Building Strong Restaurant Culture and Smart Technology with Eric Knott

00:00 – Eric Knott:
Foreign.

00:04 – Anthony Presley:
Thanks so much for joining on.

00:07 – Eric Knott:
Thanks for having me.

00:08 – Anthony Presley:
Yeah, absolutely. So we’re here with Eric from Tiki Taco. Do you want to tell everybody a little about yourself and your brand?

00:14 – Eric Knott:
Yeah. I consider myself an industry vet at this point — 27 years, never done anything else. Started washing dishes at nine years old — probably highly illegal back then. I was with Outback Steakhouse for 13 years, then PDQ (a chicken fast casual) from zero to 70 locations, and now I’m with Tiki Taco in Kansas City, Missouri. We have three and a half restaurants.

00:41 – Anthony Presley:
Wow, three and a half restaurants. What’s half a restaurant?

00:44 – Eric Knott:
I’ve been telling people all week — we have a food truck. It’s highly profitable and I recommend every restaurant get into food trucks.

00:55 – Anthony Presley:
That’s probably a deep story. Was that the first or the last?

01:00 – Eric Knott:
It’s actually the last one. We had three brick-and-mortars first, then added the food truck.

01:05 – Anthony Presley:
Wow.

01:05 – Eric Knott:
It’s great for marketing and for large company parties. We did a wedding a few weeks ago. We handle anything from 30 people to over a thousand.

01:16 – Anthony Presley:
Pretty awesome. So is that mainly catering?

01:21 – Eric Knott:
We actually just rolled out a catering menu two weeks ago. Catering is new for Tiki Taco, but it’s more like a private event business. We do weddings, corporate parties, and big events. It’s very sought after.

01:41 – Anthony Presley:
Awesome. Thanks for sharing that. So we’re here at a big tech conference — you’ve done ten of these this year?

01:51 – Eric Knott:
Yeah, this is my tenth one this year. I have three more to go.

01:54 – Anthony Presley:
Wow, that’s a lot. It can be overwhelming for a growing brand. Any tips on how to approach these shows without getting overwhelmed?

02:13 – Eric Knott:
It can definitely be overwhelming. You have to come in with intentionality. Know what you’re looking for — don’t just walk every booth and talk to every vendor. That can become too much. I’ve done ten this year and work with many partners already. But if I were new, I’d come in with clear intentions for the part of the business I want to focus on. Don’t try to build an entire tech stack at one show — it won’t go well.

02:48 – Anthony Presley:
Makes sense. You’ve also been building a lot publicly on LinkedIn. Why do that for Tiki Taco?

03:01 – Eric Knott:
A few reasons. You can learn a lot from other operators, not just at conferences but also on LinkedIn. I say this a lot: Sean from Cali BBQ turned me on to a company called Davo. I’d never heard of it — been to ten conferences and never seen it. They automate sales tax. Not sexy tech, but we don’t have to worry about remitting taxes anymore and it’s very low cost. My point is, you can pick up so much from others if you slide your ego aside and admit you’re not the smartest person in the room.

04:00 – Anthony Presley:
Love it. We’ve heard a lot about what operators want and what problems they’re trying to solve. What do you think is the biggest challenge for growing brands, tech or no tech?

04:30 – Eric Knott:
The problem usually isn’t technology. It’s the foundation of the business. Many people think tech will be a silver bullet, but if you have issues, focus on the foundation first — great food, great people, great culture. Then bring in technology to accelerate what’s working. Tech makes things faster, but it won’t fix your operations.

05:16 – Anthony Presley:
Wise advice. But have you seen it backfire — where tech speeds up a bad situation?

05:26 – Eric Knott:
Yes. If you don’t fix the real issue, tech just speeds it up. For example, if your food or service is bad and you bring in a guest sentiment platform that asks for reviews, you’ll get flooded with negative feedback — and it could go public too.

06:02 – Anthony Presley:
Yeah, that came up yesterday too — CSAT and employee satisfaction are connected. If staff aren’t trained or happy, the customer suffers. Tech can speed up the downfall. So, last few questions: you were brought in to help grow Tiki Taco — any leadership advice for scaling while protecting brand integrity?

06:55 – Eric Knott:
I keep it simple — use the KISS method. Have the right culture and focus on your people. Everything else will follow. Yes, you need to be organized and use tools for growth — like real estate tools, construction management, etc. But at the core, if you have the right people and culture, they’ll take care of the business.

07:50 – Anthony Presley:
Love it. Final question — you’ve seen a lot of conferences. Is there anything you haven’t seen addressed yet in the restaurant space?

08:02 – Eric Knott:
We’ve made big advances in guest-facing tech over the past four years, but we need serious back-of-house innovation — especially connecting procurement, supply chain, inventory, and food prep. Too many inputs, not enough solutions that do it all. We need progress there.

08:40 – Anthony Presley:
Got it. Coming from grocery and c-store, there are tools that don’t yet exist for restaurants. Awesome. Thank you so much for your time.

08:56 – Eric Knott:
Thanks for having me.

08:57 – Anthony Presley:
Appreciate it, man.