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Pepper Lunch serves a sizzling hot plate in about 90 seconds, then hands the cooking over to you. We went inside the Irvine, California location to see how this Japanese concept grew into a global chain of 580+ restaurants. In this episode of CHOMP, host Alina Sunoo tours Pepper Lunch with Troy Hooper (CEO of Hot Palette America at the time of filming, now Strategic Advisor to the Board) to break down the systems behind the sizzle: kiosk ordering, automated rice machines, streamlined kitchen stations, and a lean operating model built for speed and consistency. Troy also shares what it takes to scale across North America, including franchising, real estate, labor efficiency, kitchen design, and adapting a Japanese concept for U.S. guests. Then we put the sizzle to the test with Beef Pepper Rice, Creamy Shrimp Pasta, and Korean K-Pep Chicken Karaage. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00 Welcome to Pepper Lunch 0:34 Meet Troy Hooper 1:30 The front counter 3:20 What makes Pepper Lunch different 4:10 Inside the kitchen 6:00 Pepper Lunch around the world 6:40 The automated rice system 8:00 Building a lean operating model 10:00 Inside the walk-in: beef and ingredients 11:20 Adapting the concept for the U.S. 13:40 How the sizzling plates are prepared 15:00 Ordering at the kiosk 16:10 Franchising and growth in North America 21:00 Tasting: Beef Pepper Rice 🔥 23:10 Tasting: Creamy Shrimp Pasta 23:30 Tasting: K-Pep Chicken Karaage 24:30 Final thoughts Featuring: @PepperLunchUSA 💬 Which would you order first: Beef Pepper Rice, Creamy Shrimp Pasta, or K-Pep Chicken Karaage? CHOMP by Restaurant Association goes behind the scenes of restaurant brands with founder stories, kitchen tours, and real operator insights. Join free for restaurant tips, templates, webinars, and courses: https://restaurantassociation.com/v2/unified/signup/ More shows: https://restaurantassociation.com/shows Restaurant Association is an independent global organization representing restaurant owners. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any other national, state, provincial, or local restaurant association. #pepperlunch #chomp #restaurantbusiness