[Darin Detwiler] Welcome, everyone. This is Spoiler Alert! I'm Dr. Darin Detwiler.
[Callin Godson-Green] I'm Callin Godson-Green.
[Darin Detwiler] And we are at the National Restaurant Show in Chicago. Chicago. And I cannot tell you how excited I am to talk about Taco-pout.
[Callin Godson-Green] Oh, get in.
[Darin Detwiler] Food topics with Knala Keith from Del Taco, my favorite restaurant.
[Knala Keith] Welcome, Knala. Hello.
[Darin Detwiler] It is so great to have you here. I know that you know this. As soon as I found out that we were going to be able to talk with you, I was like, sign me up. I'm excited. I don't think a week goes by and I don't go to Del Taco.
[Callin Godson-Green] Tell us about Del Taco for us East Coasters that aren't as fortunate to have.
[Darin Detwiler] Let's make that assumption that, because you're not in all states.
[Knala Keith] We are not. We're only in 17 states currently with about 600 restaurants.
[Darin Detwiler] And for those who don't know, there is something so incredible about Del Taco because the fact that we.
[Knala Keith] Hand smash our beans in-house every single day throughout the day. Fresh grill our chicken, fresh grate our cheese, dice our tomatoes. That pico de gallon guacamole is made right there with our own special spices.
[Darin Detwiler] Well, it makes a big difference. We were talking before we started recording that we're going to be in Charlotte, North Carolina, and you have a location out there, right? And so we're going to have to make sure to.
[Callin Godson-Green] Dr. D is going to bring me.
[Darin Detwiler] I have my favorite menu items. But there's a really cool culture around Del Taco. I'd love to go into that. What is it about this culture with Del Taco that's so fascinating?
[Knala Keith] I would say Del Taco is, it's a second family. I have raised all of my children in Del Taco. I have started at the bottom, worked our way up, and in fact, most of our office has started inside the restaurants. We know firsthand what it takes to run a restaurant from all positions, levels, experiences, different backgrounds, and work to make sure that it is a conductive environment for our teams.
[Darin Detwiler] And you've been there for some time. Tell us about your journey.
[Knala Keith] Almost 14 years this year. I started at Del Taco as a walk cashier, walking in on my 16th birthday looking for my first job. I got hired in on the spot, became a shift manager at 18. On my 18th birthday, they actually had me run my very first shift. Great present. It was a different age back then and worked our way up. I skipped quite a few steps and got my own restaurant at the age of 19, about to turn 20 years old. I worked as a restaurant manager for eight years and recently took over a corporate office position as a manager of operations support with Del Taco almost three years ago.
[Darin Detwiler] Wow. Before we go into some meatier topics, do you have a favorite item?
[Knala Keith] I love our cheesecake bites, which is an off menu dessert item, and our classic green bold bean and cheese burrito. I have to get those beans.
[Darin Detwiler] I have a favorite.
[Knala Keith] Let me guess. An 8-layer veggie. Hold the rice. Oh, yes. Make it a 7 layer.
[Darin Detwiler] Yes. So I'm that kind of guy. I asked for a change on the menu. Can you just take away one of the layers?
[Knala Keith] Which is, that is what Del Taco is good for. Yeah, I love it. You can modify anything. If you have a tortilla allergy or gluten allergy, we can modify everything because it is made fresh to order.
[Darin Detwiler] Well, that's an important difference. I mean, there's so many places where Because I want the same taste, I want the same product, I want the same experience, there'll be some pre-assembled or some centralization, and you don't do that there.
[Knala Keith] No. Nothing is prepared until you place that order. That's when that patty gets placed on the grill. That's when those fries get dropped in that oil. There is nothing made and waiting for you until you order.
[Darin Detwiler] Well, you're also, by the nature, you're dealing with a lot of fresh ingredients, your tomatoes, your onions, lettuce. What new challenges kind of come in terms of not only the freshness of the product, not all those ingredients are cooked, but also that you're preparing it fresh in front of the customer after they order it? Are there more challenges in terms of the tracking, the auditing, the food safety?
