Let’s face it—restaurants are energy hogs. According to the National Restaurant Association, restaurants use five times more energy per square foot than other types of commercial buildings. And of the energy that restaurants use, the kitchen uses five times more than the rest of the building. Energy costs, on average, …
Read More »Monthly Archives: February 2012
The Green Restaurant Association: Sustainable Knowledge Is Power
When Michael Oshman started the Green Restaurant Association (GRA) in 1990, hardly anybody in the food service industry thought much about sustainability. “The green business movement wasn’t something that really existed,” he says. “We were one of the first organizations that wanted to help businesses. We asked: ‘What if we …
Read More »When, Where, And What To Expect From A Health Inspection
I sometimes hear employees say that health inspections occur only between 8:00 am and 4:00 pm on weekdays. Well…that is when they usually DO occur, but they CAN occur just about anytime. When Inspections Occur The Colorado Retail Food Establishment Rules and Regulations state, “Agents of the Department, after proper …
Read More »It’s Commercial Ice Machine Season! Are You Ready?
Commercial ice machines form a critical link in the chain of operation in a restaurant or commercial kitchen. Ice machines can also be one of the largest expenditures in your budget, so choosing a unit that works for your particular needs and situation is vitally important. And now that the …
Read More »Buy An Energy Efficient Steamer
Commercial steamers use either circulated or pressurized hot steam to quickly cook food items. Steamers are ideal for cooking rice, vegetables, fish, and shellfish. Because food is cooked by circulating hot steam over it, most nutrients are retained, making steam cooked food appear more appetizing and taste better. Food is …
Read More »The 4 R’s of Driving Server Sales
The tired old maxim “your servers are your salespeople” is as true today as it ever was, but just because it’s obvious doesn’t mean you have armed the front of your house with every weapon they need to drive your restaurant’s profits. Really, there’s no understandable reason why servers shouldn’t …
Read More »Why Spreadsheets Are Your Restaurant’s Best Friend
I would have to rate a computer as a must have for a Chef, second only to a good set of quality knives. While utilizing a POS (Point of Sale) System and knowing how to use it can be enormously useful to a chef, I think spreadsheets are the cat’s …
Read More »10 Holiday Restaurant Marketing Tips
The folks at MustHaveMenus.com were kind enough to share some great marketing insights from John Foley, editor of The Restaurant Blog. Must Have Menus is your source for food menu templates, event flyers, restaurant menu software, and restaurant marketing ideas. 1. What are some easy, inexpensive ways to drive customer …
Read More »Independent Restaurant Marketing – 3 Ways To Compete With The Big Boys
Big chain restaurants dominate the mass market when it comes to advertising – a fact of life that can sometimes make it difficult for smaller independent operations to be heard among all the songs about baby back ribs. Launching a restaurant marketing campaign for an independent means less money to …
Read More »How To Use Google To Manage Your Restaurant’s Reputation
We’ve talked about the importance of reputation management on The Back Burner in the past, and as review sites like Yelp and discount sites like Groupon continue to influence the way consumers make their dining decisions it becomes even more important for restaurants to make sure they are engaged with …
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