Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: Welcome to the Restaurant Technology Guys podcast. Today we are diving into a lesser known pizza topic, Detroit style pizza with the president of Via 313, Kiplan Welsh. He and I have known each other for a while, but it was great to catch up with him and really understand the story of this brand, how they grew from being in a trailer to growing to over 25 units and continuing to grow every day. Welcome back to the Restaurant Technology Guys podcast. I thank everyone out there for joining us. As I like to say each and every time, we know you guys got lots of choices, so thanks for hanging. Today, I am joined by somebody that I respect highly on the operational side and quite frankly, jealous because there's not a store close enough to me. anytime I see one that when I'm traveling, I'm like, I gotta go hit it up. But ⁓ don't you introduce yourself a little bit about your background, kind of where you came from, and then let's talk about what your... They have a really cool story of two brothers that started in a trailer in Austin and continue to deliver huge value and tons of really cool products. If you haven't checked them out, they're awesome. Love their food. Keplan and I really jive out on kind of what they continue to do. They also just released a food truck. We can, talk a lot about the savory restaurant fund. most current venture is, which I know you guys have been taking the world by storm.

Kiplan Welsch: All now that sounds good, Jeremy. Thank you for having me. This is really nice to get a chance to catch up. My name is Kiplen Welsh. go by Kip, but I am the president for Via 313 Detroit Pizzeria. you know, kind of my whole career has been casual dining industry side, you know, come out of college with Chili's, spent a lot of time with Chili's early 2000s ⁓ then ⁓ with some other big chains such as PF Chang's. And then ⁓ you met me and knew me from BJ's Restaurant and Brew House for about 10 years. After leaving BJ's, ⁓ I for a privately held group in Southern California in Lake Forest.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: and how their partnership with them has helped the growth as well as for them to not make mistakes that a lot of restaurant brands do. you don't know me, my name is Jeremy Julian. I am the Chief Revenue Officer for CBS Northstar. ⁓ check us out ⁓ cbsnorthstar.com. ⁓ now onto the episode.

Kiplan Welsch: And was there about two years, I guess, before coming on board with Via 313 when Savory Restaurant Fund brought me on. And so that's got me here to present day. I've been with Via now for just almost two and a half years, but been played a big part as we've continued obviously some massive growth. We've opened since I've been on board nine restaurants and so we're now at 25 locations. But that is kind of a wide stroke of the career and what's gotten me here present day.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: Yeah, no, it's great to reconnect and again, you cross paths when you were at BJ's and it was fun to kind of watch your career trajectory and it's cool to watch you lead in this brand. For those that are not familiar, you guys are kind of local-ish to me and kind of where I'm at, but for those who are less familiar with both Detroit style pizza and really just the brand in general, why don't you walk us through it? Because it's a very cool concept and quite frankly, like I said, probably helps with the waistline and helps with the budget for clothing, having them not be too close to the house, because I think I'd be eating it more than I'd like or than my wife would like. So why don't you talk us through what is the brand? And then we can talk a little bit about kind of where savory even kind of fits in. Because I think that's also kind of a cool story.

Kiplan Welsch: It is very much so. by the way, soon, well, hopefully in a not too distant future, we'll get up closer to you where you can have us little more frequently. yeah, the story of the brand I love to tell actually. I love being so I've been around Brandon and Zane Hunt, the founders, you know. for all of the times that we've announced and covered the story with our teams, we could do new restaurant openings, but it was their vision. They're from Detroit, Michigan, 2011. Zane had made his way into Texas and settled in Austin and he had actually been in radio and communications. And, you know, they, as they got into Austin, Brandon wasn't down in Austin yet, but they're like, you know, we were craving pizza, like at home and they just couldn't find anything in Austin. See, and Austin's got a vast, you know, variety of restaurants and cuisines, but nothing

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: Mm-hmm.

