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KFC recognizes local man as ‘Best of the Best’




Hermitage resident Sam Schwartz, 35, was recognized as a Best of the Best restaurant general manager by his employer Kentucky Fried Chicken. He is one of 50 managers who received the honor out of 4,000 nationally, for a yearlong of nearly perfect performance at his Gallatin Pike KFC location in Madison.Roger Fregoso / Main Street Nashville

Hermitage resident Sam Schwartz, 35, was recognized as a Best of the Best restaurant general manager by his employer Kentucky Fried Chicken. He is one of 50 managers who received the honor out of 4,000 nationally, for a yearlong of nearly perfect performance at his Gallatin Pike KFC location in Madison.Roger Fregoso / Main Street Nashville

Lifelong Nashville resident Sam Schwartz is one of the Best of the Best.

That’s according to his employer, the world’s second-largest fast food restaurant chain, Kentucky Fried Chicken.

KFC has chosen the 35-year-old Hermitage man as one of the top 50 restaurant managers in America from their entire coop of about 4,000 stores nationally.

“It feels great to be recognized,” said Schwartz upon getting news of his award. “I’m more proud of my team for the effort they’ve done throughout the year. It’s a bit of a struggle, just being an older store out here in Madison. We’re a team no matter what and we’ve done what we can every single day. We take it one day at a time and we did it.”

The award-winning managers will be celebrated in early March with a four-day all-expense paid trip to Orlando, Florida, where they also get to attend Walt Disney World.

An 18-year veteran with KFC, Schwartz has been the restaurant general manager of the Gallatin Pike location in Madison for three years. During his tour of duty, he has worked at eight of the Nashville area locations. His restaurant is one of 13 franchise locations throughout Indiana and Tennessee owned and operated by Indiana-based AJs Inc.

Madison KFC Restaurant General Manager Sam Schwartz is being recognized as one of the top 50 Best of the Best managers in all of the company’s 4,000 stores nationally.Roger Fregoso / Main Street Nashville

Madison KFC Restaurant General Manager Sam Schwartz is being recognized as one of the top 50 Best of the Best managers in all of the company’s 4,000 stores nationally.Roger Fregoso / Main Street Nashville

“It’s been my focus at every store I’ve been at, whether it’s as a team member or as a general manager. I’ve been talking about this for 18 years and it’s finally happened,” said Schwartz. “That was the ultimate goal. I’m not taking anything away from that.”

To be considered for Best of the Best, 12 consecutive monthly quality inspections require an almost perfect grade of 4.9 or higher, on a scale of one through five. The areas surveyed include speed of service, customer satisfaction, overall restaurant cleanliness, exterior appearance of the restaurant and staffing.

“We haven’t lost any employees in the whole year of 2021. Which is crazy to think about, but we try to make it a fun place to work, motivating to come to work so people don’t call out much, said Schwartz. “You’ve got to be almost perfect in order to have any shot at this, and that’s been our main focus.”

 

 

Schwartz rose through the ranks at KFC since his dad saw a now hiring sign at the Bellevue KFC restaurant and suggested ‘you need to get a job’ when he was 17 years old.

“I applied and that’s all she wrote,” he said. “It was just supposed to be a summer job between high school and college, but I stuck with it and here I am.”

The Guatemalan-born Schwartz came to live in Tennessee when he was 2 years old after a Nashville couple adopted him.

He attended Hillwood High School where he played football. His love for the game led him to being a huge Tennessee Titans fan.

He said he’s stuck with the job because of the culture and the generosity of the company. Schwartz has also been a regular recipient of local level awards and incentive programs.

“I like my employees, my bosses, everyone welcomed me. It’s been a fun place to work. From the bottom all the way up to the owners. They make it a lot of fun. They offer a lot of incentives,” said Schwartz.

Observing Schwartz readying his restaurant for opening on a recent Saturday morning, it’s plain to see he has a strong work ethic and a drive to be the best. Working on average 50 hours per week, he can be seen working any area of the kitchen, coaching employees and handing out orders at the drive-thru window.

“It was tough competing with all the stores in the nation, but being top 50 is quite an accomplishment. Hopefully we do it again,” said Schwarz. “We set our standards high and I want to keep it like that.”

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