As part of the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Tallahassee Business Podcast, presented by 223 Agency, features conversations with a variety of guests who can share valuable insight to help our members in this trying time.
This week, local restaurateur Sam Osborne joins the show to discuss the impacts of COVID-19 on the foodservice industry. Osborne is a homegrown Tallahassee entrepreneur who has owned and operated restaurants in the area for 22 years. After serving our country in the Air Force and the Desert Storm conflict, Osborne returned home to study at FSU with hopes of becoming a civil engineer. Fortunately for the many people he has served and employed through his restaurants these past two decades, Osborne was compelled to try his hand at business instead. Beginning with an upstart concept called Tropical Smoothie, Osborne has gone on to own and operate a number of establishments including the highly popular Island Wing Company. Osborne employs over 120 people and with a new concept called Rock-N-Roll Sushi now in development for the Market Square District, he has many valuable insights on how the Tallahassee restaurant industry is adapting and evolving through this pandemic.