Connecting Hospitality Operators with Trusted Vendors with Jason Felsenthal of Got A Guy 4 Hospitality 4-13-26

Summary

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Becker Business Podcast: Connecting Hospitality Operators with Trusted Vendors

Guest: Jason Felsenthal, Founder of Got A Guy 4 Hospitality
Host: Scott Becker
Date: April 13, 2026
Episode Focus: Launching a platform to connect small/mid-size hospitality operators with vetted service providers and vendors.

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode centers on Jason Felsenthal’s journey in hospitality, the challenges he’s observed for operators, and the launch of his new platform, Got A Guy 4 Hospitality. The platform aims to streamline connections between bars/restaurants and vetted vendors—a kind of “Angie’s List for hospitality”—to help independent operators save time, money, and prevent operational headaches.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Jason’s Background & The Birth of “Got A Guy 4 Hospitality”

• Early Hospitality Roots: Jason grew up in Highland Park, IL, working his first jobs in hospitality at Ravinia Festival and later, managing bars in Champaign, IL during college.
  • “My first job in the hospitality for a company called Levy... I would sell Dove bars and hot dogs.” — Jason Felsenthal [01:05]
• Career Growth: Spanning 25+ years, Jason’s managed and opened 25 restaurants, scaling to high-end groups with $50–75M yearly gross revenue.
• Recognizing a Gap: Industry peers often asked Jason, “Do you have a plumber? A web developer?”—which sparked the idea for a formal matchmaking platform.
  • “I’d always say, I got a guy. So I came up with this idea, this website... where it connects you directly for service providers, vendors and suppliers that specify and specially work with bars and restaurants.” [03:57]
• Platform Model:
  • Bars/restaurants pay $199/month for access.
  • Vendors/suppliers join for free.
  • Focused launch in Chicago, aiming for national/international reach.

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Solving Real Pain Points for Operators

• Who Really Needs This:
  • Large hospitality groups (e.g., Levy) already have in-house teams.
  • Main target: Independent/small to mid-size bars and restaurants lacking procurement and vendor management resources.
    • “The majority of bars and restaurants out there struggle.” — Jason [05:33]
• Value-Add Features:
  • Pre-Opening Checklist: Free, 733-item checklist for opening bars, including 150–200 items related to finding the right suppliers/vendors.
  • Compliance Management: Upload, store, and receive reminders for license renewals and certificates.
  • Preventive Maintenance Scheduling: System alerts operators to proactive maintenance, targeting a 4% maintenance fee versus the typical 8–12%, thus increasing bottom-line profits.
    • “Most people are at 8 to 12 [percent]; you’re losing between 4 and 8 percent in your bottom line. If I tell you... you’ll save 8 percent plus you’ll save time—is that a win for everyone?” [06:47]

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Operator Engagement: Adoption Challenges

• Building Active Use:
  • Jason stresses that beyond signups, ongoing engagement is crucial—operators must actually use the platform.
  • “50 Point Plan”: Multi-channel outreach designed to capture different operator habits (e.g., SMS reminders via Trilio, phone calls, events, SEO for high-intent searches).
    • “Signing up a part is easy, right? ...We work with a company ...that SMS texts people to let them know, hey, you’re live, we’re live.” — Jason [08:38]

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State of the Hospitality Industry: Trends & Challenges

• Fewer Guests, More Loyalty:
  • Post-pandemic, people go out less but are more loyal to familiar places—leading to increased customer frequency at preferred venues.
    • “They’re going to the same places over and over if the hospitality is good.” — Jason [10:19]
  • “Tribal” niche-going: Groups gathering around shared interests (e.g., espresso martinis).
• Generational Differences:
  • Those aged 18–21 during COVID are less likely to go out; current college-aged youth show increased social activity, offering hope for industry recovery.
• Pressure on Margins:
  • With fewer visits and lower alcohol sales, operators seek savings elsewhere—vendor efficiency is a pivotal approach.
• Vendor Trust:
  • Operators look for reputable service providers to avoid being “gouged on the margins.”
    • “You need to find savings in another way. Well, this website app will be able to provide that for you.” — Jason [12:29]

