Episode 49: 30 Years of Reginelli’s Pizza – A Family Business Success Story

Scott Vicknair, Brad Scott, David Vicknair, Scott Vicknair Law, New Orleans, Metairie, Louisiana, Overruled.

Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the Overruled podcast brought to you by the Scott Vicknair Law Firm. We’ve got a great show today for you. This is David Vicknair, your host. I’m without Brad today, but joined in our podcast studio by a guest that I’m really excited to talk to because it’s such an incredible local family business and great story about where this business came from when it was opened back in 1996 to when it got started, two today, and that is Adam Kerry. Adam is the Chief Operating Officer of Reginelli’s.

Adam, welcome to the Overruled podcast. Thank you so much. All right, Adam, I want to get straight into it. Tell our viewers, I moved to New Orleans, I think, in, viewers, listeners, and viewers. And viewers. And viewers. Sometimes they listen to us on YouTube. I moved to New Orleans for law school back in ’08. I’ve always known of Reginelli’s because I lived in Lakeview first. And so I would go a lot to the Reginelli’s in Lakeview. Which was, is it still, is it still by the Poor Lays? Yeah. Yeah. And so I didn’t know the history of it until getting prepared for the show, but I hope you can tell us a little bit about where Reginelli’s started and how it’s come over the sum odd 30 years because it was opened in 1996, right? That’s right. So next year, you know, would be our 30th anniversary.

And it started in ’96 with Daryl Reginelli and his partner, Bruce Airhart. They had been working together at an earlier concept of Daryl’s, which was this eating gallery on Magazine, and at that time, I think really, you only had, you know, pizza in the city was maybe Cafe Roma, Fresco, made maybe you’ve been, you know, around that time and like a few other places, but no one was doing sort of innovation or a step up for pizza that you now see so frequently. Right. You know, and so when they got in, they got the idea together and they had a property, Daryl had a property at 741 State Street, which is across the street now from where our Reginelli’s is. And it was much smaller, you know, maybe only gosh, I would have to say like 1200 square feet. Like it was crazy. Including dining room and kitchen, like everything. And so from there, we got to start with the concept small, you know, right? You don’t want to like Well, a small footprint’s awesome.

And even in a modern sense now, like when you’re looking, you know, when restaurants are looking, you know, you really have to make use of every single square foot. Otherwise, it’s inefficient. Right. So we stuck, they started there, expanded out to Lakeview on Harrison, and then out in Elmwood, you know, off of Citrus out there. Yep. And near all the Coke plants and everything. And then we had a location, that further down Magazine, and then, you know, we expanded to Baton Rouge, and then we’re Clearview, Kenner, Gretna, and now you, we have, we’re all over the metro area, including the North Shore and Mandeville, which is awesome that we’re up there too.

Yeah, is there a Baton Rouge location? Did you mention that? Yes. On Jefferson Avenue, is the Baton Rouge location. That’s been there for a long time. It’s a real neighborhood favorite and it’s a little bit off of like that government strip, you know, and so it’s just, it’s cool. It’s been there for a while, all the local businesses have been there for a while too, so they’re part of that, that scene now. And it’s nice. Yeah, Baton Rouge is a great market. Yeah, I was blown away getting ready for the show. I did not understand like, I knew three or four of the locations in the metro area. I had no idea y’all had nine locations.

Oh yeah. Which is impressive and incredible. Can you talk a little bit about, one of the things I saw on the company’s website is the core values. The honesty, service, determination, and celebration. Can you talk a little bit about how those values have since you started with the company, which was in 2003, right? First off, tell us how you started with the company. Because we were talking about a little bit before the show. Yeah. So, I’ll go to Tulane. I had, I’d never been to Louisiana or Tulane, didn’t visit at all. Just like, hey, I’m going there. They gave me, you know, I got a nice little scholarship. Go there, graduate. From New York, right?

Yeah, well, I was born in New York, living in South Florida at this point. And it’s like, boom, okay, that’s where I’m going. Loved it. Really enjoyed it. And all my friends were still like, staying around. So I was like living at the corner of State and Camp. Reginelli’s, the corner of State and Magazine. One of my roommates is a server there. And basically was like, well, you need a job. Like I was after I’m graduated, I was like, you know, I’m gonna figure it out, make sure really found the right path for my life. Right. And she’s like, well, the path starts as a dishwasher, I guess. And so, you know, here we are, you know, years later, and it’s a Cinderella story.

You know, he’s kept going and luckily, you know, when you talk about being at the right place at the right time, I think Reginelli’s was growing and I was perfectly suited to be in at the right time and then grow together. And that’s rare. It’s one of the reasons why I, I’ve really stayed and devoted my entire professional career because it’s just, you rarely hear of someone that has a story that can tell the tail, almost from the beginning. And I think there’s something, there’s something great about that, you know, it’s like a, like a sports franchise, things like that. The player that’s, you know, was there from the beginning. And I’m not the only person that’s been around for Reginelli’s for like 20 plus years. Wow. Most of our, so our brand compliance officer, Lisa Mallet, has been around for like, I think 25, 26. Wow.

From the beginning. Our human resources manager, my wife, Joanna Kerry, she also has been around longer than me, like 25 years. And then when you go down from there, we probably have maybe like three, four dozen people from the general manager even to cooks, dishwashers, that have been with us for close to 20 years. And when you talk about like the success, the success of expansion and all that, and you look at the culture we build with the core values, that’s what drives these people. You know, if you’re going to stay working with us, as, you know, even a dishwasher, you know, we have Craig, I’m Brian, with the uptown location. And he’s been around for probably close to 20. And what he wants is respect, you know, all those things, an honest environment, like you’re talking about, you know, and I think starting with honesty, that was the thing that sort of got people here.

