Quick Informal Government Summit
Andy Huang, VP/COO, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue is considered one of dozens of panelists taking part within the upcoming Quick Informal Government Summit.
Picture: Willie Lawless, Networld Media Group
July 25, 2025 by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com
In anticipation of the upcoming Quick Informal Government Summit, FastCasual.com is spotlighting panelists taking part within the annual business occasion.
Andy Huang, VP/COO, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, will likely be sharing perception on the “The Franchise Paradox: Development and Empowerment within the Trendy Period” panel speak that may discover the newest developments and innovation in franchising. Subjects embody shared-service fashions, micro-franchising and constructing robust franchisee communities.
Happening 20 years, the summit has been the premier gathering for top-level restaurant executives seeking to innovate, join and elevate their manufacturers. This yr’s occasion is happening October 5-7 in Austin Texas. The summit is run by Networld Media Group, publishers of Fastcasual.com, QSRweb and Pizza Market. It’s considered one of a number of main business conferences all year long. Click on right here to register for the Quick Informal Government Summit.
The subsequent Networld Media Group occasion is the Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit happening March 16-18, 2026 in San Diego, California. Prime restaurant leaders will spend two and a half days of networking, inspiring tales and confirmed methods.
Describe your present function
As COO of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, I drive operational excellence and help franchisees throughout the nation with a concentrate on consistency, high quality, and effectivity. My function includes overseeing retailer builds and coaching new operators to optimizing vendor relationships and championing culinary integrity.
What was your first-ever profession function and what’s one essential lesson you realized from it?
My first profession function was as a normal supervisor at a restaurant after a pair years working in meals service. I realized how one can handle a crew, resolve issues on the fly, and keep calm underneath strain. One of many greatest classes was understanding the significance of consistency and communication. I needed to make fast choices, cope with buyer points, and lead by instance. That have taught me how one can deal with robust conditions, and it is one thing I carry with me right this moment. It additionally helped me perceive that constructing relationships along with your crew, distributors, and prospects is crucial for achievement. The teachings from that first function are nonetheless relevant now — particularly round management, adaptability, and buyer focus.
What impressed you to work in your business?
My first job was as a fry cook dinner in highschool, and I rapidly found that I beloved the quick tempo and power of meals service. There’s one thing extremely rewarding about seeing prospects get pleasure from their meals and making a welcoming ambiance. The hospitality facet was at all times enjoyable for me — being a part of a crew, serving others, and the hustle and bustle of the kitchen. It gave me a way of success early on, and that feeling caught with me. I knew from then that I needed to remain within the meals service business. It is extra than simply serving meals; it is about creating experiences, making individuals completely satisfied, and dealing with others who share the identical ardour. That early inspiration is what drives me nonetheless.
What do you get pleasure from most about your present function?
What I get pleasure from most is the significant connections I get to construct with individuals from all walks of life. Many franchisees I work with change into greater than enterprise companions — they change into shut buddies. Serving to them construct and function a profitable restaurant enterprise could be very fulfilling. I additionally get to journey throughout the nation, which provides me publicity to new communities and contemporary views. My function permits me to make an actual influence — each in supporting small enterprise homeowners and in shaping the way forward for the model. It is rewarding to see somebody develop their enterprise and know that I performed a component of their journey. The range of relationships and experiences retains the work thrilling and significant.
What’s a standard false impression individuals have about what you do?
Some individuals assume my function as COO is simply about benefiting the company or implementing top-down directives. In actuality, my purpose is to strengthen our model in a approach that advantages all the system. I concentrate on utilizing our model’s scale and buying energy to assist franchisees save on prices and function extra effectively. All the things I do is geared toward creating long-term worth and sustainability for all stakeholders. I work laborious to make sure franchisees are heard, supported, and positioned for achievement. Our model’s power is constructed from the bottom up, and my function is to make sure everybody — from franchisees to distributors — wins collectively. It is about stability, collaboration, and shared development.
What’s one profession achievement you are most pleased with?
Becoming a member of L&L as chief working officer is considered one of my proudest profession milestones. It is a function that enables me to use all the pieces I’ve realized over time — from operations and management to model constructing and other people improvement. I am proud not simply of the title, however of the duty and belief that comes with it. It is significant to contribute to the legacy of such a beloved model whereas additionally serving to to form its future. Supporting our franchisees, enhancing operational efficiencies, and launching new initiatives are achievements I take significantly. I see it as a fruits of laborious work, studying, and mentorship all through my profession—and I am excited for what’s forward.
Who’s/was your mentor and what’s one essential lesson you realized from them?
Throughout my time as a normal supervisor on the restaurant, my mentor was each a co-worker and my direct supervisor. He performed a pivotal function in shaping my early method to management and operations.
One of the essential classes he taught me was the stability between being agency and truthful. He confirmed me that whereas it is essential to uphold firm insurance policies and keep excessive requirements, it is equally essential to guide with empathy and understanding. Not each scenario is black and white, and nice leaders take the time to see the total image earlier than making choices. He additionally emphasised the significance of consideration to element, which has stayed with me all through my profession. Whether or not it is in visitor service, retailer operations, or crew administration, these small particulars usually make the most important distinction.
