Restaurant Unstoppable Podcast #1199: Steven McAloon, Partner and Co-Founder of KIC Hospitality

Date: July 7, 2025
Host: Eric Cacciatore
Guest: Steven McAloon

Episode Overview

In this episode, Eric Cacciatore sits down with Steven McAloon, partner and co-founder at KIC Hospitality, to dig deep into the pivotal transitions and lessons learned across Steven’s 25+-year restaurant career. From his roots in the UK (Costa Coffee, Whitbread, Elior) through his rise in U.S. franchise operations (Schlotzsky’s, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Aramark), Steven shares what it takes for operators to evolve from single-unit owners to multi-unit restaurateurs—and why scaling successfully is about both people and systems.

He offers an unfiltered look at franchising, operational excellence vs. brand relevance, the economics of growth, management versus leadership, and how KIC Hospitality helps independent owners solve their most pressing challenges. This episode is densely packed with actionable wisdom for multi-unit operators, aspiring franchisors, and anyone struggling to break through their next growth ceiling.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Mantra of Engagement and People-First Leadership

• Opening Success Quote:
  “People participate to the extent that they believe and believe to the extent that they participate.” (Steven McAloon, 05:07)
  Steven emphasizes that high team engagement hinges on integrity, clear plans, consistency, and recognition. Leadership is about building trust and living the mission.

• On How to Get People to Believe:
  “You’ve got to have integrity about what you are trying to achieve… people follow good people most of the time… You have crystal clear plans… you do it with integrity, you follow up, and you show results. Reward and recognize 100%.” (Steven, 05:46–06:39)

Scaling a Restaurant: The Painful Growth Milestones

• Biggest Hurdle for Small Business Owners:

  • Major pain points occur at the 1-3, 4-10, and 10-20 unit marks. Each stage requires a shift in mindset, systems, and leadership.
    “Other than choosing the wrong real estate, I would say going from 1 to 3 or 3 to 10, 10 to 20 is the biggest hurdle of a small business owner in the restaurant business.” (Steven, 00:00 & 10:09)
  • Throwing a top-performing manager the “keys” to become a district leader without support/training is a classic mistake.

• Growth Phases:

  • 1–3: Proving the concept, hands-on leadership
  • 4–10: Fine-tuning for scale, installing processes
  • 10–20: Adding a new layer of leadership and infrastructure, often needing external investment

• Quote:
  “You almost have to redefine and start from scratch to get forward with every evolution.” (Eric Cacciatore, 10:49)

Steven’s Career Journey & Key Lessons

UK Roots: Café, Coffee, and Contract Food

• Self-employed family background—developed a “small business owner” work ethic.
• Rose from bar work in Bristol to General Manager to regional leadership at Cafe Rouge and Costa Coffee (owned by Whitbread).
• Key Learning:
  • “No matter the concept, it’s all about relationships and people; every segment has its own operational complexity.” (25:13–26:12)

U.S. Franchise Experience

• First U.S. role: Schlotzsky’s, post-bankruptcy, helping to rebuild trust with franchisees.

• Key challenges: Lack of brand recognition for UK companies in U.S. talent market (45:55), adapting to new business models, and learning the dynamics of franchising.

• “It doesn’t matter what kind of concept… when it involves people, it’s all relationships… It’s all difficult.” (Steven, 25:41)

Operations vs. Brand: The Power of Concept

• Major Evolution:
  • Realized that operational excellence is essential, but a “compelling concept” is required for growth beyond 20 units. (27:56)
• On Brand Relevance:
  • “Operations can get you to 20, but you need to have a brand that will get you beyond 20… It has to have legs and be what the consumer wants.” (Eric, 28:45)

Franchising: Good, Bad, and Lessons Learned

The Franchisee-Franchisor Relationship

• Advisory, Not Authoritarian:
  • You cannot drive franchisee performance by “cracking the whip”—relationship, integrity, and transparency are crucial (56:18).
• Integrity & Trust:
  • “I like [franchising] when the franchisor has a philosophy of integrity… The mission was to make franchisees happy—which really meant helping them grow sales.” (Steven, 59:07)

Economic Levers in Franchising

• Making money through royalties is primary; upfront franchise fees are “gravy”; supply chain markups should benefit franchisees through lower prices (77:34–80:51).
• Quote:
  “If you make money from the supply chain, it should be fed back into the business and costs passed to franchisees. The more profitable they are, the more locations they’ll open.” (Steven, 80:34)

Characteristics of the Best Franchise Operators

• Most successful: Hands-on, detail-oriented, maintain standards, know the recipes, stay connected to the operation.
• “The further up the chain you get, the further away from the detail… I think you should always make a habit of staying close to the operation.” (Steven, 61:14)

Brand Innovation & Change Management

• Moe’s Southwest Grill:
  • Led a brand revitalization as market competition intensified, focusing on consumer research, updating prototypes, and driving operational and marketing alignment (69:53–73:48).
  • Emphasized the need for a remodel and reinvestment process franchisees can actually afford.