Daryl, Bruce, the rest of us, we were honest about our feelings. We’re honest with what we wanted to do. We’re honest with feedback. And the most important thing with the honesty that I always tell everyone that works with us, we’re super honest with the guests, even when it’s like makes us look like idiots. Yeah. So if you call in, and you’re like, you know, I’ve been waiting for a long time for my delivery, where is it? You could get, you know, a lot, a lot of places would be like, it’s on its way. Yeah. You know, we will look at it and be like, okay, it hasn’t even gone in the oven yet. You’re probably looking at 25 to 30 more minutes, which is not what you want to hear. And then you can work through it.

But you have to be honest to even get to the point where you’re having that interaction. I love that. And I think it, you know, people will, try to tell our team here all the time, it’s like we’re not perfect. Our clients and third parties and constituents of the law firm that we deal with, don’t expect us to be perfect. But they expect us to get it right eventually and be fair. And so in being honest with like when you, when you screw up, right? It’s, you’re being vulnerable. And people will give you a shot because you’re being honest with them. And they’re like, okay, I’m dealing with somebody who’s not just projecting at me. And look, maybe not everybody will still give you a fair shot.

But on the main, in my opinion, like 90 to 95% of people will still give you a shot to make it right. Oh yeah. If, you know, especially if someone hears you actually, admit a mistake. And then, you know, when we go, we call, we talk about guest recovery sometimes. And I remember we were at a seminar at Commander’s Palace. And they were talking about guest recovery. And it all came down to the first thing you do is basically tell the problem back to someone. To acknowledge that you actually understood what the deal was. Yeah. So we train that too. And that’s part of the honesty. Like that you understand, you recognize, now let’s try to figure out what we’re going to do.

Yeah. I love that. And look, I mean, since they opened the restaurant in 1996, you’ve been with the company since 2003. To go to nine locations and in 2007, y’all were awarded Pizzeria of the Year by the Pizza Today magazine, right? That’s pretty big deal. That was a huge deal. That was a particularly, emotionally, sell and talk about celebration as a core value. You know, Daryl and Bruce brought out their families. So like, Mama Reginelli was there. Coach Reginelli was there. The whole, the whole crew.

And they practiced for so long on this, this presentation they were going to do. And I remember at the end of it, they got this ovation because it was so real about what the challenges were, you know, and then coming, you know, out of Katrina. Yeah. There was a lot of emotions charged in general. And then, you know, as, as New Orleans and as a city, when we were, when people were recognized for things or had achievements, it was, it was like everyone was like, we got this. You know what I mean? So when they’re up there and everyone’s like, you had this moment where it’s like, yeah, you know, everyone got fired up and the response was awesome. And yes, so they give out two awards there.

And the one that we got is independent. You have to be, you know, below a certain amount of units. And it’s particularly coveted because when you have, you know, a small unit, you know, organization, you’re expected to have like excellent, recipes, unique menus, like service patterns, everything like that. And so to be recognized in the industry, but also by your peers, who are like, that’s hard to do. Especially under these circumstances, it, it was wonderful, yeah. That’s awesome. I want to ask you before we move on about the celebration aspect of y’all’s core value. You know, one of the things we do here, and we probably started more like nine or 10 months ago and really made a point of, is really educating the different supervisors on our team, as well as the entire team, of how important it is to celebrate every win, small or big. Yeah. Like, you know, you turn a guest experience around.

Or, for y’all’s guest, for us, a client. A client’s had a bad experience. Okay, that’s an opportunity for us to make it right and own the mistakes we made or our part in it. They’re always right, right? We’re in the service business, just like y’all. However, like that’s an opportunity to turn around. And if the team does, let’s celebrate it. Let’s message firm wide about it. And acknowledge them, small and big. It can’t just be the, hey, we hit our revenue goal for the year for the company. Or hey, we opened a new location. Like the small things become the big things. I’m guessing you probably learned that on your journey from like starting at the where you were in 2003, out of college, and now being the Chief Operating Officer of the company. But I’m assuming, is that really what y’all try to focus on as a part of that core value?

Can you talk a little bit about the celebration aspect of the value of the organization? Yeah. So, celebration, you know, it’s easy to put it into terms of the restaurant experience. You come in, especially for pizza, birthdays. Yeah. After a karate victory or, you know, the soccer game, anything like that. So automatically, it’s going to be associated with these celebratory events. But on the operations side, and the cultural side, celebration really comes down to, like you said, not so much hitting your monetary goals, but also celebrating people’s milestones as they’re growing with us. And again, this was probably, you know, why we have such, you know, longevity amongst our employees, but if people get married. Yeah. If people have babies, you’re getting a Reginelli’s onesie. Like, I’m serious. It’s a thing. We have a.

Oh, I’ll be having a kid soon. Miles wants one. Miles, I got you, man. But yes, so everything she wanted was at the other. Oh, look at that right there. Marinara red baby. But yeah, it’s, it’s celebrating those sort of things as well. I think that culturally, you know, makes it important. And, you know, I, I try to go, I try to go out of my way sometimes, even when it’s hard in a business setting, to always, you know, you have this overwhelming focus of running the business, the numbers, this, that, timeframes. I have to tell myself a lot to, that it’s, this is we’re, you know, we’re business for people. And you come back and you celebrate those small things. And I think as far as we go, if we celebrate with each other, those small things, then automatically it’s a trickle down where everyone in the restaurants going to be celebratory all the time when you when you when you see your guests.

I love that. But it is hard, right? Like it’s a self thing to regiment yourself or reminding yourself, like you’ve got to push this firm wide culturally or organizationally. So that because, you know, it’s very easy, we’re all humans, you, me, everybody who’s operating a business to get caught up in the day-to-day, but not to realize, you think like, oh, I have this huge, we have, we have something going on. It’s a disaster right now with our Google reviews for example. It’s countrywide. Y’all may be dealing with it too. That Google’s got this glitch. Our reviews have disappeared. Like it’s the most frustrating and insanely thing. And you get caught up in like a fire like that. And you forget the importance of like, hey, that person over in the reception area did this incredible thing. And like, I need to make sure that I give five minutes to messaging everybody about it because that is going to like reverberate culturally for the organization. You know.

