Tonight, in "Undercover Boss" first,
two bosses take a journey within the same company.
Hey, how you doing, Rod?
Tim Betts, CEO of Muscle Maker Grill...
You're the yang to my ying.
Goes undercover in a company he just bought
with the founder, Rod Silva...
Here's your chance, man. Take the suit off.
Along for the ride.
- Welcome to Muscle Maker Grill. - Boom.
We're gonna do one of those. Blow it up.
He got really into character. He's a surfer dude.
Got to change into uniform.
By joining his employees on the frontline...
Stop, stop, stop.
Have you ever cut chicken before?
- Uh, no. - Watch those fingers, Dusty.
This brand new CEO will meet the people
who keep this fitness-focused restaurant chain
in tip-top shape.
Okay, you're so slow!
You're getting a crash course, so you got to pick it up quick.
- Am I crashing? - I would say yes.
While undercover...
If you think this is complicated,
imagine what's corporate's version.
Yep.
He will find that not everyone
is playing for the same team.
Nobody's gonna help us. We do it ourselves.
We got a rogue franchisee here.
You look a little spicy.
And what will happen when he discovers an employee
who's hurting the health of the company?
Welcome to Muscle Maker.
It's okay if you want to... want to order.
Find out next on "Undercover Boss."
Headquartered in Colonia, New Jersey,
Muscle Maker Grill is a fast-growing
healthy dining chain.
With more than 50 locations, 600 employees,
and $30 million in yearly revenue,
this ground-breaking company is starting to flex its muscles.
Hey, how you doing, Rod?
Keeping this franchise
as fit as a fiddle are two men.
I'm Rod Silva, founder of Muscle Maker Grill.
Recently I sold the company to Tim Betts at ARH.
How you doing?
My name is Tim Betts,
and now I'm the chairman and CEO of the company.
Muscle Maker Grill is a healthy concept
served in a fast, casual environment.
When I saw that concept, I said, "I have to buy it."
Hey, guys.
Rod brings the face of the brand,
and so we kept Rod as Director of Brand Development.
I don't think anybody could come near us.
I'm excited.
I have a smaller piece of a bigger thing,
and I like to say now I get to coach my son's soccer team.
I get to watch my kids grow up.
And the story continues, 'cause he kept me on,
so it's just great.
Rod Silva founded Muscle Maker Grill
nearly 20 years ago, and today,
it's one of the leading healthy fast-casual
restaurant brands in the country.
In my teenage years, I was really skinny,
so one day I started body-building.
Workout was always my passion,
but I just came to realize that eating
was a big part of it
and that's how I came up with the vision.
We began as a vitamin shop.
We sold all sport nutrition supplements
and I was making meals on my father's backyard grill,
and bringing them in, and it just kind of
took off from there.
In November of 2007, We began franchise.
I think that's gonna pay a lot of dividends.
I first came across Muscle Maker nearly two years ago.
The brand launched in 1995 in Colonia, New Jersey,
and over the past 20 years, we've grown to 600 employees
and 50 locations
pumping out healthy food across 12 states.
Over the next few years, we want to bulk up
our meal plan systems from 20%
to 100% store participation,
and we're aiming to add eight locations a month
including international partners and large franchises.
At the end of 2020, we'd like to be at 750 stores.
Hey, how you doing, Rod?
- Glad to have you here. - Great to see you again.
I'll be honest with you, I'm a little nervous
as far as what I'm gonna see.
People always ask, "How do you guys get along?
How'd you do this?" I said, "Everything I don't do,
I met someone who's great at doing,"
so you could do the numbers, you're the finance guy.
But, man, you're the... you're the heartbeat of it.
I think me and Tim are a little bit different in ways.
You know, I'm a high energy, high passion crazy man,
and Tim's more calculated.
You know, you're the... the yang to my ying.
You're the other way around, and...
We're kind of like "The Odd Couple", myself and Ron.
I sort of like numbers. I'm gonna admit it.
I like numbers.
You could be behind a desk all day.
Well, not all day. I still got to get a tan,
- don't I? - That's true.
We're different in a lot of ways,
but we're also alike.
Ahh!
Rod and I, we're both dads.
He's rough and tumble dad.
- Oh, man. - Greatest common factor?
I'm more reserved dad.
I'll help you with your homework.
He's more of an instructional guy.
I'm gonna check yours later, okay, Sophie?
I'll build the biceps, you build the concept.
- All right. - Let's toast to that.
To our journey. Let's do this.
Let's do it.
What are you thinking?
Uh, definitely something with that beard.
- What are you thinking? - Here's your chance, man.
Take the suit off.
Let's go full surfer. What are you thinking?
It would be extremely difficult for me
to send Rod in to go undercover.
He's known in Muscle Maker as much as our logo.
What are we gonna do with these guys?
Man, what are you thinking, dude?
Let's make it wild.
A bit of a rough voice I would call it.
Hey, you put a patch on, we'll go pirate,
but I don't think that's good for you.
I'm not sure about that.
And I think it's better for me to go undercover,
the guy that they're not even gonna expect.
- All right, man. - Thanks for coming, man.
- Can't wait to see it. - Yeah, appreciate it.
Now that we're really looking to expand Muscle Maker,
it's a great time for me to get in there
and really see what it is that we need to improve upon.
- Let's get started. - Yeah.
