Clash of the Titans

Friends of Branded!

Happy Saturday and I hope you had a great week.

This week the Branded Team had the privilege of attending the Restaurant Leadership Conference (“RLC”) out in Phoenix, AZ and while there’s so much to share about this industry-leading event, it’s a specific collision we’re witnessing that’s the driver of this week’s Top of the Fold.

And please note, collisions can create opportunities.

As the title of this week’s edition says, this is a Clash of the Titans moment and b/c our friend and the CEO of Bite, Brandon Barton, challenged me to use a movie no older than 20 years, I can proudly say this film is from 2010 (but please don’t tell Mr. Barton, I’m really drawing inspiration from the original version of the film, which was released in 1981). 😊

There’s a strange thing happening in hospitality right now.

On one side of the table, we’ve got artificial intelligence eating the industry alive as it’s optimizing labor, marketing, ordering, and so much more. AI is delivering smarter operations, and faster decision-making.

At conferences, Schatzy and I like to play a (pretend) drinking game where we select a word or phrase and (pretend to) take a drink every time it’s spoken. If drinks were really consumed and we had selected “artificial intelligence” or “AI” as the trigger, neither of us would have made it out of Phoenix alive.

AI was a topic at RLC in virtually every panel. Respect.

It’s a most important topic and deservedly so as its spawned phases such as “AI apocalypse,” “SaaApocalypse” or “SaaSmageddon” which refers to the massive repricing of software companies (and the over $1 trillion in market value that’s vanished from the S&P North American Software Index thus far in 2026).

On the other side of the table, we’re bringing back salad bars, prime rib carts, and brands your parents took you to after Little League (I see you Chico’s Bail Bonds). 

Welcome to 2026, where the industry is sprinting into the future, by reopening the past.

For me, this battle was raging in real-time out in Phoenix.

At the panels and breakout sessions, there were deep discussions and presentations on AI, while on our podcast (in partnership with our friends at DailyPay), we had a line-up that included our friends at Quiznos and Chuck E. Cheese . Two brands that everyone knows and are being reimagined by leadership teams that are modernizing these brands and have loyal customers that are cheering them on every step of the way (and want them to win).

If you think nostalgia brands making a comeback is just a cyclical “everything old is new again” moment, you’re missing the bigger signal. This isn’t a trend, it’s a tell. 

This is a market reaction b/c as restaurants get smarter, they’re putting themselves at risk of becoming more forgettable.

AI is incredible at removing friction, but in hospitality, the love and passion a guest has for a brand is built on feelings, not friction (or the removal of it).

And in an effort NOT to bury the lead of this week’s Top of the Fold, feelings don’t scale the same way software does.

This is a battle of memory vs machine, and this is a match-up where I see memory winning. AI can tell you what a guest is likely to order, but it can’t replicate emotional equity.

Speaking on the Hangout with Neel Patel, CEO at REGO Restaurant Group (Quiznos & Taco Del Mar), I thought about my first experience at Quiznos during my freshman year at college and boy was that sandwich “Mmmm…Toasty!” (and it was also Mmmm…Tasty IYKYK)!

Chatting with Scott Drake, CEO at CEC Entertainment, I thought about a birthday party a friend hosted for his kid at Chuck E. Cheese (and how my own daughter is still asking to make a visit to the one out along the Long Island Expressway based solely on the stories I’ve told her about the joint).

My point, nostalgia is the ultimate “unscalable advantage.” You can’t algorithm your way into childhood memories, first dates or “my parents used to take me here.” AI can predict what you want, but nostalgia reminds you of who you were (and that’s an emotional ROI). 

Consumers are overwhelmed with too many brands, too many formats, and too many choices, so they default to what feels known. Nostalgia brands shortcut trust b/c they don’t need to introduce themselves (they just need to reintroduce themselves, but they need to it well).

That’s why brands like Steak and Ale, Bennigan's, and Friendly's aren’t just being revived, they’re being re-underwritten. Not necessarily just as restaurants, but as emotional infrastructure.

Let’s talk like investors for a moment and the real trade happening here.

Nostalgia brands offer something most early-stage concepts would kill for, built-in brand awareness which results in zero-to-low customer acquisition cost (b/c you already know the name). You also have embedded emotional connection (which translates to frequency of guest visits).

That’s not marketing, that’s a moat, and in a fragmented, over-saturated restaurant landscape, familiarity is a form of currency.