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Success Traits & Common Mistakes in Hospitality

• Hands-On Leadership is Key:
  • Owners with a single location must be present and treats it as their main focus.
    • “If it’s not your focus and you have someone else doing the job for you, the expectation that you’re going to be successful is very hard.” — Jason [14:45]
• Scale Requires a Strong Team:
  • Success for mid-sized operators depends on assembling a team aligned with the owner’s mindset.
• Margin Management:
  • Vigilant monitoring of food, beverage, and payroll costs is crucial to profitability.
  • “If you’re not paying attention to that [P&L] consistently, you’re going to lose those percentage points on the bottom line.” — [16:22]
• #1 Mistake: Being underfunded when opening. Always plan for 20% extra costs. Never pay back contractors directly from operating capital.
  • “The one mistake you make is being underfunded. That is the number one mistake.” — Jason [17:32]
• Maximizing Peak Hours:
  • Focus on driving revenue in key periods is more effective than expanding into unprofitable meal periods.
    • “If you know that you’re busy between 10 o'clock at night and 2 o'clock in the morning, maximize those profits.” — [18:30]

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Changing Beverage Trends & Impact

• Alcohol Consumption Decline:
  • Margins are highest on liquor; as consumption declines, creativity in menu, specials, and experience becomes essential for profitability.
    • “If people are drinking less… you’re losing a big chunk of your profit.” — [21:09]
  • Solutions: Happy hours, specialty cocktails, unique presentations.

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Jason’s Favorite Venues & the Energy of Hospitality

• Camaraderie and Experience:
  • Jason’s favorite venues are those with a strong sense of shared energy—piano bars, sports bars, live music venues.
    • “I love the camaraderie of being able to sit and listen to someone playing the piano and everyone singing along…” — [22:52]
• Creating Energy:
  • The staff and patrons feed off each other’s excitement, producing memorable hospitality experiences.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Platform Vision:
  “In the lamest terms ever, this is an Angie’s List for bars and restaurants. It’s an aggregate to get two groups to work together.” — Jason [13:11]
• On Industry Resilience:
  “Covid… those that were of the age of the 18 to 21 year olds during that time because they weren’t socially around other people, they are the ones that are going out less and they found other alternatives… The younger generation that are in college currently now, they’re all going out and they’re going out a lot.” — Jason [11:32]
• On Energy in Hospitality:
  “To me, it’s the same energy when you go to a bar and you’re all… there collectively doing the same type of thing… I love that crowd support like the piano bar.” — Jason [24:28]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:56–04:47]: Jason’s background and story behind Got A Guy 4 Hospitality
• [05:30–08:29]: Target audience/use cases, unique offerings (checklist, compliance, maintenance alerts)
• [09:57–12:59]: Hospitality trends, shifting consumer habits, operational margins
• [14:42–17:32]: Distinguishing thriving vs. struggling operators, biggest mistakes
• [18:59–20:34]: Maximizing profits in key hours, focusing on strengths
• [20:34–22:14]: Alcohol consumption trends, impacts on bar revenue
• [22:43–25:24]: Jason’s favorite types of venues, what makes a bar experience exceptional

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Takeaway Summary

Jason Felsenthal’s Got A Guy 4 Hospitality is designed to bridge the gap between hard-working hospitality operators and the reliable services they need but often struggle to find. With features like vendor vetting, compliance reminders, and operational checklists, it aims to alleviate industry pain points—especially for independents and small groups. Jason’s deep industry roots and understanding of operator challenges inform the platform. The conversation also covers practical business advice: be hands-on, know your numbers, don’t underfund, and focus on your peak opportunities. Amid shifting trends in hospitality, tools and approaches like Jason’s platform help operators stay resilient, efficient, and primed for success.