I think what we'll do is we'll lift your base
- to a lighter color. - Okay.
I think I'm in a great position to go undercover
because I've been the CEO for less than a year
and I'd be extremely surprised if I'm recognized.
I'm going undercover as Dustin,
a slacker surfer from Venice, California
that's vying for a prize that I can use
to start my own business.
Whoa.
While I go undercover,
Rod's gonna be with me part of the time.
Hey, Tim, what's going on in there?
You're like my wife. All day I've been waiting
for ya, let's go!
We're in this together, for good or the bad,
we're hooked at the hip.
Wha-ha-ha. Ha-ha!
- What's up, dude? - You right off the beach, dude.
- Dude, surf's up. - That is awesome, dude.
Dude, you know, I think you could fool your wife.
We're gonna pull this off. Let's do it.
- Great, let's do it. - We're ready to go.
Awesome.
Today, I'm in Clifton, New Jersey,
visiting one of our top Muscle Maker stores.
Muscle Maker in Clifton, pickup or delivery?
So you got the muscles popping out today.
This store has been on of our top producers for a long time.
I think they have great customer service here.
If they're doing certain things that are really great.
I'd love to be able to use that at some of our other stores.
I'm gonna speak to you through the mic.
I will turn it on to speak to you,
but I'll be in contact, 'cause I'll be watching on the screen.
Just don't yell. Don't... don't yell.
I got sensitive ears.
Today I'm gonna be working as a cashier.
Get 'em.
I've been a server before in a restaurant,
but I've never been at the front
running the cash register.
At Muscle Maker Grill, we pride ourselves
about giving a great guest experience.
Typically, if you've come in more than once,
we'll know your name,
and that's what I'm expecting here.
- Here to see Kristina. - I'm Kristina.
- You're Kristina? Oh, hi. - Hi.
- I'm Dustin. - Nice to meet you.
- How you doing? Ready to... - Welcome to Muscle Maker Grill.
You got it, great. I'm gonna come back...
- Yeah, come right over here. - And you're gonna hopefully
show me everything. Cool.
Excuse me.
Dusty is, like, a surfer dude.
Like, he's not from around here, definitely.
I'm from Venice, California.
Laid back area, I, kind of, do a little surfing,
and, you know, that kind of stuff.
- Wow, yeah. - He got really into character.
He's a surfer dude.
Kinda about the beach, but, you know,
- I try to work hard, too, so... - Yeah. Oh, awesome. Awesome.
He kind of reminded me of, like, Napoleon Dynamite.
Boom. We're gonna do one of those.
Blow it up. Where I'm from, we blow it up.
But, like, a smarter version.
Look, I'm trying to win a contest.
So I'm trying to win some money.
Really? Yeah.
No, you're gonna win. With me, you're gonna win.
- Do it, girl, good. - All right.
So first we need to get you a shirt.
So we're gonna be doing, like, a lotta cashier stuff?
Yes. You're gonna have fun with me.
All right, good stuff. All right, cool.
Ha-ha.
I'm gonna show you how to be a cashier today.
Like, the register itself... this... all this is, like,
- what's in the menu. - Okay.
Over here. Everything is organized, like,
warm ups are here, fit salads.
There's new things, like, we have a new...
kale and ka... kane...
Qui... quinoa.
You're right. It's spelled weird.
- Yeah. - Okay.
Hello, how are you? We can take care of you.
I'll just... I'll watch ya. I'll just watch ya.
No, I'm gonna put you to work.
All right, all right. I'll keep my head from...
You ready to get in the fire?
Come on.
I would like the Rocky Balboa wrap.
- Okay. - Where am I looking at here?
- You're going to wraps. - That's W, huh, that's not R.
Using our POS, really for the first time,
there were a few things there,
where it was a little bit complicated.
- Okay. - Baked potato, plain.
- So then, baked potato. - Not the loaded one, huh?
- Baked potato, okay. - Yeah.
There were multiple times where we had to hit
two, three, four buttons
where it should have just been a lot simpler.
- Thank you. - Thanks for coming.
- Appreciate it. - It'll just be a few minutes.
- Okay? - Okay. Thank you.
- You got this, you got this. - Okay. Oh, okay.
Loosen up, loosen up.
Keep the pace, like, going
'cause it gets really busy over here.
Okay.
Lunch time. Let's get that lunch rush.
Hello, welcome to Muscle Maker.
Okay, is that for here or to go?
- Substitute... sub. - A sub.
- Hit this here. - Okay, down.
- No. - No?
I didn't have a lot of training.
I thought maybe she could have spent a little bit more time
training me and going through some of the steps,
so I had to learn on my toes, and I got swamped a little bit.
- And what is your name, sir? - Bill.
- Bill? - Yes, thank you.
I-L-L, gotcha. Okay.
Yeah, okay.
A lot different than being behind a desk, huh, buddy?
Protein shake. Okay, you're so slow!
- Oh, my God! - Sorry, sorry, I know, I know.
There's a line out the door right now.
Kristina was getting after me.
Saying I was still a little slow.
I want our employees to expect a lot from their coworkers,
but she was riding me pretty hard.
- Speed it up, speed it up. - What do I do with this?
- We got to do it quicker. - Hi, how are you doing?
Water, water, okay, boom.
She's doing great. Great training.