That’s that’s it. You got it. Well, I want to shift gears here a little bit too. Reginelli’s food. So, I’m going to hit you with some quick questions. Because I’m a fan. Big fan. Great, what a great family restaurant. Love Reginelli’s food. The quality is always there and I would say, just to pat you on the back a bit. Like the service, the execution of the food is generally consistent. Which is super hard, right? In the business that y’all do. Y’all are in one of the hardest businesses, challenges with cost of goods and multiple locations. But first, favorite pizza on the menu. My favorite pizza on the menu right now is the Boscovici. So, what’s on it? Give us a little. So basically, we’ve had this, this problem for a long time that we didn’t have a meat lover’s pizza. Huh. Which is pretty, pretty insane for a pizzeria, right?

Yeah. And, you know, everyone’s asking for it and we’re always The biggest pizzeria in New Orleans? I would say at this point, we have probably the biggest reach is and units, you know, Italian pie. Or most locations? Yeah, most locations for sure. Yeah. So very, but like, bizarre. I mean, from like the 1980s like meat lovers, you know, you got this. And so we for a long time, we’re trying to, you know, we’re trying to do this and we end up for years making this system where if you come in and you want a meat lover’s, we do this crazy subtraction and addition. Like, okay, we’re going to start with the Tony’s play. We’re going to take off the green peppers. We’re going to put on sausage. We’re going to take off the capers. We’re going to put on capri cola. And by the end, the person’s like, okay, so is there meat on the pizza and no vegetables? And you’re like, I got you. And that was just crazy. Right. So recently, you know, after X amount of years, we decided to make this Boscovici.

So we got four of our ingredients. We got capri cola, pepperoni, meatballs, and Italian sausage. Pretty solid. Now, that’s also pretty heavy. That’s a lot of meat. So we went through, it was like one of those things where we’re testing this out for like four months. And I gained like 15 pounds. You can tell people. We’re like, you know, all right guys, we’re gonna try it with this meat. And I was like, I don’t know, you know, I don’t want to do this anymore. And but we finally got the portionings down. And Boscovici means that’s enough in Italian. Ah. And so that was like sort of the thing. We got asked the editor and we’re like, that’s enough. Like everyone’s like, where’s enough? And it was like Boscovici man, that’s enough. So yeah, it, it, it, so that’s my favorite right now. And sure enough, we put it on the menu. And now, like, it’s like, is one of the most popular pizzas. Like everyone is it’s like one of the most popular items in y’all like, just like most things in life, you’re like, why didn’t I do this sooner? I know. I know. Well, you know, Miles brought it up early talking about chicken wings. Again, one of those things, you know, it’s tried and true. Like all the science is there. But we were like, no. You know, no. But the reason we were saying no, you know, Daryl has like you said, consistent and high expectations for quality of ingredients. And the reason why it was always no, because he never found something that he felt, he felt proud of representing, you know, and us putting out. With the old brand. Yeah. And so then we found this awesome chicken wing. That worked, you know, we cook everything in the ovens, which is challenging. Yeah. That made it awesome. And we’re talking about the Nashville hot sauce.

Their Nashville hot wings are incredible. I don’t think I’ve ever had them. And I didn’t until pretty recently because it’s some pizza place. They’re uptown or sandwich also. One of the best sandwiches. I like the spinach and art choice, a lot. Also solid. Solid. I mean, there’s a lot y’all. Yeah. But their Nashville wings. Incredible. Incredible. Huh. That’s on my next item. So, that brings us right into my next question for you, but the Reginelli’s menu. Adam, what is your favorite non-pizza menu item on the menu? So that’s really good. I’m going to say non-pizza, the thing that I go to the most is our Caesar salad. I know that sounds crazy. But if you’ve never had our Caesar dressing, it is very addictive and unique. It’s a creamy Caesar, it’s heavy with garlic. So it’s gonna have a little bit of that bite to it. But I would say I probably eat that Caesar up to four to five times a week. It’s solid. Croutons are made from our focaccia bread. So and you I think they’ll serve the focaccia with the spinach and artichoke. Yes. It’s great. There you go. See. So, yeah, I mean, we’re going to the Caesar, the wings.

I know what we’re doing for lunch. I know. I know. But this the Caesar’s awesome. And I maybe it’s like I’m also because I’m eating, you know, so many Boscovici’s all the time. I’m like, I gotta eat something lighter, you know, my heart. But yeah, I would say the, you know, the Caesar salad’s awesome. My best friend’s a cardiologist who’d be happy that you mixed up the, I got some, I got some romaine in there. He’s probably like, how’s the recipe on that? How many eggs you use? They sell that Reginelli’s guy, he’s going to have cardiac arrest. He doesn’t stop eating. Oh, all is okay. Okay. Now, a little, fun. Off the menu. Your favorite New Orleans restaurant that’s can’t be, we’re going to just accept that Reginelli’s is your favorite.

Okay. What’s your next, your next, not Reginelli’s favorite New Orleans restaurant. I’m gonna be a little selfish here and talk about our sister restaurant across the street. At Reginelli’s, 59, you know, 5961 Magazine Street, across, technically a State Street address at 741 State Street is picnic provisions and whiskey. So this, if you, you know, was recently voted by the New Orleans, Nola.com poll to be the best fried chicken. It’s crawfish boil flavored fried chicken, which means all the spices from the crawfish boil. It’s not boiled or anything like that. Which is on State Street. Yeah, yeah. Like, yeah, it’s like State and Magazine, right on the corner, right across from Reginelli’s. And it’s just some very unique things are being done there with the recipes. They also we also have, I’m going to say we because I’m also associated with them too. Have this condiment that is you take all the dregs from the bottom of the crystal vat. From the, you know, from Pepper’s crystal factory. Yeah. You don’t throw them away. We get them. And you have this awesome spice that you can sprinkle on that’s just these, it’s the dregs of the peppers. It’s an awesome condiment. Condiment of the year. It won condiment of the year. Several years back. And if you go in there, I mean, this is one of those things like you could put it on everything. And with the fried chicken that is served with this miso mayo, it’s like you dip the fried chicken into the mayo and then dip it into the pepper pulp. Jesus. I mean, people will know when they’re. I mean, at this point, it’s 11:36, I’m we have I’m relatively starving today.

