How a Jersey Kid Grew His Restaurant Business Into a West Coast Powerhouse Brad Wise discusses the power of trust, the balance between growth and hospitality and the surprising crossover between running a butcher shop and a restaurant.
By Shawn P. Walchef Edited by Jessica Thomas
Key Takeaways
- From his team to his guests, Brad Wise built his restaurants on trust, believing it drives hospitality and long-term growth.
- When an early concept failed, Wise pivoted. That setback led to Rare Society, now one of his fastest-growing brands.
- No chef can do it alone. Wise stresses finding a counterpart who complements your strengths and shares your vision.
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"Trust" isn't just a word to Brad Wise — it's the foundation of everything he's built.
Long before he was running the fast-growing Trust Restaurant Group, Wise was walking into a butcher shop in South Jersey, mesmerized by the craft of breaking down meat and the energy of the counter service.
He grew up visiting Westside Market, where he saw firsthand how great food and hospitality went hand-in-hand. That early exposure to butchery and hospitality shaped his approach to food and business, laying the groundwork for his future restaurants and butcher shop.
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Years later, after working his way up in kitchens and helping build other people's restaurants, he made his biggest bet yet: walking away to start his own.
The risk paid off.
"Trust is everything," Wise tells Restaurant Influencers host Shawn Walchef of Cali BBQ Media. "You have to trust your team, trust your guests, and trust yourself. If you don't have that, you don't have anything."
Wise is the chef and owner behind Trust Restaurant Group, a diverse portfolio of restaurants that range from high-end steakhouses to butcher shops. Trust is the underlying philosophy that built his business.
His beliefs shaped how he approached his first restaurant, Trust, in San Diego. He wanted diners to trust the food, service and experience enough to come back again and again. It worked. The restaurant took off, setting the foundation for a hospitality brand that continues to grow.
Wise didn't want to be just another chef running a restaurant; he wanted to build something bigger. This led to an eclectic mix of concepts under the Trust Restaurant Group umbrella, including Rare Society, a modern steakhouse with an old-school Vegas feel, and The Wise Ox, a butcher shop that doubles as a sandwich destination.
Running a butcher shop and a restaurant might seem like different worlds, but for Wise, they share the same foundation: quality, craftsmanship and a deep connection with customers. That meant creating experiences that customers could connect with and building a team that felt invested in the mission.
Like any good gambler, Wise knew that taking chances meant occasionally hitting a losing hand.
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Failure fuels success
Not every move went as planned. An early restaurant concept didn't take off the way Wise had envisioned. It struggled to find its audience, and despite his efforts to keep the place afloat, it became clear that the model wasn't working. Instead of letting it drag him down, Wise made a bold pivot, turning the space into Rare Society, a steakhouse concept that would go on to become his most successful brand.
"Looking back, it was the best thing that could have happened," Wise says. "That failure forced me to rethink everything. It made me focus on what people really wanted, not just what I thought would work."
That shift in mindset led to a steakhouse that is expanding and thriving. Rare Society is now scaling across multiple cities, with locations in San Diego, Las Vegas and beyond. The concept taps into the nostalgia of classic steakhouses while bringing in a modern, wood-fired approach that keeps it fresh.
With new locations in the pipeline and Rare Society becoming a dominant player in the steakhouse world, Wise is proving that the right mix of risk, vision and trust can transform an idea into an empire. And at the heart of it all is the same belief that started it — when you build trust, success follows.
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