He Thinks Hospitality Stigma Is ‘Total BS’ And Is Challenging His Students to Think Bigger

Seth Gerber is the co-owner of MIDA Restaurant Group in Boston and a hospitality professor at Boston University. As a restaurateur, operator, and educator, he’s built a career focused on neighborhood restaurants, mentorship, and challenging the way the hospitality industry views itself.

Watch now to learn how Seth Gerber saved a struggling restaurant, scaled MIDA, and is reframing hospitality careers.

Sponsored by:

• TOAST AllIn1 Restaurant POS

Chapters:

[06:44] - MIDA’s Near Failure and Turnaround

[08:31] - Opening a Restaurant During the Pandemic

[15:48] - Teaching Hospitality at Boston University

[19:57] - The Future of Hospitality

[23:13] - Storytelling and Building Brand Culture

SPONSORS:

RESTAURANT INFLUENCERS IS PRESENTED BY TOAST —

Restaurant Influencers is brought to you by Toast, the powerful restaurant point of sale and management system that helps restaurants improve operations, increase sales and create a better guest experience.

• Toast AllIn1 Restaurant POS

Episode Links:

Seth Gerber LinkedIn

MIDA LinkedIn

MIDA Instagram

MIDA Tik Tok

MIDA Facebook

Key Takeaways:

Turning Failure Into Growth: Seth Gerber helped turn MIDA around after the restaurant nearly failed in its first six months. By shifting the concept toward a more grounded neighborhood Italian experience, the team found product-market fit and eventually scaled the brand across Boston.

Restaurants as a Social Good: Seth Gerber believes neighborhood restaurants are more than businesses. From community gathering spaces to economic drivers, he sees hospitality as something deeply tied to how people connect, celebrate, and support one another.

Reframing Restaurant Management: Through his teaching at Boston University, Gerber challenges the stigma around hospitality careers. He believes restaurant operators should view themselves as leaders running complex multimillion-dollar businesses, not as people in a lesser industry.

***

ABOUT SETH GERBER —

Seth Gerber is the Co-Owner of MIDA, a celebrated Italian restaurant group with four locations across the Boston area—South End, Newton, East Boston, and Fenway. He is also the proprietor of The Babe, a neighborhood cocktail bar and sandwich shop in historic Salem, MA, named in honor of his eldest son. In 2024, Seth was named a semi-finalist for the James Beard Award in the category of Best Restaurateur.

ABOUT RESTAURANT INFLUENCERS —

Restaurant Influencers is a weekly video podcast series presented by Entrepreneur Media and Cali BBQ Media. Every week host and restaurant owner Shawn Walchef (@shawnpwalchef) talks with business leaders like Shaquille O’Neal, Rob Dyrdek, Emeril Lagasse, Mayim Bialik, Jon Taffer, Robert Irvine, Toast co-founder Aman Narang, and more, about their secrets to Smartphone Storytelling, marketing, branding, and how to show up where customers are engaging online.

Published by Entrepreneur Media

Produced by Cali BBQ Media