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Transcript

[Grainger Narrator]

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[Scott Becker]

This is Scott Becker with the Becker Business and the Becker Private Equity Podcast. We're thrilled today to be joined by a brilliant entrepreneur who's had an amazing career in the hospitality sector. He's going to talk to us today about a new business that he's founded and tell us about Got a Guy Hospitality? Jason. Jason Felsenthal, thank you so much for joining us. Can you take a moment and introduce yourself and talk to us about Got A Guy Hospitality?

[Jason Felsenthal]

Yeah, of course. So, you know, I've, I've always been in the hospitality industry. It's really the only job that I ever had growing up. I grew up in a, in a suburb of Chicago called Highland park. And you know, fortunately I, I lived behind, or I guess I lived in front of this wonderful outdoor music venue called Ravinia Festival where they'd play all these cool concerts and I'd be able to, you know, I go to bed to listening to like the, you know, Gordon Lightfoot singing the Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald or Peter Paul and Mary singing Puff the Magic Dragon. And because of that, when I was younger, that was my first job in the hospitality for a company called Levy. And I would sell Dove bars and hot dogs and, and then when I went to college, my first job was at a bar managing a local watering hole at Champaign, Illinois called Cams in, in a place called Bubs when I was 19 years old and they gave me a key to a bar. When you were 19. And then, and then throughout my career I've, I've luckily been able to parlay that into being general managers and director of operations and eventually managing partners of, of high end restaurant groups where our, you know, some of our years we'd be grossing, you know, in the 50 to $75 million range for some of these hospitalities. And as I, and I, as I was getting a little older and realizing that, you know, managing or being on the floor was only going to last me so long, I had this idea through people reaching out to me in one sense or another, asking me if I, if I could provide them with a plumber or provide them with a liquor attorney. Fortunately, I have also throughout my career opened up 25 restaurants over the last 25 years. Ish. So I got to understand the, the contracting part as well the operation part as well as the market part as well as design part and be able to be able to you know, mesh that together. So, so over the last few years I've been getting these. I get a phone call, do you have a plumber? You have a, a web developer? Do you have, you know. Yeah, I got a guy but I could never, I never thought about, about monetizing that. And so I had, I had a call from a, from a very large restaurant entrepreneur, probably owned close to 50 places in the city of Chicago. But he needed a plumber. And I said hey, that's going to cost you. And he laughed and hung up the phone. I'm like why couldn't it cost them? And why couldn't I find a great connection between bars and restaurant hospitality groups and service providers, suppliers and vendors. And I would always say I got a guy. So I came up with this, this idea, this website that's good, that's turning into an app called gotaguyforhospitality.com where it connects you directly for service providers, vendors and suppliers that specify and specially work with bars and restaurants. And so for bars and restaurants you know it provides you with, with a faster fixes vetted trusted service providers and I'll save you money because it's going to save your time and for the, for the vendors it gets you, it gets you right in front of, of bars and restaurants and hotels and chains where they wouldn't because they don't normally market themselves. It's free. For the bars and restaurants it's 199amonth. For the, for the service providers, suppliers and, and, and, and, and contractors and you know we're going to start in Chicago because that's where I'm from and then hopefully take it, take it national or international.

[Scott Becker]

It's really the goal is to, to get enough vendors, companies, plumbers, etc that, that want to be a part of this and then to make sure they're getting enough business from it that, that more than makes sense. It's, it's trying to connect those two bars restaurants with those providers and, and be able to connect them and make that happen. And particularly for is it, does it differ if it's a, like if you're a large operator, like a Levy type operator, like, like we restaurants et cetera, they might have a Whole team internally for procurement and so forth. But, but a small midsize restaurant bar doesn't have a whole team and doesn't have a whole staff and thus more needing of the service to get them to the right people, the right time.

