Grounded

What does it take to grow from flipping burgers at 15 to leading a successful restaurant brand built on people, purpose, and consistency? On this episode of The Grounded Podcast, host Lauren Mitchell sits down with David Youngberg, CEO of Stonefire Grill, to talk about leadership, growth, and staying grounded in the fundamentals of hospitality.

From helping BJ’s Restaurants expand from 20 to 200 locations to now steering Stonefire Grill through its next era of innovation, David shares lessons on building great teams, scaling responsibly, and creating lasting guest loyalty. He also opens up about leading with a fitness mindset, and how personal health can directly impact energy, focus, and leadership effectiveness.

Takeaways:
  • Why consistent systems and processes are the backbone of sustainable growth.
  • How investing in people leads to long-term success and brand loyalty.
  • Why local vendor partnerships strengthen operations and community connection.
  • How leveraging technology enhances guest feedback and real-time improvements.
  • The link between personal fitness and effective leadership decision-making.

Quote of the Show:
  • “I've really driven into my team that I need challenge partners. I need someone that if they feel I'm going in the wrong direction, someone stands up and says let’s talk this through.” - David Youngberg

Connect with David:

Ways to Tune In:

Creators and Guests

Host
Lauren Mitchell
Lauren Mitchell is the Director of National Accounts and Custom Distribution at Produce Alliance, LLC. She is a dedicated fresh produce spend & spec maximizer for multi-unit national restaurant chains & groups. She gets to know your brand and infuses your expectation for quality, consistency and transparency to create more reliability in your produce category.

What is Grounded?

Join us as we engage with top tier producers in the foodservice industry to hear their perspective from all links throughout the supply chain. Here, we discuss brand development, company culture, global supply chain strategy, culinary innovation and leadership from folks who founded, operate or manage multi-unit restaurant chains. Each show is tailored around the guest to dig deep into their unique journey and how it shapes their current procurement strategy in order to aggregate the best insights toward the future of foodservice.