Kiplan Welsch: quite like, you know, the Detroit style pizza. And to go into and answer that piece of the question, the Detroit style pizza is different in how it's cooked, the dough texture, you know, people do, you know, term it as deep dish, which it is a thick crust pizza. But the Sicilian immigrants as they came in and settled in Detroit and started working in the automobile manufacturing industry, what they learned is their dough cooked extremely well in the blue steel part pans that they used on the assembly lines. And so that's literally where it was derived from. And the Detroit style pizza is a little bit different. It's a focaccia kind of crust. I would call it real light and airy. And the outside border of the pizza we build with a white cheddar to make the cheese waltz that goes all the way to the edge. then we use Grande mozzarella, which I don't think probably there's a better domestic, you know, produced manufacturer for mozzarella cheese than Grande. They do just a really, really good job. But that is the interior of the pizza. All the ingredients go on and gets baked. But then the sauce goes on after comes out of the oven and at a room temperature and it's a heavy black pepper sauce so it's a little bit different and unique. So when you try it for the first time I think people are really just sold by how it tastes and it's just a different experience altogether. But as the brothers got in and we're trying to decide you know hey you know how could we get Detroit style pizza to Austin. They come up with a few different business plans and everybody's like hey you've got a plan but you don't have any capital you got nothing to work with and so that's where they turn to hey let's get a trailer open. And so they worked blood, sweat and tears. Right. mean, look at all of the

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: That's a very Austin thing to do, man. That's a very Austin thing to do.

Kiplan Welsch: great concepts that have came out of trailers. So they were able to put together enough money. had actually sad story, they lost their mother to cancer, unfortunately. And part of what she had, had a small life insurance policy that they were not aware of. And that actually helped to funnel the dream, which they had ⁓ been encouraged her to do. And Blood, Sweat Tears that first trailer open ⁓ on sixth and it was a blow up. ⁓ They actually had set there like we need to do $200 a day to be able to break even. Brandon said, hey, if I can be paid $500 a month, it'll cover all of my expenses. Zane kept his full time job. They were working nights, weekends to be able to do both and to get it going wildly successful. Took off like everybody was really just enjoying this product. They were soon able to get a second trailer going. And then before long, they're like, okay, now we have a business model that works and we can present and we can get some investment capital to be able to grow. They opened the first brick and mortar in Oak Hill on West 290 in Austin in 2015. just had the, actually just this month had the 10-year anniversary of the first brick and mortar. It quickly had returned. were able to pay investors back, went into a second location, a North campus there across from the University of Texas. And then before long, they got East side, which is over on the East 6th street side, ⁓ open too. So it had three brick and mortars, successful. You know, they were like, we would like to continue to grow. We want to be able to provide also ⁓ for our teams to grow. They had a lot of really good team members, managers that had joined them along the way. That's where they're like, okay, we need somebody bigger to help us. This is the only way we're to be able to scale. And so that is when they went out to see, you know, where the investment potential was, what private equity groups might be interested in a concept like via 313. And through that, I think they, you know, talked to at least nine or 10 companies minutes of it's a serious decision you have to make. And through that, they found savory restaurant fund. And, you know, the thing I think, you know, with savory that was unique to that, you know, conversation is they that the brand was really going to be protected. And it is to this day, there's actually two boards and one of the boards the brothers control the majority vote on and it has a lot to do with our menu, with ingredients, with the design of the locations, some even, uniforms and attire so that they could protect it. And ⁓ you know, came in in 2020, so right in the middle of COVID ⁓ a purchase and then ⁓ being able to take majority of that and do an injection from the fund to be able to start and that's where we saw the biggest of the growth quickly. And so that allowed the first expansion into Utah, into the Salt Lake market, and then obviously continued in the Austin market and then into San Antonio where we have three locations now. And since then, we've went into Houston, obviously we've got five locations over there. We have two in Colorado. on our 2026 pipeline right now, but it was pretty rapid growth. mean, you think about coming from three brick and mortar restaurants, two trailers, you know, in 2020 to 2025, sitting at 25. And then we just completed a new food truck, which I'm sure we'll talk about as it goes live here and actually tomorrow. So, but that is kind of the broad history of Via 313. I could probably talk to you for three hours about the details of it because it is a very cool story, but it is the brothers dream being realized 100%.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: Yeah, no, and I think it's ⁓ I love those kind of entrepreneurial stories where they kind of took, you know, something and made it from nothing. And quite frankly, I'm sure if you sat down with the brothers, they had a whole lot of ignorance in those early days, not having any idea what they were doing. They're just like, dude, I'm going to make some food that I want to eat. And hopefully other people like it. And so you talked a little bit about Detroit style pizza. And I guess at a macro level, there's not really anybody that's kind of gotten, you know, save maybe Little Caesars, I guess, that's kind of Detroit style pizza, but not really. ⁓ feels like

Kiplan Welsch: Yeah.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: there's this burgeoning you know we've always had kind of New York style pizza you've always had the big you know the big guys out there but there hasn't been a whole lot of you know large growth in kind of that Detroit style pizza I guess I'd love Kevlin for you to talk a little bit about kind of why do you think that is because it is such a unique product and it guess it delivers a different experience and so I'd love to talk a little bit about your thoughts on why do you think it hits the palate in a different way than New York style pizza or a Papa John's know Domino's pizza type of thing.

