Every restaurant serves coffee.  It’s one of those standard beverages that any food service establishment takes for granted: restaurants of all kinds have always served coffee, and will continue to serve it forever.  But unlike other standard beverages like Coke or Pepsi that are made by a third party, coffee …

Soft drinks are “liquid candy” that provide no known nutritional benefit to the people who consume them, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), an advocacy group.  The epidemic of obesity that has swept the United States in the past 25 years, especially among children, is …

Motorola recently released a case study highlighting the latest in restaurant POS system technology: handheld, wireless ordering systems for servers.  The handheld device is about twice as big as a BlackBerry, and connects directly into the restaurant’s POS software via a wireless connection. The case study focuses on Sam’s Chowder …

The Food and Drug Administration has officially released an updated Food Code for the first time since 2005.  The Food Code details procedures for implementing a food safety program in any food service environment, from grocery stores to fine dining restaurants.  The agency updates the code every four years to …

More and more restaurants are relying on alternative sources of income to help them weather the current economic storm.  Many sit-down restaurants are turning to delivery as a way to boost their sales.  If you had told any restaurateur 10 years ago that they would be relying on the delivery …

In a very well written post on Waiternotes.com titled “Self-Fulfilling Prophecies,” the author examined in-depth the price reduction strategies the owners of the two restaurants where he works have employed over the last year.  The main point revolved around how cut-rate specials were bringing in more traffic (although not more …

Large parties present a difficult choice for restaurant managers.  How many times have parties of 12, 16, or even 20 shown up at your restaurant ready to experience the great food and service you have to offer? Your initial reaction is probably: “Great!  We love more customers!” Of course you …

A fried chicken stand in Brooklyn, NY changed its name recently from Royal Fried Chicken to Obama Fried Chicken in honor of the United States’ 44th President.  The stand’s owner, who remained anonymous but was represented by employee Mohammed Jabbar, thought the renaming would celebrate President Obama’s election and create …

We’ve all been there.  The bartender is super busy and splashes some alcohol in your glass before topping it off with whatever mixer goes with your drink – and you end up with a strong one or a weak one.  And of course flirty girls and good tippers regularly expect …

Local man Nikolai Grushevski brought a class action lawsuit against a Hooter’s franchise in Corpus Christi, Texas after the restaurant passed on hiring him as a waiter, who are also known as the Hooter’s Girls.  Grushevski’s lawyer claimed he was proud to have stood up for his rights under the …

Los Angeles has taken the ongoing regulation of smoking in public places a step further and banned smoking in the outdoor patio areas of restaurants.  The city council voted unanimously in favor of the ban, despite repeated pleas by local restaurants that the ban would hurt business in an already …

One of the biggest sources of contamination in any restaurant are the people who prepare and serve your customer’s food.  According to official food safety regulations, sick workers are supposed to go home, or even better, not come in at all while they are capable of spreading germs. Unfortunately, two …

This is a story about how an Incan super crop is starting to take over health food stores and trendy restaurants in the U.S.  The rest of the world is already on board with this mysterious super plant; we’re just now catching up. What’s so great about this plant?  Well, …

If you’ve been to The Back Burner before, then you’ve heard me talk about one of the hottest culinary trends of the past year: so-called “underground” fine dining.  This movement started on the West Coast and has quickly spread to most of the major cities in America.  Each version is …

Drink sales can deliver large profit margins for your restaurant. The quantity, variety, and quality of non-alcoholic drinks available in restaurants has grown exponentially in just a few years.  This trend isn’t an accident –  according to a recent study by Technomic, 86% of consumers purchased a beverage somewhere in …