[Knala Keith] So Jolt honestly helps us with a lot of the tracking and temperatures. So we hold temperature checks throughout the day. Some restaurants still have ice baths because we are an older company and we have a lot of retro style restaurants. that came from the 50s and 60s and 70s that were built. So using our food safety tools is what helps ensure that we're safe and ready for the customer. But we are fresh making that food every day throughout the day. So keeping up on our refrigeration is most important.
[Callin Godson-Green] I think like to your point, you know, everything's made fresh. So then it's As such a big brand, it's sometimes surprising that you don't have all this pre-prepared stuff coming in because you want that consistency across operations. I think that just means it's like a testament to you, the operations team, and the training team. Like training must be an integral part. Like if I got hired tomorrow, very big training program.
[Knala Keith] And we all start with a specific position. And even our people that come in through QA or accounting and finance or HR, they also spend time in our restaurants and go through the same training program to make sure that they understand the level of freshness and quality that our stores need to be prepared for.
[Darin Detwiler] Now, I would imagine that you hire a good amount of teenage employees.
[Knala Keith] Yes, I'm one of them.
[Darin Detwiler] Yeah, do the math. Is this, for many of those employees, the first time they've ever had any kind of actual food safety training and conversations?
[Knala Keith] It's definitely a high amount. We hire quite a lot of minors. And they've never had experience. So we have a lot of training videos to start, a lot of hands-on events, scavenger hunts, learning. Yeah. And we make it very involved for them to where they need to watch a video and then they go on that floor and learn it, practice it, show, tell, do review, the lovely four steps everywhere does. And really have to learn how much pride and care we take in our restaurants.
[Darin Detwiler] Yeah, it's really one of those things. I know it sounds crazy because I go in there almost every week, but it must be the time of day I go in there. Del Taco is one of those restaurants where I almost always see employees, that's where they eat lunch as well.
[Knala Keith] Yeah.
[Darin Detwiler] How could you not?
[Knala Keith] When you, I personally had not eaten Del Taco before I started working there. And as soon as I worked there and saw the cheese being grated and the tomatoes being diced and everything so fresh and clean, how could you not want to try it? It's like home-cooked food just in a fast environment.
[Darin Detwiler] I mean, I know it's crazy because I'm like sounding like I'm like, I love this. He must be hungry.
[Knala Keith] Our customers are regulars. Once you have Del Taco, you are consistently coming back for that clean, tasting, friendly, open environment because it's not only that are you getting fresh food, but you're also being welcomed.
[Callin Godson-Green] I think that's a big part. And you even saying that you come or go to a Del Taco every week?
[Knala Keith] Like how many of them know your order?
[Callin Godson-Green] Yeah.
[Darin Detwiler] And there is a woman who knows my order. She'll say, hold the rice. Yes.
[Knala Keith] Oh, hold the rice. You're back. Yes, that's my name. Hold the rice. I had guess I would see their car pull into the driveway and be like, all right, start to make Nancy's order.
[Callin Godson-Green] Start to take the rice away.
[Darin Detwiler] But you know, I I have told them, like, I really, I appreciate the fact that I love your iced tea. And it's not.
[Knala Keith] Fresh brewed, by the way.
[Darin Detwiler] It's fresh brewed, but it's also.
[Knala Keith] On Sweden on the West Coast.
[Darin Detwiler] Yes. But I've been to places where iced tea, you know, they come and they, like, they'll dump in the ice and they pour it in there. And you know that nozzle is an issue, but you use a specific piece of technology that I know is a better quality product, even just for your drinks, right? I also know, I have a friend who has a medical condition and tacos, burritos, your products, right? Their doctor said, if you're going to go and you have choices, Del Taco is a good choice for you because they avoid this, because you go to so many places and everything's fried and battered and there's so much bread. And it's good for you, but if you can't have those ingredients, those items in your diet, then you're like, what are you going to do? You can only eat a on a lettuce so many times kind of a thing. But you don't just provide a great quality product for your customers. There are people whose medical and preferences, their medical needs or preferences are now able to be met and they have confidence in the quality they're going to get from you.
[Knala Keith] Yes. So customization is a very big factor. at Del Taco. We on that is one of the day one trainings is knowing how to customize products for our guests and their specific needs. I used to send people home with wrappers with markings on it of master these markings because we need to make sure that if that guest orders no onions and they have an allergy, it is important that they get those no onions. Not only for our brand and our image, But for that guest to return, they're trusting us with their food preferences. We need to be able to redeliver on that.
