Technology Trends: Restaurant Teleconferencing

The technology needed to allow a person to sit in one room and communicate visually and verbally with a person in another room somewhere else far away has been around for some time now.  It’s been imagined in the movies for decades, going back to Star Trek all the way up to Austin Powers.  But until recently teleconferencing was largely unavailable to the public. Marriott Hotels have begun to change that with state-of-the-art...

Restaurants Need To Catch Up On Technology

At the National Restaurant Association’s annual trade show last month, a lot of restaurateurs were talking about the technology gap in the food service industry.  Big chains like T.G.I.Friday’s and Hard Rock Café have already begun to introduce digital gadgetry into their restaurants as a way to connect with younger customers.  And much has been written over the last year about how the battle for customers has moved online. But...

How Tech Companies Are Competing To Help You Market Your Restaurant Locally

Marketing your restaurant online is a concept that’s relatively new to the food service industry as a whole, and is still a foreign concept to many restaurateurs.  This is not helped by the speed with which marketing channels online are moving.  By the time you set up a Facebook page, everyone’s raving about ...

Restaurants Use Nutrition Info To Add Value For Customers

Added value – in a world of discounts, something besides price has to get your customers in the door.  It’s the new reality facing the food service industry these days, and many restaurants have already started devising ways to go the extra mile for customers. Soon enough restaurants will be required to post...

Could The iPad Change Food Service?

The unveiling of the iPad earlier this month left a lot of people wondering what all the hype was all about.  For many, the mini-notebook looks and feels like an oversized iPhone without the ringtones.  But as the iPad hits the market and continues to sell well, more and more people have started to...

How Black Board Eats Helps You Control The Foodie Crowd

Ah, yes, the capricious foodie: that enigmatic character who can turn 100 people into loyal patrons with a glowing mention of your restaurant at every dinner party – or become the bane of your existence with nasty reviews on sites like Yelp or a sarcastic blog post. Especially in competitive urban markets like L.A. or New York,...

A Review Of Klick Kitchen By Chef Forfeng

The following is a great review of Klick Kitchen by an industry insider with a lot more personal experience in the food service industry than I have. I came across Klick Kitchen last year and while the concept was intriguing, the price at the time was not. Since then they have apparently changed it to a free basic service to the consumer/back of the house...

Instructables: The World’s First Open Source Restaurant

Instructables.com is an “open source” website that allows people to post and view instructional videos on just about any topic you can think of.  The website is completely free and part of a larger phenomenon on the internet based around Creative Commons licensing – the liberalization of copyrights in order to enable the free flow of information...

Text Message Ordering: Why Your Customers Already Love It

One of the biggest shifts in customer behavior over the past few years has been the preference for take-out food.  All the major national chains (Applebee’s, Chili’s, etc. etc.) have added drive-up service for their customers.  And I’ve written on this blog about taking your restaurant’s food out, whether it be catering,...

If It Makes Sense For McDonald’s, It Probably Makes Sense For You

McDonald’s has been an increasingly lone bright spot in the dark world of food service during a recession.  Sales are up, new restaurant layouts appeal to a wide range of customers, and Starbucks has a serious competitor on their hands.  McDonald’s success can be attributed to a lot of things, including their bargain basement pricing, but one factor stands out above all others: McDonald’s ability to rebrand...