What business developments do you assume are at the moment over-hyped and why?
I feel automation has been over-hyped within the meals service business. Whereas expertise completely has a spot in enhancing effectivity — like on-line ordering, kitchen show methods, and digital POS — there is a effective line between streamlining operations and shedding the private connection that defines nice hospitality. In our business, we satisfaction ourselves on constructing relationships with prospects. An excessive amount of automation —whether or not it is self-service kiosks, AI-driven interactions, or utterly contactless experiences — can disengage the enterprise from its visitors. Folks do not simply come for meals; they arrive for the expertise, the human contact, and the sense of connection. Know-how ought to improve hospitality, not change it. That stability is essential, and I feel the business must be conscious of the way it integrates automation into the visitor expertise.
What business developments do you assume do not get sufficient consideration and why?
To piggyback my solutions to the earlier query. Whereas there are at all times rising applied sciences and improvements in our business, what I feel would not get sufficient consideration is the significance of operational fundamentals — issues like employees improvement, meals high quality, coaching methods, and visitor expertise consistency. Within the rush to undertake the newest tech or comply with the following massive pattern, the fundamentals usually get missed. However these are the very issues that construct long-term success for restaurant manufacturers. Robust operations, well-trained groups, and real hospitality might not at all times make headlines, however they’re what hold prospects coming again. So whereas I’ll not level to a particular “under-the-radar” pattern, I imagine the business ought to at all times pay nearer consideration to strengthening its basis — as a result of that is what really drives sustainable development.
What recommendation would you give to somebody simply beginning out in your business?
Be taught each a part of the enterprise from the bottom up. In meals service, there isn’t any substitute for hands-on expertise — cooking, cleansing, managing the entrance, and coping with prospects. These experiences construct empathy, management expertise, and real-world judgment. Keep humble, be open to suggestions, and do not be afraid to work laborious — success would not come in a single day. Additionally, concentrate on constructing relationships. The business is constructed on individuals — your crew, your prospects, your distributors. Keep curious and at all times ask questions. Essentially the most profitable individuals on this area by no means cease studying or enhancing. And eventually, perceive your numbers — profitability, meals price, labor — all of it issues. Operational information paired with individuals expertise is what units nice leaders aside.
Should you weren’t working in your present area, what would you be doing as an alternative?
I might probably nonetheless be within the automobile business. I beforehand labored in rental automobiles and electrical automobile sharing and actually loved being round completely different automobiles. It is also a part of the hospitality world, which I’ve at all times been drawn to.
What do you do to have enjoyable outdoors of labor?
Outdoors of labor, I actually get pleasure from {golfing}, particularly as a result of it is one thing I get to share with my spouse and son — they’re each avid golfers as effectively. Most weekends, yow will discover us on the course collectively, having fun with the sport and one another’s firm. We additionally like to journey to completely different cities across the nation to expertise new programs. I benefit from the problem golf presents, however simply as a lot, I recognize the peacefulness and fantastic thing about the programs themselves. It is an effective way to unwind, keep lively, and spend high quality time with household.
Are you concerned in any charitable organizations that you simply wish to inform individuals about?
I’m the chairman of the Hawaii Restaurant Affiliation and proudly help the Hawaii Restaurant Affiliation’s Academic Basis, particularly its ProStart program, which helps develop and encourage future culinary professionals from excessive colleges throughout the state. These college students characterize the following technology of cooks, managers, and restaurant homeowners, and it is extremely rewarding to be a part of a company that invests of their development. Via mentorship, hands-on experiences, and scholarships, this system offers them a powerful basis to pursue their ardour and succeed within the business. Supporting their journey is just not solely significant — it is important to the way forward for our native meals and hospitality group.
The place did you develop up and the way did your upbringing influence the individual you’re right this moment?
I used to be born and raised in Taiwan, the place the college system was very completely different from America. I keep in mind lengthy faculty hours and plenty of homework daily. The strain of making ready for exams meant even longer days — I keep in mind the lengthy hours of tutoring daily not getting dwelling till late at night time. That have had a long-lasting influence on me. It instilled in me a powerful work ethic, a way of self-discipline, and the mindset that lengthy hours and dedication are simply a part of doing what must be achieved. Even now, working laborious and staying dedicated — particularly throughout demanding instances—feels pure to me. It is one thing that has formed each my private {and professional} method to management and duty.
Is there anything you wish to inform individuals about your self or your organization/group?
I really feel extremely grateful to be a part of L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, an organization that has grown from humble roots right into a nationally acknowledged model — whereas nonetheless holding on to the spirit of ohana, group, and authenticity. What makes L&L particular is extra than simply the meals — it is the individuals behind each restaurant: the hardworking franchisees, the devoted crew members, and the loyal prospects who help us. We’re proud to characterize Hawaii’s distinctive tradition and luxury meals in communities throughout the nation. For me personally, this work is greater than only a job — it is a mission to uplift others, to create alternatives, and to assist individuals construct one thing significant by way of the ability of meals and hospitality. If there’s one factor I’ve realized, it is that after we help one another, all of us rise collectively.