[Jason Felsenthal]

Right. Levy probably isn't, isn't was never intended to be part of our business model because they have the majority of that stuff in a lot of. They have contractors and they have plumbers on, on staff. But, but the majority of bars and restaurants out there struggle. And there's a couple cool aspects for the bars and restaurants that we're giving for free. One is I'm, I'm putting my pre opening checklist on the site for everyone to have. So there's about 733 things you need to do in order to open up a bar correctly. About 150 to 200 of them are actually finding service providers, suppliers and vendors from you know, liquor, liquor vendors to, to, you know, who's going to build out your coolers, you know, who's going to put in a rate, who's going to put in your av, who's going to do low voltage. Also there's a compliance aspect to this that, that I thought that I, when I started this I kind of morph into this and this could be a whole different website in itself. I'm just, I'm just keeping it, giving it for free is as I'm, as I'm sitting at one of my clients, I'm also a consultant, I'm sitting on my clients. I'm looking at, looking at their wall. They have all their licenses up on the wall because you need to, you need to provide licenses for when, when you know, certain building officials come in to check on your licenses. Well a lot of the time you lose one or you don't know when it's up. Well, we have a compliance aspect to it where, where you can put in all of your licenses, all of your certificate certificates on our site and we will, we will and you can opt in and we will text you or email you when your license is due. Also we have a preventive maintenance schedule for you that you can opt into. So think about the bar and restaurant world. Usually and this is just from experience fixes something when it breaks or when you have a flood or your air conditioning does is working. Well most of those things could be prevented. The problem is not many people are preventing it. So if I could tell you that that typically in the bar and restaurant industry you should be at 4% in, in maintenance Fees, preventive maintenance fees. When, if you're at 8 to 12, which most people are, you're losing between 4% and 8% in your bottom line. If I tell you, hey, I'll, I'll let you know when this, when this is due for you. Call the company that will be on our site to fix this or prevent this and you'll save 8% plus you'll save time. Is that a win for everyone? Now I don't think, like you mentioned earlier, I don't think the problem will be to sign up vendors or sign up bars and restaurants. I think that what, what are, what we're going to have to really concentrate on is getting the bars and restaurants to use the site. Deciding a part is easy, right?

[Scott Becker]

And how much of that will take you hustling, constantly communicating you constantly working with them to, to make sure that that happens, that people actually use the site. Get connected these vendors because people will be happy to put their 200 bucks a month up there as long as they're getting business from it, but they got to get business from it. So, so how, how, how important is that, that ability to, you know, make sure that you're constantly connecting the two?

[Jason Felsenthal]

It's funny that you mentioned it because I had that conversation today with my, with my other business partner. I created there, there's a 50 point plan. You know, we were talking about a, a company in a random, let's say Lombard, Illinois, a random city that's about random times about, you know, 45 to an hour outside of Chicago. And it's, and it's a, it's a, it's a, let's just say it's a Mediterranean restaurant. How, how am I gonna, if I, if I were to say I'm gonna, I'm gonna post Instagram ads and, and, and, and Facebook ads and Google Ads. That restaurant tour probably will never go to it. It's not on Instagram looking at, looking for this. So you have to, you have a 50 point plan of attack to hit every single type of, that version. That guy may just might be very easy, you know, to just make that phone call and remind him and, and if he's on the site, we have, we, we, we work with a company that, that, it's called Trilio, that SMS Texas people to let them know, hey, you're live, we're live. Hey, remind you of this. But a company that's in Chicago, you know, may, may be attracted to events, you know, where it can bring people together. They might, they might be attracted to LinkedIn they might be attracted to the Facebook ads. You know, one of the cool functions of our site is our SEO programming. So if the goal is if you Google plumber in Chicago, well, the plumber in Chicago won't pop up, but we

[Scott Becker]

will and talk a little bit about what are some of the trends that you watch currently in the hospitality business, the bar and restaurant business? It seems like the winners are doing good. It seems like there's some challenges in margins in some place. What are some of the trends that you're watching currently?