And like, I’m now like thinking, do I stop at Reginelli’s and get the Caesar salad? I’m going to say, I’m going to send y’all something this week and just do it up. Yeah, I got that. That sounds fantastic. After I’m talking all this, like everyone’s gonna be like, it better deliver. I’m gonna have to. I mean, I’m drooling and sweating. You got to send us something. I mean, it’s, so yeah, so I would say that. And then, you know, also, What’s the whiskey? Like, y’all have a good whiskey selection there too? Yeah. So they make a great old fashion and then they, they try to, you try to also do an old seasonal old fashion. So we got a King Cake old fashion right now, that’s really good. We had a sweet potato old fashion that they charred the limit or the charred the, the orange rind. And it got smoky with these sweet potatoes, bitters. It was cool, man. Interesting. Okay. Last. Okay, this is maybe a bit controversial, and I didn’t know if you were gonna even be willing to answer it. But you as you mentioned now, we have like a vibrant pizza scene in New Orleans. Now, probably not what was the case back when Reginelli’s opened. What is your favorite non-Reginelli’s New Orleans pizza? You can because it’s a legal podcast. You can take the fifth amendment, if you would choose to, but come on, like. No, with pizza, I give, I give credit where credit is due all the time because it’s hard to, it’s hard to, it’s hard. It’s like you said, it’s hard to be consistent.

You know, a lot of times, you know, it’s just hard. So I would say pizza delicious. I got to give shouts out to Pizza Delicious. You know, I’ve met, I’ve met their owners before whenever I go by. I feel like the service is nice. The consistency is great. They have a nice bite to their crust, which I appreciate because it’s more like a traditional, like New York style. It’s different than ours. Yeah. Did you know them from Tulane? Mmm. Okay, because it’s such a small world. Like Pizza Delicious, when I moved here, was just starting like in a window up in. And they were theologist, I just mentioned who’s one of my best friends and we lived together at the time in Lakeview because he was in med school when I was in law school. He had a close friend back from who also was in med school with him who was buddies from Tulane with the guys starting at pizza delicious.

This is such a small town. I swear to God. Right? Like it makes sense. Like he would have been around trying the pizza delicious when they were in a window. Yeah. And now he’s trying to prevent you from having a heart attack from eating all the meat lovers pizza at Reginelli’s. So it’s like it all comes full circle. Not just, not just the meat lovers pizza. The fried chicken too, y’all. Yeah. We got a problem. Yeah. That’s another great pizza. So, okay. The next segment, I want to, run into with you, please Adam. It’s called Overruled. It’s a new segment. Brought to you by Super Witch Ice Cream. Have you heard of Super Witch Ice Cream? I have not. Okay, Super Witch Ice Cream is a local batch ice cream. Produced out in Harahan. It’s produced by, Brigs, who started the company and you can only order it on Wednesday nights online. Is really good ice cream. He came on the podcast. Yeah, he’s a good friend of mine. He lives on my street. And his ice cream is exceptional. That’s for real. Yeah. Shout out to Super Witch Ice Cream. All right, so we’re going into the segment Overruled. If you agree with any of the three following statements, you will sustain. If you over, if you object or disagree, you will overrule. Are you familiar with the rules now? I am ready. All right. First question. This is a big one. Pepperoni is more important than cheese on pizza. Overruled or sustained? I’m going to say, overruled. Hmm.

You think the cheese is more important? I do. So we use, we use the Cadillac. The best cheese you can get. It’s Grande Mozzarella. It’s just the king of cheeses. It performs amazing. And you, you pay for what you get. But it makes a difference. If I, if we sat here right now, I could use my same pepperoni. As a pepperoni shout out. You would taste the difference to the point where you would probably want to continue eating the cheese pizza. Yep. I would say. I agree. We do pizza reviews and that you can tell the better, pizzas in New Orleans have higher quality ingredients. And you can just tell when it’s imitation cheese or it’s not quality cheese. Absolutely. Okay, number two. Fountain Coke is better than can Coke. Overruled or sustained? Sustained. Couldn’t agree more. All right. Last. Sauce is more important than crust on the pizza. Overruled. Overruled. So you’re going with the crust over the sauce. Yeah. And, and We’re gonna have a this is a hot one. Like I think a lot of people are gonna disagree with you on that. They may. But there’s a thing here. It’s really, really hard to get a good crust, you know, consistent. Like, you know, you’re working with humidity. You’re working with proof times, you’re working with all these factors that in Louisiana, gentlemen, is incredibly. You’re talking summer.

What’s the humidity today? I don’t know, 90, or like this week? What’s it earlier in the week? Okay, it’s nothing. So like there is these variations and you have to play this game, especially in the summer to make sure that your crust and your dough is still alive and will bake the way you wanted to. So I would say, you know, crust. Yeah, I actually learned that talking to another pizza owner in the city. And he also was from New York, originally and was talking about the challenges of making pizza down here and up in New York because of the humidity, which he directly said just like you, affects the crust, which I had no idea, but it’s crazy. We do have terrible humidity. Okay, thank you. I do want to ask you one question though, now because it came up in Overruled. Pepperoni. Are you also using Cadillac pepperoni? Where do you get the pepperoni from? So it’s Ezzo pepperoni. It’s, I think it’s, I think it’s the Cadillac too.

