Opening one restaurant is hard. Opening several at the same time requires a completely different operating system.

Gio and Tania walk us through the opportunities that moved the Ramirez group from two restaurants toward four, including Soccerria, a new Taqueria Ramirez location in Carroll Gardens, and El Camarón Peludo in the West Village. They explain how favorable leases, strong partners, existing restaurant infrastructure, and a little bit of timing luck helped shape their expansion map.

We also talk with Thomas McNaughton and Ryan Pollnow of Flour + Water Hospitality Group about growing a restaurant company thoughtfully. Together, we dig into sequencing restaurant openings, sharing resources across locations, knowing when an opportunity is actually worth pursuing, and building enough structure to grow without turning every concept ...