- 13 hours ago
Farah Shirzadi helps restaurant brands grow through YouTube and digital content. Working at the intersection of hospitality and media, she focuses on turning storytelling into discovery, engagement, and real-world traffic.
Watch now to learn how restaurants can win on YouTube, why content drives discovery, and what most operators still get wrong.
Sponsored by:
• TOAST - All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc
Watch now to learn how restaurants can win on YouTube, why content drives discovery, and what most operators still get wrong.
Sponsored by:
• TOAST - All-In-1 Restaurant POS: https://bit.ly/3vpeVsc
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NewsTranscript
00:00I feel like a lot of people think of YouTube as an educational platform, right?
00:03Of like, how do I change this light in my car?
00:07How do I build a step and repeat?
00:08How do I build a step and repeat?
00:10How do I build a step and repeat at the Google offices?
00:13Exactly.
00:21Welcome to Restaurant Influencers presented by Entrepreneur.
00:23I'm your host, Sean Mulchup.
00:25This is a Cali BBQ Media production coming to you from Google offices.
00:30At the St. John Terminal in New York City, we are at the Google Restaurant Influencers Summit.
00:36This is our third event with Google, and we are so excited to learn from Farah Shirzadi.
00:41She's part of the Google team, and we are here to talk all about YouTube
00:45and how you, who's watching this, who's listening to this,
00:49can improve your business by telling stories on YouTube.
00:52Farah, welcome to the show.
00:54Thanks so much for having me.
00:55Thanks for coming to New York.
00:56Thank you for the hospitality.
00:57We learn through lessons and stories.
01:00Can you tell us some stories that business owners can learn from about the powers of YouTube?
01:05You know, I've shared, I actually got to present at our last time here in New York
01:09about what Cali BBQ has learned developing our channel, developing our Cali BBQ Media channel,
01:14developing my own channel.
01:16It's such a powerful platform.
01:18And now I have children.
01:19I have an eight-year-old boy, a six-year-old girl.
01:21Like, they will not watch even any cable TV.
01:25They will not watch, like, YouTube is what they watch.
01:27They actually have, Mila and Colleen have their own YouTube channel.
01:29Oh.
01:30So, like, they're aspiring storytellers and creators.
01:33But let's talk to the audience today.
01:35Give us high level what we should be thinking about YouTube.
01:38Yeah.
01:39Everything you said is so true.
01:40I think the way to think about YouTube kind of differently than the other social channels,
01:44right, is that it's more of a multi-format social channel in the sense that there's a
01:49lot of different ways that you can use YouTube.
01:51You can have your long-form video.
01:52You can have YouTube Shorts.
01:53You can do YouTube Lives.
01:55You can record podcasts like we're doing right now.
01:57So there's a lot of different options for business owners, for creators to be able to
02:01use YouTube and monetize YouTube to tell their stories.
02:03And so what we see is people love to mix and match all those different formats.
02:07So maybe you have a long-form video that you're really proud of, that you put a short behind
02:12in order to drive traffic to that long-form.
02:14Or perhaps you aren't really ready yet to get started on short, or sorry, started on long-forms.
02:20And so you start just with shorts.
02:21That's also, I think, a great way to do it, is that you see who your audience is, and then
02:26you build for them.
02:28So yeah, it's a really great way to be able to tell stories in a lot of different mediums.
02:33I think the other interesting thing is people are watching YouTube a lot of the time on
02:38the go, of course, on their desktop, but a lot of people are watching also on their TV.
02:42So so many hours are being consumed from people on the TV.
02:46And with that, the long-form really is the perfect way to be.
02:49So if there's a long story that you want to tell, or maybe about your chef, or maybe the
02:53farms that you use, and you're going and picking produce, like something that you really
02:57want to immerse your viewer in, long-form kind of thinking about maybe where they're
03:02watching it, watching a short on the go, or something that they're going to sit down
03:06and enjoy.
03:06So one of the ways to think about YouTube and as you're creating.
03:09Yeah, I think for me, what's so interesting about YouTube and where we sit, you know,
03:14recording this at the end of 2025 is YouTube obviously has done such a phenomenal job in
03:18the B2C space, the entertainment space.
03:21When we think of YouTube creators and Mr. Beast of the world, we understand they're making
03:26entertaining content.
03:27Totally.
03:27The B2B space, the restaurant owner, the business owner, I think there's a lot more
03:33education that we all can do of how can we create content that is educational, that's
03:39actually valuable.
03:40You know, to your point of a small business owner, like Cali Barbecue Media, like one of
03:46the reasons I'm actually sitting here at the Google offices is because I made a toast unboxing
03:51video.
03:51I made a technology video in our restaurant about why would a restaurant owner switch from
03:57a cloud-based, a legacy point of sale platform to a cloud-based system like toast.