I think, you know, it’s regarded in the industry as one of the best. Jonathan Ezzo has been making that pepperoni with his family, his recipe for a while. And, you know, just to show you that, you know, pizza and many restaurants, hospitality, when we wanted to use Ezzo, Jonathan came down and spent like a week with Darryl, like learning about everything, the history, you know, and why it was important. And, you know, really in pizza, those type of relationships, I mean, it’s anything you have, you have strong relationships, but there’s an intimacy because ingredients means so much that, you know, you want to be proud to see who you’re partnered with. You know, we’re always proud to have the best ingredients. And I can, I can say that confidently, you know, and, we will always continue that, that tradition. And, because it’s, it’s wonderful for everyone involved. I think that’s a really important lesson though in managing a business. And, I actually have been thinking about that a lot over the last year. In my industry, in the legal industry, there is this proclivity to be very hard on the vendors, because you’re like, oh, just like, change them or fire them or hire another vendor, because we have so many vendors in the legal space. And I, I have started to really, not that I ever was that way with them, but like, I’ve really been thinking the last year or two about how important it is to build the relationships, not just internally and with our clients, but also with our vendors. Absolutely. And to have those, can you talk a little bit about that, how that ends up making the product and the quality better for Reginelli’s customers? Yeah, so your vendor relationships, you know, are like you said, so important because especially in New Orleans, you know, we have a lot of weather, hurricane season.

There’s that you get your deliveries if you have a good relationship with your vendors. They’ll make sure they open up. They’ll work their hardest to make sure that they can get there on time. You know, coming up with Mardi Gras, we’re going to need deliveries three, 4:00 AM some days at different locations. And our vendors could be, no, we can’t do that, or we’re not going to modify. Our dough, for example, comes fresh, you know, we’re trying to get it in freshness daily. Right. And so that means on Toes, Sunday, to get uptown, this guy’s going to be coming in hot. And he’ll do that for us because we have a great relationship for the last, you know, two decades. But when it comes to crisis or when it comes to opportunity, you know, we opened up the day after the snow, like we trudged down to work, we had some dudes living across the street, like open up the shop, swept it all out. And then it came down to, you know, do you have the vendors who are going to be like, yes, I will risk the snow to even just, you know, to get in there or the next day since you’re going to use up all your stock to get in there and to help you out. So they give you the ability to strike when the iron’s hot and to make more out of opportunity. But like you said, you have to develop those. And that means if you’re always looking for the cheapest price, at some point that comes at a cost. Instead, we’d rather say like, okay, let’s work together. And I understand I’m paying for a premium service. How can we get the best out of it, you know, to make sure that it works.

Yeah. It is funny though, don’t you think? I mean, I see so many different businesses, whether it’s law, the restaurant business, whatever it is, and they have just a very acerbic attitude towards vendors and the way they treat them. And I see it as such like a stupid closed-minded perspective on how to build a growing business, and all driven in my opinion by ego. Because like, if you put the ego aside and realize like ultimately what Reginelli’s is trying to do, just like Scott Vicknair is, is give the best product and result to the client or the customer. Like, you have to do all these other complicated things, build the culture, have these relationships with your vendors, treat the customers with honesty and be honest with them and make things right. Like, yeah, it’s all complicated and hard, but if it was easy, everybody would do it. And it’s not easy, and that’s why y’all have nine locations. You’re doing it the right way. Isn’t that fair? Absolutely. Any who. Okay, I’m on my off my tangent about that. I just thought it’s I knew, just talking to you, how great that you had a relationship with some of these vendors and giving them shout outs. So that was a point I wanted to harp on. Okay, I was hoping you would give our listeners. Obviously, the restaurant business is very hard. You have a lot of challenges that other industries don’t have. I feel like owning a restaurant is glamorized and it shouldn’t be because it is. Absolutely. It’s glamorized, right? Right. It’s so hard. So hard. The cost of goods sold, the product can go bad. All those dilemmas y’all face. Could you share, if you could, two or three lessons over the years, now your 22-year journey with Reginelli’s, culminating now you’re the chief operating officer. Three, maybe two or three lessons you’d like to share that you’ve learned that have been super impactful in helping your personal development and the company’s growth? So, I want to start with one, you know, again, I was blessed to have, Darryl Reginelli as sort of a mentor along the way. And one thing, as you can tell, I like to talk. I like to get animated. I like to use my hands, you know. I don’t shut up. Miles is making. I see him out of the corner of my eye, making. I was like, man, we could go for like three more hours. Let’s get into the real good stuff. But, you know, I like to do that, but one thing that I learned from Darryl was to listen. Yeah. And when he decides to talk, it’s because he has something to say that is relevant to the situation. And it’s not just going to be a lot of exposition. Yes, perfect way to put it.

And I think that’s one, one of the reasons people respect him so much is also, while when he speaks, he speaks, you know, intelligently and has something important to say, but also he makes people feel important by not talking over them and allowing them to feel like their opinions are validated. And over the years, especially once I took the spot as the COO, I noticed that I was actively changing this because I saw that it was a successful strategy, even subconsciously. And so now I really in a lot of situations, whether we’re meeting with our commanders partners, or for vendors, or anything like that, I try to sit and listen, because I know that’s important, like I said, for the duality. The other thing I learned, which is a little, it’s a little, it’s a little different, but compliance does not equal vision. And this is super important for growth, for anyone in any business, especially someone who’s dealing with a passion project or, you know, your name’s associated with it. It’s personal.

