Bar Hacks

Hosted by David Klemt &amp; Doug Radkey

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Episodes

171

Latest episode

Jun 2026

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About the show

You’ve heard of life hacks? How about #BarHacks? Created by KRG Hospitality consultants Doug Radkey (president, principal consultant) and by David Klemt (partner, senior consultant), Bar Hacks is a reflection of both high-level journalism & consulting experience within this industry. This informative and conversational podcast is the perfect listen for any aspiring or seasoned bar, pub, lounge, or even restaurant owner, operator, and manager who is looking for that competitive edge in industry driven trends, development, and operations. Have a listen and let us know what you think!

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60 recent

June 16, 2026Episode 1059 min

Ethos & Sensibilities: Ektoras Binikos on Bars, Art & Distilling

Artist, operator, bartender, mixologist, distiller, creator... Ektoras Binikos wears a lot of hats. That said, he wears them under the unifying umbrella of hospitality.Not long after arriving in NYC from Greece, he started making a name for himself. By 2019, Ektoras was ready to open the doors to his own bar, Sugar Monk. He and his team overcame significant challenges, including navigating shutdowns. Now, in June of 2026, Sugar Monk is celebrating its seven-year anniversary.Ektoras opened Bitter Monk in 2024, and has tapped into his family's history of distilling through the creation of Atheras Spirits. One of the threads tying his journey together is the effective balancing of creativity with ethos, sensibilities, and business.Cheers!Notes⁠⁠Ektoras Binikos IG⁠Sugar Monk IGBitter Monk IGAtheras Spirits IGSugar Monk websiteBitter Monk websiteAtheras Spirits website⁠⁠Bar Hacks IG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KRG Hospitality IG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KRG Hospitality website

June 2, 2026Episode 91 hr 11 min

I'm Your Huckleberry: Mike Bausch Wants You to Succeed with Pizza

Mike Bausch, one of the first certified master pizzaiolos in America, was also one of the first guests host David Klemt ever talked with on the Bar Hacks podcast. He dropped by five years ago for episode 18. Now, he returns for episode 151.If you operate a pizzeria or have pizza on your menu, and if you really want to cut through the BS and succeed in this highly competitive area of F&B, Mike can help.On this episode, he delivers the reality of running a pizza business straight, peeling back the complicated layers of pizza operations. It's possible your name is holding you back from being discoverable. Perhaps you should be calling your pizza something else. If you're in the pizza space you're not just battling other pizzerias, and you need to understand that. Your marketing may not be working because of what you're focused on and how you communicate. Mike unpacks the reality of pizza in 2026, and shows you the way forward.Cheers!Notes⁠Mike Bausch IG⁠Mike Bausch YouTubeUnslicedAndolini's PizzeriaAndolini's WorldwideProssimo Ristorante⁠Bar Hacks IG⁠⁠⁠⁠KRG Hospitality IG⁠⁠⁠⁠KRG Hospitality website

May 12, 2026Episode 81 hr 4 min

150 Episodes Later: The Side of Hospitality We’ve Never Explored

Episode number 150! Thank you for listening, subscribing, liking, and sharing. Without you, we wouldn't have reached this milestone.To celebrate, we're tackling a topic we haven't talked about on the podcast before: audio, lighting, and video. On this episode, David speaks with a friend of around 20 years, Josh Mierly. Josh is a freelance production manager for live touring acts, meaning nightclub, amphitheater, theater, festival, arena, and stadium operators will be speaking with him about the acts they've booked to perform.During this friendly but informative chat, Josh explains what it takes for an artist and the production team to work with a venue: the venue's capabilities on paper, what it's actually capable of delivering that day or night, building a positive working relationship with production managers and their teams, problem solving to ensure the show is a success and helps the venue make its sales, brands to consider, and why nightclub operators need to invest in the right audio engineer rather than just the most affordable.He also touches on what goes on in the booth or on stage, protecting your hearing, and some entertaining stories from the road (including tour bus etiquette). Cheers to 150 episodes!NotesJosh Mierly IGBar Hacks IG⁠⁠KRG Hospitality IG⁠⁠KRG Hospitality website