[Jason Felsenthal]

Well, less people are going out. That's just, that's just a fact. But they're going to the same places over and over again if the hospitality is good. So they, so they pick and, and they go with people that are. I don't want to, I don't want to use the word tribalism, but it's gotten to a point where if I'm going to go out with a friend and I want to go out and, and drink espresso martinis, I'm going to find someone that also enjoys espresso martinis and go to a place that serves espresso martinis. So it's becoming much more niche. And so, and so you have to kind of understand how important it is to not only find new business, but make sure the business that's coming in is treated the best way. It's always the word hospitality gets thrown around, thrown around a lot. But that's, that's the majority of what's happening right now is making sure that the people that are coming in are coming over and over and over again because they're starting, because they're picking places that they want that they frequent more. And by frequenting more, I'm talking about twice a month and I'm not talking about every day. And so, and so you, you have, so you're seeing this trend of, of less people going out, but they're going out to the same places over and over again. Now I will say this Covid, while it's funny that we're still talking about it because it's six years previous, those, the people that, that were of the age of the 18 to 21 year olds during that time because they weren't socially around other people, they are the ones that are going out less and they, and they find they'll, they found other alternatives instead of drinking their, you know, because pots legal, they're using that or they're, or they're, or they're, or they're more healthy on certain things. The younger generation that are in college currently now, they're all going out and they're going out a lot. So I, I see a trend in the next few years of the hospitality of, of the food and drinks becoming, getting back to where it was post, post Covid. Those are the two, those are the two biggest trends. I see the other trend, which is why this, this, this guy, guy I believe is going to work is the, is the same idea if, of finding comfortable comfortability in, in the people that you use and not getting gouged on the margins if you, if you don't have as many customers or guests coming out, you need to find savings in another way. Well, this, this website app will be able to provide that for you. So those are kind of what, that's, that's kind of what I've been seeing lately.

[Scott Becker]

Love it. And as you're building the business, what are you most focused on currently and you know, and how will you work towards what are you most focused and excited about currently as you really get this going and driving?

[Jason Felsenthal]

Well, I think that, that in the lamest terms ever, this is an Angie's List for bars and restaurants. It's an aggregate to get two groups to work together. And I think for me the most exciting part about it is that I've been there before. So I understand the struggles and the agita that comes with opening a bar up every day. And I understand the fire that you have that you have to put out on a daily basis. And if I could, if I could help one restaurant not have to put out a fire in a day, I, I feel good about that. And if I can help and if I can have one on the other side of it, you know, I've worked with independent contractors, vendors, suppliers every day too. And if I can find one person, a client that they wouldn't have had that, that feels good. Because, you know, it's, I think the idea of, of doing something that makes you feel good in business is very important too.

[Scott Becker]

I love that. And talk a bit about when, when you look at operators, bar and restauran hospitality owners that are thriving versus those that are struggling or just surviving, what's the difference between those that are really doing pretty well versus those that are really struggling.

[Jason Felsenthal]

Well, I think there's two really important points of that. One is that if you're an independent bar restaurant owner and you have one location, you need to be extremely hands on. It has to be your focus. If it's not your focus and you have someone else that's Doing the job for you, the expectation that you're going to be successful is very hard. Now for the mid range bar and restaurants, you got to get, you got to get a good team. If you have to surround yourself with, with people that, that have the exact same mindset that you do, and that's hard. Hospitality is a hard business to be successful in. It's also, it's also a hard business to find great help or great partners. And it's also hard because your margins are slim. In, in a, in a perfect bar restaurant world, if you can get double digits in the black in profit, you're successful. And so if you're doing $3 million in business on an average and you're profiting $600,000, that's great. And so, and so it, you know, if you're profiting, you know, $300,000 on $3 million, that's, that's not horrible. And so, and so it's, it's very hard to always grasp that. And so you got to be really good at understanding what your profit loss statements show you on a monthly basis. I'd almost venture to say you should be reading it. It's hard on a weekly basis to be able to forecast what your next three or four weeks are going to be. There is so much loss between your food, your liquor, your payroll on a weekly basis. If you're not paying attention to that consistently, you're going to lose those percentage points on the bottom line on a weekly basis. And if that happens, then how much are you losing on a monthly basis and how much are you losing on a quarterly basis and how much you lose on a yearly basis? And so it, that to me is, is, is where the independent restaurant owner sometimes fails at.