Kiplan Welsch: Definitely. think that's a great point you bring up, Jeremy. mean, Jets is probably, you know, the most that would be known and it is more of a Little Caesars type of restaurant concept and they deliver a product, you know, that is quick and it's all counter service pickup. And so it's different where we're a full service set down. And there are some great players out there now like Emmy squared, Blue Pan, and then buddies, which the brothers would frequent back in Detroit. But you're right. There hasn't been like a big, big growth of that. And it interesting. think it's catching on quickly. I'm starting to see, you know, a lot of conversation around people adding Detroit style pizzas, even other local independents like where I'm based in San Antonio. There's at least two other concepts now ⁓ are local that are like, okay, we're adding Detroit style pizza to our lineup. But ⁓ think to me, the biggest difference is, you know, Chicago pizza, ⁓ of them are good for different reasons. Chicago pizza is great. You can eat about one piece because it's so big and so thick and so heavy. ⁓ the Detroit style pizza, having that really light and airy crust and then just not being so heavy with the sauce. ⁓ still filling, but you don't feel like you have just eaten Thanksgiving dinner every time you sit down and have a couple of pieces. I mean, you can have a couple of pieces of pizza and it's a great meal and it's really well balanced. ⁓ ⁓ the type of sauce to the cooking technique to that crust and then having the cheddar wall, I think that is the thing that sets it the most apart ⁓ the other types and styles of pizza. Everybody is doing New York. Everybody does some version of Chicago style or deep dish. And so I know that that is going to continue to happen. We'll continue to have more and more competition. I think it's just it's on the breakout. And I think the brothers are really ahead of, you know, history a little bit with getting open in 2011 with the trailer. And I feel like that's why they were so successful in downtown Austin, because they're like, hey, wait, what is this? We've never had this kind of pizza, you know, and having every what is Detroit style pizza? And people still ask that. So that is still how new it is on the scene. But our competition is going to get only more fierce, I know for sure.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: Yeah, no, absolutely. was last year, you know, I guess earlier in 2025, I was at RLC and Sam Fox had just opened up his own, you know, so from Fox restaurants, I walked across the street from RLC out in Phoenix and, that mall right across the way and there's a he's got a new wings and Detroit style pizza and I was like, Oh, this is pretty good. And again, I've had your guys' product and I was like, Whoa, you know, there's there's lots of people that are coming after it. But I do think it creates a different canvas. But also to your point, Kip is as It's a different experience because it is, it's sauce on the top. It's not just kind of the standard, even previous product that you used to sell at BJ's. It's a hybrid, it's not really Detroit style, it's not really Chicago style, even though they modeled themselves after and they've even reintroduced the crust. But I just think it's so unique and different that it creates a compelling.

Kiplan Welsch: Yeah.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: I guess flavor profile and it's got a little bit of, you know, a little bit of cheese, a little bit of oil. I love the crispy edges on the crust, which is also just, think, kind of part of the charm of the pizza.

Kiplan Welsch: Great. I completely agree and I think you hit it right on the head. It's just different enough than every other type of pizza that we have our own kind of space. as you noted, I mean, even BJ's this year has changed their pizza recipe up a little bit and their dough and how they execute. And it's a really good product. I mean, I spent 10 years, always have a ton of love for BJ's, but ours is different. So, and that's the thing.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: ⁓ huh. Yeah, no for sure. One of the other, I guess, areas that I'd love to talk a little bit about your guys' product is it travels really well. So pizza traditionally has traveled well, but a lot of times the larger crust, the first time I actually had it, it was being catered at an event in Austin. I was at a SAS conference in Austin and I was like, what is this? didn't, I mean, I knew who you were, but I hadn't, it was some vendor that had bought 40 pizzas or whatever and kind of had them laid out at the SAS event down in Austin. I was like, dude, this is amazing. And now every time I'm anywhere where there is one, like I said earlier, ⁓ all over it. Talk to me a little bit about

Kiplan Welsch: Okay.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: kind of your guys' mix because it is casual dining. It is sit down. But in my opinion, it was just as good off-prem as it was on-prem for me at least. And so I'd love to kind of have you talk a little bit about your guys' strategy as it relates to on-prem, off-prem. You're not trying to go directly after a Domino's or a Pizza Hut. But off-prem is a critical piece of today's day and age and what people are looking for.