Because you’re going to have a lot of people that want to be like attracted to success, that think that they are going to give it and understand what you’re trying to do. And they’re going to tell you all the times, yes, yes, yes, yes. Compliance is fine, but what I’ve found is all those yeses and all the got it does not equal that they understand your vision of what you’re trying to do. Compliance is great for consistency and for making sure that, you know, rules are, rules and laws are followed. But vision, and understanding the vision of what Reginelli’s is, is absolutely critical. And understanding that, you know, no matter how much someone is telling you yes, do they understand your vision? Because that’s the most important thing. And, you know, I think about, I think about vision a lot with us, because it’s, it’s the driving force. What lets you have nine locations, what helps you grow, what lets you sustain that great consistency is vision, all the time. And having all the ships facing in the same direction, you know, and to have the synergy of everyone’s been around for decades. The owners are still involved. That means that the vision is fairly clear. Yeah, which is good. And that they live by the values. Absolutely. Not just sit on the website. Right. Yeah. There’s something woven within the organization, which means there’s action behind the values. The postage is just being words. Anybody can say they have core values and throw them on a freaking website. Let’s be honest. But living them. It’s true. And, and also acknowledging that we haven’t lived up to them lately. We’re going to correct and improve on this is also right, like living up to them. Something you said in there really hit me because I’ve been thinking about it a lot is, now like I’ve been at this for 13 and a half years, pretty much in law. Running my own firm for a little bit over nine and a half. A lot of the things now because I’m so embedded in operations and understanding what’s happening, that when people come to me like I can probably solve it really quickly, but I’ve been like trying to mentally tell myself, shut the F up.

Listen. Like, let them solve it. Even though like I know I could solve it quicker, like in that’s the human impulse is just to get the solution quicker. Like it also besides being a good leadership, too, I think by allowing people to see that you care about their perspective, it also is evidencing to them, I think, that you care about their personal and professional development by letting them learn how to fix a problem on their own. Yeah. And that really clicked for me three or four months ago, reading a book and I was like, I need to shut up more. And let other people learn. But it’s a hard thing because you just know you can fix it. And so that kind of makes me think without even knowing Darryl, that he’s really knows what he’s doing. And you recognize it. And now he’s done what? He’s given you the ability to grow professionally and personally by seeing that from him and do it yourself. Yeah. Absolutely. It’s wonderful. Okay, what is one of your favorite memories of Reginelli’s? Do you have one? Yes. It can be good, it can be rough, it can be whatever.

There’s the ludicrous one. This is not a child’s show. I’m not cleaning it up like Kendrick Lamar at the halftime show. So, so obviously in the restaurant of industry, you get crazy stuff happens all the time. Like, you know, you, you know, like anything you could think of happens. But one of the, you know, one of these moments and with that, what always sticks out to me was when someone tried to burn us down. Oh my gosh. And so this was at when we were at 741 State Street, you know, across the street, our little Reginelli’s. What year was this? Oh, this is probably, this might be 05 or 06 when this happened. After Katrina. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Flood then a potential fire. So, you know, we, we had, that’s an old building and it has people living upstairs, it has a ballet studio next door. It’s just like this crazy. And we’re sitting there and everyone goes outside and smokes cigarettes. You know, the restaurant industry, you smoke cigarettes sometimes.

And you have drivers coming in the back door. So everything’s just running as usual. And then I remember our driver, Baxter Stewart, he goes, comes in and he goes, the building is on fire. And everyone just like, what? Like thinking like there’s no way, like it’s an overreaction. So, you know, there’s a little bit of hustle, but not as much as you think. You saunter out and we look over and there’s, you know, the, there’s our back door and then there’s a door that goes to the upstairs apartment. And it’s closed. And it’s like, one of those things you learn when you’re five, you’re like, the door is hot. You know what I mean? Like, look for the smoke and then it’s like, okay, this thing’s definitely on fire. And then it was like, yo, dude, this is on fire. And it was like, boom, we kicked it in. Back draft, baby. And it’s like, boom, and it just, you know, the oxygen hits it and just like, boom. And it was like, dude, this is a fire. So we run back and then, if you take it from the perspective of the security cameras, it’s absolutely ridiculous. It’s like this keystone cop/thing where it’s like, you see me and I’m like, you know, and everyone looks around and then we had this moment where everyone’s looking like, what do we do? And it’s like, then we drag out like a garden hose, like an and then it gets serious. Everyone’s like, you’re not going to thing. They like you there. You know, one guy’s up front, he’s like, all right, go. You know, the garden hose.

Yeah, the garden hose. But we got to hit it. Depending upon the operations of the sewage and water board and any good, not anymore. Well, that’s it. You may not have known that. It was like, can’t get it, get it out, man. You know, so we do it and then like, we spray it all down and we put it out by this point, you know, the, the fire department showed up. And then we’re all like coming down from this and we’re thinking like, oh man, like how did this happen? So let’s go back with the camera footage a little bit more. And we go back further. And what we see is one of our dishwashers, like a younger kid, just having this moment where it’s like, you don’t play with matches. And he could see him like, you know, you see this on like, you see these memes sometimes where the guy in like the styrofoam factory, he’s like, look, let’s see what happens. It was like, boom. It’s the same thing. He has a bunch of rags and he’s just like, and then when it lights on fire, he just goes and drops it into the stairwell. And then shuts the door and then goes back inside. So I’m looking at this, I look back and I see him there and I was like, I forget his name. And I was like, hey, can you come over here real fast? Can I ask you a couple of questions? And, he didn’t deny this. Like, no, that wasn’t me. I was like, I don’t know what we’re doing right now, man, but like, you know, like this is called cameras. Yeah, this is real. They take pictures and video of you.

And so I go, I’m like, I, you know, I have to call the police. He’s like, I understand. Goes back, swashing dishes. Cop comes in, showing the video. He’s like, well, you know, do you have this guy’s address? We’re going to go find him. I was like, no need. And he’s like, you got to be shitting me. I was like, dude, he just, you know, and I, and I remember, you know, going back there and I, there was this look of betrayal that haunts me. As the dishwasher just like, you know, just walking away with the cops. And I was like, what do I? I didn’t say anything. He was just like, yeah. You know, it’s a trade. Yeah, like you didn’t let the building catch fire. I showed you. I said, look, I gotta call the cops. You could have just said I was messing around, but I remember that because it was so shocking and so serious. And also so comical from like, this like everyone’s like, you know, and seeing it on the video was wild. But that was a pretty crazy one. I’m glad the building didn’t burn down. I have another one that’s, it’s a little funnier and I’ll go briefly if you want to hear it.

