Bar & Restaurant Expo 2025

Must be 21+ to attend Bar & Restaurant Expo. Please bring your valid I.D.

In this advanced workshop, bar and restaurant owners will learn how to elevate their operations by fostering a true hospitality mindset within their teams. Going beyond basic customer service, this session focuses on creating a guest-first culture that drives loyalty, satisfaction, and long-term business success. Learn how to instill a sense of purpose in every interaction, empowering your staff to exceed guest expectations and deliver memorable experiences. This workshop will provide actionable strategies to build a culture that prioritizes genuine hospitality at every touchpoint.
• Develop and communicate core values that emphasize hospitality in every aspect of your business.
• Train staff to anticipate guest needs and personalize service accordingly.
• Implement regular feedback loops to ensure continuous improvement in guest interactions.
• Foster a culture of empathy and empowerment, enabling your team to handle challenging situations gracefully.
• Create recognition programs that reward employees for embodying the hospitality mindset and going above and beyond for guests.

In today’s competitive and fast-changing restaurant landscape, businesses may need a pivot for various reasons—whether it’s due to shifts in the marketplace, increasing competition, outdated menus, or even the need for a cosmetic refresh. Successfully navigating these changes requires a clear and strategic approach. Whether the issue is culinary direction, customer engagement, or operational inefficiencies, this session will help restaurant owners and managers create a clear path to revitalization.

• Identify Core Challenges: Participants will articulate the specific challenges their restaurant faces, whether it’s menu fatigue, market pressures, or operational inefficiencies, setting the foundation for revitalization
• Asses how your restaurant’s brand, audience, and market position stack up against competitors, using this information to guide the revitalization process.
• Learn how to incorporate the correct key partners, to assess or design recommendations for solutions
• Evaluate your financial resources, define operational processes, and implement testing strategies to ensure the successful execution of your new concept.
• Develop a clear, actionable plan to re-create the process with your team and revitalize your restaurants.

In this workshop, participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of key strategies for managing beverage operations. From mastering cocktail pricing and controlling labor costs to navigating the complexities of single-unit versus multi-location bars, this session will provide the tools needed to streamline operations and drive growth. Participants will also learn how to create effective Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), analyze market trends, and build strategic partnerships to strengthen their brand.
What participants can expect to learn:

• Pricing cocktails and managing labor costs effectively
• Handling operations for single versus multi-location bars
• Developing SOPs to streamline processes
• Understanding market demands and customer preferences
• Forming smart partnerships for business growth

You’ve done the hard work, opened your business, and successfully promoted it and the sales are coming in.  But how do you make it profitable?  This seminar will take a deep dive into basic and advanced restaurant accounting helping to ensure you run a profitable business.  Participants will learn the art of calculating, controlling, recording, and profiting from the numbers that every successful operation needs to know.  The purpose of this seminar will be to familiarize operators not only with the three most important costs affecting an operation (the Prime Numbers: Food Cost, Labor Cost, and Beverage Cost) but also with the entire P & L statement, balance sheets, and budgeting.  All operators know (or should know) the importance of these numbers, yet few understand how to derive them accurately, let alone interpret them and put them to use.  With this knowledge, participants will unlock the profit potential within their operations.  This will be an intensive, hands-on, in-depth seminar in which participants will learn to:

• Budget the Prime numbers, both for start-ups and established operations, as well as techniques for easily adhering to these budgets
• Accurately calculate food, beverage, and labor costs (including advance formulae for detecting, budgeting, and pricing for waste)
• Create, analyze, and interpret a P&L and Balance Sheet
• Create annual and declining budgets
• How to define controllable figures
• Deliver consistent profitability through properly budgeted and managed Prime Numbers

There will be numerous hand-outs from which the attendees can follow along. Interactive Q&A throughout the seminar will be encouraged. Participants will engage in real-time problem-solving and be guided through a step-by-step process in which they will learn the topic easily.
Seminar participants will be fully prepared to utilize the information learned upon leaving the seminar, being able to action their knowledge at their own establishments immediately.

Build or rebrand your venue into a guest experience destination with this hands-on workshop—your yellow brick road to success. Led by Michael Tipps and the Maverick Theory team, you’ll discover how to create a unique concept, optimize your design, and elevate your service to craft unforgettable guest experiences that keep customers coming back.

• Learn how to create or rebrand your venue concept from scratch.
• Master the key elements of design that impact guest perception.
• Dive into the fundamentals of service and hospitality for all staff levels.
• Control every aspect of your guests’ sensory experience.
• Ensure your vision is reflected in every touchpoint, from ownership to staff execution.

Unlock the power of digital marketing with actionable insights and strategies tailored to the hospitality industry. This seminar covers the latest trends in branding, social media, and content creation, giving you the tools to elevate your online presence and drive customer engagement.

• Analyze the current digital marketing landscape and its impact on customer loyalty.
• Explore influencer partnerships, storytelling, and targeted advertising on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Google Ads.
• Learn how to craft a compelling brand identity that resonates with your target audience.
• Create high-quality content and develop a content calendar aligned with your marketing goals.
• Develop and refine social media strategies through interactive workshops and real-life case studies.