I can hear Rod in my ear
and he's impressed with Kristina.
I think he loves her energy
and her positive attitude, which I do too.
- Okay, uh... - Like, go, hurry, hurry, hurry.
Pasta salad, pasta salad.
But her training really wasn't adequate.
Abraham.
My grandma can move faster than you.
Oh, okay. Probably can. Sorry about that.
We do need to act professional in front of the guests,
And I'm sure some of the guests
maybe felt a little uncomfortable.
- No! I'm going crazy. - Nutrition, nutrition.
- Literally going crazy. - I'm sorry.
I'm putting up with you right now.
- She is, she is. Okay. - I'm gonna go crazy.
How's that go? Like, go. Hurry, hurry, hurry.
- Pasta salad, Pasta salad. - Okay, you're so slow!
- Oh, my God! - Sorry, sorry, I know, I know.
- She's riding you now. - You're right, you're right.
- She's riding you. - No!
I know Rod was impressed with her,
but we do need to act professional
in front of the guests.
- Oh, my God, you're so slow! - Hey, I'm trying, I'm trying.
We didn't do that today, and I'm sure some of the guests
maybe felt a little bit uncomfortable.
I'm putting up with you right now.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry. She is, she is.
- I'm gonna go crazy. - You're doing good, man.
- What's that? - I believe in you.
- You're doing good. - Hey, I'm trying, I'm trying.
Do you want the spicy?
Yeah, let me get the spicy one.
You look a little spicy.
Yeah.
Is that the... that's the secret?
Okay.
I was taken aback,
and heavy flirting with the customers,
maybe not real professional.
- Hey, I'm here for you! - Really?
- Duh. - You should be here for me.
The guys are definitely want to smile at her face.
Would you let me eat with you?
Come on.
I think nobody has been there to tell her
she needs to be a little bit more professional there
in front of the guests.
- Bye, babe. - Take care. I'll see you.
Bye.
We're a good-sized company now.
We plan to be a lot larger,
and we need to make sure everybody is cognizant
of what it is to behave like a professional.
All right, well, hopefully I picked up some of the stuff.
- Don't over think. - Okay.
Just, you know, dig deep and try to remember.
Yeah. You been here how long?
Um, a year and a half.
- This is my last day. - What's that?
Yeah, I'm quitting Muscle Maker Grill.
I'm going to California for seven weeks on Monday.
- Wow. Yeah. - So, it's exciting.
Are you... you're coming back here then hopefully, or...
I don't know, I definitely do see myself living in L.A., so...
Yeah.
If something's out there for me, I probably will just...
What? We all have dreams, huh?
- So, you know, why not? - Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
We are in the restaurant business.
A lot of times people work here part-time.
They're doing other things. They're going to school...
It was a pleasure.
Thanks.
And we can't help that if they end up moving on.
- Thanks, guys. Hopefully I win. - Okay, bye.
Hopefully I win. Have a good day.
Awesome. Thank you.
Aww, he's... he was trying.
Dusty. First day on the job.
- How you feel? - Oh, gosh.
Man, that's... that's some real work there.
Tell me what you think.
She seems warm and a great person,
but now, you got to be professional though,
and I didn't see a lot of professional with her.
You know, when you get someone that's positive
and motivated in there,
I think it... that enthusiasm kind of spills over.
Yeah.
But, you know, the flirting, you know,
you don't want to go past that boundary.
It's very important for me and my brand
that we adhere to strict HR policies.
We have a big financial stake in our brand,
and we got to be extremely careful as a corporation.
What I've seen here today with Kristina,
I know she really lacks training,
and I need to find out if this is a problem company-wide.
Did she cross the line on a few things?
I would say yes. Sometimes we disagree.
I see it in myself sometimes, too, so, you know,
when you're a hugger, trying to say,
"Hey, don't be a hugger."
Today, I'm in Tallahassee, Florida,
and I'm gonna be working alongside the franchise owner.
This locations is one of our leading meal plan stores.
Our meal plan program allows our guests
to preorder up to five meals a day, home-delivered,
of all our great menu items.
But I need to see how they're doing it
because I think the meal plan program
is a great opportunity to grow the brand in the future.
- Dusty, can you hear me? - Yeah.
Listen, I'm excited for today.
It's up to the franchisee to put into place
all of our standards and procedures.
- Here to see Nishan. - Ooh, are you my contestant?
- Uh, I'm Dustin. - How you doing, man?
I'm hoping today that they've taken seriously
all of our policies and procedures
and are putting 'em into practice every single day.
We're gonna be doing some of our meal plans.
They've become really popular as of late.
Awesome.
So we'll be making a bunch of those.
So I'm not gonna be relaxing today then, huh?
- No, not a chance. - Am I gonna sit...
We're actually in a rush, so we need to start.
Oh, so I better get going?
- Yes. - Okay.
My first impression of Dustin
is he wasn't that serious.
He came in kind of laid back, had the blond hair.
And it was a little... a little South California.
Maybe he wasn't gonna put in the work
that needed to be put in for this kind of job.
Wow, we got a lot of these, huh?
This isn't even a quarter of it, actually.
- Wow, okay, so I... - So we're having you
help us out a little bit.
- Here are some gloves. - Okay.
Have you ever cut chicken before?
Uh, no. I've eaten a lot of it.
All right.
These are our weekly meal plans.