04:04And that video, it's not that it has, you know, hundreds of thousands of views, but it
04:08has the right views.
04:09It has the people, the community that we're building, like why we have this audience.
04:14It's like, we want other restaurant owners that care about technology, they care about
04:17storytelling, they care about making an impact.
04:19And like, YouTube's a great tool for helping me find those other people, helping me build
04:25our community.
04:26Definitely.
04:26Yeah.
04:27It's actually funny you say that.
04:28I feel like a lot of people think of YouTube as an educational platform, right?
04:31Of like, how do I change this light in my car?
04:35Or, you know, how do I build a step and repeat at the Google offices?
04:41Exactly.
04:41Like, I think people really are searching.
04:43YouTube is the second largest search engine, only second to Google.
04:47And so people are really going to YouTube for a lot of educational content, in addition,
04:52of course, to the entertainment.
04:53But knowing that to be true, I think there's tons of people like your audience or others,
04:59you know, maybe someone who's starting their first business or someone who just wants to
05:02amplify the business they already have, that are looking to learn from others like yourself
05:06who have expertise and want to share that story.
05:08And so being able to do so on YouTube, I think, is a great way to disseminate information quickly.
05:15And I really liked what you said about we do a really, like, focused job on matching the
05:21right people with the right content.
05:22Yeah.
05:23There's so many engineers and product managers here at Google whose sole focus is figuring
05:28out how are we matching the right user to the right video.
05:31And so we are doing all we can on our side to make sure that happens.
05:35And what we ask from you all is just to continue to continue to make good content that we can
05:41serve when someone's looking for it.
05:43The other only tip I can add there, too, though, is making sure that within the videos that
05:48you're like metadata is really strong as well.
05:50Like, what is a description?
05:52Is the title actually accurate about what the video is about?
05:54So that metadata is super helpful as we are doing that matching game behind the scenes
05:58so that the right content gets in front of the right person.
06:02Did you know that Toast powers over 140,000 restaurants across the United States, Canada,
06:08and UK?
06:09It's an incredible company.
06:11I'm on the Toast Customer Advisory Board.
06:13They are proud sponsors of this show, Restaurant Influencers.
06:16We couldn't do it without their support.
06:18They power our barbecue restaurants in San Diego.
06:20If you have questions about Toast, if you're thinking about bringing Toast on to be your
06:25primary technology partner at your restaurants, please reach out to me.
06:29I'm happy to get a local Toast representative to take care of you.
06:33You can reach me at Sean P. Welch on Instagram.
06:36Once again, thank you to Toast for believing in the power of technology, the power of storytelling,
06:42the power of hospitality.
06:43Back to the show.
06:44So let's start at the beginning.
06:46For somebody that's running a restaurant or maybe multiple restaurants and they're watching
06:51this and they go, okay, Sean, I've heard enough.
06:53You tell everybody, like, get your YouTube page started.
06:56Where do they start?
06:57So they're already on social.
06:58They already are comfortable making videos for other social platforms.
07:02But, like, let's talk about building a YouTube page for their restaurant from scratch.
07:07Okay, let's talk about it from scratch.
07:09Knowing that you're already on other social platforms, get that content that you already have
07:14on YouTube.
07:15Yep.
07:15I think this is the best place knowing that we have shorts now.
07:18Shorts can be up to three minutes.
07:19So a lot of the content that you have that's shot in that, you know, portrait orientation
07:24can easily be ported over and getting started right away.
07:28So kind of, what's that called?
07:31Repurpose.
07:32Yeah, repurpose the content you have.
07:33Repurpose that content.
07:34Cross-post.
07:35Cross-post.
07:35Cross-post is a great place to start.
07:37Yes.
07:37That is, like, I would say, the basics.
07:39Get some content up there.
07:40See who your audience then is.
07:42So the analytics in YouTube, I think, is one of the best there is.
07:45We are, we love data over here.
07:47And so we want you all to also have really strong data behind the videos.
07:51So by getting and repurposing your content onto YouTube, you get, like, a good understanding
07:56baseline.
07:57Who's coming to my channel?
07:58How are they finding me?
08:00What are they searching for?
08:02Some of those kind of keywords will then help inform you as you start building content
08:06specifically for YouTube.
08:07So I would say, while you get that kind of going, some other things to think about.
08:12Like, what kind of brand do you want to showcase on your YouTube channel?
08:15Is it something that you want to be, like, known for?
08:18I don't know.
08:19Maybe your restaurant, same vibe, just on YouTube.
08:22Or maybe you want it to be super educational.
08:24If I want to teach people about my cuisine, because perhaps it's super different than others
08:28in your area.
08:29Or maybe you really want to use your channel to connect with other chefs of your same type.
08:34So kind of thinking about what your purpose is really will be the foundation.