Kiplan Welsch: 100 % and you know reality is we still in restaurants average about 45 to 48 percent You know and off-premise because pizza is that great thing that you can take to go and it does our Pizza holds extremely well and it reheats extremely well in an air fryer That's what we always you know talk to everybody we teach our guests that it's like put this back in the air fryer at home It'll crisp the cheese and the crust right back up. But what we are looking at especially continuing what we did in 25 and then in 26 even with our catering space is

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: Mm-hmm.

Kiplan Welsch: is with off-premise being such a big part of how we play, even being in a full service, full bar, set down style restaurant, is continuously looking at focus on flavors and additional appetizers, things that will enhance that that also do well. off-premise and being a takeout ⁓ ordered through a third party, because there's usually a lot more time ⁓ is taken where that product sets in a box. But ⁓ continuously also looked at how we are ⁓ pizza. We actually have made a box. changed this past year, changes in liners. We're always looking at like what is going to be best for that experience because the goal is to have the pizza as close as possible, you know, when you get it in a box and it's delivered to your house or to an event as it is inside of the restaurant. And the one thing that seems, you know, to me why the pizza or our pizza does so well it's just because of that crust being a little bit lighter and more airy. It seems to be able to hold well. It doesn't steam in those boxes, but kind of going back to your original question, you know, we are still like we focus heavily on our app and encouraging for the ordering experience when you order directly from us, from our website or from our app. We have different third party partners, but we're running promotions with most of the third party partners as well too. Because we know that there's a lot of people right now that are like, hey, I don't want to go sit down. I don't want to go spend time inside of the restaurant. The Detroit style pizza experience is a little bit longer because of the bake time. So they would rather say, hey, I would rather stop and pick this up on the way home from school or work. I would rather have this delivered. And so we continue to look at other ways to make it more readily accessible. We've actually added some new third party delivery partners in Texas. We just partnered with Favour, which is really starting to take off. And it's great to be kind of part of the partnership of that H-E-B portfolio because of the offers that they attach there. But even like with DoorDash, we're testing in a Houston market some twelve dollar meal promotions where it basically is a balanced item that can be ordered and it's specific to just through DoorDash. So we're actually not even running through our own ⁓ delivery platforms and running through our app and our website. But we are very heavy focused on that. because it is almost 50 % of our business still even with full service set down restaurants and that is going to continue to grow and we know that and we've also in last kind of answer to your question, you know, with Starbar, the partnership we have with them on West 6th, we have a mini brick and mortar and we know that that concept has a lot of potential. So even in a space where we would say maybe we can't go put a 32 or 3400 square foot restaurant in, what if we put this compressed mini brick and mortar model where it is literally all just take out in third party where you can pick up your pizza, can order your third party takeout delivery from it because the model is very strong and it's very profitable. So I would say that we will definitely move forward with some other variations of concept change in 26 and 27 as well.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: Yeah, no, and I think it's I think there's a lot of people that are envious of your of your mix of off-prem and on-prem because a lot of people in casual dining are still trying to figure out how to get above, you maybe, you know, that 15 to 20 percent, ⁓ with a pizza concept. And again, I talking with other brands, ⁓ Chili's has kind of set the standard for in in dining, you know, kind of with their their three for me meals and things like that and having to compete there. ⁓ they're still not killing it off-prem. And there's very few ⁓ that are in casual dining that are killing it off-prem.

Kiplan Welsch: Yeah.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: So the fact that you guys are able to mix that I think is incredible from that perspective. so a step, guess, ⁓ talk a little bit about menu. Because one of the other things that I think is always interesting is you guys have, it's not just kind of your standard pizza toppings. I think you guys have always got kind of some different new things coming out. ⁓ You guys are really creative about the ways that guys deliver your product. I guess love for you to about the thought process that. And. ⁓ how and why LTOs, I guess, make a difference to move menu and kind of either introduce yourself to new guests and or to migrate people around the menu so that you can ⁓ increase the number of incidents that people are engaging with the brand.