So, when you're cutting chicken,
- start right here. - Okay.
We go through, on average,
every seven to ten days,
we got through about 2,000 pounds of chicken
- at our peak with meal plans. - Wow. Cool.
And then when you're done, just scoop it, put it in there.
All right. My turn?
- Yep, absolutely. - All right.
Now they want these today, huh?
Yep. So we're in a rush.
Nice, sharp knife, huh?
- Yep. - Watch those fingers, Dusty.
You're using this part of the blade?
Bring it back to use that back end.
It'll give you a little bit more control of it.
- A little leverage on it? - Yep.
Okay, so we're getting there.
From the looks of it,
Dustin's never used a knife before in his life.
All right, I can see that that's gonna take a minute.
I'll show you how to do a couple of them at the same time.
Oh, okay.
The biggest thing I was worried about with Dustin
is making sure he doesn't cut his fingers off.
- Just like that, huh? - Yep.
So what we have here is the categories of our meal plans.
- Okay. - So you have to know
the difference is portion size in order to do this correctly.
I have different size scoops for different things.
Okay, gotcha.
Blue scoops of rice for Beast Mode.
What's a Beast Mode?
- Be... what did you say? - This is our Beast Mode.
- Beast Mode, okay. Gotcha. - Yep.
This is for the people who work out heavy.
- They're bigger guys. - Okay.
We got black scoops for Gain Mass.
Okay.
We have green scoops for Maintain.
Then we got red scoops for our Lean Out.
- You'll just brush that off. - Yep.
- Put it in one corner. - Okay.
- You want me to try? - Yeah.
There's a couple of 'em done for you,
so you can see what it looks like.
And who came up with these names?
- Me and Mike. - Oh, you guys did.
- Yeah, my business partner. - Okay.
So if you think this is complicated,
imagine what it would be like with corporate's version.
So you guys came up with this, huh?
- Yep. - That's strange.
They didn't even have meal plans in the pipeline
but we came in to the concept and told 'em about it.
- No kidding. - So, yeah, we actually created
- this entire revenue stream. - Wow.
You know that's bull, right?
- They haven't see it, huh? - Well, they've seen it,
but they haven't been too receptive of it.
Oh.
Every time we sent them something,
they would, you know, kind of sweep it away,
and then six months later,
they would come out with it corporate-wide,
and it would be not the same way and more expensive.
Nishan calling me out, I can't even rebuttal.
If nobody's gonna help us, we do it ourselves.
- Oh, you do? - Oh, There we go.
Corporate's version, it's not a plan.
It's a pre-paid meal program where there's...
- Like an order? - Yeah, it's an order.
But the way we do it, is they just let us know
what they don't like, and we exclude that
from any of their meals.
You should just trust us
to make the right decisions for you.
Dustin, man, we're gonna have to talk about this guy.
I think we got a rogue franchisee here.
Now we're gonna be doing our signature drizzle.
You want nice, even pressure on the bottle.
Does he portion the sauce out, Dusty?
Now it looks like a lot here.
How do you portion that?
You do it enough times.
These meals are gonna be between 400 and 500 calories.
How do you know what that is?
- We have our turkey bacon. - Okay.
You're gonna grab a little pinch.
- Right in the middle. - Okay.
That's a little too much.
He's just free-pouring it. You got to be careful with that.
Calories... Proteins are a more expensive commodity.
It's gonna cost him money.
And just kind of shift the weight in your hand.
How do you gauge the cheese?
Is it just the eye test?
- You just kind of know. - Okay.
He's got a lot of great ideas.
He's got a lot of passion for the brand.
That being said, it's not okay with me
to have franchisees that are doing their own thing
and to go off menu...
We're just gonna pop and drop.
We're gonna be viewed as not being consistent,
and that's gonna hurt our bottom line.
How often do the customers order these?
- Every week. - Okay.
We don't have an automated billing system yet.
We built a website out of our own pocket
to kind of help organize this.
Our technology is just subpar.
If we had an e-commerce that people can only order
their meal plans online,
that would save us probably 90% of our problems.
Man, I have such a big problem
with our corporate technology team.
- It's astounding. - Yep.
That's pretty much the bane of our existence.
Technology for our concept is especially important.
We need to market our brand.
We need to market our menu items.
And I realize that that's a key cornerstone of our business.
All right, so let's grab all that.
Okay.
And let's move it into the cooler.
So you believe in what you're doing here and what...
Yeah, absolutely. That's the reason we started.
- We believed in the food. - Yeah.
And, I mean, I work 16 hours a day just for fun.
Do you? Monday through Fr... Monday through Wednesday?
I get every other Saturday off.
- Oh, you do? - Yeah.
That's what we're trying to avoid.
A guy built a system around his own life,
and now he's working 16 hours a day.
He's got a lot of heart, a lot of passion,
but he is off the road map.
So you... you saw everything, huh?
- Yeah, man. - What do you think, man?
I mean, is this guy out of control here?
Today I think he...
You know, it was worse than I've ever seen.
I'm glad you didn't run out of the RV here.
I'm gonna be honest with you. I was this close.
- I was... I was pacing. - Were you?
- I was about to go in there. - I heard you in my ear.
We can't build a franchise model for, you know,
to go nationwide and international
with one guy working for 18-hour day
'cause nobody can execute the system but him.