[Darin Detwiler] Now, we were talking earlier about this idea of how many people, like they'll...they'll put in years and they'll advance, like you were talking about, right? Do you see people who over time, they've been working there for a while, they experience a change in not only like the technology you're using, but I mean, the world, like the social media, there's so much more information that people are asking questions about. Is it, you know, like questions about gluten and onions and allergens and stuff like that. Do you find that your employees are more receptive today than maybe in the past those questions that customers are asking.
[Knala Keith] I think they're a lot more aware. There's a lot more conversations around specific matters, whether it be gender or allergens or just the culture that we are in today. How we greet our guests has changed over the last decade greatly. And so has our training department to accommodate that. Back in the day, we used to, I should not say back from the day, but. Our training used to be a booklet pamphlet that we would give and we would talk about it and go through it. And now our training has shifted to videos and gamification and a lot more involvement to where it's not just that piece of paper you give. Here's the new product. Here's how we do it. Go have fun. Now it's a lot more of here's the paper. This is what you're going to be learning. This is the outcome of your learning. Now let's go watch a video. Let's do it together. Let's reenact. and make cashier job aids of how are we going to approach this when I get to ask this question?
[Darin Detwiler] And you have those moments where you're introducing new items. There's always the seasonal. Every 6 to 8 weeks.
[Knala Keith] Yeah. Really.
[Darin Detwiler] Every 6 to 8 weeks.
[Knala Keith] Catherine is very much aware. Wow.
[Darin Detwiler] And you said 14 years.
[Knala Keith] 14 years this June.
[Darin Detwiler] What's the most memorable or craziest new item that you recall?
[Knala Keith] I will say, I think our shrimp. Our shrimp is always, so this is a returning menu item every single year around Flint, Easter season for those higher seafood purchases, but it's also the most detrimental. That's the most detrimental. It has the seafood allergen. Shellfish is a very big allergy awareness issue and the cross contamination is very key on that. So I think that is the most memorable just because we constantly every year have to reiterate it because sometimes we hire those teenagers who are only working for six months. They didn't have it last year. So even though it's not a new launch to me, it's new to our field.
[Darin Detwiler] That's a great point. It's new to them. I mean, I have to admit, I did have your And are they not delicious? They are very delicious. But I don't think about it in terms of, oh, it's a new product or there's a new challenge or there's a new level of attention to detail that...
[Callin Godson-Green] But are you lucky that you don't have to think like that? Because obviously you didn't have, you know, like for someone...
[Darin Detwiler] Well, that's the thing. I don't want to say I have anxieties, but if I go to some other restaurant, I'm going to be like, I'm going to be looking for this. I'm going to be looking for this. I'm going to be avoiding that. I don't know. They don't know this. I don't know this. But when I find that kind of confidence in a brand, I'm always going to want to go back. And I tell you, there are some brands, I mean, I'm not going to mention any names. There are some brands that I really, yeah, I don't care. I will avoid those brands. But I mean, even my wife knows, you know, it's Friday. Are you going to go to Del Taco? And I'm going to make another plug too. Your French fries are better than they have to be. They really are good French fries.
[Knala Keith] I don't think we would have ranked number one last year if it wasn't for that.
[Darin Detwiler] So if you are in a state where Del Taco is coming to you, I don't want you to go there simply because I said so or simply because you're excited by these new flavor profiles. But seriously, the confidence that I, and I'm a very critical food safety, I, and I'm very critical in terms of leadership as well, I've always been impressed with Del Taco. So I want to thank you for being a place that I find to be a place of confidence that I go to over and over.
[Knala Keith] We are never able to deliver on that. It is, that is our end goal. is we want those customers to feel happy, safe, and confident with us. So that way we can continue delivering for the next 50 years and continue growing.
[Callin Godson-Green] That culture is evident throughout. Like obviously I work with Style Taco a lot and like food safety is an integral part. Any changes that are being made, it's kind cascaded through food safety, like those 6 to 8 week rollouts you guys do. It's not just like, oh, our customer is enjoying this. It's like, what temperatures are they being served at? You know, if we're introducing a new meat that maybe we haven't had before or shrimp, like it, have our standards been updated to include the cooking of seafood into it? You know, it is an integral part throughout and that's 100% culture. I agree. And like that's something that you can't quantify or taste. It's just.
