.

Anthony Codispoti: All right. It’s a little quiet for him now. He’s got some time to kind of chat with you if you hook up. Okay. So last question for you, Trevor. I’m kind of curious to hear your thoughts on what are going to be the big changes coming to the restaurant industry in the next couple of years?

Trevor Micklow: Big changes. You know, I think efficiency is where we’re at right now. How can we find other line items and points to make up for this labor increase? So I think efficiency will be the focus of every restaurant group and not sacrificing the quality of the food, but still driving those costs down, whether it’s food costs, operational costs, liquor beer, wine costs. So we can still survive as a restaurant industry with all the challenges that we’ve faced.

Anthony Codispoti: Well, Trevor, I want to be the first one to thank you for sharing both your time and your story with us today. I really appreciate it.

Trevor Micklow: Thank you so much for having me, Anthony. It was super fun.

Anthony Codispoti: Folks, that’s a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories podcast. Thanks for learning with us today.