I mean, we can't have the rogue... a rogue operator.
I mean, we need to put some lines in the road
where he's not driving out of it.
Yeah.
Coming up...
Can't just not get your money.
Dustin drops the ball.
We're just delivery boys. It's not that hard.
I've got to get payment.
And later...
This is your opportunity to multi-task.
Stop, stop, stop!
The boss works in a food truck
that's on a collision course.
You're getting a crash course, so you got to pick it up quick.
- Am I crashing? - I would say yes.
Today I'm in Colonia, New Jersey
at our original Muscle Maker Grill store.
This store is where it all began.
Rod started it almost 20 years ago.
Today, I'm gonna be working as a delivery driver.
I view our delivery drivers as brand ambassadors.
They may be the only Muscle Maker employee
that the customer ever sees.
That delivery driver needs to really showcase our brand.
If we're not doing a great job on delivery,
we're not doing a great job as a company.
Hi. How are you doing? Here to see Justin.
- Justin is over there. - Justin.
- Yes, sir. - I'm Dustin.
- Nice to meet you, Justin. - Yes, indeed.
So easy to... easy to remember your name, I'm sure.
So you're delivering today, huh?
I'm gonna learn delivery.
Rule number one: Got to change into uniform.
I'm gonna miss my kind of cool Hawaiian.
When I first saw Dustin, I thought he's not what we're,
like, we look like.
We'll be matching. Cool.
Demeanor was a little awkward.
He was way older than me, but, you know,
I don't judge a book by its cover.
I'm all yours, so...
Let's see where these deliveries are.
Yeah.
Every delivery that we have, just know 45 minutes to an hour.
Think about it this way: if you ordered a pizza,
Would you want your pizza there
hour and 1/2, two hours late?
- I'm giving it back saying... - Would you accept the driver?
Ooh, I'm saying I don't want the pizza.
- Okay. - And that's just... exactly.
Our mentality: we're gonna deliver it as soon as we can.
And these are all set, so we're outta here.
All right, I'll follow you though.
Follow you out.
Time is of the essence.
There's gonna be days where there's gonna be, like,
ten orders in the span of ten minutes.
- Wow. - So...
there's gonna be times there where you're gonna have, like,
a delivery come in at 11:00, 11:02, 11:05, 11:07.
- Yeah. - And then they're all...
will all be in five different towns, too, at that.
- Oh, man. - And they all have that
45 to an hour window.
All right, you see, we're here.
- What number does that say? - Oh, it's 2004.
- Do you want me, uh... - And you're coming with me.
- I'm gonna follow you. - Yeah, you can follow me.
I'll say everything, and just follow my lead
for the next ones.
Hey, how are you doing, sir?
It's 22 even.
Thank you, sir. Have a good day.
You, too. Thank you.
I have my money always organized,
So you can just reach into your pocket real quick,
pull it out, they need that.
Here's a five, here you go. Bang, bang, bang.
Okay. Okay.
Making deliveries is all about being friendly.
- Hey, I'm Dustin. - Thanks, man.
Hope you enjoy it. Thanks a lot.
Have a good day.
And you have to be organized too.
Hello. Here's your great food.
- Thank you so much. Take care. - Thanks. Yeah.
Hope you enjoy it.
- Did he pay in credit, then? - No.
- We never got the money? - Yeah.
You didn't get your money. See what I'm saying?
Ah. Do you know what it was?
You got to just knock on the door again and be, like,
"Excuse me, sir, you didn't pay me."
Go, "Hey."
You can't just not, like, get your money.
- Like, you know what I mean? - Darn.
Dude, we're just delivery boys.
It's not... it's not that hard.
I forgot to get payment for that.
We almost handed out a free meal today,
and that's a big no-no because if you do that,
that's coming out of my own pocket,
and you got to owe Muscle Maker.
If you're short on money, then the store is short.
- That might cost you your job. - Ugh.
All right, so we got paid.
- That then, the 2004. - Colonial Garden Drive.
- Okay.
Okay.
What we should have done is asked him.
Or said, "Look, sir, it's 13.75"
Yeah, like, my first two weeks were, like,
I was just getting my ears wet just like you are,
- like, you know what I mean? - How were you trained?
Um, I actually was, like, thrown into the field sort of.
- To be honest. - Like me? Like me today?
Yeah, like, I mean I, like, I was by myself.
And that was your training, huh?
That was... yeah, I basically learned, like, on the job.
On the job.
It comes back to training.
Training, training, training.
Justin might have just been put out there
in the beginning to learn on his own.
- There was no me for you. - Oh.
That's crazy. So, are you from...
are you from here or...
Yeah, I grew up here. Born and raised.
- Like, only child. - Oh, just you?
- Yeah, just me and my mom. - Oh, wow.
You know what I mean? That's how it was growing up.
If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your dad?
No... no clue. Don't care.
- No? No? Okay. - Yeah, I'm one of those, like...
I mean, made me tougher.
So what are you... what are you doing now?
Well, I'm at West Virginia University.
- West Virginia? - Yeah.
What are you studying then? You studying anything
- in particular? - Yeah. Sports psych.
- Sport psychology. - Oh, yeah?
- Yeah. - How does it work for you then?
Do you have to come up with a lot of money
to pay for school, or...
No, we took loans. Like, you know what I mean?
- We had to... - So you got a lot of loans?
