Quick Informal Govt Summit
Andy Huang, VP/COO, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue is certainly one of dozens of panelists collaborating within the upcoming Quick Informal Govt 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 Govt Summit, FastCasual.com is spotlighting panelists collaborating within the annual trade occasion.
Andy Huang, VP/COO, L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, can be sharing perception on the “The Franchise Paradox: Development and Empowerment within the Fashionable Period” panel speak that can discover the newest traits and innovation in franchising. Subjects embrace shared-service fashions, micro-franchising and constructing robust franchisee communities.
Occurring 20 years, the summit has been the premier gathering for top-level restaurant executives trying 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 certainly one of a number of main trade conferences all year long. Click on right here to register for the Quick Informal Govt Summit.
The subsequent Networld Media Group occasion is the Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit happening March 16-18, 2026 in San Diego, California. High 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 assist franchisees throughout the nation with a give attention to consistency, high quality, and effectivity. My function entails 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 vital 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 you can handle a staff, clear up issues on the fly, and keep calm below stress. One of many largest 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 you can deal with powerful conditions, and it is one thing I carry with me at the moment. It additionally helped me perceive that constructing relationships together with your staff, distributors, and prospects is essential for fulfillment. The teachings from that first function are nonetheless relevant now — particularly round management, adaptability, and buyer focus.
What impressed you to work in your trade?
My first job was as a fry prepare dinner in highschool, and I shortly found that I cherished the quick tempo and vitality of meals service. There’s one thing extremely rewarding about seeing prospects get pleasure from their meals and making a welcoming ambiance. The hospitality side was at all times enjoyable for me — being a part of a staff, 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 trade. It is extra than simply serving meals; it is about creating experiences, making individuals glad, 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 develop into greater than enterprise companions — they develop into shut mates. 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 affect — 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 variety of relationships and experiences retains the work thrilling and significant.
What’s a typical false impression individuals have about what you do?
Some individuals assume my function as COO is simply about benefiting the company or imposing top-down directives. In actuality, my aim is to strengthen our model in a approach that advantages all the system. I give attention to 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 fulfillment. Our model’s energy is constructed from the bottom up, and my function is to make sure everybody — from franchisees to distributors — wins collectively. It is about steadiness, collaboration, and shared development.
What’s one profession achievement you are most happy with?
Becoming a member of L&L as chief working officer is certainly one of my proudest profession milestones. It is a function that permits me to use all the things 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 critically. 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 vital 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.
Probably the most vital classes he taught me was the steadiness between being agency and truthful. He confirmed me that whereas it is vital to uphold firm insurance policies and preserve excessive requirements, it is equally vital to guide with empathy and understanding. Not each state of affairs 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 staff administration, these small particulars typically make the most important distinction.
What trade traits do you suppose are presently over-hyped and why?
I feel automation has been over-hyped within the meals service trade. Whereas expertise completely has a spot in enhancing effectivity — like on-line ordering, kitchen show methods, and digital POS — there is a tremendous line between streamlining operations and shedding the non-public connection that defines nice hospitality. In our trade, we pleasure ourselves on constructing relationships with prospects. An excessive amount of automation —whether or not it is self-service kiosks, AI-driven interactions, or fully contactless experiences — can disengage the enterprise from its company. 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 steadiness is vital, and I feel the trade must be aware of the way it integrates automation into the visitor expertise.
What trade traits do you suppose 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 trade, what I feel would not get sufficient consideration is the significance of operational fundamentals — issues like workers improvement, meals high quality, coaching methods, and visitor expertise consistency. Within the rush to undertake the newest tech or comply with the subsequent large pattern, the fundamentals typically 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 preserve prospects coming again. So whereas I’ll not level to a particular “under-the-radar” pattern, I consider the trade ought to at all times pay nearer consideration to strengthening its basis — as a result of that is what actually drives sustainable development.
What recommendation would you give to somebody simply beginning out in your trade?
Study each a part of the enterprise from the bottom up. In meals service, there is no 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, give attention to constructing relationships. The trade is constructed on individuals — your staff, your prospects, your distributors. Keep curious and at all times ask questions. Probably the most profitable individuals on this subject by no means cease studying or enhancing. And at last, perceive your numbers — profitability, meals value, 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 subject, what would you be doing as an alternative?
I would probably nonetheless be within the automobile trade. I beforehand labored in rental vehicles and electrical automobile sharing and actually loved being round totally different autos. 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 exterior of labor?
Exterior 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 properly. Most weekends, you could find us on the course collectively, having fun with the sport and one another’s firm. We additionally like to journey to totally different cities across the nation to expertise new programs. I benefit from the problem golf presents, however simply as a lot, I admire the peacefulness and great thing about the programs themselves. It is a good way to unwind, keep energetic, and spend high quality time with household.
Are you concerned in any charitable organizations that you just want to inform individuals about?
I’m the chairman of the Hawaii Restaurant Affiliation and proudly assist the Hawaii Restaurant Affiliation’s Instructional Basis, particularly its ProStart program, which helps develop and encourage future culinary professionals from excessive colleges throughout the state. These college students characterize the subsequent technology of cooks, managers, and restaurant homeowners, and it is extremely rewarding to be a part of a company that invests of their development. By way of mentorship, hands-on experiences, and scholarships, this system offers them a powerful basis to pursue their ardour and succeed within the trade. Supporting their journey just isn’t solely significant — it is important to the way forward for our native meals and hospitality neighborhood.
The place did you develop up and the way did your upbringing affect the individual you’re at the moment?
I used to be born and raised in Taiwan, the place the varsity system was very totally different from America. I bear in mind lengthy college hours and many homework every single day. The stress of getting ready for exams meant even longer days — I bear in mind the lengthy hours of tutoring every single day not getting dwelling till late at evening. That have had a long-lasting affect 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 occasions—feels pure to me. It is one thing that has formed each my private {and professional} method to management and duty.
Is there the rest you want 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, neighborhood, 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 staff members, and the loyal prospects who assist 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 means of the ability of meals and hospitality. If there’s one factor I’ve realized, it is that after we assist one another, all of us rise collectively.