Kiplan Welsch: Definitely. are, well as you know, our menu just already, we have some, as you noted, very diverse toppings and that's where a lot of the favorites come in there. With the change ups that we've done and some of the items that we've added to the menu over this past year, we're literally because of LTOs. And we use the LTOs as kind of the proving ground and we actually run a contest every year where we let... team members, managers, anybody can submit new flavors and say, hey, here's a pizza that I like to make, or here's the things that I want. And we let them bring ingredients from the outside. And like the jalapeno papa absolutely kills it on our menu. And that was somebody that was one of our manager, actually a general manager that submitted that recipe. And it was like, Hey, this is a flavor that I really like. that introduced the sriracha honey. already had hot honey. Sriracha honey actually, you know, is doing extremely well inside the restaurants too. But, you know, the things like the tikka masala, like having, you know, the that has so much flavor. It's just a powerhouse and it does great as an LTO. But as we're looking at flavors for 26, as we've spelled out most of our LTO plan already, we're watching what the trends is. We know that sweet and spicy and Asian flavors have a heavy influence. So we've got some things coming down the pipe that will be launched in mid-year and in post mid-year into quarter three and four. But as we look at the LTOs specifically, like right now we have the Triple Threat. So that's an awesome new product, a new jalapeno pepperoni. And so we're like, this would be a great addition to just have on our menu as far as the pepperoni. So we're like, we need a way to launch it. So we launched it as an LTO. It's doing it's probably one of our strongest, maybe second to the elote far as one of the strongest pizzas that we did this year as an LTO. So it's going to go on the menu in January ⁓ a permanent, but that new jalapeno pepperoni ⁓ really, really well. And so the Elote pizza will bring back because it did an extremely well. I got some, some weird looks and we talked about putting the Elote pizza and I like what you're going to do a Mexican style street corn pizza. I'm like, absolutely. Like we tasted it. We tasted the submission with the, the, the cilantro lime, vinegar, crema on top of everything was so good. But ⁓ we looked at 26, we know our menu is not huge and we've got to be able to be diverse as much as possible. ⁓ And not you know, ⁓ if go to restaurant maybe there's somebody that's like hey you know what I just want a really good salad and I want the person that's with me to be able to have the pizza that they want so we are going to be launching more LTO salads than we've ever done and hopefully find some new favorites that we put on ⁓ we have a new Cobb salad that's going to be coming out in quarter one. ⁓ I think the fresh flavors and everything that attached to that will be good. And it's getting away from pizza, but ⁓ have some really good new pizza flavors and we've always done an LTO ⁓ month. And so what positionary change we're making this year is ⁓ problem is like a guest comes in and 30 days and they're like, ⁓ well I only, ⁓ it is a once a 30 day guest. And they're like, ⁓ I only got to try that pizza once it's already gone. And know, obviously it's very difficult on the team because you're constantly training and trying to bring in new ingredients. So we're like, hey, let's do more at once, but run all of our LTOs for a full quarter. So that's exactly what we're going to do. We'll have two pizza offerings, a lot of a salad, and then we're going to have some really, I guess, cool surprises. I'll foreshadow this a little bit. We're going to be testing a new spinach and artichoke dip that's going to be coming out that will be served with basically garlic bread as well as vegetables. But we also in quarter two have a cool new banana pudding with a twist to add to our desserts. So have some things we've never played with, but we added Brussels sprouts last year in 2024. And they're like, Brussels sprouts at a Detroit style pizzeria? I'm like, so good, so good. We sell so many Brussels sprouts, but that's where we're trying to get creative, not just in the pizza space, but also with other items that we're going to add to the menu and flavors. But you're going to see some really cool new influence in those toppings. And I think that's one of the other ways that we are able to stay

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: Those are amazing. Yeah, dude, those things are silly good. Yes.

Kiplan Welsch: ahead of everybody else, especially in the Detroit pizza side is just be more inventive and creative. And Brandon and Zane and I talk about this a lot. We're like, there's certain staples on that menu that we'll never mess with because they're just guest favorites. I mean, we know the Cadillac and the Boba Brazil and the Detroit. I mean, those will always be locked in. But sometimes just a little bit of a mix up if an LTO works is that we bring in a new pizza and then we remove one for a while, you know, to drive that interest back for our consumer. But I would say that the creative on a weekly basis. I've got somebody from a restaurant emailing or telling me like, hey, have we ever thought about this? I'm like, you know what? Let's jump in the kitchen and let's see what it tastes like. And that's why I think that our guests are gonna be very excited to see what we launch over the four quarters for 2026. Some new flavors that we've never had. And I think we'll probably find some more that are permanent lineup items because I think they'll perform that well.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: ⁓ I love that. I mean that's the one thing that I always find interesting is you guys are executing at a high level some very interesting flavor fo-piles so it's like you don't get stuck. You know, ⁓ and again, I remember years ago talking to David Overton, you know, the CEO and founder of Cheesecake Factory. He's like, I want the no veto rule. I want people to not have to be able to and yes, they executed a crazy high level and you know, everybody can go part of why my kids love BJ's is because some of them can get a salad and some of them get a steak and some of them get chicken tenders and some of them can get pizza and there's not. So the fact that you guys are able to execute at such a high level, I love that you're bringing that in the brand. Before we get off the menu, what is your go to?

