All over the country food service has been suffering from a decline in business meals, and the upscale eateries of midtown Manhattan are no exception. Manhattan steakhouse Maloney & Porcelli’s is fighting back with a deceptively simple tool it recently made available to its customers that has the entire business …
Read More »The Struggle Between Art and Efficiency
Great Lakes pizza, on Chicago’s north side, has been getting A LOT of press lately. The tiny pizzeria has only been around for a little over a year, but in that time the reputation of owners Nick Lessins and Lydia Esparza has catapulted Great Lakes into one of the hottest …
Read More »California & Vermont Restaurants: Are You Compliant?
If you’re in the food service industry in either California or Vermont, then this blog post is for you. New legislation in these two states changes the kind of faucets and pipe fittings that can be installed in restaurants and commercial kitchens starting early next year. California Assembly Bill 1953 …
Read More »Menu Trends: Ruby Red Hibiscus Flavors
Hibiscus, the beautiful tropical flower, is now making its way into cocktails, teas, and desserts in some of the trendiest urban restaurants. The taste is described as both fruity and floral, with a tartness not unlike lemon. From the perspective of presentation, hibiscus flavored drinks and desserts turn an appealing …
Read More »Restaurant Management: No Training Budget? Spend Nothing But Time And Succeed
According to a new study by the Council of Hotel And Restaurant Trainers (CHART), 53% of the restaurants surveyed had cut back on their employee training budgets. Only 19% increased their budget, with the rest remaining the same. The study covered a wide variety of restaurants, from small independents to …
Read More »Healthy Menu? Don’t Tell Your Customers
Ask anyone sitting on their couch around dinnertime if they want a healthy pizza, and you’ll probably get a lukewarm response. Not that people don’t want to eat healthier. Study after study has shown that consumers, when asked when they aren’t actively ordering food at a restaurant, want healthy menu …
Read More »For All The Hype, Are Restaurants Really Using Social Media?
For all the buzz around using social media like Twitter and Facebook as marketing tools for restaurants, a recent study by Chalkboard.com indicates the majority of restaurants aren’t catching on. Establishments in three major urban centers, New York, San Francisco, and Portland, OR were surveyed about their internet and social …
Read More »Restaurant Promotion Gone Afoul: The Most Expensive Free I’ve Ever Seen…
Ok, so this hit my desk in the early AM on 9/9/09: “Restaurant.com Stretches the Dollar with 90% off Gift Certificates”. A limited time promotion they are running using the date of 9/9/09 as an excuse. I don’t care what day it is on the calendar this is a terrible …
Read More »Restaurant Marketing Goes Hyperlocal
There’s a new movement afoot in the urban centers of this country. It started sometime last year and is still in its infancy, but given enough time, it could become the next MySpace, Facebook, or Twitter of the social media revolution. It’s called “hyperlocal” social media. One of the pioneers …
Read More »The Conflict Between Local Food And Local Government
As I have noted on The Back Burner before, more and more restaurants are sourcing their food locally. And restaurants in urban areas are even turning vacant lots, empty roofs, and bare terraces into herb and vegetable gardens, yielding fresh produce for their customers. The trend has taken off quickly, …
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