Yeah, I had to take loans, like, that's why I like this job.
It's so flexible. It's, like, all on you.
Like, you want to make money? Like, you gonna earn your money.
You know what I mean? The more deliveries,
the more money you could potentially make.
Justin seems to be a go-getter, eager to succeed.
If I had the money, I would definitely, like,
put a Muscle Maker on my campus.
And I wish we had more employees like him.
- Would you work for 'em then? - Nah, I'd run the store.
It would just... it would just dominate.
Another order just came in, got to hustle.
Today, I'm in Dallas, Texas,
and I'm gonna be working alongside
our food truck manager.
The food trucks are the wave of the future.
The food truck is a great opportunity
to take our menu items directly to the customer,
and we think that's a huge area
of opportunity for us.
Currently, this is the only food truck in our system.
It's extremely important that it's an extension
of our great brand.
- Hi. - Hi. Here to meet Meika.
- Oh, that's me. I'm Meika. - You're Meika?
- Yeah. - I'm Dustin.
- Dustin? Nice to meet you. - Yeah.
So I'm gonna show you everything you need to know.
Okay.
From the inner workings of cooking.
I'll show you how to take orders.
So I'm not just gonna sit down and watch you do everything?
Not today, no. We actually need to get going.
- It's lunchtime. - Am I late?
- You are late, so come on. - Ah, okay. Cool.
Welcome to my home.
- This is your area, huh? Cool. - Yeah, so, as you can see,
it's not a lot of space to work with.
The food truck is just like a restaurant, all right?
So, we offer six things.
Three bowls, three wraps.
Should be really easy for you to remember.
I thought the truck looked great.
The POS system technology was pretty neat,
and I did like that it was a scaled down menu.
- For now? - Go put your shirt on for me.
But that being said, that's a tiny kitchen in there.
We're in Dallas here. It's hot outside.
Imagine what it is on the inside.
You'll learn to refer to here.
So all of our different things, right?
- Rocky Balboa herb wrap. - Okay.
Diced chicken. Cold prep here.
- Here... a cold. - Hot prep here.
The food truck driver,
they wear a lot of hats. They're a cook.
Look at this. Watch me carefully.
They're a cashier.
- Our change is... - 1.98.
And they're really their own manager.
So it really encompasses all of the roles
that I've done previously and maybe some new ones.
So what looks good?
Okay, I am going to get the chicken Caesar wrap.
Okay. So we have one chicken Caesar wrap.
- This is our Caesar dressing. - Okay.
Uh-oh. We got somebody else out there, huh?
- Chicken Caesar. - All right.
Anything else for you? Chips or anything?
- Oh, Caesar. - What was your name?
We're really slow, so I'm gonna jump in and help you.
- I got somebody over here. - Okay, well you know what?
Let's see how you do with that.
Oh, okay.
- It's all you over there. - Hello, ladies.
Can I have a chicken Caesar wrap?
- And your name? - I'm Kris.
Kris? With a K?
- Sure. - Yeah.
You guys are... you're... you guys are...
- We're both Kris. - No.
- Yeah. - All right, come on.
- Too much small chat. - Okay, sorry about that.
Time is really an issue on the food truck.
Makes us or breaks us, really.
Protein shakes? They're great.
Get you fired up. I don't know if you guys
work out or not, but it's a good addition.
- Got his order. - That's real popular.
You want them to pay. Let's go.
He is a little lackadaisy and a little too jokey
from what I'm used to.
Are you guys messy like I am?
And you don't want to eat with your hands, huh?
That's what I tell my kids. Don't eat with your hands.
I get it all over my clothes.
Small chat is nice and it's cute,
but when we have people waiting, we want to get it going.
You're getting a crash course, so you got to pick it up quick.
- Am I crashing? - Time wise, I would say yes.
Let's get the mango in there. We have another customer.
- Hi. How are you doing, sir? - So this is your opportunity
- to multitask. - Okay. Just gonna be...
All right, good. Stop, stop, stop.
Oh, sorry.
And I'll be with you in just a second, okay?
Working in the food truck today,
it was harder than I even imagined.
Oh, chicken Caesar.
Oh, you'd think I could kind of memorize a little better.
Low... low crab... low carb?
Okay. Okay.
We don't want our people to walk away.
Very good. Got that on, next thing.
Chicken Caesar wrap? Okay.
Starting to form a little line out here.
I don't want to lose that. I don't want to lose that.
And Donnie is waiting patiently.
And then start on your next wrap immediately.
Chicken Caesar wrap.
You've made that several times.
- You know this one. - Chicken Caesar wrap.
I got your drink ready as soon as you get their wrap ready.
- You got it. - Oh, you got more customers.
What are you gonna do?
Guys, I'll be with you in just a minute. Thanks.
There. That's good. I like that.
Okay, okay.
I didn't know what I was doing,
but she had a great, positive attitude,
and she made me feel good.
That's hot, though. Can I get another...
Exactly, yes. Thinking on your feet.
- Hey, hey. - I didn't even tell you
that one.
She was a great trainer.
Yeah, I got no time for that.
You have no time for that, you're right.
There you go. You got it.
The Godfather.
We got a lot of stuff going. It's not easy too,
- with the heat. - Right.
How do you know to do all that?
- Well, I'm a chef. - Oh, you are?