[Scott Becker]

And what other, are there other mistakes, common mistakes that you see founders or operators make when trying to grow out their hospitality business, their bar, their restaurant? What are a couple of the common mistakes you see, and we talked a little bit about people that don't watch the numbers closely. You got to watch your team and build a great team quite closely. What else do you see people make that are, that are mistakes or things you see people do really well?

[Jason Felsenthal]

Well, I'll tell you the one thing that if you're opening up a bar, if you're like, if you're actually opening up something, the one mistake you make is being underfunded. That is the number one mistake. And I'll say that, I say that, you know, to anyone I talk to when someone's trying to open up a location is do not underfund yourself and do not take out money from your operating openings to pay back your contractor that already built out your bar. So always have contingency, always have extra money in your operating account to be able to. Because you're always going to be 20% over whatever it is you think you're going to spend no matter what. That's for opening for, for when you're open is understand the hours that it takes to build your business and then also understand when you're busy where, when you can maximize your profits. It's hard to be busy at 2 o' clock in the afternoon. If you're not a lunch restaurant, why are you open? But if you know that you're busy between 10 o' clock at night and 2 o' clock in the morning, maximize those profits. It's easier to go from $10,000 an hour, from 10,000 to 14,000 in an hour than it is to go from a hundred dollars in an hour to 500 in an hour.

[Scott Becker]

So I mean that's, that's really true, isn't it? I mean you're far better off doubling down your key hours, your key people, your key customers than trying to make something out of nothing. That's a very challeng time to begin with in your business.

[Jason Felsenthal]

Yep. And, and, and, and, and think about the amount of effort you have to put in on those two things too. Everyone's like, hey, let's open up for lunch, let's open up for brunch. Great. Okay. You know how much effort you have to put into that if you don't know how to do it. Right. As opposed to keying in on, on what you're already good at and, and, and adding more dollars. On what, on, on what you know, what you're good at. You know, it's all, it's the idea of the pass through message method. Right. You know, if you're passing through things and you don't have to spend anything but, but you're making more money on it, well, that's just a pass through. If you have to spend money to make a lot of money or to make any money and you're spending more to make a little, that doesn't seem like a very good business model to me.

[Scott Becker]

100%. You want to double down on what's going great or where you already have a base of business, you know, 100 just like you. And doing this, you're doubling down on an area that you already know a lot of the bars, a lot of the restaurants. And also a lot of the vendors, a lot of people that, that take care of those people. So you're, you're really doubling down on the area that you really know already. Talk for a second, if you don't mind, Jason, about. Well, let me ask you one question. There's this discussion about alcohol consumption going down in the country, at least by a handful of percent. What does that mean for bars? Is that having an impact on bars and restaurants? The sort of.

[Jason Felsenthal]

Absolutely. It's, you know, think about the margins between a bottle of tequila and, and a pound of meat. If you, if you operate at 30% for your food costs, that's, but that's pretty average in the, in the, in the industry. You know, if you can get down to 25, 26%, it's great in liquor. If you can, if you know liquor specifically not wine or beer, you can get to 10, you can get to 9%, 8% if you char. If your bottle of, of Tito's costs 26 bucks and you're charging 18 for a drink, that's a great margin. And you get 30 drinks out of that bottle, It's a fantastic margin. And if people are drinking less, they're spending, they're not spending 18 on the Tito's or not getting the third Tito's or they're not coming in. You're. You're losing a big, a big chunk of your, of your business. You're certainly losing a big chunk of your profit because the profits clearly, clearly skews to, to. To your, you know, to your liquor, wine and, and beer sales. So you have to think of innovative ways to get to, to have people come out, you know, happy hour specials or lowering your prices or creating really cool specialty cocktails or really cool vessels that people, that people are drinking in. So you have to, you have to come up with, with innovative ways why people will, will come to you as opposed to the other. The place that's sitting that's next door to you. Especially in a big city like Chicago when every corner has a bar, restaurant.

