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, …
Read More »10 Hot Trends In Food Service
Feel like you need to get caught up on what’s been going on in the food service industry? Here’s some hot industry trends that will help you get up to speed: 1. A National Tax On Soft Drinks? The advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest is promoting …
Read More »How Sub Culture Is Pirating Fine Dining In San Francisco
What if you were told about a restaurant that had no fixed location or menu and kept this information a secret until just a few hours before you leave for dinner? The Dissident Chef of San Francisco does just this to his patrons on a regular basis. They purchase tickets …
Read More »Why Your Restaurant Should Start Catering… And 4 Simple Steps To Start
In a recent study by Technomic, 36% of consumers said they are doing their socializing at home more often than a year ago. In addition, 40% said they’d like to entertain at home more often in the next year. For a restaurant owner, those are some sobering numbers. The corresponding …
Read More »Cash or Charge: Save Money AND Give Your Customer A Discount
Credit cards have become the currency of choice in restaurants everywhere. Many restaurateurs report 80% – 85% of their customers pull out plastic when it’s time to pay the bill. For a long time now the conventional wisdom in food service goes like this: any way the customer wants to …
Read More »The Inamo Restaurant: Fun High Tech
The Inamo restaurant in London’s Soho district has taken high-tech ordering to a whole new level. Gone are the days when picking up a phone at your table was the techiest gig in town. Sure, some restaurants call themselves high-tech because their servers have wireless pads for taking orders. Inamo …
Read More »Will Congress Pay For Healthcare Reform With A Fat Tax?
As Congress grapples with the costs of tackling health care reform, a couple ideas have floated to the surface to help fund the effort. As I mentioned recently, a national tax on soft drinks was the subject of a national feasibility study and it was determined that such a tax …
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