And this is where it gets incredibly interesting (at least to me) and where many people are getting it wrong. The title I used this week was a ruse, a head fake, and a misdirection b/c this isn’t nostalgia versus AI. It’s nostalgia b/c of AI.

The smartest operators and investors are building a barbell. Let’s go back to that “table” I mentioned above. It’s not Side A vs Side B (you don’t dine in opposition to your dinner companion; you dine with them). 

Side A is about a new tech stack and leveraging AI-driven efficiency that creates an opportunity for new unit economics.

Side B is about emotion-driven differentiation and we’re talking about legacy brands with memory-rich experiences, and familiar menus with cultural relevance.

Just like in the sport of tennis (which I don’t play), being in the middle is where you lose, and for restaurants, that’s where concepts go to die (sorry, not sorry for being so dramatic, but it’s true).

The playbook isn’t to modernize nostalgia out of existence, it’s to wrap modern infrastructure around timeless experiences.

In other words, digitize the back-of-house, but don’t digitize the soul of the joint.

It’s my conviction that this matters more than people think b/c we’re entering a phase where restaurants are at the risk of becoming interchangeable.

If everyone has the same tools, then the differentiation shifts to what can’t be replicated, and that’s memory, that’s nostalgia, and that’s emotional connection.

Friends, operators, this is IP arbitrage hiding in plain sight.

Dormant and legacy brands aren’t being revived out of sentiment, they’re being revived b/c emotion is underpriced, and tech is overdistributed.

The winners will be the ones who realize you don’t always need to build a new brand from scratch when you can buy one that people already love, and make it work like a modern business.

Yes, AI can predict the next order, but its nostalgia that explains where the first one comes from. In a world where restaurants are getting smarter by the day, it’s the brands that remind people who they were, that might be the ones that define where the industry is actually going.

It takes a village.

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This week’s Deal Room goes to the good people at Blackstone and Jersey Mike’s b/c if you blinked, you may have missed the hold period.

Private equity doesn’t buy sandwiches, it buys exit velocity. And right now, Jersey Mike's Subs is serving up one of the cleanest case studies in the market. 

Less than 18 months after Blackstone scooped up a majority stake in the brand at roughly an $8 billion valuation, Jersey Mike’s has confidentially filed for an IPO, with whispers of a $12 billion target and a $1 billion + raise.

That’s not a long hold, that’s a flip with fundamentals. 

This isn’t financial engineering, it’s platform optimization.

This is exactly what public markets want right now, predictable growth wrapped in franchised economics.

The bigger signal, the exit window is reopening, and let’s be clear, this isn’t just about subs, it’s about timing the tape.

After a sluggish IPO environment and stalled deal activity, we’re seeing early signs of a reopening:

Jersey Mike’s is stepping up to the plate early not b/c conditions are perfect, but because they’re good enough. And in this market, “good enough” equals “go time.”

What does this mean or signal for restaurant M&A? Great question. And here’s what we’re seeing.

1. Franchised brands are back in favor

If you’ve got unit economics + franchise scalability, you’re now IPO-eligible again.

2. Private equity hold periods are compressing (again)

The old 5–7-year playbook? Optional.

If growth is strong and markets cooperate, exits can happen in half the time.

3. The barbell is forming

Large, scaled franchisors means IPO candidates.

Others are consolidation targets.

Middle-market concepts without scale?

They’re not going public; they’re getting rolled up or left behind.

4. Growth > margins (for now)

Even with some earnings pressure, Jersey Mike’s is leaning into its unit growth story, and public markets are still willing to underwrite that.

This is private equity running a perfect two-step:

That’s not luck. That’s choreography. 

Jersey Mike’s isn’t just going public, it’s sending a message to the market that the exit window is open, but only for brands that can scale like a franchise and perform like a public company.

Everyone else? You’re either a buyer or you’re for sale.

When it comes to Branded, thanks to Mike Manzo, the former COO at Jersey Mike’s and his appearance on the Hospitality Hangout (at RLC 2025), Schatzy now proudly claims to be from New Jersey. Schatzy said that single episode of the Hangout and the conversation about “Jersey Pride” changed everything for him.

Sinatra, Springsteen, Manzo, and Schatzy! Jersey Strong & Proud!

Beyond the Sandwich: Decoding Jersey Mike's Cult-Favorite Status

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