[Scott Becker]

Right? Exactly. Exactly. You got to really make sure you're a destination. There's a reason to go to. And so, so let me. And again, you don't have to answer this if this is not. Well, ask you a couple different questions. Yeah, no, no, but this, this, you, you'll just let us know. Are there bars and restaurants that you spend more time at than others that are your favorite go to places? Do you have a couple places that are your. Go to places you don't have to answer that. If everybody's a potential customer, you don't want to offend anybody. Is there any place that you just love that you spend a lot of time, but it's a bar restaurant.

[Jason Felsenthal]

I have no problem giving you names of places that I, that I've worked with or for for the last, you know, 20 years. You know, currently I'm sitting in a, in a place called Gigi's Piano Bar. It's, it's a, it's a. I'm also, I'm also a consultant, so this is one of my consultant projects. And we built an awesome piano bar in the West Loop of Chicago. And I love it. I, I love the, I love the camaraderie of being able to sit and listen to someone playing the piano and everyone singing along to, you know, Sweet Caroline or Tiny Dancer. I tend to morph to places where there are, where there's energy and, and where there's a sense of camaraderie that we're all doing things together. So like, you know, I, I love going into sporting events. So we owned a bar across the street from Wrigley Field called H Vac that does live music as well that I, that I would go to, you know, as a hospitality company that we own. I love to frequent a cocktail lounge that has great drinks called Hubbard in. You know, those are just to name a few. I love just, I love just going to, to a, to a sports bar and watching, you know, and watching the, the, you know, I, I, I also DJ as well, and I went to University of Illinois. You know, going to a, going to a bar in Lincoln park called Parlay Lincoln park and watching the Illinois basketball team make the Final Four and everyone's wearing their orange and blue and we're just sitting there all ch. You know, from all walks of life. Because you graduated from, from, like, I love the idea of everyone creating energy and, and, and, and, and because of that, the staff picks up on it too. So it's a give and take. It's much like going to a concert and seeing your favorite band performing and, and the crowd eating it up. To me, it's the same energy when you go to a bar and you're all, and you're all. They're collectively doing the same type of thing, and maybe it's just ordering, you know, a shot at Jameson or watching your, your local sports team. But to me, those, those are the places that, that I tend to go to because I love that, I love that crowd support like the piano bar.

[Scott Becker]

Like there's something going on together. Like the old Patty o' Brien's type thing where everybody's together doing the same thing or at the ballpark, swinging. Sweet Caroline in Boston, whatever it might be, is fantastic.

[Jason Felsenthal]

Brian's is one of my favorite places in the world to go to. You sit there. You sit there and, you know, and you're having yourself a hurricane or and for hours and you don't even realize you've been there for four hours. And when you finally stand up, you're like, whoa, you know, I forgot that I was there for four hours.

[Scott Becker]

No, it just is literally fantastic. So, Jason, fantastic what you're building. I'm also a U of I fan and graduate, so a huge fan of the University of Illinois. I was thrilled for them to make the Final Four. Others say, oh, my goodness, it's not a victory unless you win the whole thing. I can't tell how excited was to see the University of Illinois do this. Well, this year I also spent I didn't work there, but I spent my fair share of time at cams. Back in the day when it was on, you know, I think it was Daniel street, but it was back in the day. As good as it gets. Jason, I want to thank you for joining us. Jason Felsenthal, tremendous entrepreneur and leader, hospitality guru, founder of Got a Guy Hospitality. Just unbelievable what you're doing. Thank you so much for taking the time to join us today on the Becker Business and the Becker Private Equity Podcast.

[Jason Felsenthal]

Appreciate you guys. Thanks for taking the time for me.

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