08:38And then you can build upon that.
08:39There's so many different features that we have within YouTube that you could take advantage
08:43of.
08:44But shorts, obviously, then you can get into the long form.
08:47Perhaps you go live or you start doing podcasting.
08:51But you're engaging with your community.
08:53You're seeing who's following, who's subscribing.
08:55And then you're engaging with them in the comments.
08:57And I think these are really the first few steps.
09:00This will take some time, of course.
09:02We understand creators.
09:04You guys have a really tough job.
09:06Creating content is not easy.
09:08And we really appreciate all the beautiful pieces of art people are putting out.
09:12And so it's going to take some time.
09:14So don't get frustrated.
09:16But stick with it.
09:17Because I think the longevity and the dedication to the channel really will show through in the
09:24content that you're creating.
09:25So I'd love to talk about the size and scope of the power of YouTube.
09:31There is a restaurant, Fallow, that I have been recommended.
09:36I've watched their YouTube channel.
09:38I'm sending this out there.
09:40I will go to London, specifically to this restaurant, not because of the food.
09:45But obviously, I've seen the food on YouTube.
09:47But more importantly, because of the craft that they take towards telling stories on YouTube.
09:52Can you share a little bit about Fallow and what they're doing right?
09:56Yes.
09:56And what we can all learn from them?
09:57I, too, am a fan of Fallow.
09:59Hey to the guys who are on the Fallow YouTube channel.
10:02We're really impressed by it.
10:03I think particularly because they do a really nice job organizing all of their different types
10:08of content.
10:08Yeah.
10:09So they have this beautiful series where they talk about the chefs and kind of what they're
10:12doing with the food, but also some other fun playlists also.
10:17I think they use a, and when I was talking about features on YouTube in particular, they
10:21do a great job of actually utilizing those different features.
10:24Like they have a full channel that when you show up to it on the page, you can see their
10:29branding.
10:29You see who the chefs are, you've got to get the sense immediately.
10:32So I would say if those who are checking them out, kind of take note of that.
10:37See, when you first arrive on the channel, what do you think you're going to learn?
10:40And then is that actually the answer that they are giving you?
10:43Because in my perspective, it really is.
10:45So I think that's a really nice way of bringing your restaurant's brand to the digital world
10:51and then reaching new customers, perhaps across the country that you never thought that you
10:54would.
10:55So I'm really impressed by them.
10:57Keep up the good work.
10:58And what are you going to be teaching the people that are here visiting today, the business
11:03owners, the influencers that are coming today?
11:05Today, we're going to talk a lot about making sure that your short form video is correctly
11:11kind of optimized for SEO on Google search, but also SEO within YouTube.
11:17So the metadata within SEO.
11:19So by SEO, we're talking search engine optimization.
11:22Now, does this also blend into AI?
11:25It does.
11:26We call it GEO.
11:27GEO.
11:28So let's talk about GEO.
11:30Generative engine optimization.
11:32Generative engine optimization.
11:33Yes.
11:34They are pretty much...
11:36I've been using Gemini my whole trip to Google, to New York.
11:39And how have you liked it?
11:40I cannot tell you how impressed I am with where we've been sent to, the restaurants that
11:46showed up about having an eight-year-old son, a six-year-old daughter.
11:49All of that information I give them, and it's given me just phenomenal recommendations.
11:54So if you're a restaurant owner, how do you get into those?
11:57How do you get Gemini to get into those lists for people searching?
12:01A lot of the content that we're pulling is across platforms.
12:04But I think particularly for restaurant owners, it's making sure that their Google business
12:07profile is up to date.
12:09I'm sure you noticed that when you're searching within Gemini, we really try to help the user
12:13actually be able to action on that.
12:15And so we showcase their Google business profile so they can get directions or showcase it on
12:19the map.
12:20So making sure you have a full and complete Google business profile is, of course, you
12:25know, bare minimum.
12:26But as we're thinking about video and perhaps where I can go in the future, it's continuing
12:30to make really strong content.
12:32And one thing I always say is, like, good SEO really just ends up making sure that you're
12:37making good content and it's finding the right people.
12:39And so we do our best job in making sure that happens.
12:43But your job there is making that great content.
12:46And so maybe it's about abreast of content or really going deep into seasonal menu items
12:51or what's new on the menu this week so that we know what's new and fresh and that content
12:56is unique and interesting.
12:58We can point users towards the business themselves.
13:01So you were talking about shorts.
13:03Yeah.
13:03And what's the best piece of advice that someone has for shorts?
13:07My, like, oh, I just have one piece of advice kind of question is make sure that you're geolocation
13:14tagging.
13:15Geolocation tagging, that means, like, when you're prompted to get the location, make
13:19sure it's as specific as possible.
