Here at The Back Burner we have talked a lot about food safety. It’s an ongoing project for any restaurateur, and also a potential matter of life and death for any food service business given the stakes if a food borne illness were to break out in your restaurant. So …
Read More »How To Beat Groupon With Core Value Marketing
For years now restaurants have been instructed that marketing through social networks is the wave of the future. A second dot.com boom has surfaced with companies promising closer ties to consumers for restaurant owners. Social networking does provide a tremendous opportunity to restaurants that commit to successfully managing their online …
Read More »Increasing Restaurant Profits
1. Reduce Food Costs With A Descending Dollar Report A Descending Dollar Report is a fancy way of saying “Find the 10 food items you spend the most money on every month.” Once you know what those 10 items are, start looking for ways to cut your costs on each one. …
Read More »Why Is It So Difficult To Convert A Bad Experience Into A Great One?
When a customer is displeased with the service you’ve promised to provide, whether it be in your restaurant or retail store or any other category that deals with people, why does one think that a simple “I’m sorry” is going to remedy things? If you truly want to convert a …
Read More »Repairing Countertop Warmers
Summary – Countertop warmers keep pre-cooked foods warm. In this Tech Talk, learn how to replace all 4 components that could fail in your countertop warmer. Critical Note – Never run the warmer without water! For best results, use the model and serial number on your warmer to identify the right …
Read More »How to Remove Hot Used Fryer Oil Safely
A commercial deep fryer is a vital piece of restaurant equipment in any kitchen. But as anyone who has worked in a commercial kitchen knows, they can also be high maintenance when it comes to cleaning. Changing the heating oil is a constant chore, especially in higher volume establishments, and …
Read More »Menu Engineering: Combo Meals Make Customers Think Value
No matter what kind of restaurant you run, from fast casual to fine dining, combo meals can help your customer make a choice that makes them feel like they’re getting a deal, even if the combo costs exactly the same as the a la carte menu. This is backed up …
Read More »How to be a Green Restaurant and Cut Costs
Through constant research as well as attending many industry programs, I have learned a great deal on what can be done in the “greening” of new restaurants. Here’s a list of top ways your restaurant can go green: The most obvious is to use high efficiency refrigeration, but there are …
Read More »Counting Plates (Part Two)
In Counting Plates: Parts One we discussed the difficulties faced by managers, servers, and guests resulting from shrinking renewals budgets. I advanced the idea of treating glasses, plates, and tableware as inventory rather than purely as an expense. This allows the cost of these items to be more accurately reflected …
Read More »How To Grow Your Restaurant – Without Going Broke
Small independent restaurants have been dropping like flies over the past year. Chances are, if you’ve made it this far through the recession, the worst is behind you. That doesn’t mean tough days aren’t ahead, but hopefully you’ve at least stopped just trying to stay above water and have started …
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