April 28, 2026Episode 759 min

Innovating in the Tequila Space to Balance the Taste with Responsibility

Will Brooks, Global Ambassador for Tequila Herradura, returns to the podcast. This time, he and host David Klemt dig deeper into tequila as a category and Herradura as a producer.The two discuss Lowland vs. Highland agave, what gives Herradura its unique "fingerprint," sustainability efforts, ensuring innovation is a benefit rather than a branding exercise, and another tasting trick (last episode it was oranges).Cheers!NotesWilliam Brooks IGTequila Herradura website⁠Tequila Herradura IGBar Hacks IGKRG Hospitality IGKRG Hospitality website

April 14, 2026Episode 641 min

Emma Janzen & Toby Maloney on The Classic Cocktail Sessions

James Beard Award-winning cocktail authors, educators, and bar and drinks aficionados Emma Janzen and Toby Maloney drop by the Bar Hacks podcast to chat about their new book, The Classic Cocktail Sessions.The duo share how they first linked up to begin collaborating with one another, the motivation behind writing and shooting the photos for The Classic Cocktail Sessions, writing a book about classics we all know and love with the modern palate in mind, the "casualing" of bars, and their takes on the current state of hospitality.The Classic Cocktail Sessions will be available starting in June. Check out the links below to pre-order your copy!Notes⁠Emma Janzen IG⁠⁠Toby Maloney IGThe Classic Cocktail Sessions IG⁠Book and pre-order detailsThe Elbow Room IG⁠⁠Bar Hacks IG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠David Klemt IG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KRG Hospitality IG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KRG Hospitality website

March 31, 2026Episode 553 min

Never Stop Learning: Mastering the Margarita & Taking a Natural Approach to Hospitality

"Respect the ingredients and the cocktail will respect you back."Fresh off of the grand opening of Despacho Margarita in Mexico City, co-owner Oscar Valle drops by the Bar Hacks podcast to chat with host David Klemt.Oscar shares how the core team came together, the vision for Despacho Margarita, how they're focusing on finding people with a real thirst for learning to build out the team, and the philosophy behind Natural Hospitality that drives the team and concept.Oscar also addresses the explosive popularity of cristalino tequila, how Despacho Margarita started out as a bottle shop and small bar but has transformed into a modern social club and cantina, and the recipes for two of the team's incredible Margaritas.Cheers!NotesDespacho Margarita IGOscar Valle IG⁠Bar Hacks IG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠David Klemt IG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KRG Hospitality IG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KRG Hospitality website

March 17, 2026Episode 440 min

The Slow Travel Business Model: Hospitality that Keeps Guests Returning

Not every hospitality story is about scaling, venture money, or the newest concept. Some are about staying power.In this episode, David talks with Kathy Quast, co-owner of Roman Spa Hot Springs Resort in Calistoga, a family-owned resort that has welcomed guests for 50 years. Built around the town’s geothermal mineral pools and Napa Valley wine country, the property has spent decades doing something simple but difficult: giving people a place to slow down, recharge, and reconnect.David and Kathy discuss what it takes to keep a hospitality business alive across several decades: encouraging "slow travel," updating rooms without losing the property’s character, building partnerships with local wineries and businesses, and creating the kind of experience that turns first-time guests into annual visitors.In hospitality, repeat guests aren’t luck. They’re the result of doing a lot of small things right for a very long time.NotesRoman Spa Hot Springs Resort websiteRoman Spa Hot Springs IGRoman Spa Hot Springs FBRoman Spa Hot Springs YouTubeBar Hacks IG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠David Klemt IG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KRG Hospitality IG⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠KRG Hospitality website

March 12, 2026Episode 358 min

Finian Sedgwick on Launching Black Emerald Irish Whiskey

Finian Sedgwick returns to the podcast with something he’s dreamed about for years: his own Irish whiskey brand. After years in hospitality and the spirits business, he has officially launched Black Emerald Irish Whiskey with partners Ernest Cantillon and Simon Zebo.Following its debut late last year in Ireland and Australia, Black Emerald is now arriving in the United States just ahead of St. Patrick’s Day.In this special Thursday release, Finian joins David to unpack the entire journey behind Black Emerald: selecting the liquid, developing the inaugural expressions, obsessing over every element of the label design, and the surreal moment of finally seeing the finished bottles in the real world.They also explore the two debut releases—a 7-year rum-cask finish and a 15-year cognac-cask finish—along with the profile of each expression and what may come next for the brand.Sláinte!NotesBlack Emerald US websiteBlack Emerald IGBlack Emerald FBBlack Emerald X⁠⁠Bar Hacks IG⁠⁠⁠⁠David Klemt IG⁠⁠⁠⁠KRG Hospitality IG⁠⁠⁠⁠KRG Hospitality website

March 3, 2026Episode 256 min

What Operators Need to Know Before Bar & Restaurant Expo 2026

The 2026 edition of the Bar & Restaurant Expo is right around the corner (March 23–25 in Las Vegas), and this year’s show couldn’t be more timely.Before heading to Vegas, David sat down with Brandy Rand, Vice President of Questex (the producer behind the Bar & Restaurant Expo, The Hospitality Show, and the VIBE Conference) to unpack what operators should really be focused on in 2026.If you’ve been feeling the weight of industry headlines, this conversation may recalibrate you. Inside this episode:Why the “hospitality is collapsing” narrative doesn’t align with the dataResearch shows guests still want to go out and are prioritizing bars and restaurants as a form of self-reward and social connectionWhat’s really happening with Gen Z and alcohol (spoiler: they are drinking, but they're opting for more premium, super-premium, and ultra-premium brandsThe importance of understanding that “value” means something different to every guestWhy experience design matters more now than everThis isn’t blind optimism, it’s perspective: Costs are real, pressure is real, and competition is real. But so is demand.If you’re an independent operator, a multi-unit leader, a hospitality professional building a career, or a hospitality marketer trying to interpret guest behavior, this episode is about replacing fear-based assumptions with informed strategy.And if you’ll be at the Bar & Restaurant Expo, don’t miss Doug Radkey’s session at 10 a.m. on March 23: “Top 8 Reasons for the High Failure Rate in Hospitality.”See you in Las Vegas.NotesBar & Restaurant Expo websiteBar & Restaurant Expo IGBar & Restaurant Expo FacebookBar & Restaurant Expo YouTube⁠Bar Hacks IG⁠⁠David Klemt IG⁠⁠KRG Hospitality IG⁠⁠KRG Hospitality website

February 17, 2026Episode 11 hr 14 min

Branding Mastery and Why You Need a Rebrand with Mike Perry of Tavern Agency

On this episode of Bar Hacks, host David Klemt welcomes Mike Perry, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Tavern Agency, to discuss the intricacies of branding in the hospitality and beverage industries. With Tavern Agency's focus on food, beverage, and hospitality clients, Mike shares insights from his extensive experience, including working with renowned brands like Old Grand-Dad and Sizzler.The conversation dives deep into what it means to create a successful brand, Mike and Tavern Agency's Modern Heritage branding approach, the concept of brand equity, and how to navigate the challenges of rebranding legacy brands. Mike emphasizes the importance of understanding a brand's heritage and how to modernize it without losing its core identity. He also touches on the rise of ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages and how they're changing the landscape of consumer preferences.Listeners will gain valuable insights into the world of branding, including the common pitfalls new brands face, the significance of storytelling, and the delicate balance between innovation and tradition. Plus, Mike shares exciting news about upcoming projects, and explains how he would have approached a rebrand that received an incredible amount of pushback last year.Don't miss this engaging discussion that will inspire bar, restaurant, nightclub, and hotel owners and operators to rethink their branding strategies, consider rebranding, and embrace the opportunities for growth in the evolving hospitality landscape. Cheers!NotesTavern Agency websiteTavern Agency InstagramBar Hacks IGDavid Klemt IGKRG Hospitality IGKRG Hospitality website