Yeah, go. So we’re close enough to the, to Automan Park. There’s a lot of, celebrities that stay there, staying B&Bs down there, you know, do all that. So a lot of them have houses down there too. It’s crazy. I know, it’s pretty cool. I was hoping during the Super Bowl, I was like, y’all be ready. Let me know. So sitting there, it’s my wife’s birthday. She’s off doing her own thing. I had to work, so I’m like, already in the dog house and screwed. So I’m sitting there, I’m working. It’s a busy day. And then suddenly someone’s like, dude, Rod Stewart’s here. Big soft rock fan. You know what I mean? So, I look over and I scope out. I’m like, holy shit, it’s Rod. Dude, I can like, I’m texting Darryl. I’m like, yo, Rod Stewart’s in the house. You know, like you might be like, okay, dude, like, what’s going on here? But Rod Stewart’s here. And I’m thinking, I can redeem myself from missing like, part of my wife’s birthday. By getting like, yo, Rod, can you just say like, happy birthday, Joanna, real fast? Cameo before Cameo existed. Thank you, right? I’m thinking I can win the day. I’m so I’m cool. And free. You don’t have to pay for it. So I’m gonna take care of his whole meal, everything like this. Getting ready to go out there to meet him. Boom, boom, boom.

And I hear, there’s a problem in the dining room and I hear someone getting loud. Then this is like for a manager like, you just seek problems. Go over there and I see this guy is like, oh man, this is crazy. These people think they can do anything. I mean, dogs in the restaurant. I’m like, what are you talking about? And I look over there and out of Rod Stewart’s girlfriend, her purse, like, you know, it’s like a little goat. It’s like this dog is like, poof, pops up and like snatches like some pizza off the table. And then disappears again. I was like, oh shit. Like my dog. Yeah. So go over there and, you know, clearly everyone knows there’s a scene and he’s being loud and he’s pointing at Rod Stewart. So we know there’s an interaction. So I go from the hero of my wife to, I go up and I was like, I’m a huge fan of you. And he goes, get on with it, get on with it, mate. I was like, I’m just dying inside. And he’s like, what? And I was like, the dog can’t have the dog in here. I was like, but I’m gonna set up a table outside for you. It’s gonna be awesome. Your next round of course, light, he drinks course light. He’s on me. And he was like, nah, mate, don’t want to be here anymore.

He’s like, that bloke sort of ruined my meal. And I was like, I am so sorry. We just can’t have the dog. And I’m like a robot, I am so sorry. We just can’t have the dog in here. And so then he leaves. Darryl drives up like five minutes later. I was like, yo, where’s Rod? Where’s his Rod Stewart? And I was like, well, gone. I kicked him out of the restaurant. He called me a bloke. And he’s going. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I feel like shit, didn’t get that. And then like when I walked back inside, the dude that made the scenes like, oh buddy, thank you so much. That was crazy. I love your place. Yeah. I fly in from Brooklyn once a year and I always come here one night. And I was like, I’m so thankful. Cool. You know. And it was just like, it’d be one thing if it was like the regular around the corner who came every week. Yeah. It was just one of those things. I was like, I’m so glad everyone’s so happy except for me, you know? Like, what are you gonna do? That’s a great story. I think Rod Stewart kind of could have played it a little bit cooler. I think so too. But you know, I’m kind of disappointed in him. I would have thought he would have been cooler about that.

Yeah, but get on with it. Okay, Rod, get over yourself. Okay, we’re going to talk about the future real quick. I can’t believe I just told Rod Stewart that I’m active listener to this podcast. Who do I think? I don’t know. Some shit just flies out of my mouth. All right. So two questions for the future to wrap up. This has been a great discussion, Adam. What is the first, I know you’re a big Saints fan. Kellen Moore just hit the news. Kellen Moore hard as a new coach. What are your thoughts on the future of the Saints and Kellen Moore? I’m excited whenever there’s a leadership change. I think overall that drives the performance of the teams. And I think that one of the things, you know, we can see from Sean Payton and the leadership he had at the time, if you get, you know, let’s see what this new leader is going to be and see what he can do with the team and some of the tools we have. A lot of the times like we know, the right leader, you don’t need all-Stars. What you need is people who see the vision. Right? And if they have that, and the coach can bring the vision, then we can start rebuilding and getting to where we need to be, successfully again. That’s. Yeah. Just want to Super Bowl. I mean, I think it’s a good. It’s exciting. Like I want to go to a game to see what he has to do, right? Yeah. 100%. And I just, I’m excited about it too. I also just think, one of the things I kind of will hit Mickey Loomis about is this idea of like, you know, the results aren’t what we want, but that doesn’t mean we’re doing anything wrong. I’m like, look, ultimately, results aren’t always indicative of what’s happening in the organization. Like any company, any team, etc. But ultimately, the results have to get there. And so like when you have, you know, we got to give him some time. The Saints have a bunch of cap space issues.

But I think ultimately, it is exciting and I share your excitement. But I’m a die-hard, so I’m going to say that no matter who what they do. Well, I mean, you sort of have to, like being here in New Orleans, it’s like, you know, this is what you do, you know, or just don’t. And just like when. I’m like, what a Drew Brees is a big fan of his, so I’m like, you know what? I’m I’m in. Yeah. I’m in. Let’s see what happens. Okay, last and more importantly for our purposes, our discussion today, not generally. Then the future of the Saints is, tell us a little bit about the future of Reginelli’s and what we should expect from Reginelli’s moving forward. So, you know, as far as your neighborhood Reginelli’s that you go to right now, our goal in 2025 and beyond is going to be more frequent with our limited menus. We’ve found that we have some really great items that people wait for all year round. Like the watermelon salad in the summer, people go bonkers for that. It’s the brioche calzone in the winter. So we’re trying to fill up sort of the other seasonal slots with not just these seasonal favorites, but some really new innovative things. Nice. So that’s, that’s a major focus. And as far as expansion of the brand to new neighborhoods, slight, it’s always been attractive.