13:22If you have multiple restaurant locations, making sure that the one that you're tagging is the
13:26one that's being featured in the video so that your users and guests don't have, like,
13:32a different expectation.
13:34If maybe you have an outdoor patio that you're showcasing in the short but then you tag a
13:38different location that doesn't have an outdoor patio, you don't want to miss those expectations.
13:42So by telling us this location has an outdoor patio, if you're searching for a restaurant
13:47with an outdoor patio, we can triangulate and suggest that.
13:50So being as specific as possible in the location tagging is my number one piece of advice.
13:55Amazing.
13:55And what should I have asked you that I didn't ask you that you would love our audience to
14:00know about?
14:01The one thing we haven't touched upon is also just the power of working with local
14:06creators in your community.
14:08Ah, yes.
14:08So not only, yes, you guys know the story and what to tell and your brand is your baby,
14:15but additionally, all the guests and the creators have a perspective that they want to share with
14:19their captivated audience.
14:20And working with creators is a way to not only take some content creating off your plate so
14:25you can focus on the food, but also get those fresh perspectives and allow for the creators
14:30to kind of tell it from their point of view.
14:31Yeah, I mean, for any restaurant owner that's watching this, small business owner that's
14:36watching this, when a YouTuber reaches out to you, that is such a huge opportunity to
14:41get in front of their audience.
14:42And they have such an engaged audience.
14:46Vacation J in San Diego was one of the first YouTubers that reached out to our restaurant.
14:50And he started, you know, with 20,000 followers when he contacted us.
14:55And now I think he has over 100,000 followers.
14:57But when he posts a video about our barbecue, people came.
15:02Yeah.
15:02Like a lot of people, it was like, I mean, we're fortunate to get on local news, but it
15:06was like a YouTuber has the impact that local news does.
15:09Yeah.
15:09So, you know, be sure to monitor your DMs, be sure to monitor your, you know, let the
15:15host know, like when a YouTuber contacts you, please make sure to, you know, do your best
15:20to collaborate.
15:21Check out their page.
15:22It's easy to find out if they are who they say they are.
15:25Exactly.
15:25And I think with that, as a business owner on your YouTube channel, it's important that
15:30it's easy to contact you.
15:31Yeah.
15:31And so within YouTube, we have the ability for you to put in like your email address or other
15:35social channels that you have so that people, if they come to your channel and they're like,
15:40I want to talk to them, that they can.
15:43Yeah.
15:43I think the biggest, you know, friction point is how do I actually get into contact with
15:46the person who runs this channel or who do I get in contact with?
15:49The manager.
15:50And so being able to tell people that, make it easy is really important.
15:55Amazing.
15:55And everything that we're learning today, we will be sharing on our restaurant technology
16:00Substack.
16:01So that's a free platform.
16:03Please go to Substack.
16:04Subscribe to that.
16:06We're so grateful to Google, the Google team.
16:08You guys have been so hospitable to all of the people that are coming from all over the
16:12country to attend this Restaurant Influencers Summit.
16:15Thank you to Toast for sponsoring this episode, for sponsoring this series, for allowing us
16:20to go and tell the stories that are making an impact on restaurants and the hospitality community.
16:24Thanks to you.
16:25Thank you so much for having me.
16:26We really appreciate it.
16:27I'm weirdly available.
16:28You can reach out to me at Sean P. Welchef, all the platforms.
16:32Go subscribe to Cali Barbecue Media's YouTube page.
16:35We're trying to share as much information as possible how to improve your restaurant using
16:40the technology, storytelling tools, and more importantly, just building community.
16:45Thank you so much.
16:46We appreciate it.
16:47As always, stay curious, get involved, and don't be afraid to ask for help.
16:51We'll catch you next episode.
16:55Thank you for listening.
16:56If you've made it this long, you are part of the community.
16:59You're part of the tribe.
17:00We can't do this alone.
17:01We started.
17:02No one was listening.
17:03Now we have a community of digital hospitality leaders all over the globe.
17:07Please check out our new series called Restaurant Technology Substack.
17:11It's a Substack newsletter.
17:13It's free.
17:14It's some of our deep work on the best technology for restaurants.
17:17Also, go to YouTube and subscribe to Cali Barbecue Media.
17:21Cali BBQ Media on YouTube.
17:23We've been putting out a lot of new original content.
17:25Hopefully, you guys like that content.
17:27If you want to work with us, go to betheshow.media.
17:30We show up all over the United States, some international countries.
17:33We would love to work with you and your growing brand on digital storytelling.
17:37You can reach out to me anytime at Sean P. Welchef on Instagram.
17:41I'm weirdly available.
17:42Stay curious.
17:43Get involved.
17:44Don't be afraid to ask for help.
17:46We'll catch you next episode.
17:47Bye.
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