Contract Food & Management Companies

• Aramark & B2B Food Solutions:

  • Operated large-scale, subsidized foodservice across diverse environments (corporate, healthcare, education).
  • Success depends on “predictability”—delivering consistent financial and guest experience performance, with great managers being the most critical asset (40:17).

• Workplace & B&I Challenges:

  • “Companies pay for a service—to keep employees on site and happy… It’s about volume of client relationships, and standardizing the experience in someone else’s environment.” (Steven, 88:49)

The Formation of KIC Hospitality and Modern Restaurant Consulting

• Origin:
  • KIC stands for “cheers” in three languages—reflects the idea of celebrating team synergy and energy in restaurants (07:10).
• Focus:
  • Helping independent, multi-unit operators overcome the 3–20 unit hurdles—specifically around operations, people, and profit optimization.
  • Developed “scientific,” data-driven processes for business assessment.
  • “We’re not critiquing to say ‘you’re terrible.’ It’s about optimizing and getting you to the best place you could be.” (Steven, 52:55)

Case Study: Empire Slice House with Rachel Cope

• Consulting Approach:
  1. Discovery:
     • Secret shopper/consumer perspective, gathering holistic brand and guest experience data (115:06–116:10).
     • Back-of-house observation and process audits (116:14).
     • Executive/team evaluation & accountability charting (117:24; 121:39).
  2. Analysis & Plan:
     • SWOT analysis by function, identifying actionable “levers” to pull: catering, beverage, loyalty, operational efficiency, etc. (118:07; 118:16).
     • Specific, measurable improvement goals with clear accountability.
  3. Integration & Execution:
     • Ritualizing accountability (weekly, midweek focus) and prioritizing “rocks.”
     • Using frameworks such as the Four Disciplines of Execution:
       • Wildly Important Goals (WIGs)
       • Lead Measures
       • Compelling Scoreboard
       • Cadence of Accountability (125:00–131:12)

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On Operations vs. Brand:
  “It’s as complicated running a coffee shop as running a polished casual… They’re all about people, and all are difficult.” (Steven, 25:41)

• On Manager Development:
  “Typically, you throw the keys to your best manager… but a large portion of those folks fail because you sent them off with no training or structure.” (Steven, 11:23)

• On Restaurant Evolution:
  “How do you capture the magic and scale it? It’s subjective—there’s the brand, the experience, and the food. Onesie-twosie operators can actually do it better sometimes, if not for scale.” (Steven, 48:44)

• On Value & Consumer Shifts:
  “Portions have gone down, prices have gone up. People are spending the same amount overall—they’re just going out less often.” (Steven, 107:56)

• On Consulting Philosophy:
  “The science behind the plan. We get to a calculated plan based on fact and science, and that gives you a higher chance of succeeding.” (Steven, 132:02)

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |----------------|------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00-10:09 | Growth hurdles: 1-3, 4-10, 10-20+ units | | 05:07-06:39 | Leadership, Engagement, and Mantra | | 25:13-27:56 | UK coffee/restaurant ops, operations vs. brand | | 45:55-47:15 | Brand recognition & talent challenges | | 52:55-53:27 | Consulting = optimization, not criticism | | 59:07-59:52 | The franchise relationship: mission & integrity | | 77:34-80:51 | Franchise economics: fees, royalties, supply chain | | 115:06-121:12 | KIC Hospitality consulting process for clients | | 125:00-131:12 | Four Disciplines of Execution: management cadence |

Guest Details & Contact

• Steven McAloon
• Email: steve@kick-hospitality.com
• KIC Hospitality (website coming soon)
• LinkedIn

Three Final Pieces of Wisdom (134:56–135:07)

1. Have a clear goal or two.
2. Have a plan.
3. Respect and develop your people, but don't be held hostage by them.

The Restaurant Unstoppable Takeaway

This episode is a masterclass in scaling a restaurant brand, managing people, and keeping profitability at the core while protecting the heart of hospitality. Steven’s cross-continental perspective, combined with his direct, data-driven consulting approach, supplies actionable frameworks for any operator at an inflection point—whether you’re seeking to grow from one to three units, solve systems issues, or move from survival mode into prosperity and opportunity for all.

Notable shout-outs: Rachel Cope (Empire Slice House), the Hunt Brothers (Via 313), Aaron Lyons (Dish Society).

For complete resources, tools, and guest recommendations, visit RestaurantUnstoppable.com and check out episode #1199.