Kiplan Welsch: That's it.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: I love asking restaurant tours. My wife worked at In-N-Out growing up and she's got her weird In-N-Out order. She doesn't order a burger this way. It doesn't order fries this way anywhere else in the world other than freaking In-N-Out because she was there every day eating the food. So she like squeezes lemon on her fries and I'm like, babe, what is going on? She does lemon on her fries. She does the burnt mustard on her burger. So what is your go-to at Via 313 that you go get?

Kiplan Welsch: Yeah. Really? Yeah So ironically, I'm going to tell you first, the first pizza that I tasted at Via would not have been a pizza I would have ordered. But when Savory and Via were talking to me about coming into the brand, I hadn't had it yet. And so my wife and I went and so we ordered just a bunch to be able to taste and to see. But my first bite was a Cadillac and I was like, I'm not going to like this because I'm like, I don't know about the fig and ⁓ all the content from the salt of the prosciutto to the balsamic, you know, and that fig together and the gorgonzola is mad. Like the pizza is great and it's something I wouldn't have ordered but my my go-to all of the time that I really really like for Detroit Pizza is honestly just a classic Detroit or I like to have in the double pepperoni I love the cup and crisp pepperoni on the top and the smoked pepperoni underneath But what I eat a lot of because I have to eat a lot of pizza is also Brandon hunts one of his favorites and that is the bar style which are thin tavern style crust ⁓ and MC5 and any with the natural casing pepperoni

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: Yes.

Kiplan Welsch: on it. Super simple but it is so good and what I have found recently is that same Sriracha honey that we use for the jalapeno papa. If you drizzle that on that pizza it is magical. So I highly recommend trying that if you haven't.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: I love it. Last question is really, I'd love. to have you kind of talk a little bit about your guys' partnership with Savory, because the one thing that I do find when I talk to brands, I've had a couple of brands that are part of their portfolio on the show, is that they are there to help you grow, but they're not there to help you tell them what to do. And I guess I'd love to have you kind of talk through that dance, because they own a portion of the brand, but they give you guys enough autonomy. And again, for restaurant owners, entrepreneurs that are out there, that are at a place where they're like, dude, I want to grow, but I don't know how to, how that partnership really helps accelerate your guys's growth, but doesn't hinder your growth from a perspective because you're able to talk to CEOs across the brand, you're able to talk to the founders. And again, I'm inferring some things just kind of knowing from other people. But I'd love to have you talk through a little bit of that. Why is it such a differentiator having a partner like that, rather than it just being a money group that's like, here's money, go grow as fast as possible. And who cares what happens because there's some other brands in Austin that had that happen and ultimately it hurt them. And I love that you guys are kind of taking it slow and steady, but with somebody that wants you guys to succeed, not just for the sake of success, but to see sustainable growth long-term.

