Restaurant Influencers

Shawn P. Walchef

Booking Overview

This is an interview-focused hospitality industry show featuring restaurant owners, hospitality executives, bar specialists, and other established operators discussing restaurant leadership, operations, growth, and marketing. Credible pitches include notable restaurateurs, hospitality-group founders, restaurant consultants, beverage experts, and authors with demonstrated industry results; booking difficulty is medium because guests generally hold senior positions or have recognized expertise.

Metrics

Episodes: 233

Frequency: Weekly

Rating: 5.0/5.0

Estimated listeners: <1k

Gender skew: Unknown

Location: USA

YouTube: 537.0k subscribers

Instagram: 5.0M followers

Contact Information

dshah@entrepreneur.com

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Host

Shawn P. Walchef - Founder of Cali BBQ Media and host of a podcast focused on restaurant and hospitality leadership, digital marketing, and smartphone storytelling.

Booking Intelligence

Booking Requirements

medium
Typical Credentials:  
Restaurant or hospitality founders, owners, executives, consultants, bar and beverage specialists, or authors with substantial operating experience and demonstrable results.
Required Achievements:  
Founded or scaled notable restaurants, bars, or hospitality groups, Built recognized hospitality concepts or dining destinations, Authored an industry book, Developed expertise in restaurant operations, beverage programs, bar design, or team culture

Recent Guest Discussions

Alex Smith - Building Atlas Restaurant Group, Transforming Baltimore’s Harbor East Into A Dining Destination, Scaling Restaurant Teams, And Developing Team-first Culture.

Emily Brown - Launching A Neighborhood Bar, Building Hospitality And Community, Managing Rapid Demand, And Expanding A Restaurant Concept.

Tobin Ellis - Bar Design, Workflow, Hospitality, Beverage Strategy, Changing Drinking Habits, And Service Standards.

Recent Topics

Restaurant Industry, Hospitality, Restaurant Marketing, Social Media, Entrepreneurship

Episodes

Here's the recent few episodes on
Restaurant Influencers
:

He Bet on Baltimore Before Anyone Else — Now His Restaurant Group Is Transforming Cities Across America

June 16, 2026

Alex Smith, founder and CEO of Atlas Restaurant Group, helped transform Baltimore’s Harbor East into a dining destination while building a rapidly expanding hospitality company known for luxury restaurants, disciplined operations, and team-first culture. Watch now to learn how Alex Smith built Atlas Restaurant Group, transformed Harbor East, and used lacrosse principles to scale team culture. Restaurant Influencers is sponsored by: • Toast All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://entm.ag/ToastRI ...

This Restaurant Owner Was Secretly Cleaning Airbnb’s to Pay Rent — Now Her Investors Want To Open More Locations

June 09, 2026

Emily Brown, owner of Eebee’s Corner Bar in Washington, DC, built one of the city’s most talked about neighborhood bars around old-school hospitality and community. Before opening Eebee’s, Brown spent years bartending, running beverage programs, and hustling through side jobs while developing her vision for a corner bar. Watch now to learn about the leap of faith behind Eebee’s Corner Bar, the seven-hour wait times that followed, and how Emily Brown turned a corner bar into one of DC’s hotte...

Most Restaurants Ignore the Most Profitable Part of the Business, This Bar Expert Says

June 02, 2026

Tobin Ellis, founder and principal of Studio Barmagic, has spent nearly 30 years designing and operating bars around the world. Through his new book Bar Design Essentials, Ellis shares why workflow, hospitality, and beverage strategy matter more than ever in the modern restaurant business. Watch now to learn why most bars are designed backward, how hospitality is changing as people drink less, and why great service still drives the restaurant business. Sponsored by: • TOAST - All-In-1...

dshah@entrepreneur.com

For verified host and producer emails, sign up to view.

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