FSR May 2023

KANDI BURRUSS

Tucker says operators are so desperate for workers that someone could have a history of negative performance and still get hired. Burruss says, "people were just doing what they wanted to do." "It got kind of crazy because there was so much turnover," she says. "Peo ple were just making up their own rules because they knew that you needed them because it's hard to hire people in the foodservice industry. It's really hard to keep people. Whenever you have good people, other restaurateurs come and try to steal your people." Although the TV series revealed many difficulties, Tucker says the trans parency works in the restaurant’s favor. Neither he nor Burruss wants to project an image of perfection or that they have everything figured out. They’re learn ing alongside everyone else in the indus try. And customers aren’t shying away because of what they see; if anything, they’re more eager to visit. "I know it sounds crazy because obvi ously we showed a lot of the bad atti tudes that some of the people at work have," Burruss says. "We showed some of the stuff that they were doing when they were cleaning up—which I will say, those were one-time things. But it was certain things that I was like ‘Oh my God, I cannot believe that was on TV.’ But it didn't affect it in a negative way. “ I ALWAYS TELL PEOPLE THAT THE RESTAURANT INDUSTRY IS THE HARDEST BUSINESS THAT I'VE EVER BEEN A PART OF EVER IN MY LIFE. THERE ARE A LOT OF THINGS THAT WE HAD TO LEARN AND THAT WE ARE STILL LEARNING. ”

brunt of the employee turnover that’s plagued the industry. With customers facing inflation at all turns, Tucker has worked to add lower cost items and deals around happy hour. Back in December, the restaurant pro moted $7 appetizers, $10 burgers and sandwiches, $12 margaritas, and $6 beer and wine during its happy hour, which runs Monday through Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. Two-and-a-half years after Blaze came onto the scene, Tucker believes it has found its footing and the core staff to keep things going. "The cool thing is, it's helping the community," Tucker says. "We employ so many people from the community and just give so much opportunity. That alone is rewarding." Restaurants became such a large part of their careers that Bravo—the same network broadcasting “The Real House wives of Atlanta”—green-lit “Kandi & The Gang,” a new reality show focusing on Tucker and Burruss getting the orig inal Old Lady Gang location back on track. Burruss says it’s "the commercial you can never afford.” Viewers were not only introduced to the brand, but they were also able to make lasting connec tions that any operator would dream of, she says. The restaurant has become a city landmark because of it. "When people come to ATL, they feel like they need to stop by the Old Lady Gang," Burruss says. "People literally will fly straight into Atlanta and come straight from the airport with their lug gage sometimes, which is pretty cool. I definitely would have to say that being a part of the show has been a blessing as far as business is concerned because it's like a commercial. You can't deny that type of advertisement. You can’t even pay for it." “Kandi & The Gang” highlighted drama between coworkers, but Burruss emphasizes that the whole point of the series was to show that Old Lady Gang was attempting to fix things that went wrong. There was a smooth flow before the pandemic, but afterward, turnover spiked. It gave employees a lot more con trol, but not necessarily in the best way.

People still wanted to come even more so because they wanted to see the peo ple who were on the show." More concepts are on the horizon. One of them will be a pizza place, named after their son, Ace, that will showcase New York–style pizza by the slice in addi tion to other traditional Italian dishes like pasta and spaghetti. Similar to Old Lady Gang, it will be an environment for families, but also house a bar for adults who want to enjoy cocktails or a game. Another forthcoming concept is a classic taqueria serving variations of street tacos and other Mexican foods. Keeping the recession in mind, Tucker envisions the store allowing customers to buy a few tacos and drinks and walk out having spent $20 without truly feel ing it. He says the pizza place will be fast casual, and the taqueria may be a con cept where customers order from their phones and food is brought to them. Tucker expresses interest in growing Old Lady Gang, but he’s wary of expand ing too fast, especially in an unfavor able economic climate. For right now, he wants to fine-tune the concept and tighten the infrastructure before jump ing to additional locations. Tucker has seen others in Atlanta zoom into four to five stores, only for two or three to shut down. However, the restaurant will roll out its first food truck—equipped with four fryers—sometime in the future. Tucker plans to start slow, with the truck oper ating on the back patio during Friday Night Live, so it doesn’t take away from the indoor menu. That’s just to get their bearings together. After this beta test, he will take it on the road. When Old Lady Gang decides to grow, franchising likely won’t be under consid eration, Tucker says. He doesn’t want the brand to become diluted or for outsiders to give their input on recipes. Tucker and Burruss believe the restaurant belongs as an Atlanta favorite only. "Instead of dealing with that crazi ness, I think we can tighten up what we have and just have a few great locations in Atlanta," Tucker says. "I think we can last a long time with that."

MAY 2023

38

FSRMAGAZINE.COM