Kiplan Welsch: Absolutely. you know, you are correct. And here's the aspect because having a brand's under one umbrella, you do. You've got a wealth of knowledge between, as you said, founders. I have other partnerships with the executive leaders of the other brands as well. But what really makes Savory different to me in the private equity space is it isn't. It isn't just banking. isn't just, hey, here's a check. You figure out how to scale and grow. And granted, I came in after, you know, the transaction and all the growth had already started, but what I can tell you is, you know, especially like with Shawna Smith, it is she is an operator. I mean, they started Neater's back in the day and built a concept and sold it and have been in the restaurant industry. having, you know, senior executive leaders and a P fund be able to the real world experience and know, okay, that is a pain point or this is what, you know, hurts or this is what ⁓ not doable in scaling or this is something that is not going to work operationally inside of a restaurant is super helpful. But on the other side is, you know, I think that there's also the space that will let you, you know, not fail, but, know, make those mistakes and figure it out. Like, okay, this wasn't the best move. But I think also the guidance of, you know, having really strong support with real estate and legal and, you know, we're a big brand now as far as like where we're at leadership wise, but that's the other piece is it's like, you know, innings one through nine. So when they first acquire a brand and and like it takes, it's kind of a swarm. They have to jump in and help and start getting everything figured out and identifying systems and bringing them online. you know, at 25 now, you know, and until we are to a point, you know, of a transaction, we really have built out our leadership team. I mean, I have a chief financial officer, a full accounting and finance team, marketing, area leader support training. So they are able to just be an accentuator to those things. They help us with those pieces without having to basically micromanage the brand, but are there essentially as a safety net to not fail. So I think that's probably the biggest difference. And that's where I know Brandon and Zane would tell you the thing that would scare them with some of maybe the other P groups that they talked to was, yeah, it was all about the numbers. And I know when Andrew and Shauna Smith sat down with Brandon and Zane, was... We don't want to mess this up. This feel of what this restaurant feels like, you know, the experience, we want to protect that and scale in a way that's responsible to be able to grow the brand and to be able to keep, you know, amazing food, the same service and feel as restaurant number one. And I think that has been accomplished. And I don't, don't know that we could have done that, obviously, you know, with another group that was, was leading. And so I think, ⁓ know, kind of back to the root of the initial question is it's freedom within framework. So we get a run. and ⁓ some decisions and fail, hopefully failing forward, ⁓ have ⁓ guard rails in place and some secondary support so you have essentially safety net. So that is what the, to me, the best part of the SAVERY Fund ⁓ and of the team that's behind that and helping. And ⁓ what do appreciate, it's the thing I'll say is, when a new brand is coming on. So we had, ⁓ they on Hawkers and then Bon Rue this year. Andrew or Shauna or one of the team will be like, would you, they'll reach out to other brand leaders and be like, hey, would you have a conversation with these founders? Be real, talk to them about what it's like working with Savory Fund, what your support level is, everything. So to me, that provides an open book. And I think that probably makes, you know, especially a new brand under an acquisition feel much more comfortable. So probably different than unfortunately a lot of those other transactions and bringing other new grow up brands. But as you noted, there's, there's, it's sad to see there have some opportunity especially in Austin locations that did not have that same experience.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: Well, and I say it partially because I want listeners that are out there that might be a restaurant owner that's got five stores and is looking to grow to not make the same mistake that some of these other people have, because I do really think that the savory fund, and there's a few others, they're not the only ones, but they have a different modicum, they have a different way that they go about it, and I wanted to have you talk about it from the receiving end, because sometimes, and again, you're not gonna talk bad about your bosses, but at the same time, understanding that alignment of what you're doing and being able to fail a little that to grow is a huge piece of it. so talk to me, how do people stay connected? How do people learn? How do people engage with the brand? to our listeners out there. Are you guys looking to grow? Are you looking to franchise? guess talk to me about what engagement might look like other than order more of our food, let us know how it is, all of those kind of things, which I'm good with that as well.