Yeah, I am a chef, yeah. so I...
Is that what you were doing before?
It's what I do now.
I was in corporate America before...
- Oh, you were? - But I was unfulfilled.
You know? My passion, my dream has always been to cook.
I've come from a long line of cooks,
and so now I have this awesome opportunity
- to run this food truck, so... - That's great.
So are you kind of happy now in your new...
I'm happy. I love to cook, you know?
This makes me happy. It genuinely does, you know?
Of course it's a challenge.
I don't have that comfort blanket that every two week,
you know, I know how much I'm gonna get.
There'll be some weeks where you have nothing.
Like, last week I sat during the week,
Monday through Thursday, there was nothing to do.
- Why was that? - When you're on a food truck,
this type of business, you want a following.
- Okay. - Right? We need Facebook,
Twitter, you know, we need to have our name out there,
so that people can know where we're going,
like what we're doing, and kind of follow us.
We're the only Muscle Maker truck.
- Oh, you are? - Yeah.
The only Muscle Maker truck in the United States.
Wow. What are some of the things you want to do
at least with... I guess with Muscle Maker.
Actually, I have talked to the managers.
I think that I've absorbed
as much as I can from the food truck.
So I'm actually working with them to
transition someone else in to take my place,
so that I can see what the next step for me is.
There's things that I want to do
to go in the direction of owning my own business.
I mean, it sounds like you like the Muscle Maker,
- and I don't know... - They're great. Yeah.
But what's the biggest challenge?
Right now my husband is the only one
getting that steady paycheck to pay our bills.
- You know what I'm saying? - Okay.
- I have two kids. - Oh, wow.
Yeah, my son is about to graduate high school this year.
Oh, congratulations.
So I'm planning for college, which is stressful.
Oh, okay.
But, you know, I wouldn't trade it for the world.
My kids are great, and I love 'em.
I couldn't imagine life without 'em.
They're the reason I get up and do what I do, right?
That's awesome.
I think Meika's a great employee with a lot to add
to our company. I'd hate to lose her,
but it's also my fault and our company's fault
for not giving her enough tools
to really be successful for the food truck here.
And now that we have no customers, we got to clean up.
- Clean? - Yeah, we got to clean up.
- Hey. - Hey. How you doing, man?
Doing good, man, how are you?
- Good. - So what are you thinking?
Tell me. You've been on this journey.
- Well, I've been working hard. - Yeah, I know.
I think you know that.
We got a lot of great things going.
That being said, there's some fixes we need to do.
Tell me.
I think you've done a great job with the company.
Yeah.
But I'm gonna throw a "but" at you though.
Yeah, the but.
I think the training's not very good.
We need to make sure that we have a system in place
that's standardizes training, training, training.
- Yeah. - You know, we need that.
We need the technology side,
and then I want to hear from the franchisees...
- Yeah. - On a more regular basis.
- I agree. - You know?
I'm behind you, so I love your vision.
I want to stand behind your vision
and help in any way. I'm here for us.
All right, awesome.
Coming up, the employees
think they're attending the finale of a reality show.
He was a little bit uptight.
- Little bit uptight? - Yeah.
How will they react when the truth is revealed?
- I am Dusty. Yeah. - Oh.
- We're on "Undercover Boss." - Oh.
This week has been a wonderful opportunity
to roll my sleeves up and see the good, bad,
and there was a lot of ugly.
But then again, it's been very rewarding,
and I'm gonna be forever grateful.
I've spent a lot of money buying this company.
I've spent a lot of money since I've acquired it,
but I really know where that money needs to go
even more clearly now.
- Hi. You're Meika? - I am.
Who was the contestant that worked with you?
Um, Dustin.
What did you think of Dusty?
I thought he was a pretty great guy.
He was a little bit uptight.
- A little bit uptight? - Yeah.
Would you have hired him, or...
Ye... uh, not right off the bat,
but a little bit more training,
I definitely think he would have gotten it.
You're looking at me kind of funny.
Because you look like Dusty.
- I am Dusty. Yeah. - Oh!
So, I'm actually Tim Betts.
I'm the chairman and CEO of Muscle Maker Grill.
Okay.
We're on "Undercover Boss."
- Oh, my goodness. - So...
Oh.
Ooh, okay.
Nishan, I love the energy.
You seemed, you know, very fired up about the brand.
You know, that's exciting to me,
but I noticed that how you're doing the meal plans,
they're not following the policies and procedures
that have been put in place by corporate,
and that's a problem.
Who came up with these names?
We came up with this entire concept for meal plans.
- Oh, you did? - Yeah.
So if you think this is complicated,
imagine what it would be like with corporate's version.
That meal plan program is different than
what we have at a lot of our other stores,
and that... that greatly concerns me
because if I go to any other great fast casual brand,
I know what I'm getting. It's consistency.
I completely understand.
And there's no way for me to build this company
- if every store... - Is different...
With the meal plans.
We're a team here together, but we need your commitment
that you're gonna follow all of our systems
that have been put in place at the corporate level.
I completely understand. I respect that.
Another thing you mentioned though.
You said you felt ignored from corporate.
There was a couple of ideas that I put forward
and then it was, you know, kind of brushed aside.
As long as you turn it down, that's fine.
"Hey, it's not gonna work." Okay.
But don't ignore it
and then pull it back up as your own idea months later.
