TRC fixes the people, not just the numbers.

8 Mar 2026 · 0 min

Watch on YouTube

0:09

In this brief interview, Donald Burns asks about what sets the TRC (Total Restaurant Coaching) method apart from other coaching approaches he has tried. The speaker explains that TRC differs by centering on restaurant culture and the human element rather than merely setting numerical targets for food and labor costs. TRC involves deep work on breaking old bad habits, improving people’s behavior, and understanding the how and why behind performance, operating on the belief that restaurants improve when the people working in them become better. The conversation highlights that TRC is a culture‑driven, habit‑focused coaching system rather than a simple budget‑oriented checklist.

What makes the TRC method kind of different? And you said you tried some other coaching stuff, you read some books. What makes the TRC method a little bit, maybe a little different than things you've done before?
I think it is exactly that with the culture. We're not just, you know, writing budgets on our food costs. We're not just writing budgets on our labor costs and saying, okay, this is the standard, now get it done. You know, we're actually diving deep into how to get there. And that's all through culture. That's all through you know, breaking old bad habits that we might have, you know, everything that goes into the human element of the restaurants. Because like, to use your words, restaurants become better when the people in them become better people. So, you know, yeah, not— it's, it's not just, um, you know, setting that guideline and saying, okay, now, now we're gonna make this happen. It's, it's the how and the why.
And yeah, very, very cool.