Kiplan Welsch: For sure. No, so right now, you know, obviously we're in a continued growth pattern. We're looking at three to four more units for 2026. We will continue to grow even faster than that in 2027. Essentially over the next three years. really getting close to that 40 mark. so as far as where we're at, loyalty is what we're super, super focused on right now is getting more people involved in the app and our loyalty rewards program. That has been the biggest focus of the back half of 2025. ⁓ to a point where we're doubling and tripling what we were getting as far as ⁓ enrollments as we were at the beginning of the year. ⁓ that is the best way for our guests to engage with us because of earning your points, getting the rewards you get firsthand, ⁓ of the marketing off. of which are exclusive to our loyalty rewards members. And so ⁓ can go on to via313.com and be able to sign up. You can go download the app and go in and sign up for your rewards right there. ⁓ we are going to continue to focus heavily on that, ⁓ in 2026. focus on drip campaigns for visits one through four ⁓ has to be very successful. And ⁓ we continuously working the loyalty rewards provider. We actually are going to make a change. of that in 2026 with one where we want to get a little bit more intimate in what we can offer. We want to be able to target so Jeremy can say, hey, you know what, on my birthday, you know, the Detroit with jalapenos and sriracha honey is my favorite item. And we want to get closer to where we can say, hey, here's that pizza on us. And we want you to come celebrate your birthday. And what we're going to focus heavily as we continue to look at the marketing engagement with our guests is understanding what it is that they want. We pay very close attention to guests feedback. ⁓ I know you've had Zach Oates, I believe, on your podcast as well too from Ovation. We are a partner with Ovation. We launched them in 2024 at the front end of the year. And our guest sentiment is super strong. We're averaging a 4.7 as a brand. But what I often tell everybody is we pay more attention. As just before I started this call with you, I was watching some feedback that came through from one of the Austin restaurants and watching the manager engage because the guests didn't have a great experience. Unfortunately, modifiers were wrong on the pizza. It wasn't super hot by the time they picked it up. Within one minute, that manager had responded and apologized for what the error was, offered to be able to remake the item, said we could get it back out to them if they had ability to come and pick it up. But we watch heavily all of the guest insights of like, hey, what do you like? What do you don't like? Is it slow to pick up when you're coming to get your order? What happens with third party? And the way that we can be able to impact how we change operations right down to scheduling when we staff from the book ends of the shift, knowing when we need people on, we can surgically insert labor and focus on guest experience just based off of feedback and paying close attention to that. want ⁓ continue to get into these new markets, continue to expand in existing markets that is all guest based and ⁓ people out there ⁓ be able to tell other people. mean, you're not even in a market where you can eat us regularly, but ⁓ obviously created a fan with you and that's what we want to do. I mean, I talked to a lot of guests as I travel that are like, well, I didn't know there was a VIA 313. fly into Denver. And they're like, I didn't know we have one here. And I'm like, yeah, there's two. But getting that word out, because we are still small enough that it is harder. The fact we're not all TV. mean, we'll eventually probably go into doing some CTV this year, but it is really heavily through our loyalty rewards platform and through socials between TikTok, Insta and Facebook. And I know we mentioned it earlier and I got to my plug in there. You we built a new food truck. And so that's the first since the trailers to where we actually have a self-contained truck that doesn't have to be pulled. And we launch it tomorrow at St. Elmo Brewing in Springdale in Austin for their New Year's Eve party. And I could not be more excited because that truck will have residents there and you know that's huge for us because craft beer and pizza go hand-in-hand and St. Elmo's has a huge following and so we're very excited to see you know what that does but my bigger intent on building that food truck is markets like Dallas when we get ready to go is be able to send a food truck up and be able to go into the areas we're interested in set up and let people taste our product get an idea of what the feel is how people receive it because it's help us to understand, you know, would we do well in those, in those areas. And the other thing I would say too is, you know, as we get a new restaurant open, we would like to be able to set those food trucks up. So guests can come start to eat and order pizza before the brick and mortar is actually open. But, um, you know, we are, we're, we are humble. We want, we're looking for every new guests that we can get. Um, we will say it over and over again, the brothers will constantly say it is, you know, we just want to get our pizza and somebody's mouth. Cause once you taste it, I think it, it speaks for itself. told me it's the reason I'm in this seat today.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: Yeah, well, and the thing that I, again, love that you guys are doing is sustainable growth. It's not growth for growth's sake. It's growth to that guests are satisfied with the product and you guys are very methodical. Obviously, with ⁓ operational mindset that you bring from ⁓ many years, make sure that the guests are taken care of because when the guest is taken care of, the staff is taken care of, the rest takes care of itself, right?

Kiplan Welsch: 100 % and that question comes up. mean, we opened six last year. We only opened two this year ⁓ it is just being about ⁓ responsible. Like not, you know, just open restaurants as you said to open restaurants for the sake of opening them. It needs to make ⁓ It needs to be profitable, but we also have to execute. ⁓ want to make sure we don't outrun our talent pipeline. We are very careful to try to continue to promote from within. We get people that know the product and culture. That's the best way to tell the story and to get everything I told you. about Brandon and Zane in 2011 all the way to every guest is to continue to operate that way for sure.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: Yeah, no, and again, I really appreciate you sharing the story. Please tell the founders that one, I selfishly love the product and it's great ⁓ to watch you guys grow and it's been fun to watch your career trajectory and kind of stay connected over the last few years to watch you guys continue to grow. So thanks for coming and hanging out with me today.

Kiplan Welsch: Absolutely, it was my pleasure, I enjoyed it.

Jeremy Julian - Restaurant ...: Awesome to our listeners guys, like I say each and every time you guys got lots of choices So thanks for hanging out If you are in a region and you have not checked out their food I would encourage you strongly to go check it out Try a couple different things because dude they execute at such a high level try it off-prem try it on-prem It's amazing product. So kip. Thank you so much for your time and to our listeners. Make it a great day

Kiplan Welsch: Thank you very much, Jeremy. I appreciate you.