[Knala Keith] We like to be very thorough on not only what our image is to the guests, like she said, but we do, we include lots of questions and we do what we call a culture of quality. And it is our guarantee where we have above store leaders, corporate office members, and even the stores themselves go in and reconduct a secret shop visit, go through, come back inside the restaurant, behind the counter and verify, are we doing this the way we trained it to make sure that consistency is always there for our guests.
[Darin Detwiler] Well, I love the idea of the consistency, but I also think that one of the things I would attribute to a very good leadership attribute for Del Taco is that when you look at the bigger picture of sustainability, being able to adapt to changes in ingredients, to changes in menu items, to even just the changing customer base If you're not able to be flexible and to accommodate for that, I don't know how it is going to be easy for leadership to say, this is how we're going to navigate our journey forward when you're looking at the short term and not the long term.
[Knala Keith] It's a part of how you have to do business. If you can't adjust and redirect and retrain, where are we going really? How are we going to keep our doors open if we can't make those swift changes and those quick actions? If there was something to occur, especially, you need to be able to identify, correct, and move forward swiftly.
[Darin Detwiler] Well, it's amazing too. We've had some conversations about speed. It used to be that the only KPI was speed. Get it out fast, get it out fast, get it out fast. fast is in the word fast food, right? but you can get things out fast, but if it's not the quality and the experience and meeting that specific need of the customer, then speed is irrelevant, and that must be difficult, especially for new employees, to explain that. Yeah, we don't want to take forever, but we also want to get it right.
[Knala Keith] Yeah. So when I first started with Del Taco, the thing that we used was fast, friendly, and accurate. Those are what we want to achieve. And I used to make jokes about some other fast food restaurants that I will not mention, that you may go somewhere and get fast. and accurate, but are you going to get the friendly or are you going to go somewhere and get fast, but are you getting friendly and accurate or any type of modification? Del Taco, we strive for all three.
[Callin Godson-Green] Some fast food brands now don't have any of the three that I'm thinking of, especially like kiosk ordering is a big thing nowadays. So like how would even if the friendly status is there and those sort of things?
[Knala Keith] So with Del Taco, if you're ordering on the kiosk, we're still trying to greet you. We're still trying to welcome you. Hey, welcome to the Del Taco. Let us know if you need help. Let us be there for you. I can say I was in a restaurant visiting, doing I think a culture of quality just a month ago, and I saw a cashier or a guest walk up to the kiosk and just with the confused look on their face. I'm jumping over there. What can I help you with? I just, I need to modify that. Let me show you how so you got it next time. And that is the type of environment we try to have at Del Taco.
[Darin Detwiler] Excellent. Especially when you have, you know, from very young to elderly that, I mean, I see regularly in terms of, you know, it's such a range of the diversity in terms of your customers that come in there. But they all come in there because of the consistency and the quality and I'm sure the confidence they have in the product.
[Knala Keith] And I think the customization. We can accommodate like you were speaking earlier on, there's certain diets that cannot eat a lot of places and we offer a lot of those alternatives. If you visit our website, we even have a list of what's gluten free, what's vegetarian, what's vegan, what's this. So that way you don't have to think about it as a guest. Go pull up that nutritionals and you can go down the line and say, what can I eat here without having to question and wonder, am I going to get sick from eating here?
[Darin Detwiler] And I want to ask one last question before we run out of time here. All these questions and assumptions and confidence that the customer sees on one side of the counter, if you will, it really depends on all of the leadership and hard work and even the technology that's going on the other side of that counter to make that all happen.
[Knala Keith] Without our leadership teams, we couldn't guarantee as much as we do. And we're really thankful to our our store operators, our above store leaders, our training department on making sure that every step is covered for our guests.
[Darin Detwiler] Excellent. Knala Keith, Del Taco, you have no idea how excited I was to speak with you.
[Callin Godson-Green] No, I think everyone knows.
[Darin Detwiler] All right, You can see it. I'm sorry. Thank you so much for everything and I can't wait to experience a new Del Taco.
[Knala Keith] I will be excited to see you guys there.
[Darin Detwiler] Thank you very much.
[Knala Keith] Have a good day. Thank you.