You know, we’re, we’re trying, it’s all about location, obviously, location, location. But the north shore is, is has a lot going on. Mandeville. Yeah. Is booming. Yeah. And then the Gulf Coast in general, you know, pre-pandemic, we’re looking at the, you know, base St. Louis area. But now you have people commuting into the city from those areas. And it’s, you know, I guess it’s the rest of the, you know, like East Coast. People do live outside of New York. Yeah, you might have two hour commutes, no problem. I’ll listen to a book every day. But, you know, that 45 to an hour to live to live there in that nice community. People don’t bat an eye at that. Yeah. So it could be there where we sort of have some roots, you know, I Mississippi would be cool. We have a lot of, you know, people that are fans of New Orleans and fans of Reginelli’s. We’ve talked about Lafayette, a little bit, you know, because that’s, it’s a great city and a great, town as well. So I would think you’re you’re going to see that in the next year or two as far as expansion. But really in house, you know, like I said, with the LTOs, but after the pandemic, you know, the service industry and hospitality just plummeted. I don’t know if, you know, you experienced it, you go out to eat in a nice restaurant, you’re like, whoa, I just spent like $300 because everything’s more expensive now. And my service was was it was like Spotty.

Yeah, it was spotty, you know, like you’re asking someone like, well, what do you recommend? Or like, what’s whatever you like? And you’re like, oh, what are we doing here, you know, like, we’re just going to go back and forth. That’s not our role in this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s like, you answer the question with a question. But so, we’ve been focusing on this concept called show ready. And show ready means when you come into a Reginelli’s, whether it’s in the morning, right at open, whether it’s, you know, for your lunch, whether it’s in between those, you know, those hours in restaurants, which they say between two and four, it’s like, you know, it’s, it’s really hard because like everyone’s trying to get out or tighten up. But when you come in, it looks, it feels the same. And it’s that you are, you know, someone important. And we’re putting on a show for you. And that means that our employees are going to appear, you know, correctly dressed, looking good, with a smile. It means attitude is going to be correct. Like, we’re not talking about mood here. We’re talking about an attitude that’s meant for service, to serve people, to celebrate, right? And then finally, you know, that all of our systems that make us consistent are in place.

We’ve been talking with our managers about this, you know, this show ready concept for the last six months, just really making sure that their professional development understands how important it is that we’re presenting a show. And, you know, Mardi Gras for us in the Super Bowl, you know, I described it as like, this is the greatest show in New Orleans. And Reginelli’s always wants to be there, especially where since we’re so embedded in the communities, we want to be part of that show. And we intend to be ready, you know, to present and to have a great time with everyone.

I love it. I love that you hit on like looking at the limited menus and what people like because it shows like a healthy organization that puts the customer first as opposed to what their egos say should be on the menu, right? And is driven by the customer demand and what the market asks for. And also, I just think for finally, now that y’all have that, as far as expansion goes, like, you know, have that foothold on the North Shore, there’s a lot of opportunity there for y’all. Plus all the New Orleanians and people who are going to base St. Louis, you’re starting to see a lot of New Orleans restaurants, bars, retail brands, starting to locate there too to serve the customers who know them already. Have relationships here, back into those markets as well. It’s cool. If you go to base St. Louis, there’s like, I think there’s a Creole creamery. It’s like, oh, my on, pertaining, you know, it’s like, it’s really right around the corner. So it’s cool. It’s been an incredible discussion, Adam. Thank you so much for being on the show. Before we go, I want to ask you one last shout out. Can you give us a Reginelli’s and the other restaurant shout out? I forgot it already. I have a terrible memory.

Gosh, you can go to reginellis.com. We have it, we have an Insta, we have Facebook group, Regina’s Pizza, Pizzeria. So, but reginellis.com, you can order online, you can place your order in advance. You can look at any of our menus, you can contact me even on there. You could, you could get anything there, reginellis.com and then picnic provisions and whiskey. That’s, nolapicnic.com and also you can get in touch with us. It has the menu, there’s a lot of press there. It’s cool, it’s, it’s exciting stuff. But yeah, that’s how you can reach us. And, and you wanted me to answer what other question? That was it. That was it. We’re gonna link everything in the show notes, like on the show. We really wanted to give both restaurants and companies a shout out. Also tell the Regina’s fans and make sure we’re gonna have second, second annual, not first, because last year was the first time and I have a close friend who gets really butt hurt when people say something’s the first annual.

He’s like, it’s the first. And then it’s the second. So the second annual March Madness, pizza bracket competition this year that we’re putting on with Fox, which we had a heated competition last year with Regina’s and Mid City. This stuff gets crazy. It was like, it was crazy the competition, but we’re doing it again this year. That’s coming up in March. So if you’re a Regina’s fan, be aware of it. We’ll be pumping it out. Fox, we’ll be pumping it out. I’m sure Regina’s will too because it was like a really fun. It was, it was heated. I mean, we loved watching it. We’re like, man, we People from the outside love watching it. Let me tell you as the insider, it’s just like, you’re sweating bullets. You’re like, how are how are this many people voting, you know?

But thank you so much. It’s been an incredible conversation and discussion, Adam. Check out Regina’s. What a great family restaurant, growing restaurant. Obviously evident from the ownership to the management, how they treat their values, the organization and treat the team members there, that they’ve had so many people there for so long and the product is so consistently good as a restaurant and such a hard business. Once again, this has been the Overruled podcast, brought to you by the Scott Vicknair Law firm. This is David Vicknair. To all of our listeners, thank you for being with us again. We will see you next time. Scott Vicknair. Injury attorneys. We fight for the win. Information is for illustrative purposes only and does not constitute tax investment or legal advice. Always consult with a qualified investment, legal or tax professional before taking any action.