If there was just a little bit more back and forth,
and more understanding, I feel like, hey,
that would be really cool to hear that...
to know that your voice is being heard.
Technology, that was one of your beefs.
Um, the online ordering, it's not where it needs to be.
We can do a better job at that.
I'm looking to spend up to
$250,000 to improve our technology.
Wow. Wow.
That should make things a lot easier.
I think another thing, you know, you were mentioning where,
you know, you're working a lot of hours.
You shouldn't have to work 16, 17 hours.
So what I'd like to do is give you and your business partner
$10,000 to take some time off, and hopefully go on vacation.
That's incredible. Oh, my God.
You have no idea what that means.
Tim listening to us and hearing us
definitely made us feel appreciated again.
- Great to meet you. - You too.
Thanks again.
There's going to be a lot of ideas coming his way
because we have a ton of stuff to say,
and I'm hoping he's ready for it.
Meika, you really do every role
that you would do in a restaurant, you know?
We even... even up to manager,
I mean, you're the food truck manager.
Very good, got that on. Next thing.
Chicken Caesar wrap?
Starting to form a little line out here.
Oh, chicken Caesar.
Oh, you think I could kind of memorize a little better.
Come on, give it all to him. We don't have to do that.
And then start on your next wrap immediately.
- I was impressed with that. - Thank you. Wow.
So I was surprised that we're not really
marketing that food truck.
You know, you said social media.
I want to have your input on, you know,
what it's gonna take to roll out
a successful food truck program,
because I think you got a lot of great ideas.
I have tons of ideas, and I'm ready.
It appears that you've sacrificed...
sacrificed a lot to chase your dream.
- Mm-hmm. - And Dylan, your son...
- Mm-hmm. - You know, I'd like to
help you out with him.
Uh, I'd like to give you $5,000, and...
I think that this will be amazing.
This is an amazing start.
He needs it.
What really concerned me the most
is somebody with your energy and drive
might be walking out the door,
and I don't like to see that.
I've come up with an idea.
I hope it's something you like.
I'd like to buy you your own food truck.
Those are valued up to about $150,000,
and I'd like to make you a franchisee
- of Muscle Maker Grill. - Wow.
I'll wave... I'll wave your franchise fee, $35,000,
so it's about $185,000, your own food truck,
your own territory, I want to keep you here.
Wow. I'm... I'm at a loss for words.
You're handing me a business.
Oh. Wow.
I can't turn down that opportunity.
There's no way I can turn down that opportunity.
It feels amazing that somebody saw my passion,
somebody saw the effort...
Thank you so much.
And appreciated so much,
you know, and not only did they, you know,
give me that pat on the back,
but they gave me the keys to the palace.
# Igotmeafoodtruck
Justin, you remember what I did
the first delivery you had me do?
- You remember what happened? - Yeah, you took...
Yeah, you didn't even grab the money.
You just went straight back to the car.
Did he pay in credit then?
No. You got to go back and get your cash.
- We never got the money? - Yeah.
- You didn't get your money. - Oh.
You get what I'm saying?
Yeah, I was like, "You got to go get the money, man."
Like, you know what I mean?
You can't have the money come out of my pocket.
Yeah, that was a big problem, wasn't it?
- Yeah. - Not collecting the money.
You mentioned to me something about
the training you received.
I literally just, like, stuck me out, and it was, like, "Go."
- Yeah. - Go for it.
It's very apparent that we need to do a better job,
you know, on the training, so,
what I've committed to is spending up to $100,000
to put together professionally produced
training videos. We're on that.
- Yeah, training's a foundation. - Yeah.
It's, like, the foundation, so...
You know, talking to you,
it seems to me you've overcome a lot of odds.
Yeah, no father and all that stuff.
Financial problems and all that, but yeah.
It just... I just feel it just makes me a stronger person.
Working at, you know, Muscle Maker,
you know what I mean? That's why I like delivering,
'cause like I said, I was like "It's constant cash."
and I'm like... like, I'm the type of person
who needs constant cash. I can't wait on a check.
I got college loans to pay back.
- Yeah. - I got to work.
Like, I have to, like, you know what I mean, like, I have to.
I mean, that's pretty commendable.
At your age, you're already thinking like that,
so going forward, you know,
I'd like to alleviate some of your financial stress
you have now, so I'm gonna give you $10,000
to alleviate some of that.
Thank you so much.
Like, I genuinely appreciate that.
Like... like, I really do 'cause it's starting to stack.
These loans are starting to stack, man.
Like...
I've been roughing it, you know?
Like, I only have half of my books, so...
I genuinely appreciate that.
It means a lot to me.
I mean, you know, really just your story
made it worth it for me to come out here
and, uh, you know, I might have an idea for you.
Okay.
I'm thinking of, uh, buying you your own store.
I'm offering you a store worth $250,000.
You would go in equal partners
with another experienced franchisee.
You would have my commitment that when you get out of school,
you would have a store waiting for you.
Like, words can't even, like, explain, like,
how much I appreciate it.
It means a lot to me.
- Dude, you got me going. - Yeah.
Being, you know, around late 20s
owning my own store would be huge.
Awesome, dude.
I feel as if I could be a very successful man.
Like, this man did not have to do this,
but I'm glad to be a part of the Muscle Maker team.
I glad to have gone through this experience with him.
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